These Thursday nights are starting to become one of my favorite parts of my week. After the boys are asleep upstairs, I get to sit on the couch with my cup of hot tea, and my laptop on my legs as they are propped up on the coffee table. I get a few moments to sum up our week into three pictures, and it makes me happy, and so thankful for this life as Mrs. Eliya. So, so thankful! Hope you all have a beautiful Easter weekend. My favorite holiday ever and I'm lucky enough to have two little bunnies this year!!!

A clean kitchen is THE BEST thing to wake up to, am I right?? I'm also in love with these faux lemon stems that my mom picked up for me from Chestnut Living at their Spring Market. They are so happy and cheerful!

The weather has been nice most of this week and Solomon's nose has finally stopped pouring snot! Thank God, we were all ready for that cold to leave. Some outside play with some toys in the sunshine was exactly what we needed. And I'm jealous of the tan that he got on his face from less than an hour of being outside.... so unfair. 

All these babies and that sweet friend of mine. Man, I am so thankful for her. We met after having our first babies and I love experiencing motherhood with her. She may be one step ahead of me with her three babies, but I love looking up to her because of it. She is such a GOOD mom to her sweet little ones, and I'm always blown away by her calm and easy attitude. There's a whole lot of love on that couch (especially between me and sweet JF) & I was so excited to meet baby Jacob!

Asher // three months.

The normal face when Solomon is playing with Asher. Happy, but I might cry at any moment. 

Sweet Asher,

It's crazy how much my love has grown for you in this past month. You are growing into the sweetest baby boy each day. There are so many things that I have learned about you as you are changing, and I love it. I honestly didn't expect the newborn phase to be hard this time around but it was. I'm sorry for that, but I'm so happy that we have found our way through it together. Being a mother of two is not always easy, but it is always easy to love you and kiss your massive yummy cheeks!

Learning all your quirks has also been fun the past month. Little things like how you need 10 seconds of butt pats once I lay you down in the crib. Exactly 10 seconds or you will wake up. Or, how you smell exactly like your daddy. It's the strangest thing, and even your Amo Fadi notices it all the time. And how you turn your face and open your mouth when I kiss your cheeks sometimes. I like to think you are trying to give me a kiss back. I really love how you constantly watch your big brother, too. Sometimes I will leave you with him, if i need to use the bathroom or go get some water, and you are so content and happy. Just looking up at him and watching him play. He loves you too, and even calls you "his baby" sometimes. I love how you two need each other already, and I pray that need will grow more every day.

I also love all the many smiles I get during the day. You have so many different ones. There's the middle of the night smile that I can see in the dark as you see my face. The sleepy grin that finds comfort beside me in the bed and holds my hand while you nurse back to sleep. And then there's the middle of milk smile, definitely one of my favorites! You pull away and babble and stare at me, never taking your eyes off of my face as you grin, and a little bit of milk escapes the corner of your lips. But my favorite grin is the big, wide mouth, happy smile. The one that makes your eyes squint and nose scrunch. The one that almost makes you laugh a little bit. You are so happy, and I love receiving all those perfect smiles every day.

I recently got lost scrolling through my forever long Instagram feed looking at pictures of you and your brother. I ended up all the way back to Solomon's photos when he was your size. I felt the lump in my throat and wanted to cry. Time is such a thief, and it has already taken three months of your life so quickly. How is it possible that you are already so big, and that your brother is even bigger. I just watch you two every day in awe of this life that I get to live. A life of loving two precious boys with every bit of me. Even when it's hard and I feel like I might break, you both get even more of me, that I didn't think I could give. You pull it out of me, and you make me better because of it.

Thank you for loving me and needing me, baby boy!! I love you so much, and I need you even more, trust me. 

Love, 

Mommy

stats //  17.4 lbs & 25.5 in.

you are growing like a weed!!!

eating // some days are more of a pattern than others, but Asher has his first stuffy nose and cough from all of Solomon's kisses. :( he has been nursing more than normal which I'm totally ok with, hoping the breast milk will help fight the cold.  

sleeping // most nights he wants to sleep by 8:30-9 and will sleep in his crib till 2-4. I'm never really sure when he is going to wake up but it's nice that he has such a good chunk of sleep in his bed. There have been several nights that I have put him back in his crib after he has some milk and he will sleep again till morning. I never expected to switch to the crib in his room so early, but he really does sleep best that way. 

