Cynthia here with a post this lovely Friday afternoon. I've been busier than usual these last couple of weeks but have enjoyed getting to take the time to sit and document some life events. I think if anyone gets that, it's us sentimental moms who want time to slow down!
These are a few weeks old, beginning of May, before I was hit with a slew of responsibilities. We're now in the full throws of summer vacation and it's my first time really experiencing it as before this year, I was a fulltime working mom. I would've usually been looking for a camp or something to "entertain" my girls this year but decided to use a majority of the summer, spending time with them and making memories. We got this idea from Pinterest to make a summer bucket list, a bunch of activities and hobbies to try together which has Nellie so excited! She put pottery on there and we have a class later today, gonna be making flower pots (another item on our checklist is planting some flowers).
Every time I blink, it's like they grow tenfold and I never feel like I have enough time to fully love on them. So this bucket list thing has me very emotional and I'm hoping to make it a standard for whenever we have prolonged periods of time together with no obligations. My sweet girls deserve it!
How were your summer vacations growing up?
Boring; just became a vegetable in front of a TV.
Active and full of making memories.
Voting ended onJun 13, 2025
I had very fun memories during my first few years in school but those were short lived and I would be shipped off to different family members the day after I finished school every year from the year I was 9, so 3rd grade? If I wasn't being turned into a little helper, I was just miserably consuming a lot of TV because no one was really involving me. So I'm glad I get to do different with my girls, especially now that I'm mostly home and taking care of them.
Hello, weekly blog supporters! My name is Cynthia, and I've been the blog editor since its return in late January. The relaunching of this blog has proved to be an incredible feat and honestly, the magnitude of it all caused me to hesitate about my own participation, mainly because of fearing judgment and hearing opinions from faceless humans on the internet (we all know how parent shaming can be!) However, after I sat down with Beatrice and got a stern talking to, I bit the bullet and decided to officially introduce myself... usurping the Taylor's expected birth story post meant for today but it's okay they're cool with it.
So here's a little about me and my family!
The Aurera's - A Christian family of 4 with two crazy girls!
Cynthia (aged 35) and Roberto (aged 36) are the parents to two beautiful girls and were neighbors with the lovely Ruiz's before they moved away a few weeks ago. Anella (aged 8) and Emilia (aged 2) are their daughters with strong personalities making a never-ending game of "Why Did I Have Kids?" Their parenting style has evolved over the past few years and they're much more receptive to gentler approaches depending on the situation. Their main focus these days is leading by example as their two little sponges soak up every interaction the have in the world!
That's all for this week! Although I will mostly be behind the scenes, you can expect updates on our day-to-day every so often.
Logging out,
Cynthia
Cynthia here, as the winner of the poll, to show off some of my favorite places in our home. I know it's been awhile since we've last talked, I'm still traumatized bare with me, but I'm back and better than ever. As we near the first day of school year, and my inevitable return to work, I am actually glad to be able to get this done before chaos ensues. Enough about that, let's move on to the tour!
For privacy and safety the front of our home and other identifying information will not be shown.
Our home story:
My husband and I purchased our home after being lifelong renters back in 2021 and we're so grateful we did. Many of you may not know this, but it's actually how Beatrice and I connected, she was our across the street neighbor and we hated each other 😂.
We searched for what we believed would be the perfect mix of diversity, urban living, and peaceful surroundings. At the time, I hadn't even thought about having a second child as our first was only four years old. In hindsight, I would've loved to buy a slightly larger place but we're ingrained in our community now so moving is simply not an option! Instead, we have been working on making our dreams come true through renovations and a lot of DIY projects, many of which have not ended successfully.
Bare lands (but we have plans!):
One of the main selling points for our place was how massive the backyard was. We thought, by now, we'd have an in ground pool and a Tiki bar out here but alas that's not happened yet. For now, our backyard serves as a safe haven for our girls to run around and burn their energy. We've hosted plenty of friends here and are excited to work on a few more projects this coming year.
The Kitchen:
You know the kid that gives their parents a migraine every time they open their mouth but somehow manages to be their favorite child? Yeah that's our kitchen. Earlier this year, you guys got a chance to see it in a partially demoed stage, but we've mostly completed it and I can't lie the headache was worth it. Getting to watch my girls play while I work on dinner has been such a joy and allows me to play referee without taking my apron off!
Our sponsor:
Today we're sponsored by Maldon, a family owned company who has been producing the most amazing salts for four generations. As a parent, I'm always looking for high quality ingredients to feed to my family and Maldon's salts are a great seasoning choice. Use code AURERA15 to get 15% of your next purchase.
