This week has been so slow but in the best way. One if those where you feel like it's Tuesday every day and then all the sudden it's Friday! I've been busy in the kitchen, and keeping the house clean this week, since I'm determined to do a little bit everyday so it doesn't get out of control anymore. So far, so good! Some of Peter's family are visiting from NJ for a little while and I can't wait to see them and spend some time with them this weekend!! Hope your weekend is wonderful!

Receiving my latest Chatbook makes me so excited!!! Already on volume three of his life! 

Wrestling matches with friends, ha!

The way this boy is loving books lately makes me die. I could literally watch him turn the pages and touch everything all day long!

ten things I love at ten months.

The world of an almost one year old is an exciting one! I can't believe we are almost at that point. There are so many things that Solomon is doing lately that crack me up. He is such a funny kid.....

1 // the "aahhhhh" face. 

The one above, he makes that face all the time. I'm going to cry when he stops making it. He does it when he's happy, and can't contain the happiness no longer, and just needs to let some out. I also mentioned this same thing during the 6 things I love at 6 months. I still believe that one reason I love it so much, is because of how it reminds me of myself a little bit. Happy mommas make happy babies, right?!? ;)

2 // all the kisses.

He has just started giving kisses all the time but they are always on my shoulder when I pick him up or someone hands him to me. Randomly he will give me kisses on my face or head but most of the time they are on my shoulder and he makes this "mmah" kissy noise when he does it. Sweetest. Thing. Ever.

3 // quick rest.

Sometimes while he is playing in the living room he will crawl to this one spot, by the chair and in front of the tv, and lay down. Never for long, just a few seconds, then he's up and moving again. It's so weird, funny and adorable! 

4 // in and out.

His fascination with putting things into other things and then back out again is so cute. He does it over and over and I find myself in a trance watching him sometimes, it's oddly relaxing for me. Little things into a box, blankets in between his legs and then out again, anything repetitive.

5 // the couch slide.

When he's having some milk on the couch and he's finished he will let go and slowly slide off my lap and then off the side of the couch really slow until his feet touch the floor. Then he stands up super straight and smiles before he leaves to find a toy. It is so precious and funny!!! 

6 // drinking water.

He actually prefers to drink water from a normal cup and it's so funny. He actually guzzles it down, and gets mad when we take it away. Not so fun when we are trying to eat, but it's cute. 

7 // grocery shopping.

I swear, he could spend an hour in a grocery store! He looks around, talks to people that are walking by & if I'm not moving the cart for too long, he rocks back and forth like he might be able to move the cart all by himself. 

8 // just before sleep.

He will stop drinking and clap his hands together, just 3-4 claps, then he goes back to his milk and closes his eyes. Within a few minutes he's knocked out asleep. Like one last hoorah before he gives in, ha! 

9 // book love.

He has also started to love books and will sit and put them in his lap and turn the pages back and forth. I can't remember the last time he put a book in his mouth!! It's super cute to watch, I'll even say "go get your book!" & he will crawl over and start looking at it. 

10 // toy search.

The new car seat has cup holders and he likes to put his toys in them. Little animals, wooden blocks, basically anything that will fit. Once we put him in the car seat, he frantically searches for whatever was left in the cup holders last. It's so funny and I'm thankful that the cup holders have made his car seat experience a little more fun!

all or nothing.

Today's post is something a little different for me. I don't normally share posts like this, but when I was contacted by Heather Von St. James and learned about her story, I knew I wanted to be a part of this inspirational day. Heather was diagnosed with Mesothelioma in 2005, right after giving birth to her beautiful daughter Lilly. Mesothelioma is very rare and occurs in the lining of the body's internal organs. Sadly, it has a usual diagnosis of 15 months. Once she learned that she only had 15 months, she decided to live with an ALL OR NOTHING mentality! After she beat the odds and survived, she made it her mission to spread awareness and to continue to live her life fully. Such an inspiration!

When Heather asked me to be a part of All or Nothing Day, I didn't hesitate to say yes. With all the darkness and sadness surrounding us every day, I wanted to share something full of light and goodness. It is sad that flags stay at half staff, the news is always pushing the latest threat or killing, and the political drama is never ending. But today is a reminder that we should live every day in hope and faith, celebrating life.

Today, July 26th, is National All or Nothing Day. Seize the day! What better way to live life, everyday? Life is short. It goes by so quickly, speeding up with age. When Heather emailed me about participating in this wonderful day, she told me, "I wanted to reach out to you after seeing on your blog how you truly embrace each and every day..." That is what I hope people see. Not only in this space but in my every day life. Spending more time to hug those I love and reach out to those in need. 

"Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

John 7:38

Rivers of living water, that is what I want my life to look like. Today, tomorrow & all of eternity. I'm so thankful that I can say that my future is in His hands. It truly makes living every day with an All or Nothing attitude so much easier. 

Heather, thank you for giving me the opportunity to share your beautiful story! Check out Heather's incredible story, it is so inspiring! 

community.

We feel so fortunate to have our community group from our church for the past few years. We are also thankful that we haven't had to break up yet. It's so amazing when God puts people in your life that can speak truth and be honest with you. When we joined our group we were engaged and almost married. Since then we have changed so many moments of growth together. Actual growth with babies being born, and heart growth during hard times. Having these people around to lean on, and enjoy fellowship, makes everything sweeter. During the summer months off without weekly meetings, we try and get together once a month. We were excited to visit the "Batson Farm" over the weekend!! 

we totally snapped the hammock after this picture when I asked Peter to sit with us... he thought it was a bad idea, ooops! 

Since our group doesn't normally meet with the kids around, it's always so fun to see how much they have grown and watch them play together when they get the chance! 

so, so thankful!!! 

weekly three.

This has been the first week of the year that this weekly three post has been the only post on the blog. Some weeks are harder than others, then some weeks are better than others and some are just crazy. This week has been one of the better ones, so good that I didn't have a chance to even open the computer and write something. This summer is going so well and I'm looking forward to our relaxing weekend with family and friends! 

Solomon's new favorite spot to play. It's pretty cute, even if it makes me nervous!

Finishing up the last week of this amazing study! Check out Seamless if you want to dig in deep to His word and learn more about it, it's so good. 

Mango Key Lime pie, baby napping, and an episode of Pretty Little Liars. I should be embarrassed about how much I love it, but I'm not!

weekly three.

It it has been a whirlwind of a week around here! We started with a fun Monday with family in town and I've been trying my best to get the house ready for a shower for a friend this weekend. Building furniture, cleaning, laundry, and taking care of the little man.... All the things that keep me busy and make me want a vacation, ha! Hope you have a beautiful weekend!! 

Getting the living room set up with the new furniture!!! Making me all kinds of giddy!

Building our new shoe organizer for the back hallway, mainly by myself, was fun! I find it as a challenge, anytime I see the two people required on the building direction booklet from IKEA.  Naptime activities, ha!!

I'm really enjoying how this boy wanting to be in his sling more than normal. It may be the leap he's going through, or the many teeth cutting right now, but I'll take it! 

Solomon // ten months.

6/17/16

Sweet boy, I can't believe we are going on double digits. TEN?!? Goodness. 

I've come to a realization lately that makes me smile... You are 100% mommas boy at night but when that sun comes up, you are a daddy's boy. You cry when he leaves for work for at least 5 minutes, sometimes even 15. You get so excited when he comes home and you love your adventures in the back yard with him. But you do love your snuggles with me at night. I think we both get the best parts of you. Exploring with daddy, and cuddles with momma! We are soooo lucky to have you baby boy!!

^^^that face!!! hahaha, love it!

6/26/16

Wow, it has been a little while since I've been able to write. We just got home from our first family vacation and it was so fun! You are definitely a water baby and you loved the ocean. You crawled right into the crashing waves, you weren't even afraid! So fearless. It was so fun to watch you. Now that we are home you are so happy to be back in our nightly routine. It's funny how I thought it would be hard but you just squealed with happiness when I turned on the sound machine and turned off the light as I sat down in your rocking chair. Then you giggled as I was getting ready to give you some milk!! It's so sweet how you love this time with me. I love it too!!

needing some milk so I thought I'd catch some of the sweetness with the self timer!

7/2/16

You are going through the toughest leap ever right now and it is so neat to see your personality shine. You are growing and changing more everyday. You love playing, being tickled, cuddling on the couch and climbing all over mommy and daddy, so many things that you have always done but you are just doing them more now. 

You also love your routine now, you won't go to sleep for a nap or at night unless we are in your room rocking. This has just happened this week. At night you love to have some free play time in your room while I rock and watch you, randomly looking up at me and smiling, then back to playing. I love watching you learn and explore so much! Except when you explore and learn how to throw dirt all over the floor from the plant in the dining room, that's not so fun, and one of your favorite things to do right now. 

I also love how you constantly smell like strawberries! Your favorite fruit and you love to eat them with your chubby little hands. Sweet summer baby!!

