My Pirate Birthday Boy

My beautiful friend Kara snapped this picture at the party and it's my new favorite! 

My little handsome pirate had the best time at his party yesterday! So many of our dear friends came out and celebrated with us making it even more special! We love all you guys SO much! Today is his actual birthday and we welcomed it with balloons, hugs and cuddles! I can't wait to share the video, pictures and tales of the day! It's amazing thinking back at myself a year ago, before all this sunshine was poured into our lives. Thank you Jesus for giving us our little boy, even when we weren't expecting him. Forest boy is our greatest treasure.

I love you my little adventurer. You are our most wonderful dream and being your momma is the most magical thing in the world! 

Designs, Doodles and Drawings: David Stanfield

For this wonderful Friday, I wanted to share the designs of a friend of ours, David Stanfield! David is my dear friend Lorean's husband and Micah Lyric is their baby girl. He is an incredible designer and artist and he just put a selection of his drawings online.  You can purchase either a print, hoodie or t-shirt design. I'm so excited about this! I'm looking forward to getting a couple of prints! Check him out and enjoy! A lovely Friday to you dears!

Click HERE to see more of his amazing work! :)

Lists

Lists, lists, lists...and MORE lists. I don't do well with electronic lists. For some strange reason I have to write my lists down, on real paper, with a real pen, for it to actually be usable to me. I spent an hour last night, compiling several lists of things that I still need to purchase, make, create and organize for Káel's birthday party, this Sunday afternoon. I LOVE this stage of party planning when everything comes together and my vision starts to become visible! The fact that my little boy is actually turning 1 has just started to hit me, in the last couple of days. I've cried a lot and found myself watching all the old videos of him from the last year, over and over, always ending with me wiping my eyes. Growing up is so amazing, but the time that my little boy was and is a baby, is only a sliver of his life and I feel like it went too fast. Did I savor every adoring coo and smile as I rocked him to sleep? Will I remember the way he felt, sleeping on my chest 5 years from now? Sigh. No more sappy sadness Jess, it's time to party! My little adventurer is this much closer to exploring life and the world he lives in!

To my lists! I'm going to try and get a big chunk knocked out before my folks get here around 3. Eeeeee!!!! Have a fantastic day! Maybe, scribble out a list? ;)

xo
Jess 

A Day With Micah Lyric

I got to spend all day with one of my favorite baby girls yesterday, Miss Micah Lyric. Káel LOVES playing with her and I can never get enough of her little nose scrunches. ;) Her momma found out the night before that they needed her to film as an extra for the Hunger Games, the next morning and day. When she called me that night, I squealed so loud! How exciting is THAT!!??? Several of my girlfriends and I had made a pact with each other, if one of us got "the" call we would happily watch the other's babies. Eeeeee! I'm so excited! While Micah's momma was on set, we had fun playing games.  She and Káel had adventures in my backyard finding leaves and twigs, sampling each one of course. ;) While Forest boy was napping, I snapped a couple pictures of her sweet little self. I love you Micah bean!

My mom and dad come in town tomorrow btw, and I am beyond excited!  They haven't been up to see us since Káel was around 3 months old! I can't wait to show them around our new neck of the woods and hang out in our new house! There will be lots of birthday party prep over the next few days and to have my folks here is the biggest treat ever. PLUS, my Gran (who is a faithful follower of my blog, I love you Gran!) is flying in on Sunday for the big bash! Yay!  I'll try and check in a few times before the party on Sunday.  Don't think I've forgotten about doing my weight loss post, I am hoping to get it finished in the next week. (hopefully!)

Have the most lovely of the loveliest today! 

Sparrow's Birthday Dolly: Part 2

So, the night before the party, while I was up making Sparrow's dolly some green boots, (to see Part 1 post click HERE) I noticed some pretty tule fabric in my bag from Sam's grandma.  I knew that Sparrow would be wearing a pink, girly tu-tu dress with pink, sparkly, Tiny Toms at her birthday bash.  That's when a thought was dropped into my mind by the sewing fairies! ;) She needs a ballerina outfit! YES! My girly colors where flying, as I sat there on the couch, making the cutest little vintage tu-tu with a pale blue ribbon to tie it off at the back of the waist. Then came the slippers. Sigh. After I was finished, I decided to dress her in this dancer outfit  and wrap her coat and boots separately. 

Jessie, Sparrow's mommy, is one of my dearest friends and one of the most creative people that I know. She uses pages of old story books for cards and sweet notes. I've been adopting this practice  ever since she gave me one, after Káel was born last year.  I found this connect the dot page from a children's activity book, from 1954 and thought it would be perfect! I wrote our message along the lines... *squeal* :) Next time you are at the thrift store and you see a 40 cent old children's book...grab it and try this sweet little idea out on a friend. :) 

Btw, I almost NEVER use wrapping paper to wrap a gift. I always figure using some pretty fabric is more fun and quaint. Then, whoever is receiving the gift can reuse it for a project or another gift! :) Old sheets are a great, cheap idea. That's what I used for this. 

Reading her card. Um...excuse me, but do you see what she is wearing!? Look at that little princess headdress? Paaaaaalease!!! When I walked into their house, I squealed so loud! She was her mommy's daughter. Feather funk and all! 