Work in progress, The Library:
Something special about our home is that we have two living rooms. One is truly a living space with all the markings of a family of four but for this space, which is across from my home office, we decided it would be best to have it as a quiet sitting area rather than a playroom. My husband is a book collector, notice how I didn't say avid reader, and he thought it would be a great idea to create a home library. It is the least perfect space at the moment, and we quite honestly had to call in back up (thanks Beatrice and Yadier) because our DIY plans failed... We had a shelf fall from the anchor in the middle of the night. Since getting some help, and lots of tips, it's mostly held up so we're moving into our next set of plans which is painting, furniture and all the books to fill every wall. It's a project that will take a few years to get done but it will be well worth the wait!
Em's toddler haven:
If it has primary colors Emilia is going to love it! Our rainbow princess' room concept is over the rainbow, a place many of us never got to reach as children. It's her own little sanctuary and she's been loving her space and being crib-free, though we still have a problem staying in our room all night (help!) she's been great in her space and often kicks us out to have "lone time".
Little islander's paradise:
Now big sister Nellie has always been a big fan of everything beach themed and for the first time ever, I learned how to put up wallpaper to make her beach oasis come true. She wasn't as finicky as a toddler so this reno is coming in a bit late but she loves her space and often is playing whale sounds on her Google Nest so she can learn whale 🥲. It's made for some interesting interactions with her sister down the hall who often tells me "The whales not saying anything!" in frustration to her sister's antics.
Parent Zone Only:
Our primary bedroom is severely neglected and we spend as little time in here as possible during the wake hours so we haven't had to focus on it. Once upon a time, I would've loved to completely gut this room but the wallpaper has grown on me and I find myself looking for ways to incorporate more color and patterns than ever before. I'd still like to turn it into a parental paradise but for now it serves its purpose, although our bed spring is older than our children and on its last leg.
Q & A:
I'm incredibly bad at reading through the questions we get but I noticed a few marked for me and decided to steal Femi's idea and answer in bulk on this post so here we go!
1. More babies? My husband and I are happy with our sweet girls and have called a quits to trying for any more children after we lost our son in a miscarriage.
2. What did/do you do for work? At the moment, I'm more of a consultant than anything but I had been working in a government position prior to this and plan to go back when Emilia is in school full-time!
3. How long have you and your husband been married? It's been a decade, a full decade as of May. I don't know how that's even possible but here we are. Sometimes it feels like I just met the man 😂.
4. Hair care, textures, styles, etc!
I'm kind of lumping this together to keep it short but the Aurera girls and myself all have a range of textures from 3c - to 4c. I have always encouraged my girls to love their hair and also try not to take too much time getting it "done" as to not insinuate that their hair in its natural state is any less perfect. They're both very confident and comfortable with their curls and I'm thankful I get to save them from the hurdles I had to jump through when it came to learning my hair.
Our perfectly imperfect home has been a place to congregate, learn, grow and most importantly be safe in. We have experienced so much being here these last four years and have a lot of exciting years to go! By the end of all the work we have planned for it I'm thinking we'll need a whole new house tour to show off our space.
We at Mama's Sanctuary want to thank each and every one of you for your continued support and input. Next Friday you'll be getting to see home life for the Amoros family, so check back then between 12:30pm - 2:30pm.
Cynthia here with the cutest post we've made to date. Beatrice and I had the bright idea of becoming dance moms at the same time and have been enjoying watching our girls learn ballet. Though for me and Anella, this has been our usual for the past 2 years. I grew up in dance and various "girl" activities so as soon as Nels was old enough I signed her up for all the things... But only dance has stuck.
She's been so excited to have her best friend in her class, which has led to some trouble, but overall it's been a good experience for them both. It's also been nice to have a little mom date every few days with Beatrice. We both took turns this week being the emotional mom remembering their first few meets as friends and how instant their love was for each other. It was a simpler, sweeter time for sure 🥺.
Hey Cynthia here! Thank you all for the warm welcome after my first post. I really appreciate getting to read so many encouraging comments! I'm glad I took the leap and decided to officially join versus sitting on the sidelines.
Today is a tiny update post, regarding my littlest being out of a crib. I've been through this once before, though it took years before Nellie attempted to climb out. Em on the other hand decided she is done with her crib and for safety reason we decided to go ahead and transition her. I'm not sure who she's trying to compete with but my second born is a firecracker and takes developmental leaps any time we're settling in with her new normal.
It hurts to not have a little baby, who's world I revolve around. Instead, I've now entered her world and will need to start the process of guiding, teaching, and really keeping her alive! Being in the toddler years again is daunting and yet I'm excited to see what my baby girl accomplishes.
***Important Notice***
As we missed a week of posting between 3/2-3/8 we've decided to double up this week to make up for it! Hence why you're seeing this on a Monday afternoon. Our next post will be on the usual day/time (Friday, between 12:30-1:30 for anyone new).
Have a good start to your week,
Cynthia
So I made a sorcerer since none of my friends wanted to play knight. Road to 100 again. I have no items really. Been playing for a week. 31 ML 26 shielding, with 1k in my name. Making my way, looking for friends.
