RGV Moms

Raised in Rio Grande City, Anastasia is now a McAllen local, mother to three boys ages 6, 5, and 3, and wife to OJ. She has returned to the RGV after leaving the state for college (MIT Architecture Design, ’04), and then moving from McAllen to Austin to Laredo and back again. Anastasia freelances as a graphic designer ( anastasiaperez.com ), is owner of the RGV Moms Blog, and is Web and Creative Manager for City Moms Blog Network. 

Raised in North Carolina, Christy loves sweet tea (think watery syrup), lightning bugs and fall leaves. After ten+ years in South Texas, she now considers herself “from the Valley,” and can’t seem to get enough of mango raspas, afternoons by the pool and, of course, botanas. Her family has ridden the roller coaster that is foster and adoptive parenting for the last eight years and they are much the better for it. Christy loves doing life with her husband, Caleb, and their four kids.

Vannessa Eggleston is the founder of Rio Grande Valley Moms Blog and owner of the online boutique stationery store, Then Comes Paper.  She’s born and raised in the RGV, where she met and married her high school sweetheart, Will.  She’s mom to 3 rambunctious little critters :: Cole , Ellie and Taite.  She has a quirky personality and an unhealthy obsession with all things Egg-related (she married for love and the last name happened to be one of the perks ;).  She enjoys sweet tea, a good pun, designing, and quiet time. If she’s not blogging, designing or loving on those three Littles and that one Big of hers, you can probably find her at any given Chick Fil A. You can keep up with her on her personal blog The Eggspress News or on her professional blog over at Then Comes Paper.

Hi!  I'm Vannie.  I was born in Houston but raised in McAllen.  I have a fun, energetic, smart and beautiful daughter, Ellie.  I'm a bit of a self-improvement junkie, so I tend to get involved in an endless amounts of projects.  I enjoy reading, traveling, anything creative, tackling DIY projects, gardening, photography, throwing a good party and spending time with those closest to me.  

Aimee was born in the United Kingdom, raised in Massachusetts and ended up settling in Texas. She married her best-friend, Sean (who is a Valley native) and together they have a son named Stryder (2). Aimee has a Bachelor's in Early Childhood Education from Bridgewater State University and owned and operated her own family-child care (Young Folk Academy) until her son was about 15 months old. She paused it to focus on her true calling of being a mother. Aimee enjoys using her degree to create lesson-plans, crafts and activities to engage her smart, active and overly rambunctious toddler. She loves sharing these ideas, crafts and joyous moments with her toddler with other families. Aimee is also a book-lady with Usborne Books & More and really enjoys helping families find books that are perfect for their children. Aimee enjoys reading, Game-of-Thrones, pumpkin-spice lattes, hopeless romantic movies, and having a good cup o' tea. 

Raised in Rio Grande City, Anastasia is now a McAllen local, mother to three boys ages 6, 5, and 3, and wife to OJ. She has returned to the RGV after leaving the state for college (MIT Architecture Design, ’04), and then moving from McAllen to Austin to Laredo and back again. Anastasia freelances as a graphic designer ( anastasiaperez.com ), is owner of the RGV Moms Blog, and is Web and Creative Manager for City Moms Blog Network. 

Celeste is a mom to 3 teens: Hope, Noah, and Joel. She’s been married for 19 years. She is by birth a California girl, but by heart a Texan. Her husband is from the valley and they moved here together 7 years ago. She’s loved being a stay-at-home mom while being able to pursue her passions— writing and speaking. She enjoys reading, coffee, and spending time with her friends and family. She and her husband also run a non-profit here in the valley doing camps and events for kids and families (BigRedsRanch.com). You can learn more about her at celestebarnard.com.

Raised in North Carolina, Christy loves sweet tea (think watery syrup), lightning bugs and fall leaves. After ten+ years in South Texas, she now considers herself “from the Valley,” and can’t seem to get enough of mango raspas, afternoons by the pool and, of course, botanas. Her family has ridden the roller coaster that is foster and adoptive parenting for the last eight years and they are much the better for it. Christy loves doing life with her husband, Caleb, and their four kids.

Claudia is a wife, mother, sister, and daughter. She loves tacos, margaritas, and red velvet cupcakes (in that order). She has a Master’s Degree in Museum Studies from the University of Oklahoma and proudly supports her Sooners all the way from deep South Texas.

Crystal and her husband of 10 years are parents to a 4 year old human boy named Maxon Liam and a 1 year old canine girl named Molly Mae. Born and raised in McAllen, Texas, Crystal now calls Mission her home. She comes from a huge close-knit family, where she is the oldest (and some might say greatest) of 29 first cousins. When she is not having very lengthy conversations about the solar system with her space obsessed son, she is busy growing her dream business. With the support and many times, assistance of said huge family and friends, Crystal passionately owns and runs Crystal Kelly Photography, where through sheer magic, she enjoys being able to keep children little forever... at least in a photograph.

