It is no surprise that I am a die hard Gilmore Girls fan, like how can I not be?! It was a show done before it’s time and a show that wouldn’t even dare exist now….for many reasons. I literally re-watch the entire series every fall. I seriously can’t wait until Valeria is older so that her and I can HOPEFULLY share this love for the show.
BUT when I say that I screamed internally when I saw this from a mile away (not literally a mile away…just sayin’), I did! As a die hard fan and team Luke from the start, this had to come home with me.
It is giant and glorious and will be one of my favourite mugs forever. I would have preferred to have made a cup of coffee in it first, but when I got home from my outing with my mom, I opted for a peppermint tea instead.
I know it might seem silly, but this made me happy! Just thought I’d share a little blip from my day.
I hope you are having a joyful December, and have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!
It should come as no surprise that you sometimes get those difficult nights with your kids. Now, Valeria has been struggling as she has her last set of molars coming in (UGH, but not nearly as bad this time around since she can let us know), but on top of that she’s going through a bit of a growth spurt. It always comes in one big wave for my baby girl and it’s not always easy, but this time it seems that her growth spurt is bothering her more than anything. She was complaining that her shins hurt and her arms, and mommy needed to kiss them better. Which I happily obliged!
However, I think last night it was kind of my fault to be frank. I suggested she get a little Finny the Shark before bed; it was around 6:15 PM and thought 15-20 minutes would be perfect. My husband and I were exhausted, so we needed a little rest, as parents do every so often. It’s a pretty low stimulation show, so I thought it would be okay…I was so wrong! She ended up watching much longer than we had intended and 7 PM rolled around real fast.
Unfortunately, I think her brain was much too stimulated when she went to bed. So my husband put her to bed around 7:15-7:30 PM because her little eyes were closing. She was asleep for about 2 hours before she popped up and began crying. She sometimes does that when she is dreaming, so we waited for a bit but she wasn’t stopping and my husband headed back into her room. I decided to ninja the camera and head to our bedroom in case I needed to go in ASAP. Sometimes she only calms down with me and than my husband can put her back to bed. Things seemed to be going well but she kept “fake sleeping” and wiggling around. Which as you know can be frustrating.
After about an hour to an hour and a half, I stepped in the room and gave my husband some much needed relief. I rubbed her back and sang to her, she seemed to calm down a bit. Then Guido (our new kitten) came in search of me and found me in her room. He decided to cuddle up with us too, which again didn’t help only because she still gets so excited to see him. I tried to get her to focus on sleep, but than Guido decided to start playing with her toys. My husband came in and got him, which upset Valeria. I picked her up and rocked her in my arms to calm her down.
We ended up going into our room with her, however she was too excited even for that. She kept saying “Mommy only…mommy only” and that was because she was a bit upset with my husband from something earlier in the day. He ended up leaving and going into her room, and I was calming her down until my eyes just couldn’t stay open any more. I must have fallen asleep because I was suddenly woken up by Valeria stand by the edge of my bed saying “Guido, up up.” The reality, was I got a little annoyed and sternly told her to come to bed or she is going back in her room. She got upset and I soothed her, but eventually she opted to go back to her own room.
Eventually, through lots of crying she finally fell asleep. My husband was very patient with her, but we were both super exhausted. We just wanted her to go to bed. Needless to say, not one of our better nights to be fair, but it’s reality.
Not every night is going to be a perfect, calm and a soothing situation where everything goes perfectly and you can help them through whatever the situation may be. Sometimes, parenting comes with frustrations, decisions that aren’t always easy and you do the best you can. The do the best you can was just that last night and I’m trying to be entirely transparent here.
We can definitely tell how exhausted she is today, but she will get a slightly earlier nap (which she hit the sack just before bed and snowing away by 12:15 PM and will HOPEFULLY have a nice long nap) and just take it easy. Also, so no electronics or television today, which to be fair she doesn’t get a lot of anyway. But, a little detox from it wouldn’t hurt.
We have a felt Christmas tree that her Buni (grandma – my husband’s mom) gave her, so we will put it up in her room and decorate that this afternoon. I’ll cut and paint her nails, since Grandma (my mom) gave her some nail stickers that are Christmas themed. We will do some reading, colouring, play with Guido and just have a calm afternoon.
