// camp oliver // #oliverturnstwo //

a few weeks before oliver's first birthday, i realized i still didn't have a theme. i was in denial that my baby boy was getting older. i finally decided to just go with his new nursery colors: black, white and gold. it turned out perfect. that week, as i was last-minute DIYing, i went onto pinterest and ran into the camping theme and immediately fell in love. while it was too late to change or incorporate it, i stored it for birthday number two. (and yes, i already have next year's theme in mind). i pinned some rad camping parties and my girl, c, shared with me how she had done hers for her baby boy. inspired by all these great and creative parties, geoff and i went to work!

we first created his birthday invitation:

a little chopped off via IG, but you get the idea! O's Titi Isa got him this beanie/beard for his first birthday! It was simply meant to be!!!

then, geoff convinced me to do it outdoors in a real camping location.

he gathered wood and i sanded, stained, and painted signs, tents, campfires, all things camping:

// campfire flames, gone fishin' cupcakes //

// s'more cupcakes- which were a huge hit, acorns, s'more pops + mud pies //

// mini s'mores, o's donut cake, bear juice //

family pic

-how old are you? -two many!!! we created a camp area with logs for seating, a campfire, and tents. also, his outfit!!! eeek!

we had lumberjack props for photos and i die looking at oliver and his friends using them!

we had a craft table where they could paint their own rocks, color on the white butcher paper, and acorns from up north; they made bird feeders using peanut butter and bird seed

as soon as everyone arrived and were busy eating, we did presents to get them out of the way- it worked perfectly. oliver and his friends were able to play with his new toys and anyone who wanted to watch could, while the rest could eat in peace!

his donut cake says "hooray"

besitos for the birthday boy

he ate that whole donut

for seating, we had everyone bring their camping chairs! it was so perfect!

we had games for the adults

fishing games for the littles

sneaking away campfire flames- which i was not happy about him having so many of haha

diaper changes in the wild haha

we had the best group, and missed some of our loves

of course, there was sangria

the aftermath; our party started at 11am and guests stayed til 5- that's how you know it was a successful one!

our cue that the party was over!

// 10/52 //

// a portrait of my son, once a week, every week, in 2015" //

oh, son. you have recently discovered your nose has nostrils and your fingers fit perfectly well in there. you're not looking for anything, you just think it's fun to poke, so you'll refuse the tissue and say "no thank you, mine finger!"

// home diy projects //

I was backing up pictures from my phone to my computer (which we all knows mean I will probably never look at them again) and found a bunch of pictures from a weekend in January where we did a million DIY projects! So I thought I would share them here to, you know, prove to myself, that when we dedicate ourselves, we can really get some ish done. AND also because late last night we took down all of our kitchen cabinet doors to paint them and I woke up to a staggering mess of over-cluttered cabinets taunting me with the truth behind closed doors. So I need a little motivation right now to tackle the mess we are quite literally facing. 

Let's start here!

We found a tiny bar top table that would fit our tiny house but it was that orangey oak I can't stand. After months of saying we would resurface it, we finally did! We bought wood planks (did you know warped ones are 50% off? and since you're cutting them, it doesn't matter!) and stain!

see the table in the corner? we laid out the planks how we wanted them, drilled holes, glued them down and screwed 'em in. 

staining // stained

daddy's perfect little helper!

after letting it dry and before clear coating it!

we also found these huge closet mirror doors at a yard sale and bought three of them. two of them are now mirrors in our garage gym and the third, we built a wooden frame for and is comparable to a $200-400 mirror at anthropologie. for like $15!

building the frame after taking the mirror door apart 

daddy's helper

after some clear coats

first stain on mirror frame, which we them glued to the mirror

we wanted to match the stain to a beautiful chicken wire frame our best friends made us and even though we both used different stains, we got the perfect match!

meltdowns at Home Depot- on our third trip there that w

surviving meltdowns at hardware store tip- run to the paint section, pick up paint card samples and practice colors with your toddlers! works every time until he becomes the kid that tosses them out of the shopping cart. 

our new mirror needed a flex pose, haha

and then we painted this whole table's legs. the stool seats were sanded down and stained only to discover that the stain didn't stick, so we painted them instead. 

and painted a little table for Oliver

and made a double desk for our new office

our little table all set up

we  geoff made this pallet shelf a few years ago, still love it

we geoff made this pallet entertainment center a few years ago, too, and i painted it the same color as the table

O's table

our new mirror

a few months ago, geoff made us a new headboard from a pallet

remember that chicken wire frame i told you our beloveds made us? this is it! decorated in valentine's love sent from a bunch of our IG homies from across the US. so fun!

Okay, so wish us luck and send us motivation as we tackle our kitchen cabinets. We'll be doing a full tutorial on it so you can do it, too!

// 9/52 //

// a portrait of my son, once a week, every week, in 2015" //

oh, son. that look of determination. you refuse to let us help you. you readjust your helmet every time we adjust it. you want to carry your own bike and want to follow daddy's every move, and then make him follow your path. you are strong and resilient. you fall off and pause. unsure of your next move, you rarely cry at a fall, you simply dust off your hands on your pants, get up and try again. gosh, i admire you. thank you for reminding me to be strong. 

// we puddle hard //

        // jump, baby, jump //

 // melt mama's heart while you're at it //

           // be free, baby boy //

       // take my breath away //