As promised, this post is our images from our lifestyle photo session with the fabulous Rachel Coney! If i’m being honest, I’m not always the greatest at doing photo shoots. It can be a lot of work when you have multiple children! I always tend to over analyze how I look, how my kids are acting, and what kind of mood my husband will be in during the shoot. Lifestyle session is a different story!  It took so much stress off of me because we were all in our lounge wear just hanging out. We didn’t have to be super posed or stress about what we would wear. In fact, we were all barefoot!

Here are some of my favorites in color…

And a few black and whites, because who doesn’t love a good black and white? 😉

I hope you’ve enjoyed these, and maybe even been inspired to gather up your family and do a lifestyle photo shoot! You won’t regret it 🙂

Until next time! XOXO

Our Lincoln Hays is here! We woke up the morning of August 1st and headed to the hospital for our planned induction! I must say, a planned induction was pretty nice! When we got to the hospital they already had our room ready, and our nurse came in and started asking all her necessary questions. After SEVEN tries for an IV, we finally got one. (For some reason i’m always a hard patient to get an IV on, so we halfway expected a little trouble) They drew blood, ran labs, and ordered my antibiotics. Around 9:30 in the morning, my OB came by to check on me. I was already at a 4 cm and she said it was time to break my water. Right after she broke my water I told them I was ready for an epidural. I wasn’t feeling too much pain yet, and wasn’t really interested in changing that. 😉 Not too much longer the CRNA showed up to start the epidural. Zack actually got to stay in the room and watch the process. (I made sure to tell him he wasn’t allowed to make any comments regarding needle size, say phrases like oh my goodness, or ask any questions until the epidural was complete ) The epidural took a little longer to work than they were expecting, and I had to lay flat on my back for what seemed like forever. Have you ever laid flat on your back while 9 months pregnant? Ouch. But it finally started working! Not long after it started working, I started itching everywhere. The CRNA (who was very attentive and prompt) came in and switched the kind of medicine which solved the problem! Around 1:45pm I asked the nurse to check me. I was starting to feel a little more pressure and thought maybe it was go time. She checked and I was a 7cm. Darn! At 2:00pm my OB came back and asked how everything was. I told her I really thought it was time to push, but that the nurse had just checked me. She asked if I wanted her to check me again and I said yes. She did, and said it was definitely go time! She went and got the nurses and they started breaking down the bed and getting everything they needed out. At 2:21pm our precious baby boy was born! The hospital I delivered at has started a new thing, and immediately put him on my chest for 1 hour of skin to skin. So we let everyone know he was born, but didn’t have any stats on him yet and no one was allowed back in the room until the hour was up. After the hour, they weighed him, cleaned him up a little (although they’ve now also decided that a bath before they’re 6 hours old is a bad idea apparently) gave him his shots, did his footprints, and gave him back to us. It was finally time for all my babies to meet! My sister in law came in to take pictures of everyone’s reactions. Some were more thrilled than others 😉

Mommy and Lincoln

Daddy introducing Collier and Griffen to Lincoln. They immediately loved him and wanted to hold him.

Our poor Beckett didn’t understand at first… he said he didn’t want another baby and acted like his life was over. Life is hard when you’re 3 and your nap didn’t happen because mommy was in labor. Haha! (To all mommy’s worried about how their current children will react to their future children, stop worrying! Children adapt. Beckett now loves his brother and probably already doesn’t remember life before him. 😉 )

Beckett starting to come around, and Collier trying desperately to get Lincoln to open his eyes! He kept saying “Like this baby Lincoln” and opening and closing his own eyes.

Next up were the grandparents! (and not pictured, my sister in law… who is always behind the camera. We love you Rachel!)

Our very first family photo. (Which we had to give out gum in order to get them to smile for. Whatever works people, whatever works)

We had a great rest of the day. We got moved into our overnight room, had great nurses, doctors and caregivers (including Zack’s cousin who we were lucky enough to have as our nurse for the day after delivery) and got to go home after a 24 hour stay!

