You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy self-tanner!  Who doesn’t love a good glow?  I am not a big fan of winter, and one of the ways I like to fight off those winter blues, is by having some color.  (Side note: I also like to watch live beach cams and visualize I’m in the sand and not the snow.)  I ventured out of my spray tan booth comfort zone last year to experiment with some self-tanners I could do at home.  This was to save some moola, but mostly for time management.  As a busy mom, I don’t always have time to get away to the tanning salon.  I was super nervous to tan on my own, and did a lot of research on prep and products to avoid any serious fails.  I got lucky and found an amazing product that gives me that all over bronzy glow.  Below I will share with you my self-tanning routine.

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How is my baby a one-year-old this week?? Everyone says “they grow up so fast,” and I agree, this is true. Except for the first 6 months when he refused to sleep through the night. That was not so fast. I feel like I had to learn how to be a mom all over again this past year. Raising a special needs child who is immobile and nonverbal is obviously very different from raising a typical child. As Pax grows and starts to play with more developmental toys, I had to do my research on what toys would be good for a one-year-old. His birthday is a few weeks after Christmas, so I wanted to make sure we got some things he could use and play with for the next whole year. So, I’ve compiled a list of our favorite gifts for a big timin’ one-year-old:

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I am so excited to be kicking off my mom and lifestyle blog at this start of 2018! One of my Christmas presents from my husband was a photo shoot in Nashville while we were back home for holidays. He wanted it to be a surprise but quickly realized I needed A LOT of prep before I was camera ready. Obvi, since this includes (but not limited to) tanning, hair, nails, makeup, outfit, and childcare which takes time to organize and execute.

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My baby boy, Pax, had two surgeries last week. He had a bilateral myringotomy (ear tube placement) and an inguinal hernia/hydrocele repair. Both surgeons were willing to do the surgeries at the same time. You think I would not have been nervous in comparison to when my daughter has had major surgeries, such as a craniotomy/tumor resection, or spinal rod placement, but it still made me anxious to think about my baby undergoing anesthesia. He did amazing and is back to his wild self, other than the occasional fussy moments which we treat with Tylenol in case he has post op pain. The biggest changes we have seen so far is that he doesn’t scream or fuss when lying flat for diaper changes, or wake up crying in pain from his sleep. I think his ears were really hurting him when he was laying flat, but now he finally has some relief! Do you have a child or know anyone who has had ear tubes placed and witnessed any immediate results?? Comment below and check out our video from Surgery Day!!

Sometimes a small room can be perfect for its function (and less to clean, holla!).  But you want to make sure it doesn’t feel small, cramped, or cluttered.  It is all about scale.  Most of the bedrooms in our current home are small, and as much as I would love a king size bed, or crazy wallpaper with giant palm leaf motifs, it just would NOT be to scale.  Those things would make a room look even smaller.  So, let’s talk about what you can do to make a small room feel bigger.

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