Miami Moms Blog Welcomes: MIA Mom Daniela Muir

Hi everyone! My name is Daniela Muir and I’m a mama to one baby boy. I am thrilled to be a part of the Miami Moms Blog Team!

Miami

I was born in Ecuador but raised in Miami. My family moved to Miami when I was 3, so it’s been home ever since. I attended FIU for undergrad but decided that I needed to go somewhere else for law school. Enter: South Carolina School of Law. I am so glad I made that decision to go somewhere where I didn’t know anyone or anything. My husband and I met the very first day of law school!

After graduation, we had two options: stay in South Carolina a couple of years and then move to Miami OR move to Miami and take the Florida Bar right off the bat. At the time we had this conversation, Ian was my boyfriend (not husband)! But he asked, “When we have kids, are you going to be okay with living 10+ hours away from your family? If the answer is no (which I think it is), then I think we should move to Miami now.” He was right! I have a very tight-knit Hispanic family (read: very opinionated but well-meaning), I couldn’t imagine raising my son without them being close-by. SO MUCH respect for the mamas who do! 

So we packed up and moved down to Miami, where my very American husband has been loving drinking coladas and eating ceviche. He is slowly but surely learning Spanish and doing pretty well at integrating himself into my Hispanic culture and my very big and loud Hispanic family!

Becoming a Miami Mom 

My husband and I got married in early February of 2018. We always knew that we wanted a family, so we started talking about starting a family later that year. About a month and a half later, I was in a car accident. My husband insisted we swing by the urgent care to get myself checked out. Naturally, before performing any x-rays, they asked if I was pregnant. I flat out told the nurse, “Nope, definitely not pregnant.” My husband chimed in, “Well, I guess there’s always a chance,” and laughed. The nurse said they were going to run a pregnancy test just to be safe. I rolled my eyes, thinking that this would just make the urgent care visit take longer, and begrudgingly complied.

30 minutes later, the doctor peeks into our room and said, “Congratulations Daniela, you’re pregnant!” Cue my husband’s and my laughter (we obviously had NO idea), then blank stares at each other and the doctor, followed by a lot of “are you sure??!” in-between very happy tears. We walked out of the urgent care in total shock and excitement over this baby who had plans of its own. Our sweet boy had decided we’d be a family of three much sooner than we anticipated.

We welcomed our son into the world in December of 2018. I know everyone says it, but life has truly never been the same. You spend so much time while you’re pregnant imagining who your baby is going to be, and reality is just SO. MUCH. BETTER. You get to witness this tiny human learn so many new things and develop their little personality– it’s amazing. Over the past year; our little man has shaped us, challenged us, taught us, and redefined what love is.

Miami Moms Blog

Anyone who lives in Miami knows it has its strengths [food] and its weaknesses [traffic]. Miami’s diversity with people and places make it great for both adults and kids. It’s important to us to raise our son to be bi-lingual, and it’s definitely proving to be interesting when he is being raised in a half American, half Ecuadorean household! But I know there is no place better than Miami for that. There are also a lot of places to visit and things to do- we love the Zoo and farmer’s markets! Even though I am a full-time attorney, I’ve been incredibly lucky to work from home a couple of days a week. Those days have made all the difference for us! I am also looking forward to exploring new places with more hands-on activities, now that our son is a little older. 

Motherhood is not without its challenges. Each season brings new worries and challenges you as a parent, woman, and wife. I hope that this space can be a space where these things are discussed without judgement, reproach, or guilt. One of the key parts of motherhood is learning to find your tribe of women who support you when you need it. Even if that tribe comes in the form of women you don’t know, sharing their stories in a blog post. Reading their stories at 3 A.M. when your baby won’t sleep comes with the reassurance that you are not alone. Countless other women have been there and they have made it out alive–you will too. Can’t wait to share our adventures with you!