7/14/16

While we were at church on Sunday, I had to go get you from the nursery since you weren't very happy. We ware battling separation problems right now, thanks to this tricky leap you are experiencing. I took you to the lobby of the church so we could listen to the rest of the worship and wait for Daddy and Gigi to come out. While we were waiting a young man came up to us and said hi to you. You were your normal happy and smiley self. He then asked if he could pray for you, I said yes and he put his hand on your back and started praying the sweetest prayer. He prayed about how we are all babies in God's eyes and prayed for you to know His love at a young age and have a passion for Him. It was such a sweet prayer and a blessing for us. 

During the past month, I have felt so much protection over your life. Mainly with the car accident that could have been awful, but it was just a slight bump, and you even slept through the entire thing. I know that the Lord loves you more than I ever could, and even though that is hard to imagine, I find so much comfort in that truth. You are loved, and wanted and cared for, but not from just everyone here that loves you but by the Creator that made you! I pray that you know Him one day and love him with your whole heart!! 

stats // 21.6 pounds and 29.5 inches 

eating // everything! So glad that we have a good eater but he still doesn't prefer to eat a lot at one time. We have 2 good meals a day most of the time with some snacks of fruit and lots of milk throughout the day. Especially since he is teething right now. He has 3, maybe 4 (it's hard to see with his tongue always sticking out and hiding his teeth!), teeth cutting at one time, so he wants to nurse a lot more than usual

sleeping // surprisingly his sleeping is becoming better... still ends up in our bed after his first wake up in the crib at night but I don't mind, he has been so cuddly lately, and it's sweet to get those cuddles. 

wearing // mostly 12 months except for the pants in these pictures that are 6 months. I have no idea how they still fit, but they are my favorite, so I'm happy about it!
We decided to throw in the towel with the cloth diapers since it was a lot of work and this season of life right now is so busy. I was stressing about the extra job and it really isn't needed since we found a good deal on the Seventh Generation diapers with Amazon!

favorite things // any kind of berry; strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, all of them! Anytime we sing the Hosanna song, he bobs up and down to the tune, which is adorable. Sleeping on his tummy with his butt in the air, he instantly flips over into that position when I lay him down. 

PAST UPDATES
1st Month // 2nd Month
3rd Month // 4th Month

5th Month // 6th Month

7th Month // 8th Month

9th Month

at the museum.

I was so excited that family stayed in town a little bit longer than normal so we could spend the day at the Greenville Children's Museum! My nephews have never been there, Solomon had been a couple of times, but he was too little to enjoy it. I knew the boys would die over all the activities and have a wonderful time. 

One thing I love about the museum is how parts of it change constantly. They have so many events, exhibits, and the birthday parties are crazy awesome. (I almost cried when I looked back at Sadie Grace turning five and seeing how tiny Solomon was!!!) You could literally spend ALL DAY here and not run out of things to do. Thankfully Solomon is free until he turns one, which is nice since there isn't a ton for him to do right now. Once he turns one, we will have to pay for him to enjoy the museum, so I've decided that his Christmas gift this year will be a membership. It will be so fun to go anytime we want for such a great price, since the family membership is only $150 for a full year. Shh, no one tell him what he will be getting ;) 

I think the biggest thrill for the boys was the grocery store. You can go shopping and even pretend to be a cashier with a real computer and bar code scanner. It really is fun, but watching little kids use their imagination is something I will never get tired of. So precious!

Being a good sport and watching his cousins shopping for some food!

The Grandma Betty's Farm is so fun for the five and under kids, especially crawling babies. Pretend carrots in the ground, farm animals and a tractor were some of the highlights for Solomon. He crawled around and explored for so long. Of course he wanted to eat the carrots but it was cute to watch his excitement. There's also a little house in the farm area and I kept trying to take him in the house to play with the kitchen and games but he would crawl back "outside" as fast as he could. A true outdoors kind of guy like his daddy!

The toddler lily pond was too much fun for the little guys. They were both soaked after playing in the water. It was pretty cute to watch them splash and clap their wet hands over and over. I need to remember to bring a change of clothes in the diaper bag next time, that way Solomon can splash and play as much as he wants, even his face was soaked!

The best part of the museum (in my book) is the HUGE light bright board. I remember playing with one of these when I was a kid and I loved it. The first time I saw this in the museum I almost wet myself. The child in me was jumping up and down! Now that Solomon is standing, he could finally enjoy the wall of bright colors! Of course he wanted to eat all of the pegs, like I said, he wants to eat everything he puts in his hands! It was fun to see his eyes light up with excitement!

Sweet boy, you make my heart so happy!