Mustache roundup

We’ll wrap up two weeks of birthday-related blog posts with a quick mustache roundup…

Our first birthday theme all started when we decided to do a fake mustache as the final addition to Kenton’s monthly photo project.

So, he went from just a diaper to growing a ‘stache in 12 short months…

Read more about his monthly photos here.

That was the catalyst for the first birthday party theme… a ‘stache bash. For which, we did a Pinterest-inspired invite…

Learn all about his birthday party invites here.

His party was a hit! We recapped it all here, but check out a few highlights:

 

So, there you have it. A roundup of mustache madness for your Friday! Have a great weekend!

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First Birthday Mustache Party

Okay, here it is… a recap of Kenton’s first birthday party. Or, as I like to call it, his “‘stache bash!”

If you missed seeing the party invites, check them out here.

You’re also getting a sneak peek at our new STRIPES! They make me so happy, I can’t even tell you. (More to come.)

There’s also a sneak peek at all 12 of the monthly photos! I had a poster printed overnight so we could show them off at the bash. (Also, more to come!)

Drinks & Food. We kept things really simple. The party was from 3:00-5:00 PM – so we did heavy hors d’oeuvres… beef sliders, pasta salad, watermelon, veggies, chips and lemonade.

The birthday boy did not disappoint when it came to the ceremonial first birthday cake face smash. I mean, we had a total classic moment!

Which, of course, meant he kept diving in over and over again. TOO CUTE! Safe to say, he loves cake! He has a sweet tooth like his daddy. 🙂

All of our guests left with chocolate mustache pops as favors… pardon the crappy iPhone photo…

Confession: I came up with “‘stache bash” the morning of the party and the favors were done a day or so head of time. If I could go back in time, I totally would have changed the thank you note. I’m planning to do a separate post on these favors because they were challenging and I didn’t find a lot of info out there for help… so I’ll do my best to contribute in case someone else wants to do them.

We ran out of time to open presents while our guests were still around, but Grandpa & Grandma stuck around to help Kenton check out his new loot.

And they were good enough to pose for mustache pics!

Kenton rounded out the day taking a spin in his NEW CAR!

Which absolutely terrorizes Bowdoin the Bulldog… which Kenton finds hilarious (and so did we!).

There it is. I admit, I’m glad it’s over! It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us! 🙂

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First Birthday Party Invites

Kenton’s big birthday partay is tomorrow afternoon! Here’s a look at the invites…

My friend, Danielle designed them – using a photo I shot – and inspired by the Pinterest Valentine’s Day project every one and their mom did this year.

 (source)

Here’s the shot I used…

And Danielle’s design for the card itself…

She came up with the language on the back too. Too cute!

The Pinterest project instructs you to cut a hole in the photo to put the lollipop – or mustache on a stick in my case. However, the invite language on the back prevented me from doing that… so I used rubber cement to glue on the mustache sticks, but still leave them relatively easy to pull off.

I applied a small dot of rubber cement on Kenton’s hand, set the stick in the right spot, and then used a glass to hold it in place while it dried. Worked like a charm!

The mustaches, by the way, I also made myself – using a tutorial that Vancouver, BC blogger, Hillary with 2 L’s (please) sent me. (She’s awesome, by the way. Read her blog and follow her on Twitter.) She actually sells the mustaches, but sent me the DIY version out of the goodness of her heart – so I’ll save the secret formula. 🙂

In the end, I think they turned out great! Plus, our guests got a gift in the mail with the invite – and I’ve heard that some kids have already had a lot of fun with them, which was exactly the point!

I’ve got to run do 572 more things for the party on Saturday. I’ll be back on Monday with a recap!

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Birthday Week!

I cannot believe my baby is almost one! I literally broke into tears yesterday at 9:00 AM, because my water broke at that time on Memorial Day last year. Ahh, memories!

Kenton’s birthday is on Thursday and his party is on Saturday. So, it’s BIRTHDAY week on the blog! Hope you like cute blonde baby boys and mustaches. 🙂

The invitations have gone out and we’re having a mustache party! I’ll share all the details soon… Right now, I’m busy getting ready…

I’m making bunting. Cutting more mustaches than I ever imagined. Finalizing the menu. Cleaning (HA! Called back the cleaners I had to fire for one last hurrah!). Oh, and we’re frantically trying to finish our big painting project…

Can you see me and my baby bump in this really terrible, unedited photo?!

