7 Months

This was your month buddy.

Your personality exploded, you started pulling up, crawling and you cut your two bottom teeth all within 2 weeks!!

You are finally feeling better from having RSV, and several sinus infections.

We continued to have problems with your clogged tear duct so the dr referred us to a children's eye dr and she recommended surgery.

We are going to wait a bit longer to see if this is necessary.

you LOVE to snuggle in the pillows to drink your bottle!

You still wear size 2 diapers and sometimes a size 3, your growth has slowed down and you are still wearing 6-9 and some 9m clothing.

and your giggle. it melts us all!!! 

we love you angel!

Cheery Coastal Update: The Kids Bath

Enough with this cold!!! 

I am ready for warmth, and windows open and no Mosquitos!!!!! 

Can I get an amen??? 

To help brighten spirits around our little piece of America I grabbed some paint, oyster shells and construction adhesive! 

Then, hubby grabbed some white/blonde travertine, a trowel and a construction adhesive mat. 

And here is where we are at! 

Details to follow! 

Beauty for Ashes a Series

The lord has really pressed upon my heart to begin to opening and sharing my story with others. 

I have started to type this post for the past 2 years and didn't have the courage to. 

I was afraid of what others would say, what they would thing, and scared to share just how much of a refining fire we walked through.

You see, god took what I considered to be this perfect life, in this perfect town, with a perfect degree, introduced me to a man I didn't know character wise exhisted. 

And then I prayed, a very very specific prayer, and he answered it. 

One simple prayer where I asked the lord to humble me. 

To take away my desires of this world and give me a heart like his.

I had no clue what he would be calling me to, and asking me and my sweet husband to walk through.

I didn't know the pain I would endure, and the blessings that would abound. 

But he did, he knew my heart, he knew Casey's heart and he chose us.

Beauty for Ashes, garment of praise, take this heart of stone

Make it yours!

Connor Turns 2

Update in the Entry and A Plan

When we moved into our home back in July I had an awesome vision for our entry.

Here are some of the ideas I was thinking about for this space. 

Still strongly considering painting the walls a cream white and doing high gloss white trim. 

 image via houzz.com

The banister is not just exceedingly sturdy so we have contimplated ripping it all out and installing more of a modern railing. 

Our layout is this exactly in the two rooms shown. 

I like both of these styles therefore I am torn. 

image via house beautiful

image via gretchenopgenorthdesigns.blogspot.com

We are planning to rip up the carpet on the stairs, install wooden stained treads and install a carpet runner. 

The likelihood we get to this before next fall is pretty slim. 

We have hit some major obstacles in this home and soooo many things were missed on the inspection report/discovered once we moved in that we will be fixing alot of behind the scenes things first. 

BUT..... one thing we CAN do in the meantime is update some lighting.

I fell in love with this fixture back in the spring.

We saw duplicates at places like Home Depot and Lowe's but I knew this was the one the space needed.

The entry is so small and needed some charm. 

We found it for a steal of a deal at the local Pottery Barn Outlet!

And just in the few weeks it has been hanging we have gotten quite a few compliments on it! 

The shadows it casts are Soo pretty!!

So glad I held out for the one I was really wanting!

New Year. Coming Clean

Let's start out this new year on the honest foot!

Not the my life and house is perfect, and squeekly clean foot, the honest one.

The little honest voice you often silence to keep you from saying the thing you shouldn't. 

You know... the one that says, "Your but really IS too big for that dress."

So..... 2013 was the hardest year of my entire existence. 

I dealt with alot of the "ish" and "such" in the silence and confines of my overly messy house. 

Truth really is.... my house has been soooo far from a blog post since we moved it that it's not even funny. 

Like could barely get it together enough to get the laundry done, kids fed, and work.. messy. 

It's embarassing but true. 

So.... when your messy... you see mess and start cleaning out. 

Around May I spoke with my friend Sibi, she said something so profound. In so many words she said: "You know Jenny Beth, this year is going to rock you, it already has, so do one little thing you can that YOU can allow to rock you. Sell everything you own. Get sold out for Jesus."

I took her literally.... 

If you live in Memphis, you have seen me on the resale pages, selling everything I own. 

If you shop the awesome Sugar Plum Consignments, you probably bought alot of my clothes, shoes, belts, bags, and coats I took there. Over $500.00 worth of stuff I wasn't using.

If it has no tangible purpose in my life... its gone. Down to those pesky paint samples. 

By June I plan on only having 10 boxes in my attic. 

Yes 10.

And you know what I learned through this process??

It's hard to sell your favorite Lilly shift dress that you fit into when you were a size 4 and thought life was totally going your way.

And it's hard to sell your favorite Tory Burch wedges, even if they slightly don't fit.

It's harder to sell all your designer jeans because since having three babies your body is trashed and hips and spread and ... uh, NOONE wants to see your crack at the playground.

You know what else? 

Selling all these things, to be sold out for Jesus, so Satan can't use your Kate Spade bag as a deterent to go do ministry work, because you are afraid one of them will steal your bag.

IT'S A BAG! 

Ya can't take it to heaven!!!!

So if you keep said bag, and it does get stolen.

 You have been brought to a place of true understanding, true rawness, of caring more about people and their hearts than your perfectly ensembled wardrobe and your bag. 

I think the hardest thing...

Is seeing people soooo consumed with these things when you realize, hey... a Gucci is just a bag, as much as this 20.00 seersucker diaperbag on my arm.

Your perspective changes, that stripping away of the things you thought that mattered, they help you see what truely matters. 

It's that phone call you never made.

Or that friend you thought about at a traffic light today but you didn't send her a "I was thinking about you text."

SO my beautiful personal highlight of 2013 was being sold out for Jesus. 

And for those of you who want proof... 

This is my closet. 

Sold out. Down to bare bones. 

And proud to rebuild the wardrobe only after I respect and rebuild my body.

2014.... I will be sold out for Jesus through intentional living. 

Please Join me.

What's your resolution?