A Christmas Forest Part 1

my mom, dad and I being our normal, crazy selves

Was your Christmas fabulous this year? What happened? Any belly laughing stories? I have missed my little blogging circle of readers and friends this past week. Sorry I've been so quiet. I have so much to blog about it feels like I don't know where to start! I'll just start here and maybe throw in some recent random happenings for ya, later this coming week (hopefully). ;-)

Our Christmas in Dallas was so much fun! My parents were THRILLED beyond words to get to spend so much time with the little Forest man. Of course they loved spending time with us, but ya know how it is...grandbabies are the bomb. ;) My aunt, cousins and grandparents were all taken away to the wonderful land of baby love with Káel's lovey blinks and flirty smirks. Especially my dad. Oh my goodness, he was smitten entirely. It was wonderful. I laugh so hard every time my family gets together. If it's possible, they bring out even more craziness in me.

I have to say I have never been more in love with my baby. I almost can't stand it. I LOVE being his momma. Just sitting here thinking about it, my insides get all warm and fuzzy and my heart feels like it will explode from love. My little fella has become my wee small buddy these past two weeks, bursting into smiles after I make eyes at him from across the room. *happy sigh*

It was so neat to think that this was Káel's first experience with Christmas carols, lights and snow. This little guy has so much wonderfulness to enjoy!

The holidays this year have truly been much more tender, and special now that we have our little dude to celebrate with. He really has made Christmas extra bright and glowy.

my mom's tree was AMAZING - a classy woodland snowy tree

my sweet and lovely cousin sarah

my awesome aunt jac

sam with my cousins, sarah and heather

Our cool little dude, with my cousin heather

Winner!

Yay! Bekah from My Little Loves has won the L'oved Baby giveaway! So excited for you girl! L'oved Baby is the best! Send me an email with your address so these goodies can come to your door. Sorry I am a day late in posting the winner. Yesterday was a day of goodbyes and traveling back home. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Looking forward to the New Year and all it's beauties!

Another Petunia Pickle Bottom Giveaway is starting Thursday! Be sure and not miss it!

Christmas Eve

Here are a few pics from our little cabin's Christmas trimmings. I made lots of hymnal paper ornaments and even a star last year and decided to use them again this year. I added a few extra things here and there, which I will show you when we get back from Dallas.

Little woodland boy decided to touch his toes for the first time while I was putting the finishing touches on our tree and hanging up our last Christmas cards! As any obsessed mommy would do, I grabbed my camera and was able to get some sweet pics of the historical moment. Mmmm...I LOVE my little man! I love that this is his first Christmas! Those happy melodies about jingly bells and the snow man that comes alive, are his FIRST to ever hear and giggle to... Such an exciting time for our little Forest Káel.

I ventured out 3 days before Xmas Eve to our most crazy mall. Yes, it was hectic. But, I kinda liked it. Pretty much every one was in a good mood, so I felt all warm and fuzzy. Sam snapped a pic of me before I walked out the door. I was ready for the long lines, backed up red lights and endlessly filled parking garages. I sang Christmas carols super loudly in the car on my way over and didn't care this time if I was in key or not. It's Christmas time and I was through with stressing about silly little things that won't amount to a drop in a bucket 5 years from now. Sometimes you have to choose to get in the mood for the holidays. I did, and am.

We are having a blast here in big D! Tonight, as we picked up some Pei Wei take out, several tables busted out singing, "Jingle Bells" and a couple other Christmas Carols . I loved it! I was a nut, swinging my arms and singing loudly with my mom as she and I traveled over to get our much craved glass of Chai and Orange Spice tea.

Happy Christmas Eve loves!

More to come later in the day... Don't forget to check out the cool giveaway HERE from L'oved Baby!

holiday update

Our Xmas card this year! (our FIRST one!)

Merry Christmas all you lovelies! Sam, Káel and I are in Dallas, my beloved home town. We are here with my folks, grandparents, aunt and cousins for the holidays and will be posting some sweet pics of our little adventures each night we are here.

I hope you all are enjoying your holiday time. All you momma's, friends and loves, relax enough to enjoy the little moments this week. Hold on to those sweet smiles, hugs and happy tunes. Don't worry about money, stresses and who is getting and not getting along with who. Let yourself let go and not care. Just enjoy yourself, fully and wonderfully.

Love to your hearts.

Jess, Sam and Káel

Giveaway!

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

CONGRATULATIONS BEKAH!