I can’t wait to share our lifestyle newborn pictures with you! Stay tuned and subscribe so that you’ll be up to date on when I post 🙂

As always, thanks for reading!

Whew! It’s been awhile since I’ve been back to write! The truth is, I’ve been struggling lately. I’m sure i’m not alone. It’s so hard to juggle all the things life requires of us. It’s hard to feel like i’m being enough for everyone who needs me. In the song “O Come to the Altar” it ask “Have you come to the end of yourself? Do you thirst for a drink from the well?” Yes! Then it says “Jesus is calling, O come to the Altar, the Father’s arms are open wide.” I think that’s exactly my problem. I haven’t been going to the well. How can I give to others if i’m not taking time for myself? If my cup is empty, how can I pour into others? Sometimes as moms, we have to remember to take time out to recharge. Not just physical time out, but mental and spiritual as well. Our Father’s arms are open wide to embrace us! Our spiritual health directly correlates with our attitude, and honestly my attitude lately has been rough. When we aren’t going to the Father to be fed, we aren’t feeding others well. So tonight I challenge you (and me) to head to the well. Spend time alone in prayer, asking God to remind you that you are enough. That he chose you to be those kid’s mommy, that man’s wife, in that position at work. Whatever it is that you’re feeling not enough for, you are. Sometimes we just need a little time out to be refreshed and tackle the day!

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Mark 1:35

PS: I haven’t forgotten about my “What’s in my hospital bag?” post! Stay tuned for that, and as always, thanks for reading!

*This post includes affiliated links*

Did you notice the new little tab at the top of my blog!? It’s almost time to expand our Entrusted brand and i’m like a kid in a candy store! 🙂

Zack and I have combined our passions for design and woodwork and we are finally taking the leap into a business! Entrusted design will include almost anything that involves wood, but for right now our primary focus is on our new adorable wooden signs! We have really been working hard the past couple of weeks to make sure we take all the proper steps in starting a business so that we are fully equipped to handle all your needs. We will be welcoming our little Lincoln in a few weeks and because of that we are not quite ready to open our online shop just yet but we hope you’ll stay tuned and get excited with us!

So, I’ve been needing a work space that I can leave a mess, and lock when necessary.  Our house doesn’t have an office, it just has a desk that’s in our kitchen. Not ideal with 3 young kiddos who want to “help” with painting, gluing, cutting, etc. & that’s when it came to me! We can turn the little closet under the stairs into my own mini Entrusted office! Being the only female in a house full of boys, I decided it would be the perfect little nook that was just for me. I had to really get creative and get as much function out of that tight space as possible. Once I had the plans in mind, Zack started building and I started decorating! We had so much fun and I wanted to share our space with you!

Amazon has tons of gold office supplies that is just too cute! And for a mommy who is usually surrounded by boy stuff, I “needed” it. Right?

• U Brands Desk Accessory Organization Kit, Rose Gold
• U Brands Hanging File Desk Organizer, Wire Metal, Gold
• Nate BerkusTM Limited Edition Swingline 747 Gold Stapler
• Nate Berkus Gold Desktop Organizer (Pack 1)

I got the sign, shelves and cork board from Hobby Lobby. Also found that adorable calendar from a free printable here, and the chair from IKEA.

… and now a sneak peek of our wooden signs! We are so excited about these and hope you love them as much as we do! You can hang them on your doors or walls. Our Lincoln’s will hang on his hospital door when he’s born and then be on his nursery wall after that!

Don’t forget to subscribe so you can be in the know for when you can have a sign of your own! We are so grateful for those who have “entrusted” us with your designs in the past, and we hope we continue to expand! 🙂 Have a great fourth of July weekend everyone!