Thank you for all of the tips and suggestions you gave in answer to my cry for help last week. We finally figured it out – after much cursing and gnashing of teeth. The lines are straight and the paint is drying – we still need a second coat and it’s a HUGE bummer that Jason’s back decided to give out before the job was done. So, that’s going to be interesting! But, we will get it done – even if I have to cover it in mustaches.

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Mother’s Dream

We celebrated our moms a week early for Mother’s Day. Jason’s parents (sadly) returned to Maine this week for the summer. We wanted to make sure we got a little mom-celebration in before they took off.

we miss them already!

Due to our recent change in income status, we had to do Mother’s Day on a budget this year. We invited our moms over for Sunday brunch. They were both allowed to bring a date and both chose to bring our dads (whew!).

only my mom is smiling for the camera!

I’m sharing this today, hoping it may inspire someone else to do a similar, low-budget mom-honoring brunch this coming weekend. The meal was fantastic and our moms felt loved – success!

First, the decorations… we broke out our china and flatware… which we rarely use, but this was a fun excuse… also picked up some flowers at Costco and put two in bud vases at our mom’s seats. So, an $8.99 bunch of flowers is all this cost us – we already had all the other fancy-schmancy stuff thanks to our wedding guests.

Next, the FOOD. I’ve made this brunch a couple of times before and it is a hit!

I discovered these recipes during an episode of Everyday Italian (with Giada de Laurentiis) on Food Network a few years ago. Here are the recipes and my tips/suggestions:

Crostata with Raspberry Jam: Any berry jam will work. This time, I used blueberry and it was yummy. Tips: I briefly toss the almonds around in a hot pan to give them a little extra flavor. It’s also important to allow the dough to chill for one hour – it’s very easy to work with if you do that.

(still cookin’… I forgot to get a good shot of the finished product!)

Frittata with Asparagus, Tomato, and Fontina: I subbed broccoli for the asparagus (my dad hates asparagus!) and mozzarella for the fontina (to save money) and it was fantastic. This recipe is really easy. My only regret is that I should have made two frittatas as I think our guests would have appreciated bigger portions of protein – due to all of the sweet treats we were serving!

Bruschetta with Ricotta and Marmalade: Oh my goodness, this is HEAVEN. I’m so glad we had some pieces leftover because I munched on a couple more in the afternoon. Sounds like a totally random combo – but OH. SO. GOOD. Tip: we grilled thick slices of bread on the grill. That way, we could do the whole loaf at once and they turned out perfect!

Giada’s brunch menu also calls for a delish Raspberry Bellini. Sadly, we did not have those – but they are yummo.

I did try one new menu item…

Strawberry-Banana Muffins

I made these on a whim the morning of the brunch. We had brown bananas and some strawberries that were about to turn bad. So, I used my favorite banana bread recipe, threw in the strawberries, made them muffins and they were SO GOOD.

Here is the recipe:

Recipe card background source from here.

So, that’s how we honored our moms – filling their tummies with yummy food! How about you? How will you be spending Mother’s Day this weekend?

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A Friend’s mini-Dreamer

My dear friend, Abby, is having a little mini-Dreamer of her own.

So, of course, she needs to be showered with baby gifts.  So, a few of us got together and did a little soiree a few weeks ago.  We had a loose “cookies and milk” theme.  Here are some highlights:

Abby's last name starts with "O" and the baby is lovingly referred to as "Little O." So, the name tags had every guest declaring their love for "Little O" (a cheerio!).

Carrie – the hostess of this partay – is my super-creative friend. You know, the friend that constantly inspires you and frustrates you at the same time because you’ll never keep up with her Martha-Stewart-prowess? Here she is with the guest of honor:

 She came up with this fabulous idea to create onesies for Abby to use for her baby’s monthly photos:

It was a bit tricky because Abby and her husband are waiting on a delivery room surprise (like us!), so Carrie tried her best to choose gender-neutral fabrics.

As the guest activity, we had people write down notes for each month, that we then wrapped up in the onesies.

So, when Abby grabs the appropriate onesie each month, she’ll have a sweet note of encouragement from her friends to go along with it!

This is also the gal who got the shower caddy diaper storage project I told you about on Monday.

She’s registered for green bedding from Pottery Barn Kids. I stopped by the store and got a swatch of their fabric and then headed to Home Depot to match a spray paint to it. I think it came pretty close:

Anyway, Abby was really happy with it and texted a picture of it hanging above her changing table.

This was a great gift idea – but I wouldn’t do it for just anyone.  I knew Abby had some empty wall space in her nursery and this piece would fit right in.  I also know her personality and that she’s open to suggestions and did not have specific ideas already planned for every aspect of her nursery (like, eh-hm, some others I know, yours truly not excluded). So, if you’re thinking about something similar – just make sure you know it will be well received!

