// 12/52 //

// a portrait of my son, once a week, every week, in 2015" //

ah, you little character, you! we had a photoshoot for mama's tees, and boy oh boy, you were the most difficult to work with, even though you have plenty of experience with shoots. maybe it was the excitement of all your baby friend being over your house, having to share your toys (we're working on this new concept, still), and having all these beautiful mamas around you...but boy did you make us laugh. this captures you perfectly, baby boy. full of non-stop energy and captured mid- scare to your titi becca! 

// 6/52 //

// "a portrait of my son, once a week, every week, in 2015" //

this blurry snapshot of you melts me. currently, dad-dee is your obsession. all you want is him. there's a part of me that cringes because it's not me...but the majority of me is so melted, happy and enhanced by your union. it is beautiful. i think about how i didn't have that and how lucky you are that you do. because everyone should. you are blessed, and you equally bless us. 

// 23 months //

Age: 
Wah, how are we here? 23 months?! Grateful for my baby's health but wow- already almost 2!  I can't believe it! I really need to start planning his birthday celebration! Eek!
Next month's update will be my last one of this style. From January on, I'm going to Project 52: one photo a week that represents my son.
A few years ago, I started  "Project 365: 365 days of mi vida loca" and only got 1/3 of the way through before I quit. I think this one will be fun!

Stats: 

31.5 lbs.

Activities:
-visiting Nana's neighbors

-watching for the mail man, trash truck, school bus, etc.
-taking pictures: "cheeeeese, mama!"

-jumping, spinning,  dancing
-stealing our phones to talk, take selfies and dial numbers with one finger like he means business!
-accessorizing all of his outfits: he now tells us what he wants to wear.

Moods: 

Oh man, the infamous Terrible Twos have officially begun this month. This boy is sassy, stubborn, and strong-willed. He gets mad and runs to a corner for his own time-out from us! He yells "no!" and tells us "umph!" And he means it. When he gets something stuck in his mind, it is difficult to convince him any other way. Our sweet boy is there, but his stubborn righteousness surpasses it and makes it a pure necessity to be as patient as ever!  

He stretches me to my limits, has me doubt and question my parenting, and forgives me with ease; reminding me to do the same. I adore him for all that he is and all that he will become.

Insists on doing EVERYTHING himself

2 seconds later

Sleep: 

This month has been no different from any prior. Sleep is still extremely difficult to come by at night. He continues to fight it and cries every single night. He attempts to negotiate and even when we give in, he still will find any excuse to not hold his end of the bargain. No sleep is hard!

  New Words: 

Oh, boy. We are in the simple sentences stage and loving it. 

He is able to communicate a lot more with us so much so that when he cannot convey what he means, it leads to lots of frustration from his end. 

He also tells us to go buy things and fix things:

"Mama, cookies? Buy it"

"Mama, broke it? Fix it!"

Okay, Bubba. 

Favorite Foods: 

oh food. he loves it still but only on his accord. meaning, if what we are having does not appease him at that moment, game over. It is extremely frustrating for us. 

But he remains super in love with pizza and whenever he sees any type of flat rectangular/square box, he immediately gets excited and screams "pi-zza!!!" 

Favorite Things: 

his baby

Lobo

Dad-ee

Pushing and pulling items that are way too big for him (strollers and shopping carts)

Airplanes

Trash Cans/Trucks

Mail Carriers

iPhones

Christmas lights/trees

Twinning with Mama

Signature Moves: 

Dancing!

He grabs his knees and shakes his booty!

Telling us he did not poop when he obviously did

every day he drags a chair from the dining room to the kitchen because he refuses to eat in his high chair- awesome. only not. 

fixing everything.

cooking.

He now purses his lips to give kisses and after he says no!

Mommy's Proudest Moment: 

I was planking and Oliver climbed my back. I thought it'd be cool to do push-ups. After the two I was able to muster, I came down to quick and he flipped over my shoulders and landed hard. Oops! still so sorry, dude!!!]

Daddy's Proudest Moment:

Daddy decided to leave Oliver sans-diaper. I told him to hurry as I knew he would pee. Below is Oliver's pee in the span of five minutes. This is NOT all of it. Hahahahaha!

This Month's Highlights:

- the weather become cooler/cold and we got to wear tons of our winter wear! Last year, we didn't get to use any!

-We celebrated Thanksgiving

-we found out Daddy is Cancer-Free!

-We took our Christmas pictures

-We hung out with family

-We went to Sea World

-You hung out with Santa

-We decorated for Christmas

-You had a sleepover with your cousin

-Our friend, Carson stayed the week with us

-We spent another day in San Diego with our friends

-We celebrated Friendsmas &

-We hung out in LA and stayed until Christmas!

(I'll make those pictures a separate post because there are too many)!

Cinnamon Clothing Co.

Cinnamon Clothing Co.

I did it! I relaunched my clothing company this weekend (Friday, November 21st, 2014- I mean, these things should be documented right?!)
Ah, what a rollercoaster! I have been working on this for months and months! I was reminded that I first officially launched almost ten years ago! How insane is that?! Prior to that, I was making clothes in college- I would go thrift shopping and run whatever I found home, pull out my sewing machine, recreate it (pattern-less), and post ot on fotki! haha! I need to find my old account. My girlfriends would come over to my dorm and I would dress them and enter my clothes into local fashion shows. haha! My entire college career, on my desk, stood a sewing machine in lieu of a computer (thank you Jess for my first sewing machine when I was 16-17 years old)! & thank you to my Allysona and Lucy for always loaning me your computers to get through UCLA, haha!
Cinnamon stems from my maiden last name: Canela, which means Cinnamon in Spanish. A name I grew up detesting- it set me apart from others because it was uncommon, and opened up questions from my peers that I could never answer. I would lie and say my father was a cinnamon farmer (what?! haha). The truth being that I had never met anyone with the same last name as me, including my biological father. Every time I moved to a new school, I would beg my teachers to call me by my mom's last name so I felt like I belonged to someone...Yet, as I grew older, I began to create my own identity for Canela. I embraced it and made it my own. & eventually, named my little dream after it. Because there are not many things in life that are solely mine.
Cinnamon has grown with me as I have grown through the stages in my life. From patternless sewing, re-creations, to photography into heat-pressed shirts, to baby clothes when my close girlfriends started having babies, to painting on vans and purses.  And now, to my new little collection of Mamahood: the biggest challenge of my life! Celebrating everything mamas go through day and day out, and the littles that make our world go round and upside down!
I have SO many ideas that I am dying to put into action. But for now, I am starting very slow.
This weekend was full of emotions. Lots of self-doubt, lots of gratitude, lots of thinking I'm not good enough, yet so grateful. Not meeting goals vs. wanting to give everything away because that's what I've always done in the past. Then feeling guilty for letting my friends support me. A true rollercoaster. I have no idea where this little venture will take me, nor do I have any expectations. I am not looking to become famous, I am not looking for followers in social media, I am looking to create and represent the unity & support that we need for each other.
I am looking to believe in each other. To raise each other and know that we all have in common way more than is portrayed on the surface.