A sneak preview...

of Max's first birthday party! I know it's a few months away (or 2... whoa, that's insane!) but I've been thinking about it and have finally decided on a theme! I'll give you one guess...

Don't know why I can't get that last one to flip around...

Anyway, I've been asked to replicate them for actual money next week! Perhaps a new business is brewing? Jamie Lincoln... cupcake decorator? What do ya'll think?

Who are you, and WHAT have you done with my baby?

Max used to be quiet and contemplative. He was snuggly and still very dependent. But, that is not the Max that we have been replaced with. The new Max (as of the past 3 days) is a wild man. He's gotten faster at army crawling and can get into a bit of trouble if you're not watching closely enough. This took all of 2 minutes while I snapped a few pictures in our bedroom.

His new mischievous smile.
This is pretty much all that we see of him these days.
He laughs hysterically while crawling towards whatever he's not supposed to be getting into.

He has also learned a wonderful new game. Anytime he's on the bed or the couch he quickly shoots over to the edge and tries to launch himself off. It's very entertaining for him. Frightening for mom, but loads of fun for our new daredevil.

Yikes, almost lost him for a minute there. Honestly, it's SO much fun to see him so happy and enjoying his new found freedom. I can't wait to see how this little personality of his continues to develop.

The Making of A Map Mural

Just a quick little how to on the map mural in our bedroom. We started with 7, $4 maps from Paper Source. We repeated some Paris, Italy, and USA maps and layered then into a 6 X 3 foot design. We used masonite board as our base because it's pretty lightweight and we knew we could adhere the maps easily to wood.

Here is our piece of masonite board cut and prepped for the adhering. This board was $10, I think.

After laying out the whole design, we lifted the maps layer by layer and penciled where to line up the maps when adhering them. We left about an inch of border off the board to wrap it like a present around the back for a clean line. We then used spray adhesive to lay the maps down on the masonite board.
After all of the maps were spray-adhered down I used modge-podge to apply an extra seal over the top. It actually ended up giving it a texture that I really loved.

The finished product! We hung some wire on the back and hooked it on! It's lightweight enough that we're not worried about it falling at all! It's the perfect addition to our bedroom space!

A Bedroom Reveal!

Well... our bedroom is FINALLY complete. More accurately, it's as complete as it's going to be for while and it FEELS more complete than it's ever felt. There's always more to do, but for now we are LOVING the feel of our new, cozier, mostly complete space.

Here are a few detail shots. The dresser was a big area that needed work. It was BARE. There were a few silver frames and a lamp, but other than that it had nothing. No color, no character, nothing special about it. It NEEDED color. It was on a beige wall. So... we start with some natural elements...

Fresh flowers, smooth stones, flickering light.

Next, I chose to add color with hardbound books. I got all of these at a garage sale for about $4. I have three rules when choosing hardbound books to decorate with. It can be a classic, have a title I like, or be a great color (or obviously any combination of the three).
Here is a before view of the dresser and bed. Note that there are no colorful pillows, purple lampshades, and NOTHING on the dresser short of a bowl of gray rocks.
This is how it looks today. We threw in some green and red pillows, and the dresser has books, flowers, and lighting. The lamp shades on the nightstands are now a crisp white.

Here is a different view:
We put the red curtains back up if you notice in the picture above. We had toyed with these bamboo blinds, but (as you can see) they didn't cover the whole window and they went up way too high for us to use our red curtains (which we really wanted to). So, they went.
Here is the bookshelf and desk prior to us finishing it up.
Here is the desk today. I was going to put something above it, but there is a lot going on on the walls now and I think it looks best without anything above it. We'll see if I change my mind on that later ;)
Here was our masterpiece! Our BIG BIG project that would take up that BIG bare wall. I will write a post that explains how we created this wonderful (and CHEAP) project. Behold: MAPS. I had originally wanted maps!! And, I got them!
We actually had a set of 3 black and white Paris pictures for this wall. But every time I pictured it I just couldn't get excited about it. It would do, it would suffice, but I wanted to LOVE it. Then, we went to paper source and found these maps ($4 each!) and just KNEW that we would be returning the Paris pics and doing this project immediately. Because we were finally EXCITED enough to do it!
I added the candles to complete the space and keep it simple because the maps are busy, but so is the decor in the shelving. When the candles are lit it's magical. SO warm and cozy for such a big space.
A final view for you. We need new doors and the bathroom is a wreck. But, it's coming together so wonderfully. We're very, very happy to feel a sense of completion in this room finally. It's only taken 2 1/2 years, but it was worth the wait to have something that we're truly happy with.

Max's Scrapbook

I'm putting together a scrapbook for Max digitally. Here are a few of my favorite pages so far:

Berry Pickin'

It was a beautiful day to go pick some berries at Gizdich Ranch in Watsonville. So that is precisely what we did. :) I've been wanting to go berry pickin' ever since we had Max. It's just such a wholesome, American family outing that we hope to make a tradition. No, more than just a tradition. A regular activity. We enjoyed it so much that we are already planning another berry pickin' (and, yes, you have to say "pickin" - no "g" sound allowed) adventure for a few weeks from now. Today we chose to pick boysenberries.

Max was a sampler for us and quite approved of our selections.
I cannot stress what an amazingly gorgeous day it was. The sun beat down on the shining berries. The earth was brown and crumbly beneath our feet. It seriously doesn't get any closer to nature than this. In the fields. Pickin' your own fruit that you'll take home and eat. It was all very "down on the farm... er... ranch". Whatever, it was bliss!
Max was a little apprehensive about touching the actual plants, but didn't mind being our taste tester one bit!

He got very messy and I think I managed to ruin two shirts by holding him. I don't care. It was worth it.
Our loot! Look at those gorgeous, glimmering berries!
And the happiest of baby boys enjoying some fun on the ranch (darn, I really wish it were Gizdich Farm - fun on the farm has a much better ring to it).
The older he gets the more his curious eyes shine as they take in the world. They are the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen.
We had so much fun as a family on the ranch today. The fun continues with our boysenberry pie that was made tonight. And it will continue to be continued tomorrow with some boysenberry jam. There's talk of possibly venturing back to good ol' Gizdich tomorrow even for more berry pickin' goodness. We'll see... we just can't get enough!