Dalinda Gonzalez-Alcantar is an mom, wife, social entrepreneur and currently serves her community as CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of McAllen. She is the cofounder of Border Kids Code, a startup in the Rio Grande Valley dedicated to teaching the fundamentals of computer science. Her technology startup, eJucomm, was recently acquired by San Francisco based CampusOrb, a victory for women and Hispanics in the Rio Grande Valley. Gonzalez-Alcantar was born and raised in McAllen, TX and has over 10 years of teaching experience. She received her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Communication Design from Texas State University, San Marcos and her Masters in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas Pan American. Her innovative approaches to effecting family communication in schools has led Gonzalez-Alcantar to receive the McAllen Chamber of Commerce Innovation Grant for her creation of eJucomm’s Family Kinex mobile application. As the founder, she received The United States Small Business Administration’s 2013 Innovation Through Technology Business of the Year for the Rio Grande Valley. She was also selected as the 2012 Parenting Magazine’s Mom Congress Texas Delegate where she represented Texas in Washington D.C. at a conference dedicated to family engagement in schools. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan highlighted Gonzalez-Alcantar’s educational technology work at Parenting Magazine’s annual keynote speech. In 2016, Gonzalez-Alcantar spoke at Georgetown University’s OWN IT Summit where she sat on a panel featuring Latina Leaders in the country. Upon returning, she was awarded The Rio Grande Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Women of Distinction in 2016 for her work as a social entrepreneur. Locally she serves on McAllen ISD’s advisory council and is the owner of Alablanca Apparel, a company printing t-shirts that represent the vibrant pride and culture of people living on the South Texas border. Gonzalez-Alcantar is the proud mother of Elijah and Madalin and wife to fellow educator, Marco Alcantar. Her main focus is on her family and community and attributes her success to her supportive children and husband while giving God the glory in all everything she does. Together the Alcantars serve their community through Baptist Temple in McAllen, TX.

Elizabeth is a valley girl, born and raised,  with a real and honest passion for writing. She shares her home and heart with a soon to be 2 yr old beautiful little human named Isabella and her love, Sam. She is a preschool teacher, going on 10 years, and definitely enjoys her summers! She loves scrapbooking, journaling, crafting and reading. Occasionally you can find her in the kitchen, trying to make a decent meal; good thing her daughter is not a picky eater! When there aren't any kid friendly events taking place for her mini, you will often find her in the isles of Target, Walmart or Hobby Lobby having a dance party with her little beauty! 

Never is there a dull moment in her life, either working as the Business Development Officer for Texas Regional Bank or volunteering for several community organizations within Edinburg and McAllen, all while mommying. Known as momma to son Felex (14 months) and mommy to step-daughter Erin (6 and “a half” years old) and best friend to husband, Alexis for the past 4 years, married 2. Between toddler trials & triumphs, soccer games & kinder graduation, Alexis and Felicia are learning to find some time to start their traveling adventures a little at a time by finally taking their honeymoon this summer. Felicia loves dancing to decade music, a good salmon and a good red wine; thank God Alexis is good at two, out of the three!

Giana Gallardo Hesterberg is a native RGV (Brownsville) mom.  After graduating from Central College in Pella, Iowa (2004) with a degree in Elementary Education, and residing in the midwest for 7 years, she returned to her roots and married her love.  Happily married for 8 years (to Beau), with 3 children (Jack-5, Cecily-3, and Felicity-1) and 1 dog (Hershey, a Chocolate Lab), she is currently living the dream.  She is a teacher for VIPKID, a company that trains American teachers to teach ESL to Chinese students online.  In her spare time, she enjoys blogging, gardening, baking, traveling, and dancing to 80’s music whenever and wherever it’s played!

Jennifer, better know as Mama and Jen is a born and raised RGV girl. She has been married to her better half Robert for 9 years and is mama to Ryan (5), Chase (4), Stella (10 months), and a 15 year old opinionated Cocker Spaniel named Charlie. To say life is crazy at times or every second of the day is an understatement but they wouldn't have it any other way. She keeps herself busy during the day by working as an assistant principal and is still learning to balance the duties of being a full time working mom, wife and three little ones. Jennifer enjoys long walks through the aisles at Target, early morning Starbucks runs, and trying to mimic the latest DIY projects on Pinterest. 

