(for a full DIY tutorial and details on where we got everything for our costumes click here)

Happy Halloween everyone!! I seriously can't believe that it's been a whole year since last Halloween, and now here we are again kicking off the official holiday season! This year's Halloween holds a lot of extra special feel-goods for me, because it was on actual Halloween day just one year ago that we found out a little seed had been planted and we'd soon have a sweet little baby on our hands to celebrate the next round of holidays with! (Sorry for the bad punny garden humor, but I totally had to PLUS me choosing to dress up our daughter as a flower for her first Halloween is somewhat appropriate to the situation if you think about it... ;) ). I've always been a huge holiday fanatic before, but having the chance to experience it in a "first time" type of mentality as a family of three has been an absolute blast! Since Halloween falls on a school day this year we did the majority of our celebrating the weekend before so that Kyle wouldn't be so stressed out with school. We got dressed up in our garden-themed costumes and went to a party thrown on by a couple of our sweet dental student families and had so much fun spending the evening with good friends! I seriously loved being able to see everyone's creativity in dressing up their families and kids! To end the night right Kyle, Emery and I came home and ate some ice cream while fulfilling all of our childhood nostalgia by watching the one and only Hocus Pocus. More than anything I just loved being able to spend some quality time with some of my favorite people! I hope that every one reading has a fun and safe Halloween as well! May your night be filled with plenty of tricks & treats! :)

dress: target | boots: shoe carnival |lip colour: ulta | braid inspo: here

This week's #bloggersFALLfor trend was braids, and I was SO excited to be able to share with all of you because braids are my absolute FAVORITE go-to style for second or third (or maybe fourth or fifth cough cough) day hair! I feel like they are a perfect balance between having a do that looks laid back and easy while still adding just enough femininity to make it look like you really put a lot of time into your look, even if it only took a few minutes! The particular braid I'm wearing is my favorite go to for when my hair is short because it does a great job keeping the hair out of my face and works really well with messy waves/curls. Like I seriously don't even think I fully combed out my hair before doing this style and it still looks ok - can I get three cheers from every busy woman out there that hates having to take a ton of time to do her hair in the morning?! This hairstyle can be styled with virtually almost any type of outfit (another reason that I love it!) but for this look specifically I decided to keep it simple with this sweet, flowy dress from Target that I'd been eyeing for weeks, simple peep toe booties, and a berry lip because it's fall and I love berry lips. :D For any nursing mamas out there, this dress buttons down the top all the way to the waist which makes it an obvious win! I feel like I wear this dress all the time just because it can be styled dressy or casual and is the perfect balance between practical and pretty! Be sure to check out the links below to see how all of my lovely blogger friends styled their individual braids and to tune in next week for another fun fall fashion trend! Remember that you are be-YOU-tiful just the way you are! :)

plaid +fringe vest: target | jeans: pacsun | purse: jcpenney | boots: pop-up boutique (old --- similar here)

So.... It's time to have some real talk about #momlife and fashion. I used to do little fashion/clothing updates on my blog quite often, but it slowed down a bit when I got pregnant and after having Emery came to a complete stop. It wasn't really an intentional thing; I get myself ready every day and love keeping up with styles & fashion, but since having Emery I fell into a little bit of a slump where I felt like my body had basically just been turned into a machine who's sole purpose was to feed my child and keep up with my little nanny boy, and I forgot just how valuable it is to take a little "me time" and to do little things that help me feel pretty. I'm slowly working to get back into the swing of things, and was so excited to work with a wonderful group of style bloggers to help me along in my journey! Over the next few weeks we'll all be featuring some fun fall trends for you all, and showing you how we all chose to style them to fit our own individual lifestyles and fashion personalities! This week's trend was "plaid", and I was super excited because the majority of plaid happens to be extremely nursing friendly with the button-up tops (any mom who's tried nursing in public or on an airplane without a cover will know that this is a major mom win ;D) ! I chose to pair mine with this sweet fringe vest because Louisville is currently in this weird transition stage of fall where the days start and end with AMAZING crisp, cool fall weather that makes you want to cuddle up in a sweater, but during the day can get warm enough where a full on sweater would be way too hot to wear. I figured that the vest gives me a good middle ground where I get the warmth I need when it's cool but I can keep it on all day and not get too hot when the day warms up. For a mama/nanny constantly on the run, it's a perfect combination. :) Be sure to check out the rest of these lovely's posts below to see how they styled their individual plaid looks, and check in next week to see which fun fall trend we feature next and search hashtag #bloggersFALLfor on Instagram to see all of the posted looks!  Always remember to be-YOU-tiful! :)

I cannot tell you all enough how excited I am for the fall and holiday season to officially start! I feel like this time of year is always filled with so many fun activities, and I love to participate in as many of them as possible! As you all know I'm a huge fan of homemade Halloween costumes, and if there's a theme involved then all the better! I just feel like DIY-ing the costume not only gives you the chance to save money and be original, but also can be so much fun for the whole family as well! I've had a blast dressing up myself and Kyle in previous years, and couldn't wait to be able to add Emery into the mix so that we could officially move into the realm of "family" costumes. This year to add to the fun I also had the chance to collaborate with friend & blogger Lauryn to help give ideas for not just family costumes involving a little girl, but for costumes involving a little boy as well! I had so much fun working with her on this little project and can't wait for you to all see her family costumes as well! To see her full blog post with pictures + tutorials, be sure to check out her blog, Love Notes by Lauryn. Feel free to share any other fun family costume ideas that you all have, I love seeing creativity from everyone out there and sharing ideas! Hope you all enjoy and happy DIY-ing!! :D

Remember to be sure to check out Lauryn's blog post to see all of her cute pictures and to get an idea and tutorial for a cute family costume with a boy! Also, feel free to comment with any questions or ideas you have in regards to the costumes and we are happy to help! We had so much fun putting these together and can't wait to show you all the costumes all put together with the family come Halloween! In the meantime though, here's a little sneak peek of my cute little flower in her costume! Happy start to October everyone! :D