We are going to Disney!

Those who follow our Instagram already know that,... however if you are not following us, don't worry, I will make the big announcement here: We are going to Disney World in Orlando!!! Can you imagine how excited I am ?!?!?!?!

In fact we were looking for a vacation in a Resort or a Cruise ship where we would be able to rest and relax from this craziness that is our daily routine, but we ended up changing our minds.

This will not be our first trip to Walt Disney World. Hubby and I have been there in 2005 (feels like another lifetime) when we still lived in Brazil. That was a huge deal since it was our first trip abroad. We made the reservations through a travel agency, but we were not in any kind of guided tour or group. We were relying on our skills and abilities in an age with no wi-fi connection for internet and no GPS (we actually used something made of paper called Map - and we survived!!!!)

I remember how much we enjoyed that trip. We visited the four main theme parks from Disney World (Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot and Animal Kingdom) and two parks from Universal (Island of Adventures and Universal Studios).

Our first park was Animal Kingdom and there I got emotional watching the Lion King show. OMG,... that was the moment I realized that dreams do come true! We enjoyed every second of that trip,... watched the parades, got to meet the characters, picture with the princesses,... magical times.

And now I am really excited planning this trip with Isabella. This time we decided to visit only Disney Parks. Despite the fact that I am a huge Harry Potter fan, we decided not to visit Universal parks because we don't think there are many options for Isabella.

I keep wondering about her reaction when Bella sees Mickey and Minnie Mouse!!! For those who don't know the theme of Bella's 2nd birthday party was Minnie Mouse, click here.

Ok, back to the planning, we already have the flight tickets and the place to stay in Orlando booked. We still need to to buy the park tickets and rent the car.

I also need to carefully plan the Fastpasses. There is less than a month!!!

Any suggestions or advice on how to plan a visit to Disney World with a 2-year-old toddler?

Follow our Instagram for more updates!

 PS. This post is ready since last week, but I was waiting to share some pictures from our trip to Disney World in 2005. Little did I know that we don't have the 'CDs' with the pictures anymore. Another reason to create beautiful memories with the family and take lots of photos!

Life after a few months

It's been a long long time, so let's start all over again,... first post of the year, so Happy New Year!!!

I am already back at work after 10 months of maternity leave (I started writing this post in April). I had a lot of ideas for the blog, basically most of them regarding maternity and day by day with our little one, however I could not make some time to write.

You gotta be wondering: "what????? How come you did not have time if you had 10 months off???" Fair enough,... I also thought that I would have enough time to take care of my baby, keep the house clean and tidy and write my posts with a warm cup of tea. At the end things were not the way I planned them to be.

Moreover I chose to be with my baby girl while she was home with me. We had a schedule that did not include screen time (tv or technology) or I might say, very little screen time. We played together, had story time, danced, walked Kiara, and we enjoyed having "baby & mommy" time. Also, baby Bella was not a baby that took long naps during the day, just a few minutes (30 minutes tops) - I will explain it in another post.

We had family visiting us in October for almost a month - it was such a great time!

We decided to travel to Brazil to visit our family, they were really excited to meet the new little person in the family. It was really emotional seeing her creating memories with our loved ones. By the way, baby Bella and I traveled alone and I can say that she behaved well during the flights. Allow me to give a big shout to my sis that went above and beyond to help us on this journey,... she coordinated her schedule to be able to meet in Sao Paulo and fly the last leg with us to our final destination. We love you sis!

We returned back home in February and then we started looking for a daycare. I must say that it is not an easy task considering that the majority of the daycares don't accept infants, only toddlers.

I have contacted a lot of daycares and we found 5 that would have a spot available for Bella in March. After touring the facilities and analyzing their menus (interesting topic for a future post) & programs we made our choice. Isabella had an orientation week and then she started as a full time infant. She seems to be happy with her new friends, teachers and activities. So far so good.

I am back at work,... I really like what I do, which makes my life a little less complicated at this time, however I will not denny that I keep wondering if I am doing the right thing ending my maternity leave earlier than what I was entitled to.

Here is Bella on her first PJ Day at the Daycare.