*This post includes affiliate links.*

Persistence… in kids it can sometimes be viewed as a negative characteristic. People will say, “Man, he sure is persistent!” Or moms will say “She just will not stop!” But persistence in a biblical sense is everything. Persistence by definition means “firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.” Have you ever faced difficulty or opposition while trying to live out your course of action? Haha, Yeah, me too! But don’t you want to be known as someone who was persistent with the will of God? The Christian walk commands persistence. Endurance. Stamina. Perseverance. Constancy. We were never promised it would be an easy road. Did you know that before Jesus died on the cross he asked God if there was another way? In Mathew 26:39 & 42 he says “my father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me…” But he persisted. He pushed through it. He endured the cross so that you and I were free. Boy am I thankful for that kind of persistence! See once we find Gods plan for our lives, once we decide we are in, we are called to persist. We WILL face opposition, Satan WILL attack us while we try to further the kingdom of God, but with Gods help we also WILL persist. The Bible gives several examples of how we should act when we are faced with opposition. In Romans it tells us to be patient in affliction. (12:12) In Galatians it tells us not to become weary, for in proper time we will reap our harvest if we do not give up. (6:9) Revelations tells us that since we have endured patiently, we will not face the hour of trial. (3:10) Seeing the same pattern I am? It could take awhile guys… persist anyway. Let the spirit lead you. Talk through when you’re discouraged. Let others help you persist, but persist!

I feel unworthy to encourage this, as I promise I’m in the struggle to persistent just as you might be. But let’s choose to persist. Let’s make sure our motives are spirit driven, and let’s endure in spite of opposition. Just as we are called to do.

I will leave you with this word from Beth Moore’s entrusted bible study… (Page 151 in the study guide for those who have it)

” Pure persistence will carry you where no amount of talent, skill, aptitude, and experience can… persist.”

*This post contains affiliated links*

What do they call it? Champagne taste on a beer budget? That’s me. I LOVE for things to look nice, but I HATE spending money. Since we are a one income family, I try to stay innovative and do things as cheaply as possible. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and spend the money, but other times it’s so fun to see what you can do for as cheap as possible! When we first built our house, I went through THREE different breakfast nook designs. It took me forever to get a vision. Because of that, I don’t recommend tackling a project until you have a clear vision of what you want it to look like. TIP: Find a quiz online to help determine your design style. Pick a few items you love and design around them.

So here’s my before.

I loved the light that was hanging there, but because my area was longer than it was wide, and the light barely put off any light, it had to go. So my TIP for lighting is to pay attention to the amount of light it puts off, and also to the shape of your room when picking lighting for a specific spot. Be intentional, don’t just find a light you love and try to make it work.

And here’s my after…

Granted, I know the before picture is not a great shot. But a big part of that is lighting. So this light was hanging in my dining room, and again was one of those “I love this light, but it’s not perfect for this space” situations.  Suddenly, I had an idea. It took some convincing to my husband, but he decided to let me get a new dining room light and we moved this one to the kitchen. What a difference it made immediately. He also built me the window bench that you see in the background and pictured below.That helped to center up my light and provided more seating! I sketched out what I want and he made it come to life.The tops open up for storage and the middle provided a space for dog bowls without worrying about them being kicked and knocked over.

Next, we needed a table. We loosely based our table from these plans . Picking a stain was a challenge for me at first. Our kitchen cabinets are a dark stain, and I knew I wanted black to be worked in somewhere. I created a mixture using jacobean and classic gray from minwax and I loved the way it turned out! The legs of the table are Sherwin Williams antique white. TIP here is to paint the legs BEFORE you put the top on. So much easier… especially if you happen to have a big baby belly in front of you. 😉

Because I have 3 kiddos, I love the idea of the metal chairs. I found these at overstock and they have a lot of options/pricing!

Now that the fundamentals were in place, it was time to decorate! I felt like the window valance that I had before just kind of brought the room down. Something about it wasn’t working for me. I wanted something above the window so that it had a more finished look, but I didn’t necessarily want to draw attention up there. So I had the idea to just build one, stain it, and slap it up there. We just took at 1×8 pine board, cut it at a 45 degree angle to accommodate sides, added stain and called it good! Less than $15 for a window treatment just made my heart (and wallet) smile. 🙂

For wall art I painted a piece of ply wood we had with the paint I used for the table legs, framed it out with some extra trim pieces that I stained, and used the scroll saw to make the letters “EAT” which I spray painted black!