Send positive energy her way today please and thank you. And I hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!
It will probably come as a bit of a surprise to those who have been following me for a while, that we’ve decided to adopt a new kitten. Earlier this year I sadly lost my last two remaining girls – Willow and Salem. I vowed to not get another pet for a long time, but vows have been broken!
I started to long for the companionship of another pet, something that was coming and going over the last month or so. I kept telling myself it isn’t the right time and I don’t need the headache of finding someone to watch him or her while we’re gone. However, my husband says I manifested this one by looking at kittens every day on the SPCA website. It’s a possibility that I may have, but my witch secrets will never be revealed! Needless to say, the opportunity arose, we discussed it and ultimately felt it would be really great for Valeria to grow up with her own little cat. Best friends if you will.
Picture this….SPCA 2025…. Insert dream sequence here will you..
I had spoken with my mom regarding a cat for Christmas, she has been missing the companionship of pets as well, since her little dogs had also passed away this year. We discussed it and eventually landed on this one little precious kitten:
Cutie patootie right?! Her name is now Raven
I filled out the paperwork and got a response to come for a meet and greet. Well, I adored her as soon as we saw her and knew so would my parents. She came home and her little adventure was told in another post: https://mamaonthemove1.com/2025/12/04/tiny-paws-christmas-awe-the-sweetest-surprise-for-my-parents/, so I won’t rehash all the details. However, when we were there, the lady let us know that she had brothers who hadn’t been adopted yet. Of course that peaked my interest and I had to ask which ones and she gladly let us know. I asked if I had to reapply and she said ‘Nope, just shoot me a reply on the email you have for the adoption..”
As we left and began our trek home back on the highway, I looked up her brothers. I would have taken one of them home right then and there, however none of them were there at the moment. People graciously foster these babies until they get adopted. Still some good people out there in the world! We landed on “Croc”, as the staff aptly named him. Anthony and I discussed it and ultimately decided that it would be wonderful for Valeria and would make her incredibly happy. Also to teach her some responsibility. Plus bonus for me too! I made sure 100% that Anthony was okay with the decision and he was. I told him that would be my Christmas gift and I was done. He agreed, however I KNOW he will end up getting me another gift. Unnecessary, but highly thoughtful of him!
That day, I sent a message and we set up a meet and greet on December 5th. We let Valeria know that she will be getting a cat of her very own, even showing a picture of him to her. Which she jumped up and down, her whole body FULL of pure joy and excitement.
All week Valeria kept asking about her kitty “Guido” which is what we have named him. Friday, finally arrived and we headed to my mother-in-law’s for the day and got to spend a lot of time with my husband’s side of the family. Which again, Valeria was super excited to see her Buni and spend time with her and her cousins. But the day flew by quickly and we were now needing to leave to go get our little Guido. Our appointment was at 5 PM.
We did a quick little meeting with him so Valeria could actually see him, paperwork followed along with payment and then back in the car to hit the highway. We got home around 7 PM.
When we got home, I set up his litter box, his food dish with fresh water and brought his cat tree to his little area for the night. He was a bit skittish, but he warmed up so fast and LOVES cuddles and affection. He doesn’t seem to enjoy loud noises or being startled, but we are still really new to him. He is such a sweet boy and Valeria is obsessed. She wants him to Nani with her all the time, she also follows him around constantly. She played and watched him all last night until she went to bed.
He’s a short-haired all black cat, when we got him we thought his eyes were like his sisters – which are yellow-brown, however his are slightly different. When he was in the sunlight today, I noticed that right around is pupil he has a beautiful green colour and then it melds into an amber yellow. His ear is clipped like his sisters, apparently this is done to show that he has been neutered and chipped. In case he ever gets out and picked up by animal control. I personally love it and think it gives him this edgy, badass look. He is much bigger than his sister in size and weight. I can’t wait to see him fully grown!
Meet Guido!
When Valeria woke up this morning and I went into her room, I stated I was going to feed Guido. She of course got excited and said “Help Mommy” and of course I don’t mind her helping at all. So we took his food to his dish and the three of us watched him eat. It’s kind of comical to watch though because he does a bit of dry, than wet and just back and forth until he was full. We played with him a bit and then went upstairs to make breakfast and get ready for the day. He is definitely more vocal than his sister, he literally sat at the top of the stairs meowing until I opened the door. I let him explore and roam around the main floor. I don’t want to overwhelm him with too much, so slowly but surely letting him explore at his own pace.
