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!

We are back,... oh Summer!

Summer is finally here and I couldn't be happier! We had such a long, cold and snowy winter and almost no Spring weather.

I know, we live in Canada, so we should be used to the snow and the cold weather, but it is so good to have warm temperatures and sunshine :)

A lot has happened during the past months that I did not have time to write/post. I don't know what is happening,... life is so busy, but in a good sense. We are busy with family, work, weekend activities, some family visits,...

Yes, we had family staying with us for the Holidays. Our niece came from Brazil to spend 45 days studying English here. Those were magical, busy and snowy days. We traveled to Ottawa and Niagara while she was here.

Isabella is doing well at the daycare. She loves spending the day with her teachers and friends (by the way, I received some questions on how the process to pick a daycare was, and I am writing about it). Isabella also started ballet classes - it is a 'mommy & me' type of class and we love it! Ms. Jessica (the teacher and studio's owner) is an awesome teacher, but this is old news if you follow us on Instagram, right?

Our family welcomed a new baby girl!!! Yep, I am an Auntie again,... My sister had a beautiful and precious baby girl in the end of March. My mom flew there to stay with them and help with the baby.

After staying a while with my sister and her family, my mom stopped by for a quick visit,... she came to spend the Easter weekend with us. It is always a joy to have my mom around, specially during Easter. Isabella and vovó (grandma in Portuguese) had a great time together.

It was Isabella's first egg hunt,... she was so excited (once she was able to understand how it works). The egg hunt was just for the pleasure of finding 'not so' hidden eggs - because there was no chocolate or candies inside them. We didn't give her any of those things yet.

This is a quick update on a few things we have been doing these past few months! We still have a post about Isabella's 2nd birthday coming soon,.... stay tuned!

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.