But,  this cold is also throwing that off since he wants to nurse more often, even at night. Either way, I love having him in the bed beside me if he needs it, but I'm hoping he will get back in his crib soon since he does sleep better that way. & obviously, so do I. 

wearing // all his clothes are 6 months and even some 9 month things. His legs are so chunky and won't fit 80% of  the pants and pjs that Solomon wore. It's so funny to me how different their body types are. 

favorite things // sitting up, he rarely likes to lay down, unless he's having some milk. Loves chewing on his hands still, mostly his index finger and thumb. Watching Solomon play, especially with his lightsaber. Going places and seeing new things, BUT WE STILL HATE THE CAR. God, please help us! 

easter eggs.

I was excited to try dying Easter eggs with Solomon for the first time. I knew that it was going to be tricky, and truly test my patience (something I pray for very often!), but I also knew it was going to be a lot of fun. We are fighting a pretty awful cold in our house. Solomon has been sick for about a week now, and yesterday was really rough. He fell asleep in my arms around 3:30 which meant he didn't wake up till almost 6pm. I knew it was going to be a late night, so I thought dying eggs would be a fun thing to do. He really enjoyed it, even with the cold. 

I had hopes to make some of the natural homemade dies, but then I realized that I had a toddler and a newborn. ha, realistic ideas, right? So, instead I went to Target and picked up the traditional egg dyes. Honestly, it was super sweet to use them, since that's what I grew up using. I didn't expect the nostalgic sweetness to happen for some reason, but it totally did.  Watching Solomon's face when I put the little tabs in the vinegar was priceless. He was so excited as he saw the magic happening before his eyes.  And since we were dealing with dyes that could stain his shirt, I thought it would be wise to keep on his very dirty shirt from the day. It was covered in his lunch, a PB & honey sandwich, and then pasta from Gigi's house at dinner. Surprisingly, he didn't get any dye on his shirt though! 

One of the funnier moments from last night. Peter used the chalk crayon to write on an egg and I saw the JE. I instantly thought he was writing Jesus and I thought it was so sweet.  As the egg started to turn in the bowl, I realized he wrote JETS. HAHAHA, it was funny, and definitely made me laugh. I decided to draw a heart on my purple egg! 

The crusty, runny nose.... the very dirty shirt.... and that sweet face. 

All of it is such an image of a growing boy, it kind of kills me sometimes when I watch him. But then I see bits and pieces of my baby that has grown into such a sweet boy and I'm thankful to create these memories and new traditions with him. 

weekly three.

Happy Friday!! I can't believe it's Friday already. This week has flown by and it's been a whirlwind of messed up sleep. Asher and Solomon both seem to be on the same schedule with their good and bad nights, which makes mommy and daddy more tired for sure. Last night was a good night, so we are ready for the weekend!! Hope you all have a great weekend, too! 

I added four new photos to the gallery wall over our couch in the living room and I love it!

So excited to start this new daily study through the Psalms. I've missed doing a daily study but I wanted something different, this one is going to be great. 

Yesterday was a LONG day for mommy. Solomon had a cold, Asher is going through his third Wonder Week Leap, and they both wanted mommy all day. Solomon even wanted me to put him to sleep last night, which hasn't happened since December! It may be hard at times but it is so good to be wanted and needed, because I need them both so much. I love my boys a whole lot!

Asher's Dedication.

Yesterday we had a special celebration with a group of close friends and family as we dedicated Asher's life to Christ. I love how intimate and personal the dedications are at our church, and the special meaning behind them. Sharing our babies with our community and church is such a blessing. Hoping that they learn about Jesus and grow up to be men of God is one of my biggest prayers, and I know that our church will help us in that task. We have already learned so much from the teaching, and the community we have made at Grace, that has helped us in this journey of parenthood. I'm so excited about the future that our children will have their also. 

We finally made it to church for the first time since Asher was born and it was wonderful. We wanted to go last week but it was one of those cold rainy days, and I wasn't feeling 100%, so it didn't happen. But, this week was different. I was beyond ready to get back and worship. I've missed it terribly. Asher was so great during the entire service. The songs we sang after the wonderful sermon were so good for my heart. It was so special to wear my new sleeping baby as I swayed back and forth and  sang to the Lord. Having his dedication after church was just the icing on the cake for me. It was such a good morning!

Some of our sweet community group! It was so special to have four babies to celebrate together. 

This picture means so much to me. All of those close to us, surrounding us in prayer and support for our baby boy. The person to the left is my mother in law and the person to the right is my mom. It really is special to have the two most important women in our life always praying with us and helping us love our babies. Such a huge blessing, and we are so thankful! Thank you all who came to help us love and celebrate Asher. I pray that he does big things for our Father and His Kingdom one day!!

weekly three.