Hello Lovelies! Guess what!? One of my favorite of all time baby clothing/nursing wear companies contacted me this week and is sponsoring this week's GIVEAWAY! L'oved Baby is offering one of their amazing nursing shawls of any color of your choice and a pair of their signature pants in "grand sand" color. Celebrities such as Halle Berry, Brook Shields and many more sport their nursing covers and baby wear from L'oved Baby.

The first outfit Káel ever wore right after he was born was a L'oved baby set. You can see it below. It is SO sweet! I don't think I can ever part with it.

What I love about their products is that they are well made and simple. The colors that are offered make them GREAT for layering, which every boho mama loves. I'm a layering queen, so why not for my baby? One more thing, then I'll tell you how you can enter the giveaway: the baby hats are THE cutest! They fit in the most darling way I've seen. L'oved Baby was my favorite, way before they approached me, so my love is for reals. I'm not just going on and on because they asked me too. :) You should totally check them out and put a thing or two in your shopping cart for your little munchkin or another sweet pea you might know!

Below are some pics of what you can win: the signature pants, that have "L'oved Baby" written across the tushy ;) and on top of that, one of their nursing shawls that can be used for multiple uses, such as a blanket, car seat cover and pump cover AND, you get to pick that in any color you want! (I like the gray one. *wink*)

STEP 1: For your first entry, enter and set yourself up for some great deals in the future by liking them on facebook HERE and tell me that ya did.

STEP 2: Leave a happy comment, once a day for extra entries. :)

I will announce the winner on Monday!

Reality TV Meets Jess

in the limo going to the premier of the show!

they let me be me, and i love them for that. 

Scott, me Monika and Kim! Kim, the far right is the senior producer for the show and a dear friend of my heart. Dang, some of the sweetest, coolest people.  They were just like our family by the time our wedding rolled along. I love you guys. 

Fast forward many moons...haha. Well, there was no doubt to everyone that we were enjoying married life. ;) Can you say BUMP alert? At the premier of the show at the studios in Dallas in April. I went straight up after 5 boho. Thank you Isabel Oliver for making THE most comfortable maternity dress. 

One of the editors and one of my dear friends, Monika admiring my bumpiness

My parents and I at the premier

Have you ever wondered what it would really be like to be on a reality TV show and what goes on behind the scenes. Well, I got to find that out for myself last summer. My man just got the episode from the tv show that I was on, edited down to youtube size. So, I thought I would share it with you guys. Did I mention that we were featured on a wedding reality tv show last year? It was a super fun experience and I came out of it with some dear new lifelong loves and friends. The show was on WE (women's entertainment tv) and is called, "Girl Meets Gown".

When most people find out that we were on tv they are like, "How in the world did you manage to get on there?" I always answer with the reply that I really didn't do anything in particular. My mom and I some weeks before my wedding were encouraged to go wedding dress shopping after the prodding of my my now sister in love, who was a wedding dress consultant at the time. We stopped by the only wedding salon that was open at 4:30 pm on a Sunday evening and everything just played out. They must have gotten a kick out of me because I received an email that week telling me that WE was filming a new reality tv series there and they thought I would be perfect for it. My first reaction was to laugh. Seriously? Then my next reaction was, "I'm NOT going to be on some crazy bridezilla show." No thank you. They assured me it was a tame, true to life show and gave me the pilot episode to view. It was sweet. After talking to Sam about it and my fam, I thought, "Why not? It'll be an adventure." It was. I loved it. We had a BLAST.

It was really funny when they asked us to come in for a "casting interview" to get us approved from the big wigs in New York. The producer looked at me very intrigued, because I didn't quite fit the typical "Texan" image. Mind you this was a show about TEXAN brides in Dallas. They were having the stereotype in their brains that Texan brides go around wearing cowboy hats, wearing Wranglers garnished with shiny tipped boots. Which some do and I love that. But my cowgirl days are long gone and after traveling the world, living in California and digging into my hippie roots, my style was not your typical Dallas Diva look. No bling please. That's the first time I got labeled as a Texas Gypsy. She loved it. Needless to say New York said, yes and that began a series of shoots that lasted the rest of the summer. I made some friendships that are very precious to me from the whole experience.

We were aired on the first episode of the season with 2 other stories. It's pretty awesome because I have a very cool part of our story documented in a very cool way. The show still airs periodically on WE network. I still get stopped by gals every once in a while, asking if I was on a wedding show. It seems like forever ago. But, having a baby does things like that I suppose. It warps time. :) 

Free Bird!