They meet for the first time. It was precious.

Seeing her open up her present and smile, with that sweet little miss smirk, made my heart soar to heaven. I have tears in my eyes right now, just thinking about last year and all the prayers and tears we all shared with Jessie and her family as Sparrow, the miracle baby, came out of her first surgery, strong and brave. Sparrow had another open heart surgery 3 months later and will have one more when she is around 3. She is a total kiss from Jesus and I adore her with all my heart! Many of you may remember reading my post, where I talked about her story. If you haven't read it and would like to you can click here to read the beginning of her story and HERE! This little darlin' is the toughest, sweetest sugar ever!

Happy birthday little bird. I love you so much!
xo auntie jess

Thank you for voting for us lovelies! 

Sparrow's Birthday Dolly: Part 1

Here she is! The sewing project that I was working on this past week!  A very special little baby bird, Sparrow Song Mathis, had her first birthday party yesterday and to celebrate I made her this dolly.  Not only was it a day to celebrate her birthday, it was also the 1 year anniversary of her coming out of her first open heart surgery. It was a double celebration! Every girl needs a handmade friend to have adventures and tea parties with, don't they?  ;)

I had the most enjoyable and fun time crafting this pretty little thing.  I looked around online and found a few dolls that I liked, picked out some vintage fabrics that I had in my collection and made my own pattern. The ribbons and trims are from my grandma on Sam's side of the family. She gave me a few bags full of sewing goodies last Christmas that she had from the 50's and 60's. It was fabulous! I'm thinking about making a few more of these little beauties. Maybe even a little boy one, with suspenders for Káel!? Eeee! I used to make dolls all the time, before I moved away to school, got married and became a mommy. I'm kinda thinking that it might make a comeback in my life. ;)

I took some pictures along the way, as I stitched and pinned, so you could see.  Tomorrow, I'll be posting a few more pictures of her, in another outfit that I made, especially for the birthday girl's party and some pictures of Sparrow opening her surprise!!! Enjoy beauties!

I just guessed and tweaked my drawn on pattern as I went. No mistakes in creating...just happy accidents. ;)

The easiest way to sew doll arms and legs is to trace or draw your pattern directly onto the fabric, pin and then sew along the lines...THEN cut them out. It will take you several more frustrated minutes if you cut it out before you stitch it up. 

This sewing machine has been my friend since I was 13. Kenmore's are my fav. 

Her little, long, lanky plaid legs. A yard of fabric I found several months ago at a thrift mall. 

Pin with her legs and arms inside, stitch her and then turn her right side out! I added a about a 1/3 cup of rice in her bottom so she would be weighted a little.

I added a little rosette the night before the party...She needed a flower in her hair. ;)

I have never made doll clothes from felt before, it was pretty simple. I love this little 60's style shrug! 

Fall boots...it's going to get cold soon. 

 Sparrow's  mom and dad both have tattoos and I thought it would be kinda cool to tie that in. I had seen another amazing doll have something similar and I went for it. It's one of my favorite things about her. 

I hope you enjoyed watching my creative process! I can't wait to show you tomorrow's post! Have a very pretty day. 

Our Saturday

 Yesterday was a SUPER fun day! Oh my goodness gracious! I was going to take really nice pictures with my canon, but...it was too much of a hassle in the moment. So, the faithful iPhone worked just great. I ended up going on a spontaneous trip to the heaven of antique junk yards called, "Clines." There are no words. You guys have no idea. It was AMAZING! I met two of my pretty lady friends up there, Tiffany, Rita and Rita's little boy, Justice. We explored the barns and fields of doors, windows and other old delights. After we got our fill of that wonderfulness, we went to lunch. (Rita is one of my heros in the music/worship area.  My heart was overwhelmed with smiles to get to meet and hang out with her and Tiffy!)

When that adventure came to an end, I went to baby Sparrow's 1st Birthday Party and spent the rest of the wonderful evening hanging out with all of our friends, eating ice cream and celebrating her little life! Enjoy some smiles.  

We had some great Saturday morning snuggles with our Forest boy. 

Driving down to Clines...so excited. 

Angels were singing. An outdoor antique junk yard of glory. 

One of these beauties will be my new headboard. EEEEE! 

Some finds of the day. Grand total of $15

I carried Káel in the ergo on my back while I sorted through and discovered treasures. The whole time I kept feeding him veggie chips to keep him occupied and happy. He was SO hot and worn out by the time we were done. He passed out instantly in the car on the way to lunch. 

Tiffy love.

Rita love. 

 I got lost on my way back home, which meant he got a good nap in while I had an extra 45 mins. in the car to my thoughts. 

Party time!

Birthday girl goodness!

 My fabulous friend, Jessie M. momma of the birthday girl.

When I got home, Sam had just settled in from his trip to the mountains, where he was doing a video shoot. I spent about an hour working on the pirate eye patches for Káel's birthday party, for next week. My folks are getting in on Thursday, the party will be on Sunday and my Gran arrives in at the air port a few hours before the festivities begin. Then, lots of our friends will join us to party with our little Forest boy!