There are millions of tutorials and pictures of these shelves on pinterest .  

It is important to know you do have to buy three parts for the pipe. There’s the flange that is against the wall, the actual pipe, and the end cap. TIP we used for ours is to just take mineral oil and wipe them down. That eliminates the black stuff you get on your hands from touching pipe. I’m sure there’s some technical name for that, but we aren’t here for technicalities, right? Ha!

I got that Give Thanks Printable for free from Shanty sisters and found an empty frame laying around my house! The plant and container are from IKEA!The cute little “6” sign represents the number of people currently in our family, including the belly, and was purchased at hobby lobby. I added a few cookbooks(Double Delicious: Good, Simple Food for Busy, Complicated Livesthis particular one gives TIPS on how to hide veggies in recipes so kids don’t know it) I already had up there and Ta-da! Cheap shelf decor done!

I hope you’ve enjoyed getting a look inside my breakfast nook & I hope you’re inspired to challenge yourself! Remember, it doesn’t take a lot of money to make your space happy!

Questions? Email cris@entrustedmom.com, comment below, or find me on facebook or instagram!

Anyone else have a kid that you can’t tell the plan to until right before it happens? A kid whose world ends if there’s a shift in the plans? That’s my Griffen. He comes by it honesty, as his mama doesn’t like for plans to change either. The problem with telling Griffen a plan ahead of time is that plans change. People cancel. Weather happens. Life isn’t predictable. But Griffen (and me) like predictability. If Griffen knows a plan too far in advance, he can’t enjoy himself until the plan is set in motion. (And heaven forbid it doesn’t work out as planned!) As his parents, we had to learn early on that it just makes our world go more smoothly if we tell Griffen the plan on a need to know, and about to happen basis. I think that’s how God is with us. The bible clearly states that God knows the plans he has for us (Jeremiah 29:11) and that they are plans not to harm us, but to give us hope and a future. But sometimes that’s not enough for us. We, in our human flesh, want to know what those plans are. Why specific things are happening when they are, and why other things aren’t . Personally, I think that God doesn’t reveal his whole plan so that we don’t miss out on the now. If the Gaines family (because who doesn’t love the Gaines family?) knew how big the Magnolia brand was going to become, would they have enjoyed the road it took to get there? Sure we think if we only knew the end results, we wouldn’t sweat the details but guys… we DO know the end result.

“Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Maybe that’s why God gives us what we need daily, and not more. His mercies are new every morning, not every month. (Lamentations 3:23) So today, if you are feeling unsettled about the plans God has for you, seek him. Just as we know Griffen can live easier if we don’t bog him down with future plans, your creator knows what you need. Ask him.  He will give you what you need

… even if it’s just for today.

** If you enjoyed my design post with Lincoln’s nursery, stay tuned for one on my breakfast nook! Don’t forget to subscribe to be emailed (only) when I post a new blog post! 🙂

Hello!