Can you believe that she already had her first concert in the end of April???? She was a baby bumblebee! She was so happy! Can you see her excitement?? Mommy and Daddy were so proud of our little one.

This is my our life nowadays,... taking deep breaths and living one day at a time focusing on the bright side of the things.

Baby gear - part I

Hi guys,....

We already bought some of the things we will need for the baby. We have been watching videos on Youtube and also had a great amount of advice from friends - and we really appreciate them!!!!

It is difficult at a first moment to determine what will be important/useful for the baby. When you visit baby stores, everything seems to be important,... and after talking to a sales consultant I am under the impression these products are a "real necessity"!!!

That's why I rely more on the advice of my friends that already have babies! They make the process less overwhelming and more real.

I also understand that people can talk about their experience and that each baby is different.

So, here is a list of the products that I believe we will use with our baby and that's why we already purchased them.

1. Stroller
That the first thing we got for the baby. It is a difficult task finding a stroller, there are so many options and price points in the market. We decided to go with a travel system from Graco. It seemed to be good quality and durable. Some features that caught our attention are: the possibility of having the baby facing both directions; the large storage compartment, the click and connect system, the fact that we could use only the car seat. Ron picked the colour, he liked the grey. According to the manufacturer, this stroller can last for a long time, since it "grows" with the baby.

It is important to mention that, if you live in Canada, the car seat should be bought here (and not in the US). The Government has specific regulations regarding safety. We were informed that the day we leave the hospital a nurse will come to our car to ensure that it has the "National safety mark" and it was installed properly. For more information, please visit the Government website.

National Safety Mark

2. Baby Monitor

Since we live in a 3-story townhouse, we thought it would be really important to have a baby monitor  allowing us to keep tabs on our baby while  we are in another room. The model we chose from v-tech has good reviews and comes with 2 transmitters (cameras with night vision and audio) and one receiver (monitor). We bought ours at Babies R Us.

3. Diaper Pail

After some research online, we decided to go with the diaper genie. I like the idea of having a foot pedal to open and close. It also offers odor control through a carbon filter. There are special plastic refills (bags) required, and they can be pricy, however you can find good deals on them at Costco. We picked the white one to match the furniture.

Plastic refills

4. Nursing Pillow
I read that "nursing pillows work wonders", and honestly, I can see it being pretty useful when breastfeeding in a glider or anywhere around the house. We purchased the Jolly Jumper, however it is not machine washable (my bad!!! did not check that before buying it), but it was a great deal. We are considering buying a second one from Boppy - machine washable, if we find a good deal.

Jolly Jumper nursing pillow

5. Car seat mat:
We thought it would be a good ideia to have something to protect our car. I hope it works!

6. Playmat:

I think this mat is adorable and I hope our baby will like spending time on it. I also think it is easy to take with us to our friends' house.

Any advice on these or other products?

2017: We are having a baby!!!!

I don't think it is too late,... so: Happy New Year!

I know it's been a long time and I have no excuses for you. I was considering to stop with this blog if I can call it like that.

Another year has ended and I can say that 2016 was a year of changes, surprises, ..., it was a year of emotions. Talking about the house, we didn't finish or started any new project, although ideas were not an issue, we had a busy summer! We got the high chairs for the breakfast bar and the pendant lights (I will post pics in a near future).

But the most important thing that happened in 2016 is: our family is growing. Nope, it is not another dog. We are having a baby!!!

We are really excited with what 2017 will bring us. We still don't know if it is a boy or a girl, but according to our last doctor's appointment baby is developing really well and that's what matters, right?!

We have been visiting baby stores, not to mention searching for tips and advices from friends. It is overwhelming, but we are enjoying the whole process. We are reading books recommended by my friend that lives in NY and just had her second baby.

Have you guys seen how many cute stuff there are for babies??????

For now, we decided that the nursery furniture will be white (crib, dresser/changing table, rocking/gliding chair) and the decoration will be according to the gender. Pinterest has been of great help for ideas.

We already purchased the stroller, baby monitor and a few clothes - gender neutral.

Advices are welcome! Please don't hesitate to leave your comment here!

Next post I will show the things that we already have for the baby.

