.. December 12, Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe ..

"Am I not here, me that I am your mother"

December 12, Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, is one of the most important and spectacular days that is celebrated in Mexico & amongst believers around the world. On this day people from all parts of Mexico make their way to the Basilica in the Mexico city, where they will celebrate Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. 

This day is a national fiesta, which is celebrated with traditional music, folkloric dances and songs dedicated to the Virgin. Amongst the thousands of bouquets of flowers that pilgrims bring in honor of the Virgin De Guadalupe, you can feel the love and thankfulness that each person is feeling. 

This day is of great importance to Mexicans and believers around the world. It is a day filled with gratefulness, love, compassion and it is hard to put into words but honestly when you are celebrating you are filled with peace within yourself. 

Frida's first Dia De la Virgin De Guadalupe celebration.

This is a very special day for us, it is of custom to dress little ones in traditional clothing and bring either flowers or a small offering to the church to present our Virgencita as a way of thanking her. 

Since Frida was born we have been showing her this beautiful tradition, she now 5 & loves this celebration. 

She gets to see first hand her culture, her faith, and her love for "Mama Lupita" as she refers to the Virgin. It is an aspect of her culture she gets to partake in, choose what offering we will be taking and simply learn more about her Mexican roots. 

Every year we look forward to December 12 to honor our Virgencita, we gather as a family filled with faith, thankfulness and love in our hearts to not only show our gratitude but to grow our faith in our family, in our home and in our hearts. 

Aztec folk dance in honor of Our Lady Of Guadalupe.

.. Dia De los Muertos: A day of remembrance..

Dia De Los Muertos also known as Day Of The Dead, is a Mexican tradition where families create altars in remembrance of loved ones that are no longer with us. Altars that are decorated with favorites items, foods and the loved one(s) picture.

Now a mom, This is one tradition that I absolutely love teaching Frida about, her curiosity and intrigue about it is something I love to see. When we are getting ready to build our altar, I tell her stories about loved ones she sadly did not meet but knows of due to this beautiful custom, she loves to help in getting the items we will be placing on the altar. 

I remember when Frida first asked my about Why we celebrate Dia De Los Muertos? 

It caught me off guard and honestly I was a little confused, how do I explain DEATH to her, thats even though it is a natural part of life, it is still something we tend to shy away from the subject.
Before I could answer her she told me " Mommy, we celebrate Dia De Los Muertos to remember our family that we love so much!" 

I answered her "Yes, we love our Family and even though they are no longer with us, we celebrate our love for them."

Every year as soon as we start getting ready to create our altar, Frida loves to help in getting things prepared, we go buy favorite food items, flowers and other things we will place in the altar. 

While we create the altar we play music each one of our loved ones enjoyed listening to, share stories of our loved ones and creating new memories with each other. 

" The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living."

Dia de los Muertos is special to myself and has become special to Frida, we will keep setting up our altar every October 31-Nov.2. We will remember our loved ones with much love and understand that even though there presence is no longer with us their love will carry on.

" When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure."

And just like that our family grew by one....

Maverick, Our 1st fur baby!

 We are proud owners of a 4 year old bully breed pup. Maverick is an absolute loving, caring,  protective and cuddle loving pup. He does not measure his size nor his weight (he weighs roughly 100 lbs!); he just knows that he is our family and he loves us!

Well, My family and I absolutely love animals. Frida has repeatedly told us that she wants to own a house where she will have all types of animals and she will take care of them if they get sick. She said "I will teach them to be a family, love each other and be happy." My heart fills with joy overtime she tells me this and I hope her dream of owning this house comes true. 

If it was up to her our current apartment would be filled with doggies, big ones, little ones, you name it she wants all of the doggies. 

Frida convinced my husband real quick, which is no surprise because if it were up to him we would have a dog filled with dogs as well. Don't get me wrong I would love to have all the doggies as well but not in an apartment, especially a NYC sized apartment. I caved in and next thing i know we were on our way to adopt a puppy, not any puppy but a Chihuahua puppy! 

We already had her name picked out and everything! We were all excited to bring Miley home with us and shower her with love!

Frida with Miley, on our way home from adopting her. 

I was a little nervous with the size difference between Miley and Maverick but Maverick is such a loving pup himself the nervousness quickly faded away. Maverick was eager in meeting her and we slowly introduced them to each other and they been inseparable since day one. They take naps together, sleep on the same bed even though they each have their own and Maverick has taught Miley the Do's and Don'ts of the house. 

He is very protective of her when they go out for walks together, both are protective of their sister Frida and both shower each other with affection as well as us.

Maverick & Miley.
My M & M!

Sleeping together is their favorite hobby! Haha!

Maverick teaching Miley how to roll around in the grass. 