Since i’ve gained a few more followers I thought an introduction post might be fun! My name is Cris, i’m a wife of almost 8 years and a mommy of 5 years. I have 3 little boys… Griffen is 5, Beckett is 3 1/2, Collier is 2, and i’m currently about 8 weeks away from delivering my fourth boy, Lincoln! Everyone always wants to know if we were trying for a girl. The truth is, while we would love to adopt a little girl one day to add to this crazy clan (a story for another blog post i’m sure. 😉 ) we just really always wanted at least 4 kids. God chose for them to all be male. My husband grew up an only child and wanted a big family, and I grew up with one older brother and always wanted a lot of kiddos to call me mom. I always knew early on that I wanted to be a stay at home mom, and told Zack very early into dating that it was my plan. God has really blessed that, and while it’s taken some sacrifices from both me and Zack, so far we’ve made it work. We have 1 puppy, Bree, who’s a 7 year old Maltese/Yorkie mix. About 2 years ago, while I was in a broken, lonely, no fun place I started to really seek out God’s purpose for my life. I grew up in church and was saved early on, but was never super consistent with keeping a close relationship with Jesus. I can’t say enough about the importance of an actual relationship with your Savior. Literally life changing.  Throughout my journey through motherhood I’ve always had moments of thinking “that would be a good blog somewhere” but never thought I was capable of being the somewhere. Having a blog was (and still is) a scary thought for me for a few reasons. One reason is that it leaves you vulnerable. I never want to come across like I have it all together… believe me, one look at my boys messy faces and you’ll see that I don’t! I want to be relatable, fun, real and honest. I struggle with all of the same things other mom’s struggle with, and this blog is just a place for me to talk it out with you. Never to judge, or preach. Please believe me when I say that my intent for this blog is just a safe place for moms to know they’re not alone. I also want you to know that when I do post, I pray multiple times over my words. I would never want to harm the kingdom of God, misrepresent who Christ is, misrepresent who I am, or make you feel less than. Ever. EVERY time I post I study through Gods word, pray about what i’m writing, and typically have someone in my family read through my draft to approve before posting. I can’t even count the amount of times I have typed a whole page and “moved it to trash” because it didn’t feel right. My hope for this blog is for it to be a place I can be creative, speak truth, share my love for design, share Jesus, and share the joys (and sorrows) of motherhood. Thanks so much for reading, and if you want to, i’d love for you to pray for and encourage me just as I will do for you! <3

Rachel Coney Photography 

*This post includes affiliated links*

Today i’m switching up the blog and dipping into my love for design! My husband (Zack) and I love to build things together and I love to decorate! For this blog, i’ll feature our newest addition’s nursery! Lincoln is due early August and we can’t wait until he’s filling these walls with baby coo’s and laugher!

I’m new at this, but below I will try to list out specific details of where I got certain items. You should be able to just click on the word of the item i’m mentioning to get to the link if you want to purchase! I hope you all enjoy this post, and I look forward to being able to incorporate my love for wood working projects and design into my little blog 🙂 So grateful to all my readers. Don’t forget to subscribe so you can know when I post!

*I got this lamp at target and just loved it! It had a broken piece on it that was barely noticeable so I even got a discount. My favorite! Those Adorable little ceramic animals on the dresser were found at target also! And very affordable!

* His Drapes are from IKEA. Clearly, they’re a little long. I’m working on sweet talking someone into coming and hemming them 😉 I got the Curtain rod from Target. I loved the industrial look of it and thought it was a great addition!

*This Dresser is from Ashley’s furniture! I took the legs off to make it a bit shorter and easier for diaper changes! The wire basket actually came from Kroger of all places! I loved that it was shallow and didn’t stick out too far to make diaper changes hard.

* Clock is from Hobby Lobby, along with most of the things hanging above the crib. In that metal frame is a page from my nanny’s bible. She was very dear to me and it meant a lot to be able to have a little piece of her in the nursery.

*I actually tackled these Turn buckle shelves on my own, thanks to this super easy tutorial from the Shanty sisters!

*I put most of toys in this unfinished crate which I originally planned on staining but now I think it might work just the way it is. I kind of like the mix of wood colors in his room! All of my boys have loved this B. Zany Zoo Wooden Activity Cube , and i’m sure Lincoln will be no exception! For all boy moms, we love the Little Blue Truck board book! They have about 3 or 4 and they’re so cute with sweet little lessons.

*Nana found these personalized changing pad cover and offered to buy him one. Isn’t it adorable?

* This Wall Decor wall hanging wool made animal head Head (Elephant) is sold at pickles and ice cream if you’re local, but also can be found on amazon. All of my boys nursery’s have had a blanket made by one of my sweet friends mom. Every time i’m pregnant she text me and asked for my nursery colors, it’s become a staple for us! His bedding was custom made from pickles and ice cream in Little Rock.

Special thank you to my sister in law, Rachel Coney of Rachel Coney photography for coming to take the pictures! If you’re local (Arkansas) check her out!