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?

6 months Old

Half a year with this sweet baby has come and gone and time just seems to slip away.

Once we were able to get our reflux under control this baby has been happy, happy, happy. (thanks uncle si)

He is in a size 3 diaper, drinks a 4-6 ounce bottle every 3 hours.

He has started eating a variety of baby food we have begun making.

Loves; apples, carrots and peas, bananas, and avocados!

And I am not sure these brothers could look any less alike! haha

Happy 6 months sweet Angel!

Tennessee Christmas

Christmas was crazy busy this year!!

With three we were doing good to keep up with each child all morning!

So much fun and so thankful for videos and cameras to help me remember the blur of a day!

I am ohhhhh so thankful we were able to stay home this christmas holiday and be able to get some much needed work done around the house. 

I will let the pictures speak for themselves. 

Hope you and yours had a fabulous holiday season sharing memories with those you love. 

This year we stuck pretty closely to the a need, a want, something to read and an experience.

I am so glad we are taking the shift off of the gifts and focusing on the reason we celebrate this holiday.

little baby was all about his teething rings!

We spent the afternoon organizing closets and finishing unpacking the house from moving in. 

(Can't wait to show you some of our progress!)

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Christmas Handtowel Tutorial Repost

Hey there! 

It's been quite a while since I have shared a diy craft with yall and Everyone that comes in just loves these hand towel!

This would be a great project for you to do with some girlfriends, or even as teacher gifts!

The first and most important thing to remember with this craft is to not complicate the items. 

You will need:

*any type of hand towel, 

(I found mine at target in a 2 pack for I think $3.99)

*scrap fabrics

*sewing machine or fabric glue

*some ribbon

*straight pins

1. First thing I did was trace a quarter for the berries, cut out my triangles for my trees, rectangles for the stumps, then I googled holly leaf and freehanded a shape.

(you can always print off some clipart, cut it out and use it as your pattern)

2. Pin down the design and zig zag the design onto the towel

Note: if you do not have a sewing machine or cannot sew you can purchase fabric glue and put a thin layer of glue on the pieces and attach them to the towel.

3. Attach either a ribbon or ric rac to the bottom edge of the towel.

These would make great little teachers gifts, or a happy for a friend. 

Can't wait to see and hear what you come up with!

Grey Skies Clearing Up! Kitchen Happy Face

SO... when you find out bad news what does any anxious new homeowner do???

Spruce up your 1978 kitchen!!!!

With Black Friday come and gone, we decided to take full advantage of some of the deals on appliances.

There is SOOOOO much out there and sooooo many reviews to read and determine what you want. 

We looked at Sears, HH Gregg, Home Depot, and Lowe's. 

After reading about 2 weeks of reviews and examining pieces we decided to start with the back wall of kitchen appliances first and move out from there!

The first appliance we decided to start with was the dishwasher.

I knew I wanted a flat panel dishwasher, (to keep connor's pesky fingers from starting the dishwasher 15 times a day, UGH, haha)  it needed to be a tall tub to accomodate pots and pans, and the silverware holder in the door.
(picky i know)

We love it!
It is Whisper Quiet and we found a great deal on it at Lowe's the week before thanksgiving.

Now that we have an established "name brand" if you will; we went ahead and purchased the Whirlpool Gold over the range microwave.

We do not plan to use the microwave over the range for long. 

We will need to rebuild the cabinet containting the double oven to accomodate this appliance and add in a warming drawer. 

Trying to find cabinet builders who can build what we are needing. 

(if you are local please leave a comment if you have a person so i can contact them)

The next thing we went ahead and selected was a Beverage Refridgerator.

All three of these appliances have been installed and the beverage cooler is loaded up with my pellegrino and la croix waters!!! 

I told this fridge was only for when mommy and daddy's friends come over so they don't go and indulge themselves in my grapefruit waters (ie ruthie get over here for some la croix!)

Okay.... next up is fridge, backsplash and hardware.

Need your help and input...

side by side fridge?

french door fridge? (this is what I think I want)

Cabinet guys (local people)

Thank yall in advance!

New House Woes

We have found out some things since moving into the house. 

This has been the biggest reason for a blogging hold up! 

Dealing with One problem after another!!! 

Like... the home warranty we wanted needed to cover the hvac, mainly because it's from 1978, and people didn't double check and make sure that was included. So we now have a home warranty that covers nothing! 

Like when the toilet flooded and messed up some Sheetrock and carpet, it only covers plumbing not secondary damage. 

The microwave was broken when we moved in. (Heating element went out)

And the whole sink, faucet, and kitchen plumbing was dry rotted and just needed to be entirely replace. 

And my favorite.... Upstairs heat won't come on, "needs further review" well, pilot light wasn't lit and the exhaust from the furnace was causing a major co2 leak. Awesome!!!!! 

Like call up the fire department, evacuate while they are fully suited up for them to check the dangerous fumes. 

$200.00 later on the top of the line Kidde smoke/co2 detectors and secondary co2 detectors.

 

Then..... The master bath had some noticable "patch" spots of grout. Come to find out.... 

Everything has to be gutted to the studs because it's all installed improperly and the ceiling in the den needs to come down and be repaired. 

AWESOME!!!!!

And no one seems to care!!!

I am strongly considering getting my real estate liscense so I don't have to have a "middle man" this next go around! 

Ahhhhh now. The "dust" of the newness on this house has settled and we are starting to prioritize the problems and tackle them one at a time. 

So... What I need from you wonderful readers it's Lots and Lots of reviews and feedback on everything from new hvac, companies to go with, type of system you used.

What your favorite things are in bathroom redesigns. (We know we want the basket weave accent tile) 

Best stove top, double wall ovens, and what French door refrigerator you have. 

Granite sink? Stainless sink? Apron front? 2 compartments or just one big one? 

Keep mixing nickle and oil rub bronze? 

Just forget it all and start working in the flower beds? 

I think this is worse than building from the ground up! 

And thank you in advance for all your help!!!! We need lots of people's input because all these decisions while running/ growing the Preppie Peonie, and hubby traveling and 3 kids 5 and under and I am WORN OUT!!! 

Love y'all! 

Five Months Old

Somehow I missed documenting 5 months. Found the pictures today so I thought I would get them uploaded!

Back to God's Country

One of my sweet college roommates invited us to join them for a tailgate for the Alabama vs. Tennessee game. 

We haven't been to tuscaloosa for a gameday weekend since Anna Caroline was 18 months old. 

We were way overdue a gameday visit!!

We knew going into the stadium with 3 little ones was likely a nightmare so we just went to the quad to tailgate and head back to the house to watch the game and let the kids play. 

Standing behind Casey is one of his good friends from college, Tim. We got to meet their sweet baby and get to catch up with him and his wife! 

The kids were over the moon to get to listen to the band warm up and hear the cheerleaders sing the fight songs!

Whitty just sat around hanging out. Trying to figure out what all these crazy bamer's were doing!

Roll Tide y'all!

BTW... have y'all seen Dixie Delights PRECIOUS roll tide printables??

YOU MUST GO DOWNLOAD THEM FOR YOUR TAILGATES!!!