Our family has now grown by one and we couldn't be happier! 

Get ready to be read the adventures of Frida and her fur-siblings!

.. National Love your Pet Day!!! ..

Today is National love your Pet day!!!

Maverick most definitely get extra spoiled today! 

Make sure to give your fur baby's extra hugs & kisses! ( Like we need an excuse to do so, right?! Lol)

Maverick, you're more than a pet you're our family!! We love you!!

Here are a few tips from one of the best pets ever Yoshi !:

Celebrate National Mutt Day with the help of Peppy Pups!

Guess what national day it is??? 

Today is National Mutt Day!!  National Mutt day was was founded by Pet lifestyle & animal welfare advocate Colleen Paige. It is observed on Dec.2 and July 31st, to celebrate the many wonderful attributes of mutts to promote adoption worldwide.  Of course my dog-loving family is going to spoil our fur baby Maverick with a his favorite special treat & extra cuddles!! (As if he isn't a spoiled enough, Lol). 

So lately Frida has been asking for a new baby, to be be specific she wants a new baby doggy. In fact she has been telling people that theres going to be a new baby at our home & once friends & family ask her filled with emotion "Omg! Frida, are you going to be a big sister?" she calmly answers "Yes, my mommy is going to have a baby doggy!" I laugh so hard every time I see their reaction to what she answers them. 

Frida & Maverick are inseparable, they're best friends, and I absolutely love seeing their bond. Would I love to have another puppy, YES!! But another dog that's Maverick's size would be a little too much for our NYC sized apartment!

So what is a momma to do??? Frida already has a billion doggy plushes in a variety of sizes but it's not quite as realistic. 

But wait what about Peppy Pups?!?!? What are Peppy Pups you ask? 

Peppy Pups are the only plush dog who really run with you! They have spring action legs, tails & heads so when it's time for their walk, they will bounce along right beside you! The best part aside from their super snuggable demeanor is that absolutely no batteries are required!!! 

Check Peppy Pup in action here:

The perfect companion, free of mess & batteries! Ha! 

Absolutely love Peppy Pup & Frida has watched the video over and over again asking mommy for this new baby doggy! 

This is one more doggy that mommy can bring home for sure!

 So join us to celebrate National Mutt day today with your fur babies at home and if you're looking for a new addition give Peppy Pups a chance to win over your child's heart! 

Peppy pupps is available at retailers nationwide, including Toy R'Us and Amazon for a retail price of $19.99. Recommended for ages 4 & up.

Stay up to all things Peppy Pups by following their social media channels here...

• Instagram  -  @Peppypups_official
• Peppy Pups on Facebook
• #peppypups

Tootsies & Paws

These pics were taken by my 3year old Frida. Once we were home she showed them to me & said "Look mommy Its Maverick & my feet!" lol. 

.. Sunday Funday! ..

Just driving around ....

She wanted to drive! Lol (The car is parked!

.. I love her so much! .. 

.. Muah!!! .. 

.. We get to act silly, while daddy drives!! ..

The Bond Between dog & human...

My fear of dogs (& I mean all DOGS!!) was all due to an experience I had when i was younger. My siblings & I were playing tag in central park, when all of sudden my sister was running away from me & was screaming at me to run, which had me confused till I saw a humongous dog running towards me. I was about 7 years old & was legit was running for my life; crying my eyes out as the dog ran behind me!!! Since that day I was terrified of dogs, as the years went by if I saw a dog that seemed scary to me I would either cross the street or simply wait till dog walked by.

Even though I was extremely terrified of dogs, I still found them to be amazing animals & wanted to have a dog of my own. Yet never had one of my own, that all changed when I met my husband & his family. His whole family loved dogs & he had a a dog which happened to be a pitbull.
I was terrified of pitbulls, mostly to all the attacks you hear on the tv and/or read in the newspaper, that breed is portrayed as such an awful & malicious dog. When I first met Chucky his pitbull, I was terrified & would make my husband hold onto him till I ran to his room but with time I grew to love Chucky, he cured me from my fear of dogs. I owe Chucky a lot, he showed me how much love a dog can give you, without having the ability to speak actual words a dog SHOWS you how much they care for you. My love for dogs only grew after interacting with him,  I finally got my very firsts dog a Chiuahaha named Manhattan which stayed with my parents after I got married & once we got married we got a American Bully named Maverick. Which my husband insisted on getting for our daughter so they can grow up together.

It is such an amazing experience to see my daughter & her dog cause even though we feed him & walk him, Maverick sole belongs to her! The love & bond those two share is unbreakable! Sure her loves my husband & I but my daughter is the beholder of his heart.

With all that being said PLEASE do not JUDGE the breed as being a "bad" breed, a "bad" dog is not born it is created!!!!