The Roof is On!!!

Hey guys,...

Now it looks like a house,... the roof is on. We believe the framing is almost done. Check the last pics!

This is a view from the foyer to the living room and part of the dinning room.

This picture was taken from the living room and you can see the dinning room to be and the big window to the backyard. I love the idea of having this big window, lots of light coming through.

This is my future kitchen,... so easy to imagine the cabintes and the 3 extra pendant lights over the breakfast area (connecting with dinning room).

Can't wait to see the house finished!!!!

Interior choices - part I

A big part of our free time goes into choosing all the finishes for the house. We read a lot about the subject in forums in order to get some tips on what  to do with the builder or not.

Also, I like driving to tour model homes to have ideas on styles and designs. Sometimes we go to different builders (in the end, they all have the same suppliers).

Pinterest... I love Pinterest. To be honest, I think I am addicted to it. Maybe I should create an account for my blog.

When we first visited the decor centre, we received a list with all the items that were "standard" (which means that we don't need to pay extra money to have them).

In summary, we need to pick the tiles, carpet, cabinets (colour and style), granite, flooring for the whole house. In addition, we need to list the upgrades we would like and submit for pricing (that is sent to us 2 days before the appointment).

The process of picking/choosing all the finishes is exciting and overwhelming at the same time. I really like the idea of customizing my home, but I am afraid of picking something that I will regret later.

In an attempt to make life easier, I created an excel file with our choices - standard and upgrades  - for each room of the house and took pictures of them all. (I like to have options)

So let's start the process of picking the finishes. As you can see below, we got the standard flooring and placed the tiles around to check if they matched:

Hardware:

Regarding cabinets, we (Ron and I) have different opinions. He prefers dark cabinets. I think they are really beautiful and fancy, however, our kitchen is not big and it doesn't have any window to brighten the environment, so I think we should go with white cabinets.

In my view, a white kitchen is stunning. It can be classic and contemporary at the same time. I believe that white cabinets will make the space look bigger. With the correct pendants (over the breakfast bar) and some potlights, the kitchen will look pretty.

But the question is, which shade of white, crystal or antique white? By the way, I do love the first door style.

We tried the white crystal going with a brownish granite:

Carpets (2nd and 3rd floor):

Stairs (the lighter one is standard):

Nickel doorknob (standard):

Ensuite cabinets (upgrade) and countertop:

So, for the 2nd bathroom each one of us chose a set. Ron picked the brown cabinet and I chose the white one.

Which one do you prefer? Let's vote????

We appreciate your help :)

First Appointment with the Builder

Thank you for your support on this new project. It means a lot to me.

When we purchased the house, we were told we would have 2 meetings with the builder. The first one to discuss the options regarding electrical and structural changes, and the second one to make the final choices: tiles, cabinets, flooring, colors...

We had no clue about what we could request the builder to add or to remove.

After reading the forum - bulidinghomes.ca - we understood it much better.

Basically, what we understood is that all these upgrades should be made by the builder to avoid warranty issues and we are not going to start breaking the walls of a new house, eh?!

Here is the thing: we don't have a big budget for upgrades so we can't spend too much. However, the builder only tells us the prices during  the meeting. And our decision must be made on spot.

The meeting took 1 hour and we didn't feel pressured to buy any upgrades.

Here are the things we decided to go with:

• Central light and switch in living room
• Additional receptacle and cable for TV above the fireplace (in case we decide to have a TV there)
• 3 additional lights with one switch over the breakfast bar
• Rough-in water line for fridge
• Rough-in for OTR microwave
• Valance light in kitchen cabinets
• Frameless glass shower (master bathroom)
• Shower light - recessed with waterproof trim

We didn't get pot lights (will be done later), sliding door to backyard (builder didn't allow), smooth ceiling on second floor and conduit from basement to attic (we thought that it wasn't a priority).

This was just the first meeting and we spent a little over our budget. Can you imagine the second meeting, where the fun begins?

For you to have an idea, here are some pictures to illustrate some of the upgrades:

3 pendant lights over breakfast bar - image from HGTV

Frameless shower

I really hope we have made the right choices, what do you think?