Sparrow is home from the hospital everyone! Yay! She had her echo done yesterday and then got to fly away home to her momma and papa's nest. Happy doesn't begin to describe the feeling her family has right now! Thank you for all the prayers and love you sent their way. I'll be seeing little birdy love on Thursday and promise to try and include some pics. Muah! Thank you loves. Little sweet Sparrow gets to celebrate her first Christmas at home with her family! I love miracles like this.

Guest Post on Sometimes Sweet

I did a guest DIY post on Sometimes Sweet. I decorated my home with these last year and thought it would be a simple fun project. Dani just had her sweet little boy Henry who is adorable beyond belief. Her blog is one of my absolute favs. If you're not already following her, you totally should. Check it out and get some vintage love inspiration.

Click HERE to see the post.

Sparrow's Lullaby

Remember when I told you Sam and I had date night last month to see our friends play a gig at the Muse? Well, this is from that amazing night. Mark and Jessie singing their baby girl, Sparrow's lullaby. She is doing better and is a little trooper. You can read an update from Jessie on her blog HERE. Yesterday Jessie got to hold baby Song and feed her for the first time since her surgery! Sparrow woofed it down. Way to go sweet girl!

Mark Mathis: Sparrow's Lullaby from Edfield Pictures on Vimeo.

Sparrow Song

Hello lovelies. We just got back from 2 weeks of flying and snowy car rides. So sorry for the big gap in posts.

Many of you who have been reading for a while know about my dear friend Jessie Mathis' little baby girl named Sparrow Song. She was born with a congenital heart defect and the doctors told her parents that she would need 3 open heart surgeries by the time she was 3 years old. Her first surgery was in her first week of life and it was very successful. Her second one is scheduled for tomorrow morning Wednesday, December 8th at 7am.

Sparrow is an amazing little girl and has the sweetest little spunky personality. She is 3 months old now. When Sparrow had her first surgery, we all were worried like crazy and prayed our hearts out. This time around it hits so much deeper. Now, I KNOW Sparrow. She's not just my friend's little baby girl anymore, she's nestled her little smile deep inside my heart. I loved her then because she was theirs. Now, I love her because I know her. She is the little sweetie that gives me flirty smirks and lovey blinks when I go to have hang days with her momma. She's the little girl who giggles and coos, talking to everything and anyone who will listen. She loves the colors yellow, orange and red, the color of lions and she totally is a girl of fashion. *wink, wink* She's a little rock star. Her song has been reaching bunches of people since her momma found out she was coming and will continue to kiss their hearts her whole life long.

Please keep Sparrow and the Mathis family in your prayers tomorrow and the next couple of weeks. They are believing that Sparrow will get to be discharged from the hospital and come home for her first Christmas. She recovered from her first surgery with flying colors and we all are praying for an even faster and stronger one this time around. She won't have to have another operation until she is 3 so, this will be a nice long stretch of calm for her and her family once this mountain is conquered.

Jessie will be staying up at the hospital for all of little Song's recovery. She's an amazing and avid vintage crocheting queen and will be keeping her hands and mind busy by filling orders that are grace by old treasured buttons. If you would so wish to place an order or send some encouraging thoughts or prayers to her, visit her blog and drop her a note. Or, send them to me and I'll forward them to her.

Here's a little recap of Sparrow Song's journey

she was born with an amazing little head of silvery blonde hair.

After her surgery. You can see the bandage over her little chest.

last night in the hospital!

First day home. Big brother Noah, meeting for the first time his little sister.

Little cupcake, nothings gonna stop her.

Little woodland babies, Sparrow and Forest

I totally recommend Jess' blog. She sees life in an amazing way and is very inspiring to my own heart. She's been one of my greatest influences and one of my dearest friends since my own adventure into prego/momminess began.

Follow up with her story and thought provoking insights:

MATHIS MIRACLE BABY BLOG

Below are some of Jessie's knits. (They start at around$30)

Jessie and baby girl. Sparrow's completely off oxygen and her feeding tube now! Yay!

Helpin' momma.

Thank you guys so much! If you want to spread the word to your friends or post on your blog a little tid bit about miss Sparrow Song, I think that would be AMAZING. I'll keep you updated on my twitter the moments I hear updates from Jessie and her family. Mark, Jessie's husband has a band called Public Radio and has his music available for free download HERE if you want to take a listen. Follow the link and download it for free.

Much Love,

Jess