Lifestyle

My Life

Life Update & Dating As a Single Mom

By Esperanza on September 3, 2024

I have been meaning to share a life update on here for several months now but life has been so busy! For those of you that are new here, I was in a relationship with Sage’s father Schyler for almost 10 years, but we split up a little over halfway through my pregnancy due to his mental health issues. I held out a lot of hope that if he was able to get help, we would somehow be able to be a family again. Although he was able to get help eventually, and is doing better, it became very clear that would not be possible. It’s not something that I ever thought would happen before I got pregnant and this whole situation has been very tough to share, but unfortunately that has been my reality.

How I Take Care Of Myself As A Single Mom

By Esperanza on June 29, 2024

Boho nursery, nursery, neutral nursery, boho desert nursery, boho chic style, neutral style, baby boy, baby, baby style, baby carrier, Solly baby wrap, wrap carrier, single mom, first time mom, new mom, self care, fashion blogger, lifestyle blogger, mommy blogger, The Urban Darling, wellness tips, self care tips, skincare tips, skincare.

At 5 months postpartum, I finally feel like I am getting back to feeling a bit more like myself. After having Sage, the newborn stage was very tough for me, as I was experiencing baby blues, sleep deprivation, and overall just adjusting to life as a new, single mom. In those first few months, you are basically in fight or flight mode so any form of self care really just went out the door for me. I was lucky if I was able to squeeze in a shower! I knew it was a temporary stage, but I did wonder how/when I would get back to doing things for myself. Skincare, wellness, and self care in general have always been very important to me and over the last few months, I have finally found ways to work those things back into my life.

My Life | Sedona, Arizona, USA

Visiting Sedona With My Baby Sage Wylder

By Esperanza on June 7, 2024

Sedona, Arizona, mother, baby, mom, new mom, first time mom, first baby, baby boy, family photography, maternity photography, baby photography, fashion photography, desert, Oak Creek Canyon, Phoenix blogger, fashion, style, lifestyle, desert vibes, desert style, neutral style, baby style, sustainable style, mommy style, The Urban Darling.

My parents invited me to visit Sedona with them a few weeks back where we visited a lot of the same places from our previous trip when I was 6 months pregnant. I was excited to get the chance to re-visit these places, but with my baby boy Sage Wylder in tow this time. On our last trip, my parents and I said we would have to come back again with my baby boy, but I never realized it would be so soon! My mom had taken some maternity photos for me on our last trip to Sedona, so we decided to capture some photos with Sage and I in the same spots as a comparison. I’m so glad we did because these will be so cool to look back on over the years and show Sage when he’s older!

Baby | My Life

Three Generations In The Arizona Desert

By Esperanza on April 12, 2024

Generations, family, family photography, Phoenix, desert, desert photography, Arizona, Arizona desert, Superstition Mountain, baby, baby boy, baby photography, mama, new mom, first time mom, fashion photography, creative photography, lifestyle blogger, The Urban Darling.

My younger sister Rocio was finally able to come down from Los Angeles to meet my son Sage Wylder, who is now 2 months old! While she was visiting, my mom drove us to Superstition Mountain, where Rocio took my full term maternity photos so that we could shoot some family photos together. My mom, sister, and I have never taken photos together for my blog, so it was really special to be able to capture these, especially with baby Sage! There are three generations of my family in these photos that I know we will cherish forever.

Baby | My Life

Sage Wylder’s Newborn Baby Photo Shoot

By Esperanza on February 22, 2024

Boho chic style, boho nursery, neutral nursery, neutral baby boy style, baby boy style, boho baby, boho neutral, newborn, baby, baby boy, baby photography, newborn photography, creative photography, fashion photography, first time mom. new mom, fashion blogger, lifestyle blogger, The Urban Darling.

Introducing my baby boy Sage Wylder! Sage was born at 12:27 am on January 31st via C-Section at Chandler Regional hospital after 3 days of labor. I am so thankful that he is here, safe & healthy. He is an Aquarius and I’m a Cancer so we are both water signs! I never thought I would have an Aquarius and I can’t wait to see what his personality is like in the upcoming years. Sweet baby boy was in the NICU for 3 days and after a week of recovering at the hospital, we were able to come home. I finally got the chance to shoot some newborn photos of Sage at 2 weeks old! My mom helped me shoot a lot of these photos and the rest I shot myself. I love how sweet he looks and I will definitely cherish these photos of my baby forever!