Here’s the gang responsible for the shower:

(Yes, I already have a baby bump! Crazy.)

It was a fun day and, most importantly, Abby felt loved.  So, in my mind that = success.

PS: Carrie and Genevieve (pictured above, next to me) own a business called Red Dutch Door.  For those in the Phoenix area, they will have a booth at the Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market on May 5th at WestWorld in Scottsdale.  Don’t miss it!  It’s going to be awesome.  The last sale they went to, they were the most popular (by far) and most of their products were sold quickly.  They make subway signs (the “love is all you need” pictured above is an example), bunting, scarves, wreaths and rumor has it – they’ll also have some bike baskets.  So fun.

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Kenton’s Dedicadream

Yesterday was a big day in our house… Dedication day!

About twenty family members and close friends joined us for the event at our church and then came over to the Dream for a little lunch celebration.  Kenton thought it was extra special that his great-grandmother was here from California to witness this event.

(so did I – we also had a great aunt and uncle all the way from Maine!)

For those who don’t know, a dedication is not a baptism.  We believe that faith is something each person decides on their own, their parents or family of origin cannot choose it for them.  For that reason, in a dedication, we commit to raise Kenton in a Christian home, with our prayer being that he comes to know the Lord on his own at a young age.  If and when that happens, he can choose to be publicly baptized himself as an outward expression of his inward faith.  So, the dedication is more about we as parents and what we commit to do for our son, than it is about choosing a religion for him or guaranteeing his salvation.

We happen to go to a very large church, Scottsdale Bible Church, and it was a little nervewracking to be up in front of so many people (okay, not really for the Mr. & I, we’re both professional communicators – and Kenton seemed to love it too.  He even tried to steal the mic at one point.  Future reporter like momma?!)  The Mr. was the one with the tough job – reading the blessing we had written for our little man while not getting emotional and in the midst of battling a painful sinus infection.  He did a fantastic job!

watching the other families, young sir got a smidge restless

almost our turn!

so glad Jason read the blessing, I definitely would have been too emotional!

all done!

what up, mom? that was a piece of cake! (with grandpa)

The church really did a fantastic job.  They gave us a beautiful frame with Kenton’s picture and our blessing.  Definitely a keeper!  Just need to find a wall in the Dream for it…

Speaking of the Dream, our sweet friends and family continued the party back at our house.  I wanted to throw a big bash, but then remembered Kenton’s birthday is only a couple of months away (WHAT?!)… so I tried to keep things simple.  We did a fun yellow and blue color scheme and a nice, but simple lunch – croissants with this yummy chicken salad recipe (from my old TV station in Nebraska!), chips, fruit and homemade by grandma cupcakes.  Delish!

Such a fun and special day!  Thanks so much to those who helped us celebrate!

The major bummer… I didn’t get a really good pic of Kenton in his whole, cute getup – but I did snap this shot before we left in the morning and posted it on Instagram…

((SIGH)) Love him.

(Are you on Instagram?  Find me at “MrsDreamer” – I’ll follow you back!)

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First Christdreamas

This post is a bit late… but that’s okay.  We could all use a bit more Christmas, right?

Baby’s first Christmas was perfect.  He got way too many gifts, was totally overwhelmed and single-handedly entertained seven adults.  Here are the highlights…

We kicked off the celebration of Jesus’ birthday with a candlelight service at our home church on Christmas Eve:

That was followed by dinner at our house.  On the menu, Mr. Dreamer’s mom’s famous lasagna and pureed sweet potatoes.  (Not together, hopefully that was obvious.)  Around our table – the three Dream Dwellers (the Dream Bulldog was under-highchair), both sets of grandparents and my grandfather – four generations around one table.  Bliss.

In my family (Mrs. Dreamer), we traditionally open one present on Christmas Eve.  It’s always Christmas PJ’s.  My mom sweetly asked if she could carry on the tradition, so Kenton got to “open” one present on Christmas Eve:

Candy-striped PJ’s with a reindeer on the baby-booty.  PERFECTION.

The next morning, everyone came back to The Dream.  While the main attraction was taking his morning nap, we indulged in some of this loveliness:

Homemade cinnamon rolls by yours truly.  Recipe from my pal Leslie over at Her View From Home.  They require instant mashed potatoes.  True story.  Random, but they are SO GOOD.  We just found a new Christmas AM tradition for The Dream. 🙂  Alongside mimosas.  YUMMY.