He has now explored each floor to an extent, and has cuddled with all of us while Anthony read a book to Valeria. She still doesn’t know how to quite react to him wanting to sit on her lap and cuddle with her. She just goes “Mommy, go mommy” and tries to wiggle free and then pet him. She’s learning! I sense they will be best buddies, he keeps trying to grab her attention. Two babies trying to play with each other and not quite sure how to.
We will be heading to the pet store to pick up some food and toys for him and that’s about it! Eventually we will bring him to see his sister or vice versa, but for now we want him to get acclimated to his new home.
We are so happy to welcome our little Guido to the family and hopefully we will have many more stories of Valeria and his shenanigans in the future!
Hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!
Don’t mind me chuckling quietly to the title of this post, but it’s kind of perfect since Mariah Carey’s song is infamous. ANYWHO…..
A lot of December is going to be enjoying all the gatherings with friends and family, necessary appointments and of course Christmas and HOPEFULLY a quiet New Year’s at home. Fingers crossed on that last one though, but we will see.
This months list isn’t going to bed too long, so bare with me. To be fair, I’m not sure anyone’s goals or to-do lists are very long this month. Pretty sure it’s everyone’s shopping lists that a generally a mile in length and feels like it will never get accomplished. Regardless, let’s get into it shall we?
Start Christmas shopping
Bake some Christmas cookies with Valeria
Wrap gifts
Pick up adopted cats for mom and I
Pick up some cat food and toys for ours
Go out with friends on December 9th
Attend therapy
Attend a dental cleaning…UGH
Clean the fridge….again
Continue to put things aside for donation
Enjoy Christmas and New Years
And that’s it, that’s all she wrote for this month ladies and gents. If I don’t get to some of it, oh well. If you don’t see me post much, just know that I am wishing you all a wonderful holiday season full of love and happiness for you and your family!
Hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world.
I suppose this is a little late, but better late than never right? So let’s just jump into it because honestly, it’s going to be a short post.
Clean the fridge – I did, however it needs to be done again…sigh
Take down the Halloween decorations – Decorations were taken down the next day and the following day. Slowly but surely
Work on Valeria’s letter – Completed and written into her journal
Book some appointments – Done and done
Finish the book I’m reading – Yup and review written. Hope you enjoyed it!
Celebrate a few birthdays – More than a few, but all wonderful and joyous, especially the kids.
Visit my cousin – Sadly we couldn’t go visit because they unfortunately got sick. Tis that time of year, but we will reschedule for when the weather is nicer.
Look into some winter activities for Valeria – Uh…yeah. Everything apparently costs an arm and a leg for kids activities now. Which I don’t understand why. So nothing on the books for Valeria at the moment.
Taking care of myself physically and mentally – Always a work in progress. Things are weird right now. I’ll keep you posted though.
I’d say this was a pretty good month, considering I wasn’t putting a whole lot of effort into my goals. I really just wanted to enjoy the month and all the celebrations within it. To be honest, I’m sure this month (December) will be much of the same.
Hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!
Yes, yes another year has gone by and I turned 36 yesterday….yeah getting one step closer to 40. Which to be honest doesn’t scare me in the slightest surprisingly.
My birthday was great though, until the end of the night, but don’t worry we will get to that shortly.
I requested a quiet and relaxed day, just to be and spend time with my husband and Valeria. Not expecting any sort of big celebration (I don’t like being the centre of attention especially on my birthday), I tend to enjoy something low key. I received plenty of wonderful birthday wishes from friends and family which started the day. Anthony and Valeria took me out to grab Starbucks; which I wasn’t able to get my free birthday drink and had to contact customer service online; who informed me their systems are having technical difficulty and I’d receive my coupon soon. Nevertheless, didn’t ruin the morning, then we were suppose to go to the pet store but it got late (more on that story in another post) and we decided to head home to put Valeria down for a nap.
