Perfect shots are hard to come by, just ask mom YouTube creator Andi Manzano-Reyes.

The lovely mom of social media darling Olivia knows just how busy it gets when you have a toddler, and Andi sees no reason to hide it from the camera.

In fact, she tries to record every bit of her experience on her vlog. She doesn’t mind letting her guard down. After all, motherhood is every bit exciting as it is unsettling. You can see Andi and Olivia out on a farm and onto their recent destination. There are even instances when the little one takes over her mom’s channel.

“I really want to document everything. When I was young there were no videos. That’s why with Olivia, I want to capture her growth and milestones, especially during our travels. That’s what got me started on the channel and from there it evolved into different videos about my mom journey.”

It was a trip to Disneyland that led Andi the idea to create a vlog and find out just how much she loves producing the videos. “I want to record it because I never actually went to Disneyland as a child. I went when I was already 20.”

Many travels after, Andi finds herself sharing more intimate moments, her “mommy diaries”. “There’s a little bit of craziness. There’s a little bit of cooking. There’s a little bit of like how-to’s. Many times you’d see how I am trying to figure things out .”

A first-time mom, Andi shares how social media can leave a different impression on how motherhood is. “When I go through social media, it feels like it’s too perfect sometimes. What I’ve noticed on YouTube and the local and international vloggers that I follow, it’s all real. I feel like I can see what they’re going through and I want to share that. I want to say to moms that, you’re not alone. We’re in this together. No, motherhood is not about being perfect.”

Laughing and fretting part of mom experience
Andi laughs as she shares a warning to mom-to-be’s: “It’s never going to be the same. She talks candidly about the rollercoaster ride that is motherhood, “The reality is it’s not always going to be positive. For a new mom, I would have wanted to hear it’s okay to be down sometimes.”

This mom, however, steeled on. She was not afraid to learn about the experience. Whether it’s parenting techniques, breastfeeding, handling toddlers and tantrums, disciplining kids, and topics she says moms just “try to deal with”, Andi has looked it up online. At the end of the day, she says, nothing is more rewarding.

“Being a mom itself is such a wonderful thing. Waking up to that super adorable face, it just gives you that boost. I feel like it’s also privilege to share my experience with others. But sometimes, I make the video and I think to myself, ‘Who’s going to watch this? Are people going to be interested?’”

Raising little Olivia

In fact, people watched on with fondness as Andi shared snippets of their mother-daughter adventures–from celebrating her little one’s first birthday, to attending pre-school and recording her first vlog.

“Olivia’s very independent. She knows what she wants and she does what she wants. It’s really more fun at this stage, because she know that she’s on the vlog and even asks, ‘Mom, are we gonna vlog today?’”

Asked how she has brought up Olivia to be outgoing and comfortable on-camera, Andi says “I guess, it’s just by seeing me do it. Vlogging is one of those things she has seen me do and she tries to copy.”

Olivia now has a posted vlog on her mom’s channel. Andi says it was just an “accident” that came out from one late night when her little was super upbeat and talking non-stop.

Andi’s days are full of these little surprises and she revels in every moment she shares with her little one. “On her first day in school, she just walked up her class like she didn’t need me anymore. There was also the first time when she and I slept in different beds. Olivia was actually the one who decided she’ll sleep with my sister Sofia. I was like, ‘What?! You’re only three!’”

Many viewers have reached out to Andi to share how much they enjoy seeing their bonding moments. Some have even gone on to tell their own experience. “It was a different connection and that’s why it really got me doing more vlogs, doing more content. It’s not just for entertainment sake, but to help other moms as well.”

Watch out for Andi and Olivia’s adventures online by subscribing to her YouTube channel. This mom says a lot more travels are in store in the coming weeks and we’ll see more of the Olivia as the little girl slowly takes over.