After the young sir decided to awaken, he donned a Santa suit… much to the delight of the grandparents and great-grandparent.

Then he tried his hand at this fascinating concept called “presents:”

The Melissa & Doug train from Santa was a hit, but so was the paper. Whatever.

The adults in the room also had a lot of presents to open.

Too many.

Everyone was far too generous.  Including Mr. Dreamer.

BEST. PRESENT. EVER.

MacBook Pro. Completely loaded with PhotoShop, Final Cut Pro, DreamWeaver… I could go on.  It is AWE.SOME.AAWWWE.SOMMME. Happy wife.

I got him spandex.  True story.

He’s a cyclist.  A sexy cyclist.

Those are the highlights.  There were many other gifts.  Too many.  I think I already said that.  There was also a Dirt Devil, which has made me so happy and would have been Gift #1 if not for the Mac, but the MacMacMac will be Gift #1 for a long time.

After the Christmas-morning-face-stuffing-present-unwrapping-fun, we headed up to my parent’s house for more gifts (seriously?!) and more food (shoot me now) and more baby-gazing (okay):

The K-man’s stocking also made it’s debut:

The stockings are a tradition from Mr. Dreamer’s side.  We all have the same one.  We got Kenton’s as a gift last Christmas, but the name was blank since he was still baking and we didn’t know if he was a he or maybe a she – and either way what he/she’s name would be.  So, it was super special to have the stocking hung this year with his name boldly displayed.

It was a FANTASTIC Christmas.  One for the record books.  And, in our family, it already is – Baby’s First Christmas.  They’ll never be another.

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Fat & Dreamy

About to slip into a food coma… we had a fabulous first Thanksgiving as a family… Enjoy the photos (too tired to type!)…

flowers from our backyard

first taste of sweet potatoes!

you can't tell here, but they were a hit!

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Dreamaway

*This giveaway is now closed, but you’re more than welcome to keep reading… and subscribing!  The button is right there on the right side of your screen.

‘Tis the season – almost – for giving gifts.  To get into the spirit, we are doing our very first giveaway on Our Dream Foreclosure!  If you’re in the market for a photo book, today is your lucky day.

I have put together so many photo books through Shutterfly, they actually asked me to host a photo book party and sent a bunch of free books to give away to friends.  Apparently, I don’t have as many “real” friends as the good people at Shutterfly think and there are a few extra books – so, those are getting passed along to you, my virtual friends.

Why, yes, that is a baby book of our Bulldog, Bowdoin's first year. What? That's not normal?

That’s just one example of the many books I’ve done.  There’s also a few from our wedding, one of our honeymoon, one from our trip to France, others that we’ve gifted to family and friends – I could go on.  I love pictures – taking them and displaying them.  However, I hate scrapbooking.  Just thinking about that craft-activity conjures up visions of gluey fingers, tiny scraps of paper that need to be vacuumed, photos irreversibly adhered to a page askew, and neck pain from hours bent over an endless pile of 4×6’s.  NO. THANK. YOU.  The neat lines, clear text and limited debris involved with digital books is far too appealing.  I also love the fact that if a book was lost or fell victim to an upended latte – it’s not gone forever – it just needs to be re-ordered.

We have some friends that feel the same way.  So, they came over recently for a BYOL (laptop) soiree and we shared a lovely evening not speaking to each other.  See:

Ok, so there was some conversation – but we were primarily focused on our books.  And drinking wine.  And eating brownies – but I think I ate more brownies than anyone else.  Whatever, I’m breastfeeding – that burns about 4,000 calories a day.  Bring it, brownies.  Speaking of too many brownies, remember when my belly was big?  I updated all of you lovely readers on a weekly basis (archived here).  That became my maternity journal – and that’s the book I was working on that night…

I’m looking forward to having a book of memories of the 41+ weeks I carried my precious Kenton.  It was such a special time and this will be a fantastic keepsake.

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED – THERE ARE SOME SPEEDY PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO REALLY WANTED PHOTO BOOKS! 🙂

Okay – now on to you and your keepsake!  I have five 8×8 books to give away (that also come with 10 free Christmas cards).  The first five people to respond get them.  Here’s what to do:

• Subscribe to the blog (See “Follow this Blog” tab in the right column)
• Comment below (make sure to include your correct email address in the comment form)
• In your comment, let me know that you’re subscribed AND tell me what you plan to feature in your photobook… your kid? puppy? special trip?

Disclaimer: Shutterfly did not pay me to write this post – they just sent me too many free books and I don’t want them to go to waste.

PS – make sure you include your email address in the comment form – winners will get free codes via email.

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