It has been a long week. Good, but long. It's going to be a busy weekend too, but at least it is a lot of fun things. We have my nephew Jonah's birthday party Saturday night, then Asher's baby dedication on Sunday afternoon. I'm hoping we finally make it back to church on Sunday morning too. Man have I missed it, and flu season is finally backing down, so we feel safe to go! Hallelujah!!! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

Watching Solomon play pretend and talk to his toys recently has been one of my favorite things!!! It's so unbelievably cute. 

Daddy was out of town on Wednesday night so we had a little date night with Gigi. Pizza and ice cream. I love this picture so much, definitely gonna frame it for both me and my mom!

And we are also very excited for Gigi and her new job!!! Yesterday was her last day, so she gets to spend the whole day with us, before starting her new job on Monday. 

Solomon // two + a half.

First of all, what an emotional blog post to write. Like, super emotional. My baby, the sweet little boy who made me a mommy, is two and a half today. The statement I live by has never been so true, "the days are long but the weeks are fast!" I'm definitely learning this is even more true as a mommy of two, but I'm trying my best to soak in every second.

There are so many little things that I love about our big boy and I could talk about him for hours. I feel so thankful to be his mommy and spend my days with him. My mother-in-law recently said something to me that I haven't been able to stop thinking about. We were over for lunch one day, and Solomon was being his normal cute self, and she said "you are so lucky, you get to live with him" and it's so true. I am so lucky, and living with Solomon is one of the biggest blessings I've ever experienced. He is such a sweet soul and I pray that he will do so many things for God and His Kingdom one day. I can honestly say that he is one of my favorite people and I genuinely like him as a person. I love him and I like him, which is a really awesome way to feel about your child. I thought it would be sweet to share some of my favorite parts of Solomon for this special post....

It's hard to find a place to start when listing out sweet things about Solomon. He is so silly and sweet and I think he is the perfect little combination of me and Peter. He's hardly ever still and so full of energy but it's one of my favorite parts about him. It can drive me crazy sometimes when I'm trying to put on his shoes or read him a story, but I love that he is full of life. I don't think anyone could ever call him boring, that's for sure.

A few of his favorite things at right now include puzzles (ALL THE TIME!), coloring, eating all day long, watching Puppy Dog Pals, anything to do with Star Wars (especially playing with daddy), spending time outside, making up songs and singing them to himself, playing with his cousins and friends and kissing his baby brother a little too much. If that's possible.

He loves to be on the go and experience new things, but he also loves consistency and repetitive events. I can tell he will love traditions like I do, and I'm looking forward to him helping me keep traditions alive for our family. I really think he is going to be the best biggest brother for our family. I believe the way he already loves and cares for Asher is just the beginning of his heart for this family. Just the other day while he was in the middle of playing with toys, he stopped what he was doing and walked over to Asher and said "I love you baby Asher." Nothing prompted this at all. Asher wasn't crying or making any noise, he was just laying in his rock and play quietly. I wasn't saying anything to either of them, just letting them be quietly on their own for a bit in the living room. The TV might have been on and I was probably looking at my phone, but I'm so glad I didn't miss this moment. It's little things like that moment, that make me love Solomon so much. Not the fact that he was saying I love you to his brother, but the way he does things like this on his own. Not being prompted or told to do it. He loves his little brother so much and I hope that love will only grow stronger. I pray for it to become stronger for his family, but also for strangers and the lost people of this world. I want the Holy Spirit to soften his heart in a way that we never could as his parents, making it soft and moldable, so he will welcome Christ into his heart one day.

I know I have shared a few of the Solomon Says posts recently but, I could never share enough of the little things he says that make me almost burst daily. It's not only what he says, but how he says it, that I love so much. As he's talking he will use his eyes to look around and you can see his wheels turning in his head. It's the neatest thing to have a conversation with him. I love watching him form sentences and learn new things now. The other night at the dinner table, he asked for more water so Peter put some fresh ice and water in his cup. He then looked down in the cup and his eyes looked back at us with his big and excited face and he said, "me got more ices!". Peter and I just smiled and it was so cute to watch him try and use a plural form of ice. I love how his brain is working more than ever and how he can verbalize it now. We may have to remind him to calmly use his words more than ever now, but it is so fun to watch him as he really learning to use his words.

