Life Lessons | My Child Taught Me

November 06, 2016 by Rocio Williams in Family, Inspiration, Travel

Today, Alexander turned 18 months. Happy 18 months to Xander --and us (mami and daddy)!!

If I had to choose one word to sum up the last 18 months, it would be growth. Our family literally grew from being just Allan and me, to being our little family of three. The first year of Xander’s life was a really steep learning curve for all of us (especially me). Adjusting to life with a baby takes a lot of work, patience, learning, adjusting, trial + error (lots of trial and error), re-learning and re-adjusting. Some days (and weeks) were harder than others, but I would not change a thing. In the last 18 months, I have learned so much about myself, my child, from my child, and from our family + couple dynamics. The learning curve was steep and so was the growth experienced.

One of my absolute favorite things of being a mother has been to view the world through my child’s eyes. Viewing the world through Xander’s eyes has been amazing + refreshing and I want to capture these moments, feelings and lessons learned because I really do not want to forget.

Here are some life lessons Xander has taught me… (or reminded me)

Be Fearless // fearLESS

Xander has been a very busy and fearless guy from a very young age. Crawling, cruising, taking the first steps, learning how to walk (and wanting to go down stairs like a big boy at 11 months) takes a lot of courage. Letting go and falling (many, many times), getting up and trying, again and again, is a lesson I never want us (Xander and I) to forget.

When Xander was 9 months old, we visited the Philippines (it was a trip of a lifetime) and Xander’s first time experiencing the ocean. Xander seemed to be amazed by the body of water in front of him and by the sounds coming from it. I took him to the shore to get his little feet wet, then went back out and sat down on the sand. He loved playing with the sand. He grabbed the sand, looked at it, felt it, and watched it slip out of his hands (he did it again)… and this play went on for a while. After he was done playing with the sand, he stopped for a while to just stare at the ocean and take it all in. Shortly after, he began to crawl towards the water. I watched him crawl towards the ocean until the small waves wet his little hands, knees and toes. Then, I helped him get up and together we walked a little further into the water.

As his mom, watching the joy on his face was priceless. The beauty of small children is that they don’t have a concept of fear, they are constantly learning from the world around them, and they are not afraid of falling, getting up and trying again. I don’t know at what age children learn fear, but I do know, I want to foster an environment where Xander (and my future children) are not afraid to try due to fear of “failure”. If we didn’t try (many, many times), we wouldn’t be able to master a skill we learn from a very young age… such as walking. So we must walk through life with the conviction that skill and mastery takes many, many trials.

Be Adventurous

Xander is the most adventurous little guy I know. He constantly reminds me that life is an adventure. Go adventure. Go explore. Go discover.

Be Curious

He loves to explore everything around him. The curiosity and imagination of children is truly powerful beyond measure.

Be Assertive

I have never met a tiny, little fella who is as assertive as Xander. He constantly reminds me to be self-assured and not seek external approval.

Be Persistent

Xander doesn't give up easily. He is very persistent, which makes for very interesting moments (learning patience is a virtue we have yet to master! It's a work in progress). Nonetheless, persistence is a very important skill he knows all too well.

Be Joyful

Xander is such a happy child. His smile brightens-up my world and his laughter is contagious. Children are so joyful/blissful/happy just because.

Be Loving

Xander is really sweet too.... He loves mami + daddy, puppies, children and people in general... And he gives us (Allan + I) the most awesome hugs (pretty much the best part of my day).

As parents, it is important that we help our children preserve “The-Child-With-In”.

Growth has truly marked the last 18 months of our lives and I’m so ready to continue embracing this path. From my experience, parenthood is slightly easier if we take some of the pressure off and recognize that we are all learning as we go and that all the answers we seek will appear when the moment is right.

Xx,

Rocio

Embracing the Seasons

October 11, 2016 by Rocio Williams in Lifestyle, Family, Inspiration

Hello Minnesota! Hello Fall!

See you later summer! Our time together was great! So we really enjoyed our summer around here. We spent time with family and friends, discovered Austin, Minnesota, visited Boston, enjoyed the sunshine and even moved to Minnesota at the end of August... just in time for the fall.

The move to Minnesota went really well. We have moved into our new house and are really excited to make it our HOME! Though we are extremely excited to have moved and feel so blessed all the pieces came together nicely, it's bitter-sweet to move away from family and friends. When I get nostalgic about being away from close family members, I remind myself that this new chapter in our lives will be a great adventure and I'm really excited for that.

Excitement for sure is the sentiment that fills my heart in this season of life. I'm excited for the family-life-work balance we now have and I’m ohh soo excited about what we will do with the extra time we now have ( #1 reason we made move). Allan has been in his new role for 2 months now and he loves the work, the people he works with, and most of all he loves being able to spend more quality time with us. I have been very fortunate I am able to work remotely from home. I love waking up in the morning knowing that I will get to spend my day in close proximity to my son. I get to see his bright-brimming face more often, I get + give him more hugs and kisses, and absolutely adore when on occasion he “breaks-into” my home-office with a huge smile on his face as he calls out "mamiii!!”

We look forward to slowly decorating and adding our personal style as we make our house a home. Most importantly we will be focusing on being more present, enjoying every moment we have together, laughing more, loving more, dancing more, savoring the journey, enjoying the big and the small moments, appreciating the mundane and seeing the beauty in each and every day, learning and growing, leading by example, being more grateful and kind… Just living life and making memories.

Hope you also had an amazing summer! Embrace this season of your life with LOVE! #loveisallyouneed

Xx,

Rocio

Life Lately

July 21, 2016 by Rocio Williams in Family, Travel

So June came and went faster than I could blink, not literally, but it went really fast. Nonetheless, June was a super busy-crazy-exciting month for us. Lots of new exciting things happened in June which resulted in a summer of big changes for our family.

Xander started the infant program at our local Montessori on June 1st. He was extremely excited to start until he realized Mami and Daddy were leaving him there. It was a rough start-- but with time, he adjusted quite well.

My Mami, Xander's Abuy, went back home in the middle of June, after spending a few months we us. It's always great having mom around-- she really spoils us with love and amazing food. The photo below was taken at the Mother's Day brunch I hosted.

Look at that face... so much personality for such a tiny person.

In June, Allan was recruited to join the legal team of company. He explored the opportunity, interviewed for the job, was offered the job and so we decided to seriously consider it. Did I mentioned the job was in Minnesota? Yup!! So, up to Minnesota we drove, to explore the area and determine if this would be a good move for our family.

After much consideration and weighting pros and cons, we decided to take a leap, accept the job, and move to Austin, MN. I fell in love with the birch tree pictured below and decided to take a family photo without knowing this would be our first family photo at our soon-to-be home.

And if this much excitement wasn't enough, we culminated June by visiting family in Massachusetts. Our godson/nephew, Dash, turned two on June 29th and we wanted to be part of this special occasion.

We had an amazing time in Mass and it was awesome to see Dash and Xander interact + play together. We visited the beach towns of Gloucester + Lockport, and soaked up the sun at Crane Beach.