I thought I would share a roundup of Valentine’s gift ideas for him, her, and for toddlers! As a first time mom, I was the most excited to put together a Valentine’s gift guide for toddlers. I had a lot of fun working on that one, so I hope you guys enjoy it! It’s always a little tricky finding things that aren’t candy candy or just too cheesy. As always, I try to offer ideas of gifts that are classic and timeless. There is something for everyone’s budget as well!
Not only have we been celebrating all of Sage’s first holidays, but Andrew and I have been celebrating all of our first holidays together too, which is really special! I can’t believe that after 4 months of dating, we didn’t have a single photo of just the two of us. It was about time to correct that, so we thought we would get dressed up in honor of our first New Year’s Eve together. It was really fun seeing each other in our fancy party attire, and I think we look pretty snazzy if I do say so myself!
I wanted to show Andrew this beautiful spot that my family and I have visited several times since moving to the Phoenix area. Superstition Mountain is located in Apache Junction has been the backdrop for many photoshoots like my full term maternity photos and some family photos with my mom and sister after Sage was born. I thought it would be the perfect spot for capturing some holiday photos of Andrew, Sage, and I as well! I love that I have captured so many life milestones in this gorgeous desert setting.
This time of year has been extra special, not only because it’s baby Sage’s first holiday season, but also because it’s our first time celebrating them as a family with Andrew and Arlo! Meeting Andrew this year was such a blessing after everything I went through in the past year, and I have so much to be thankful for. I remember being so sad last year at this time while I was still pregnant, and emotionally recovering from a difficult breakup. It’s amazing how much has changed in a year! Andrew has brought so much happiness into my life, I’m so lucky to have a second chance with an amazing man who makes my son and I feel so loved.
The month of December is already flying baby! For those of you that are new here, my son Sage Wylder was born January this year, so it’s his first holiday season which has made this time of year even more special. Things have been crazy over here! Andrew drove the whole gang down to Colorado so that we could spend Thanksgiving with his family, and we just bought tickets to fly down there for Christmas. I somehow found the time to throw these holiday gift guides together for those of you who need some ideas for what to gift your loved ones this year, hopefully you find them helpful!
A few weeks back, Andrew and I thrifted the cutest baby avocado costume to dress Sage in for his first Halloween! I was just going to dress him up, but then I realized it would be really easy to do a family Halloween costume with that theme. Baby Sage was an avocado, I was an avocado tree, Andrew was an avocado farmer, and Arlo was the farmer’s dog, although he wasn’t feeling very photogenic that day, so we only got a few photos with him lol. I think it turned out so cute for our first Halloween together as a family, and I can’t wait to see what we come up with next year!
I couldn’t resist doing a Valentine’s Day themed photo shoot with newborn baby Sage. He was only 12 days old when my mom shot these photos of us, such a little guy! I wanted to keep the photos simple so I picked up this $4 Valentine’s balloon from Safeway as a prop and we drove around till we found a white wall. Sage wore this rusty adorable jumpsuit his abuelita bought for him at a boutique in Eastern Washington and I wore a coordinated, retro style look with new pieces from Sezane. We had about 15 min to shoot before baby boy get fussy which was just enough time to snap a few cute photos that we will have forever. The perfect way to remember our first Valentine’s Day together!
Over the Christmas holiday, my parents took my sister and I to Tombstone to explore this historic, cowboy themed town! My mom had already taken a few friends to this tourist spot but the rest of us had never been so it was very exciting. The town was decorated for Christmas with a big tree in the center which I of course had to get some photos with! It’s about an hour southeast of Tucson so you can easily add it to your itinerary if you are planning a trip to Tucson or southern Arizona.
The holidays have been a little hard for me this year needless to say, after having spent them with a partner for the past 10 years and now spending them very pregnant and single. As hard as they have been this year, I know the holidays will be very joyful when I get to spend them with my baby boy in the years to come. I have been so exhausted lately but I still trekked out to a local nursery here in the Phoenix area to shoot some pictures on my tripod to remember the Christmas I was 8 months pregnant with him and I’m so glad I did! Even though my camera charger blew out when I plugged it in to try to sneak in a few more photos. Tis the season lol.
I am currently nearing the end of my third trimester and I have been so exhausted! I feel like I have so much left to do to prepare for baby’s arrival but I always enjoy making these holiday gift guides so I decided to try and put a few together for you guys while there is still a little time left to place orders to arrive in time before Christmas. I hope you find these gift ideas helpful while you are doing your shopping for loved ones this holiday season!
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