His love of food is another way that he is a lot like his parents! His favorite type of restaurant is a tapas style menu so he can try a lot of different things. He has always been a great eater for us but now that he can vocalize what he wants it's super cute. 90% of the time he requests macaroni and cheese but he will eat almost anything. The other 10% of the time he will request fruit. He almost always has food on his face because of his love of snacks. Taking him out to restaurants is always fun, no matter what kind of food is involved because it's fun to eat with him. I don't know many toddlers that you can say that about, and for that I am extremely thankful! He also loves to sing Happy Birthday all the time in hopes that a birthday cake will appear.

I thought it would be fun to do a little question list with Solomon and see what his answers are. I think it would be so fun to keep up the tradition for every birthday... I love these and the crazy things that kids say!

favorite book // Cat in the Hat
favorite food // Macaroni & Cheese (surprise, surprise!)
favorite song // Jonah & the whale
favorite toy // stickers
favorite thing to do // color

I can't believe our first baby is already two and a half. It's crazy how quickly the years have flown by and I feel like he will be going to high school any day now. But seriously, it has gone by way too fast and I know that it won't slow down. I try my best to soak in every moment and take way too many pictures so I can remember all the little details of our life. I never want to forget what it feels like to hug his little toddler body and hear him say I love you mommy. I can't even think about the day when his perfect little curls are gone (please God, don't let him ask to cut his hair off too soon!!!) and he doesn't skip and hop around everywhere. The only thing that is keeping me sane is knowing that each phase of life is going to be sweeter in some way. Just like each stage of his life so far has been better than the last. I don't even understand how it can get better, but it continues to blow my mind how he can become sweeter and funnier and can I fall more in love with him. He's my baby boy, and he will always be my baby boy. I read a quote on Instagram recently that made me cry big mommy tears that I knew didn't have anything to do with the fourth trimester hormones. They were tears that I would cry many times. Tears for birthdays as my boys get one year older, tears for graduations as they inch a little further from home, tears for their heartaches that I don't have any control over, and tears for a season of life that flew by way too quickly. The quote I read said...

"We have split now, into two, into the milk and the days and long naps, and the tiny parts of you that I can never tire of, will never -- even as you grow and become a man; I will stop you every now and then, touch your hair and cheek and long for the dark nights I thought would never end." 

Those words are the truth. And as you run around the living room right now playing your silly version of Star Wars, I see my little boy. The little boy that has grown from a little baby, and who will grow into a little man, and then a grown man. You are my baby, and my baby you will always be. This morning, after I put your baby brother in his crib, I crawled into the bed beside you while you were still sleeping. I wrapped my arms around you and put my nose into your neck. You were deep in sleep and breathing heavy and I thought about all those nights that I held you until you fell asleep. I don't get to do that lately since your daddy has taken over that task and I miss it so much. As I held you in my arms, I prayed for you. I prayed for your heart to find the Lord, I prayed for you to work hard to be a good person, and I prayed for our family. I love you so much, sweet Solomon. I am so proud of who you have become already, and I can't wait to see who you will become in all our days ahead together! You have changed me and made me a better person, just because of your need for me.

Sights + Seats // Biscuit Head

I have been dying to try Biscuit Head for such a long time now. I honestly can't believe how long they have been open now, since this was our first visit. I guess eating breakfast at home is easier after having a baby?? But, we had some errands to run on Friday morning, and Peter took the day off of work, so we could tackle them together. After we were finished I was starving and Biscuit Head was right across the street. Asher was in that milk drunk heavy sleep and didn't wake up when we put him in his car seat, which is a miracle, so it just seemed like the right thing to do!! And boy, did we enjoy it!!!

Peter got the fried chicken biscuit which had an awesome sriracha slaw and sweet potato butter. The combination of the two was so great!!! I didn't even pay attention to what Peter ordered, so when they brought it out, I thought they had the wrong  biscuit for him. He's not crazy about southern food but he definitely made a great choice!! I picked the pulled pork biscuit. DUH. My eye always goes straight to pulled pork when there is the option on a menu. Once I saw the jalapeno pimento cheese, bacon and maple syrup combined with pulled pork I was done. I did change the poached egg to an over easy egg though. It was perfection!! We also got the huge fruit bowl with chocolate bread to share with Solomon. We were all very happy with our plate and enjoyed sharing a few bites with each other! 

Peter approved, which says a lot for my food snob husband. ;) 

Asher woke up and wanted to join in the party for a bit. 

We will definitely make an effort to visit Biscuit Head again!! Like, this weekend. ;)