Little Walker, and the best shoes for it from Freshly Picked.

So it happened, my little baby, the chubby rolly-polly infant of mine became a TODDLER!! Oh the tears, not his- he has quite a padded diaper booty, but mine. Why am I crying? Well now I have to declutter all my tabletops. He is upright and can reach anything as though he were 30 feet instead of 30inches. 

But between all the crying and pulling out my hair, I am enjoying his first steps quite a lot. He gets so excited when he can walk the entire hallway without falling and add to that the excitement from his sister when he reaches her. 

Priceless.

Another fun thing about walking has been finding shoes for him to wear. This can sometimes be a challenge because commercial shoes for the little ones are mostly hard sole, and lets get real hard sole for a little walker, not so good. They need to feel their toes grip the floor, they need to give their little bones room to grow and move. 

So soft sole is best, in my and many dr.'s option.

We reached out to an awesome company, Freshly Picked, for a pair of their very coveted moccasins and they sent us a pair. We chose the black, called Ebony. 

They are made of the softest leather, flexible and very stylish. They stay on like a glove, and Tiny Mr. M didn't even try to take them off. 

The first couple of times he wore them the inside of the moccasins left bits of leather on his and my clothes. And not to mention his feet all black. But this only happened the first few times being worn. 

The more he wears them, the more they mold to his feet making walking so much easier. They are great for walking at the park on the soft playground turf. 

I've not let him wear them on any other ground, so I don't know if they would easily scuff or get too beat up. 

All in all, they are a great investment. They make walking easy, they are stylish, and they protect his feet from the elements. 

Now I just need to get several different colors for the fall and winter.

Freshly Picked is such an inspiring company, started by a hard working momma who wanted to help provide for her family. Now that they have grown and reached amazing success (they have even been on the television show Shark Tank) they are giving back to other small business like I have never seen other companies do. 

Right now on my Instagram account @yasmiandcrew I am doing a giveaway that includes a pair of Freshly Picked moccasins. Its so generous, and you must enter. It closes on Sunday, Oct. 19th, so hurry and follow along for a chance to win your own pair of Moccs, and a bunch of other goodies from Yasmi & Crew and 6 other amazing momma-run shops. 

1st Birthdays

Tiny Mr. M. had a birthday last month. His first birthday. 

A few days before his birthday we went one of the parks in the city that I really like and I took a few photo of him. He was his cute little self the entire time. 

 

We also did a cake smash, that he wasn't so sure about.

It took a little while of us trying to get him to play with the cake, but he finally did.

             

We had a small celebration at the pool with some friends and family. 

On his actual birthday his aunt made him another cake and of course he loved it. ;)

It was a good birthday.

As far as we know it, this little guy will be our last baby. He truly balances us out as a family. Its amazing to see him develop into such an adventurous little boy. 

M,

We love you! You have been such a good addition to our family. Your character is just perfect. You are friendly, happy, and very passionate about your needs. You are learning about your world, and discovering so many things. You don't speak many words yet, only bye, mama, pa. You are taking your first steps. You love your sister, when ever I put her in time out you run and sit between her legs and refuse to leave her side. Its the cutest, but its making discipline very challenging. You are definitely a people person, and love being with your daddy. I'm so excited to see you grow.

Fast Forward

A little over six months ago we made a huge decision about relocating a thousand miles south to a city I hadn't previously even wanted to visit. Las Vegas. We were presented with an opportunity and a huge adventure. 

We took it. 

Its been a roller coaster, and quite a fun one too. Although I hate roller coasters, but that's beside the point. 

So in March we packed up all our belongings, called a moving company and started driving south. With a car full of snacks, a duffle bag stuffed with our most necessary things, and two little screamers in the backseat we started driving away from the only two states we'd ever lived in. We stopped at certain cities to say goodbye to our friends and family, and once we entered Nevada it was clear deserts aren't very exciting at quick glance and I was very anxious to get to our destination. 

We reached Las Vegas on a beautiful afternoon, the climate was temperate and our new apartment in a pretty good location. 

We were home.

The first weekend we ventured out to a church Mr. M. found online. We instantly fell in love with the people, the message and the proximity to our new home. We've been attending ever since. God's been speaking to us, and we are striving to listen closely.  

Las Vegas hasn't felt quite as fabulous or quite as "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" either. Its just felt like home.

Mr. M. quickly declared he never wanted to move away from this desert and has been trying to convince me we need to buy a house.

We'll see how that plays out.

Also, right after the move Little Mama turned 3! And her sassy, firecracker attitude has continued to shine. She's a darling when she wants to be, but she is also determined and strong willed. We love her to pieces, but I definitely have more grey hairs !

                           

Tiny Mr. M. is growing up fast too. He is now 10 months. He is crawling, standing up, and vocalizing what sound like mama and caca (and that would be poop in spanish, oops!). Besides the potty mouth, he is the sweetest. He is friendly, and gives the best hugs. 

On other news, I opened up an Etsy shop Yasmi & Crew to sell children's accessories like bow-ties, headbands, necklaces and bracelets. Its been fun, a bit stressful, but mostly fun. Stressful because I always want to make sure that every piece I send out is perfect, and that's just not realistic. Even if a tiny thread is showing somewhere I feel the urge to start over. But I've resisted my OCD tendencies and all my customers have reported feeling very pleased with the items. My hope in opening up the shop was to create items that I felt were quality pieces and very affordable. I know I have felt very disappointed when I want to buy something for my Littles but it has been out of reach because of price. Especially because I know sometimes a bow only stays on their little head for an hour at most. We will see what the next few months hold for my little business, but I'm sure what ever happens will be exactly what I need in my life :)

Fourth Trimester

3 months! Today my little boy is 3 months!

A friend once described the first three months after a baby is born as the "fourth trimester" because of all the developmental changes still happening. I agree. Mateo has transformed from a squishy little baby mouse into a chunky playful infant. 

He is the sweetest little ham that ever did live. I am having so much fun getting to see his personality develop. The first time I heard him "talking" I was so overjoyed. Lately he has been squealing with delight at the most random of things. For example, I was throwing away a plastic bag and he thought the crinkling it made was the funniest thing, he couldn't stop laughing!

My boy, the little man who now weighs over 15 lbs. 

(His sister was 16 lbs. at her 6 month check up!)

He has been wearing 3-6 month clothes (some 6 month)for a couple weeks now.

He doesn't particularly like tummy time, only about five minutes pass before he is screaming with frustration. 

Recently he started with those terrible diaper blow-outs. The other day I literally cut off a onsie when I couldn't figure out how to clean a blow-out that was up to his neck.

But above all this little cutie has filled our lives with so much joy. 

Mateo: my prayer for you is that you will grow up to be a man of integrity, respectful towards humanity, and loving, especially during times of trial. 

Family Fall Photos

In mid-October we ventured out to a nature preserve and had a delightful photo shoot. 

Last year, with the help of a tripod and the timer on the shutter release of my camera we did our on family photos. It was quite the difficult task, but we still got so many memorable moments. This year, while Mr. M. was at a Habitat for Humanity charity event he bid for a photography package from King and I Photography during the silent auction. We won the bid, and I can't even begin to tell you what a blessing this was for us. The photographer is a very sweet and genuine woman, who I fell in love with the minute I met her. She is the sweetest, most genuine person and her husband (who helps her during the photo session) is also such a gem. She captured so many amazing moments, and I hope we are blessed with the ability to work with her in the future. 

 

2013 is coming to a close and these images remind me that this year has been a really good year. There are always so many lessons to be learned from our experiences, but I can say without a doubt that it has been the best year yet.