Baby | Holidays

My First Valentine’s Day With Baby Sage

By Esperanza on February 14, 2024

Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day photo shoot, Valentine's Day photography, newborn baby, newborn, newborn photography, baby photography, creative photography, fashion photography, retro style, Sezane, Sezane style, first time mom. new mom, fashion blogger, lifestyle blogger, The Urban Darling.

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!

Baby | My Life

Our Hospital Birth Story & Baby Name Reveal

By Esperanza on

Hospital birth, labor & delivery, c-section, birth story, our birth story, newborn baby, newborn, newborn baby, newborn, newborn photography, baby photography, new mom, first time mom, baby boy, lifestyle blogger, Phoenix blogger, The Urban Darling.

At 41 weeks of pregnancy, I still wasn’t dilating or having strong contractions. My doctors wanted me to be induced before 42 weeks, so they scheduled me for an induction on Sunday January 28th at 10 pm at Chandler Regional here in the Phoenix metro. I was disappointed because I really wanted to be able to go into labor naturally, but I was also worried about waiting and any complications that could arise if I did. So my mom and I packed up the car and headed to the hospital with as much positivity as we could muster. I was excited to know that at least we would be leaving with baby boy. Unfortunately, everything that could go wrong with my labor, delivery, and everything that followed after, did… In this blog post I am sharing a recap of our birth story!

My Life | Pregnancy

What I Packed In My Hospital Bag

By Esperanza on

Pregnancy, maternity, first time mom, first pregnancy, hospital bag, hospital bag checklist, labor & delivery, pregnancy advice, boho nursery, boho chic style, neutral nursery, boy mom, baby boy, boy nursery, neutral desert nursery, nursery design, interior design, lifestyle blogger, The Urban Darling, Dagne Dover.

I thought I would share what I packed in my hospital bag with all the other new moms out there! My momma friend sent me her checklist and I watched some YouTube mom’s videos as well to perfect my hospital bag checklist. Even though I ended up having a C-section, I still used almost everything on this list, except for half the things in my Frida Mom Labor & Delivery Postpartum kit unfortunately. I hope you momma’s find this checklist helpful in those last few weeks while you are getting ready to head to the hospital to deliver your baby!

My Life | Pregnancy

My Pregnancy Baby Bump Growth Updates

By Esperanza on January 24, 2024

Pregnancy, maternity, motherhood, pregnancy photography, maternity photography, maternity style, baby bump, bump updates, bump growth, belly bump, baby bump growth, pregnancy transformation, pregnancy progression, boho chic style, sustainable style, fashion blogger, lifestyle blogger, first time mom, first pregnancy, Storq, The Urban Darling.

Something I really wanted to do during my pregnancy was to capture my baby bump growth each month with a photo, that way I would be able to see/look back on my full pregnancy transformation. It definitely wasn’t easy to do some months, especially as I grew more and more exhausted but I’m so glad I made it happen. The transformation of pregnancy is truly incredible, beautiful, and empowering. I know I will cherish these photos for years to come and maybe baby boy will love seeing them someday too!

My Life | Pregnancy

Third Trimester Update: Pregnancy Symptoms & Must Haves

By Esperanza on January 21, 2024

Maternity, maternity style, maternity photography, 3rd trimester pregnancy, pregnancy, 3rd trimester update, 3rd trimester recap, pregnancy symptoms, pregnancy must haves, boho chic style, boho nursery, neutral nursery, baby boy nursery, boho desert style, neutral boho nursery, lifestyle blogger, The Urban Darling.

I am writing this blog post the day before baby boy’s due date (January 22nd), which is so crazy to say! Although he must be quite happy and cozy in there because I hadn’t started dilating at all yet at my appointment last week. We’ll see what happens this week! This pregnancy has felt so long, especially because of everything I have been dealing with in my life. My partner of 10 years was really struggling with mental health issues when we had to part ways over halfway through my pregnancy. Four months later, he is finally getting the help he needs which I am so thankful for and gives me a lot of peace of mind going into the birth of our son.