Lyla vol 1 and vol 2

Lyla's second book is ready and arrived yesterday. It is 240 pages long, over 1,000 pics and many sweet memories. I worked many hours on it, organizing pictures, revisiting memories, wishing I could stop time ... Now I have 2 gorgeous books : Lyla vol 1 and 2 to look back whenever I want. I love pictures and I take them almost daily . She is changing so fast, I was looking at the pictures and I can believe the transformations that she went through in one short year. Love you my baby and I hope you enjoy your books when you are old enough to understand

Happy 3rd anniversary- Braces Bunch

3 years ago our sweet friend JJ had the brilliant idea of creating the BRACES BUNCH... a group of fantastic women from all over the globe that shared in common the dream of motherhood and that decided to get together to support each other . It always brought a smile to my face to see a little note in the mail from one of my Braces bunchers friends. Their were there to cry with me when I got many BFF, got many congratulations notes for my BFP, their cheered me through my pregnancy, sent cute gifts when my sweet girl was born. Sometimes I would get an expected one just telling they were just thinking of me! Life took unexpected turns and you guys cried with me yet again over broken dreams. I know that with time I haven''t sent mane snail mails as often as I should , I stopped commenting on some of the blogs, I did not keep up with the notes welcoming the new members... But I will never never forget how awesome all of you are and how how blessed I am to have known you all . Thank you for all the support and love. I love being part of our sisterhood! Specially thanks our great founder, Janel! You are so special my friend and i so glad that your dream came true and now you the mother of you sweet boy!

Happy 3rd anniversary to all of us

The Fragility of life

I read this post today and it took me back to the early days of my breakup... I am glad that it turned out to be not true for her , for me it was. I glad to see that I've come a long way from those early sad days filled with so much unbelief and despair. Time indeed heals and we survive the unthinkable and before we know it, we go from barely surviving to thriving again!
Please read this post if you have time

The Wonderful and terrible 2's

Lyla has been 2 for a little over one week and I can see major changes already. Some good and some challenging:

- The thing that I love the most is her ability to communicate. She is learning new words daily and it so exciting. the day of her bday she was leaving and she looked at everybody and said: bye guys! I did not even know she knew how to say that. She speaks mainly in Portuguese but her English vocabulary is catching up.

- She has a new found love for baby dolls. She could not care less for them until the day of her bday she got a baby with a stroller. Now she is crazy about her babies, all the accessories. She talks with them, puts them to sleep, feeds them, dress them up. there are days that my living room looks like a nursery.

- She is as independent and independent can be... this is a good thing but can be a very bad thing. Because she wants to do alone more than she is capable of... I let her do it, most of the times she lets me help, but someday both of end up frustrated . like today in the morning, she wants to pour the milk for her cereal. Without my help it is impossible for her to do it, she cried big fat tears, i let her... we went up with milk all over her high chair, herself and the floor .... and I am already late for work.

- With frustration comes the tantrums.......oh the tantrums. Do I need to say more?

- She is still a good eater, much pickier than before, but still eats very well

- Sleep has become an issue again. Daddy puts her to sleep, cuddles, she sleeps with him. Why would she want to sleep in her crib when she is at my house??? do you blame her??? all my hard work went down the drain. Because of that, we are going to get toddler beds. I will cry when the crib is gone, I will definitely cry. But we need consistency and I want the peace of a good night time routine like we use to have. Overall she is not a good sleeper, she is restless and wakes up at least one time upset.


- She still loves her binky. Now she only has it to sleep. She spends all day long at the daycare without but at night she has to have it... I will let her for a little longer.

- Is it me or toddlers are a little OCD? Things have to be done the same way , she is refusing to use the spring clothes , keeps pointing to her heavy coat.... If I give her juice in the cup that she normally drinks water from, all hell breaks loose. It is sometimes funny


- Have I mentioned the tantrums??

- She is very loving and now shows me all the time how much she lover her mommy... and my heart melts every time.

- She is loving the good weather and if she had her way she would stay outside all the time. I am enjoying taking her to the playground. Her motor skills are so much better than last year.

- Daycare is going well, as the days progressed drop off became a little more difficult (shouldn't it be the other way around?) . Today was rough but i called a few minutes later and she was already playing . I am very surprise that she is taking good naps there, with no binky. She has asked for her old baby sitter a few times. But overall I am pleased with the new place


Tomorrow we have her 2 year well appointment.


So far the 2's have been more wonderful than terrible. We will learn and adapt and for sure have a lot of fun

how about you guys? how are the 2's going for you?

Wordless Wednesday: Lyla's Birthday Party

First day

Lyla's report card said

"Lyla had a great day. She is a very smart girl. She got along very well".
Lyla''s mood: happy and talkative!

She did great, she started playing as soon as we got there and she did even noticed that we left...

I picked her up earlier and took her for some ice cream...


I am so happy

Big day

Today is Lyla's first day at her new daycare, big kid's class, so many changes, she is growing up so fast.... I am nervous for her. I hope it goes well. I am taking her a little later and picking her up earlier..
But she is still my baby
look at her

Moving on

Tomorrow is a big day, Lyla's last day at her current daycare. She has been going there since she was 3 months old and from day one her baby sitter showed nothing but love to her. Mina is part of our family, she loves my daughter, she took care of her , loved her, taught her, fed nutritious food, went above her call of duty many times. She knows Lyla just like I do, knows her likes and dislikes, can read her expressions... Lyla adores her... but it is time to move on, Lyla has outgrown the place, needs more stimulation, more structure. Next week will be hard, many transitions for all of us. I will be forever thankful to Mina, for spending countless hours taking care of my precious daughter so I could work without worries because I trust her like family. We will miss you Mina and We will visit you as often as possible.



I am also excited for this new place. Lyla will be in a class with 4 other 2 year old kids, she will have outside time, leasons, projects, a young cute teacher... I hope that she likes it