Love being a Mom in Tampa Bay!

Earlier this year, I met the owner of Mommy Spot Tampa Bay. We quickly became friends and long story short, I was invited to join a team of writing contributors for her website!

My first post is live on Mommy Spot Tampa Bay, and I wanted to share it with my Prose & Co readers!

Check it out here! Let me know what you think & while you're there, check out the calendar of fun stuff going on this month!




Mommy's Trifecta & The Fall Fashion Show


Mom-my Tri-fec-ta: A Mom's night out, enjoying delicious food & drink, AND indulging in some retail therapy...all in ONE place!!


Every Mother needs a little R & R! We don't always allow time for ourselves to do so.... Or if we do, we feel guilty for taking that time away from other priorities... Well, I'm learning, a rested Mommy, is a happy Mommy! I was lucky enough to get the "Mommy Trifecta" as I like to call it and wanted to share it with you!


Here's a look at the Fall Fashion Show I participated in last week, hosted by Mommy Spot Tampa  & a great boutique in Hyde Park Village ,  Don Me Now ! They invited Moms of all sizes and even featured a couple cute preggos to model the newest Fall looks; Encouraging us all to get out of the yoga pants and into something that made us feel beautiful!!


Make up application before the show! Made us feel like stars! 

Backstage with all the Mommy models before starting the show! 

I was styled in a chic black jumpsuit and this beautiful necklace! The hat, was separate, but instantly loved it! 

All mommy models with the founder of Mommy Spot Tampa, Christina 
Big thanks to this sweet pal who came to cheer me on!! 
It was a fabulous night! Don Me Now styled all the Moms to perfection! If you haven't been to this boutique in Hyde Park Village , be sure to stop by! They have really great stuff and you'll love Danielle & her staff of stylists!

I didn't get any photos of the delicious food and drinks they had for the event, but trust me, these girls knew how to throw a party! 

Check back with me or visit Mommy Spot Tampa directly for more of their fabulous events coming up! You might see an article or two from me, coming up on their site soon! :) XO! 




Back to school, but first PLAY!

We're all in the swing of getting organized for school to begin again, but I wanted my boy to have one final play date with a few of his best buds before they each start their year of VPK, so we hosted a little party!


I love any reason to have a party and decorate! So, I quickly made this cute little alphabet banner from old scrapbook paper I had & then found these pencils by googling pencil clip art! I think it turned out pretty cute! My sweet boy liked it, so I'm happy! :)


Jack's pals enjoyed lunch & snacks together {Thanks TJ's for these adorable alphabet cookies!}

These guys (and our one and only gal, missing that day) have been pals since before they were crawling. As busy as our schedules get, the wonderful Mommas to these kiddos and I, always make the effort to keep their friendship strong! Here's hoping their friendship continues as they grow! Going on 4 years strong!



Baby bros joined in on the fun too, even though, they were pushed aside by the big boys, these guys will keep us company while we wait for big brothers at school! 



My little VPK-ers didn't leave with out a little treat to wish them a great year! Happy back-to-school! Hope it's an awesome year!!



Where did the Summer go?

I know most of us are asking that very question!!!

And, like most, we've had a very busy but FUN Summer! Filled with trips to the beach, Disney World, 4th of July {which is a holiday I love} finishing our home renovation, fishing on the river and celebrating our littlest 1st birthday! Oh, and did I mention, starting a business? More on that later!

Many have been asking for more pictures of our home addition project, and I will post some very soon! I'm working on the fun details for the playroom, so it's not quite there yet, but we are definitely enjoying it! So grateful for the extra space!!

What I am excited to share today, are some shots of our little Max's first birthday! I was so emotional and anxious leading up to his birthday, getting the addition completed and well...just sad that my 'baby' was growing up so quickly. I thought this emotional part was supposed to get easier with #2, but it hasn't for me. It just makes me want to freeze time even more!

Anyway, back to Max's day! He was Chief for a day as we celebrated his birthday with a super fun Pow-Wow! Tee Pees, feathers, arrows and lots more made this party so much fun!! All the photos were taken by our wonderful family photographer & friend, Lindsay Faye . Enjoy! We had a blast celebrating Chief Max!


The invitation and printables were designed by Belva June on Etsy!


Big bro helping to decorate the cake Grandma made! 

Tee Pee treats made by Grandma! The kids loved them!! 
The cute feather table runner was actually wrapping paper I found at Papersource! It's now displayed as art in Max's room!
Wobbling first steps are the best! So glad Nani was able to see those little feet move!

You know I love a garland! I took strips of ribbon, fabric, and burlap and tied paper feathers. The fringe was leftover from a previous Halloween costume! 

Feathers and ribbon for the kids to make their own Indian headbands
Grandma helped the kids make totem pole sand art! Everyone loved it! 

I mean, come on! Are they the best or what?? 


Sweet Uncle Mark showing the kids bunny tricks! 


Happy birthday sweet boy!!! 


My little Chief Max had a great day! 

It was the sweetest day! Our house was filled with family and friends celebrating our sweet boy...so much love! Thank you to all who came and those who celebrated with us from a far! 

Our photographer, Lindsay took so many beautiful photos & these are just a handful to share with you! 