Jennifer is the lucky mother of two boys, Dean (3) and Dante (2) - yup, back to back, which means that life normally resembles either a crazed, juice-fueled dance party, or a giggle powered wrestling match. When she is not prowling around the house like a t-rex she teaches high school AP Social Studies, coaches UIL and is a self proclaimed "fit-ish mom" (translation: food is heaven, but the gym is therapy.) She grew up in Edinburg, and is a graduate of Florida State University with a degree in Political Science and Theater. After college, she bounced to Los Angeles where she began acting, print modeling, and worked for a high profile mortuary. After about 5 years she came back to her roots in the RGV, met her incredibly sweet husband, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Mariana loves sandwiches best, although going 95% vegan two years ago means having traded in ham and swiss for eggplant and roasted red pepper. Her boys, Santiago (7) and Sebastian (5), agree that sliced bread is the greatest thing since sliced bread. The boys are native Spanish speakers despite the fact that neither of their parents is, which has made raising them in Spanish a labor of love. Her commitment to raising bilingual children was made possible by being a first-generation Chilean-American born and raised in New York City, and by having spent two pre-kid years living abroad in Mexico City and Salamanca, Spain. Mariana moved to the RGV in 2010 and never wants to live anywhere else. While the kids are at school, Mariana is a full-time Associate  Professor of Philosophy at UTRGV. She has written for the New York Times, Womankind Magazine, and Yahoo Parenting.

While not born in South Texas, Marisol has called the Rio Grande Valley home for the past 25 years. She is currently a Mcallen resident where she plays house with her very own prince charming. Together, Marisol and her husband have created a family where they have welcomed three children in the past four years! She graduated from the University of Texas-Pan American in 2008 with a Bachelors in Political Science and Philosophy. Originally planning to attend law school, Marisol decided to take a leap of faith and embark on being an entrepreneur. She enjoys being the boss and sole employee of Marisol Izaguirre LLC where she works professionally as a photographer. When not traveling the country for weddings or for fun, Marisol can be found at home where she divides her time between her children, working, and obsessively cleaning her home – all usually at the exact same time.

Melissa has been in the RGV for almost a year now, having moved from the metro Atlanta area with her husband, Jaime and two sweet boys, Jaime Jr. and Isaac. Melissa is a Nutritional Therapist who focuses on helping people with food sensitivities and autoimmune disorders. When she’s not busy seeing clients, Melissa enjoys pilates, reading the latest on health and nutrition, whipping up healthy meals, and drinking wine with friends when she’s not bonding with her boys over loud music and dancing. Likewise, she enjoys discovering new places to eat around town and supporting local farm-to-table restaurants as well as shopping at local businesses.

Miriam Contreras lives in McAllen, Texas. She is married to her husband Mike. Together they have two beautiful children with a third one on the way due in October.  Miriam is an Image, Modeling & Etiquette Consultant. Since she was a little girl she has always enjoyed helping others. With the love of her family she has realized her dream in making a positive impact in the community. Consulting has allowed her to help many girls and women realize their unique God-given strengths. She enjoys helping people fulfill their potential as confident and proud individuals.

RoxAnne lives in Rio Grande City, Texas. She is married to her husband, Bobby. They have four children: Laurel, Arora, Matthew, and Catherine. She is a Speech Language Pathologist. She enjoys planning family meals, family trips, and reading.

Originally a Rio Grande Valley native, Ruth now resides in San Antonio where she serves on active duty in the Army. After a short year of attending college, she decided to join the military to fulfill her desire to serve her country. She met her very patient and awesome husband of six years, Humberto (also a veteran), while in high school. Together they have two happy and beautiful children, Humberto, Jr. and Rebecca. Ruth is a God-fearing woman and when she’s not in uniform or chasing after her very curious and active kids she enjoys reading the Bible, writing, and playing with make-up. You can catch a glimpse of her on YouTube where she posts about anything from make-up tutorials, motherhood tips, and the occasional life advice. You can also read about her journey through motherhood on her personal blog, letterstobecca.com. 

Stephanie and her husband are Corpus Christi natives who, very recently, relocated to the RGV. Their move from Mathis, Texas to Los Fresnos changed a lot, but it certainly didn’t change Stephanie’s passion for both motherhood and writing. Stephanie is a 32-year old stay-at-home-wife and mom to two little ones. She loves all things Hanson, Harry Potter and Disney Travel! Stephanie has a B.A. in English from the University of Dallas, which pretty much means she just adores writing a whole lot about… well, everything! She previously wrote for the Corpus Christi Moms Blog but is now incredibly excited to begin and share the next chapter of her family’s lives in the ever-friendly RGV!

Hi!  I'm Vannie.  I was born in Houston but raised in McAllen.  I have a fun, energetic, smart and beautiful daughter, Ellie.  I'm a bit of a self-improvement junkie, so I tend to get involved in an endless amounts of projects.  I enjoy reading, traveling, anything creative, tackling DIY projects, gardening, photography, throwing a good party and spending time with those closest to me.  

Veronica is a momma to a nearly 2 year old boy, wife to a middle school teacher and is a speech language pathologist employed at a local hospital. A Rio Grande Valley native, Veronica studied at the University of Texas at Austin and later lived in San Antonio for 3 years before returning to the McAllen area to raise her son and plant roots in the only place she considers home. She loves to eat (not to be confused with cooking), dance Latin music and monkey around with her rough and tumble son.