I promise, I'll be sharing more pictures of the addition with you very soon! So stay tuned for that! And... I teased earlier about the new business... Not only have I been making more custom order pillow covers for friends {pictured on our couch} but I've teamed up with Rodan + Fields  as an Independent Consultant ! I can't wait to share my journey with R + F with you very soon as well! For now, thanks for stopping by! XO!








It's official, Max is One!

We celebrated my baby's 1st year of life today. We've been so crazy with our home renovation just about complete, just in time to enjoy his 1st birthday. I'll be brief tonight, but I wanted to share this cute Flipogram I made in honor of Max's birthday... :)

Much more later, lots of updates to share! And a little birthday party planning awaits!! :)



The Night Before Father's Day

I've taken a hiatus from blogging, but I'm just having too much fun with my little boys to keep up! :)

I wanted to share though, something sweet on this evening before Father's Day...


As you might know already, we make a huge deal for birthdays in our house! Like, week-long celebrations and half-birthdays, and special traditions I hope will continue for many years... Father's Day is also a special holiday in our house! Celebrating the DAD in our house, deserves a week long celebration too! So, if you haven't guessed it.. We've been celebrating FATHER'S DAY WEEK in the Prose house!

We decorated the house with a homemade banner and surprised Daddy with treats each day. The treats were simple, small gestures to show our appreciate for him. We gave him snacks he loves, homemade awards or presents, favorite meals, all leading up to his special day, on Sunday. And before bed tonight, we read a special book we've had now for a couple years.

                                                  

This is the cutest little book and we've made it a tradition for Daddy to read it at bedtime on the night before Father's Day each year! And this year, he read it to both our boys! Max didn't quite sit still for story time, but we all enjoyed it together! I found this book at Pottery Barn Kids, 2 years ago, but lucky for you, it's on Amazon! Pick one up for  your family here!

I hope you continue enjoying a sweet weekend with your families and spoil Dad tomorrow! Happy Father's Day to my love, our boys are very lucky to have you as their Daddy, aka 'Best Buddy'.



Mommy Pop-Up Pampering Nights!


April has been a whirl-wind month, and I can't wait to share all that my boys and I have been up to, but I wanted to share this awesome event coming up this week, for all of my Mommy friends/readers! 

                           Spa Evangeline Pop-Up Pampering

My last post, I shared with you a wonderful crafting event for the kiddos, Crafts & Coffee, put on by Mommy Spot Tampa! Once again, they have organized an awesome event just for us Moms!!!! In honor of Mother's Day this Sunday, the team at Mommy Spot Tampa will be holding a Pop-Up Beauty and Pampering Event, 2 days this week! The first, at the Safety Harbour Resort & Spa and the second, right here in Hyde Park, at Evangeline Spa at the Epicurean Hotel in Soho! 

To learn all the details & purchase tickets, be sure to visit their site!!!! Hope to see you there!!! 

And of course, a very Happy Mother's Day to all my Mommy friends! 




Crafts & Coffee, yes please!!

I love finding new & fun things to do with my littles & today I'm going to share one with you! 

                                 Crafts & Coffee

The Mommy Spot Tampa is a great site I found on Instagram & loved immediately. It's the perfect rescource for all Moms to find local events for our families or a place to take in the daily dose of motherhood life.

This week, they kicked off a new series, Crafts & Coffee, on St.Patty's Day! And let me say, it was perfect! Delivering on exactly what it advertised & then some! Just check out the pics from our fun afternoon below!


There were Nutella and Jam sandwiches for the kids, and cookies! Juices and Go Go Squeez! The kids had snacks galore!!


Our little cuties painted a ceramic shamrock dish in honor of St. Patrick's Day! The biggest bonus, all the cost for their pottery painting experience and their delicious snacks, was included in our tickets for this Crafts and Coffee event! Going forward, the event is scheduled to take place on the 3rd Tuesday of each month!



My little guy had a blast with his buddies while this Mommy sipped delicious coffee, courtesty of a local favorite, Buddy Brew! It was the perfect afternoon & I can't wait fot the next one! Be sure to follow Mommy Spot Tampa on Facebook or Instagram for details on the next Crafts & Coffee and their other upcoming events!






How did that happen??!?!

How in the world, is it already January? Errr.. February?!?! {Clearly, I've missed a bit of blogging!!}
How is it 2015?
Was it not just Halloween?? Christmas at least!!!
I know, I can't be alone in this feeling!
Well... I suppose I'll get on board & flip the calender to February....Yikes!

A quick recap of our final month of 2014, Jack's 4th birthday and the start of 2015!


We had a lovely December with our boys! Max's first Christmas and celebrating Jack's 4th birthday on a family road trip to see snow!



Our big boy turned 4! All he kept asking for was snow, so we made sure this sweet guy got his wish!!!! 

We drove to Stone Mountain, just North of Atlanta and enjoyed every minute of their Snow Mountain, complete with sledding, tubing, and a smores station! It was the most perfect day to celebrate our perfect little guy, Jack. Our first little road trip with our family of four was an absolute blast. We continued on to Savannah for a day, then finished in Jacksonville to spend the New Year with friends, closed out 2014 perfectly. 


I'll leave you for now with these shots of my sweet littlest boy, Max. Turned 6 months in January! I'll do my best to post more frequent very soon!! :)