She decided to take a big, long nap which was good since her molars coming in and her growth spurt have made her super tired these past few weeks. I was able to bum around and game a little bit…I know totally nerdy, but I enjoy it! Anthony went out to grab flowers for me while Valeria slept, which are absolutely beautiful. When she woke up, we went to the pet store and then over to mom’s for an impromptu birthday dinner/cake. Pizza and cake, reminds me of childhood, sadly I paid for it later. Valeria sang a cute and priceless version of Happy Birthday along with everyone else, but she was by far the loudest and cutest. It was incredible….hums ‘Happy Birthday Mooooommmy..’
We headed home around 7 and got Valeria right to bed, she was a bit of a cranky pants. Thankfully her eyes shut and she was out like a light snoring. I, unfortunately, was bloated and my stomach was in discomfort. Gotta love stomach problems! The rest of the night was spent in bed with Anthony, sipping peppermint tea and watching a new Christmas movie that was on Netflix – Jingle Bell Heist. Really good if you want a fun and different rom-com Christmas flick.
Eventually the night ended with Anthony passed out in bed and me heading down to the living room to writhe in discomfort quietly so I didn’t disturb him. Thankfully, it eventually subsided enough for me to pass out on the couch with the Christmas tree lights keeping me company.
The perfect day….regardless of the ending.
I hope you enjoyed my little birthday recap.
Have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!
It’s been a minute, but this month has been weirdly busy, especially with birthdays. Not complaining just saying.
Plus, I decided to decorate yesterday for Christmas which had me and my mom searching a bunch of stores for a Christmas tree that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. Which was a feat let me tell you! She generously bought it for us because she wanted Valeria to be able to crawl under the tree Christmas morning to get to her presents and to help decorate since she understands now. I also needed to dig out our Christmas decorations from the basement, that was…..something…. All I have to say is thank goodness for my husband and his muscles. Those bins were heavy!
Valeria loves Christmas, it’s official and she takes after my husband. I enjoy Christmas too, there is something so magical about it. Family, friends, the twinkling lights, the incredible aromas from baking all the way to spiced wines, and even the snow (yes, I love having snow for Christmas, but then that horrible frozen water can shoo!). It’s a wonderful time of year and in our house, we celebrate the birth of Jesus.
But the tree went up and Valeria was super excited, she helped daddy unpack it and touched the leaves going “tickles, no hurt” repeatedly. It was cute and funny and when the tree was standing tall at 7 feet, she looks up and goes “BIG ONE!” Anthony and I started laughing at that one.
She decided after that to start taking the tops off the bins and remove whatever decorations her little hands could pull out. The toddler way is to make pure chaos and to assume mommy and daddy understand her method. How could we not right?! Eventually we changed her focus to decorating the tree, handing her ornaments and she would place them where she please and of course daddy would pick her up if she wanted to put one near the top. It was really nice to be able to decorate the tree together as a family. Not to mention, we made some some homemade salt dough ornaments together as well.
I opted to not buy any new ornaments, but instead utilize what I had, could make or were given to me and honestly, I absolutely love how everything turned out. I dried out some fruit as well and made some garland and ornaments as well. I also made Pomanders too! Oh my goodness the smell of orange and cloves is incredible! Unfortunately, the cloves were a bit pointy and too difficult for Valeria to help with this year, but while I worked on the pomanders, she proceeded to run away with a handful of my cloves and shove them into her toy calls. As she did that she would tell me “mmm nice smell!” She is such a funny little girl. Maybe next year she can help with them.
Hi from the t.v.!
My garland laid on-top of the faux greenery and Santa and his gnome helpers
I just wanted a more rustic, natural, nature based style with some old vintage feels. I think we nailed it on the nose. But we are pretty much done decorating for Christmas, and my faux fur tree skirt came in today, however the photos I’ll be posting here are from Sunday night.
But enjoy the photos and hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!
It’s been a minute since I’ve written and I was going to post a book review…or two, however I’ve opted rather to catch you up on what’s been going on in my November so far. So, shall we?
First off, Valeria is growing like a literal weed and learning something new everyday. It’s astonishing the things that come out of her mouth. She is quickly becoming her own little human and knowing exactly what she wants and needs. If she doesn’t like something she will surely tell you!
Trying to navigate her feelings and emotions lately has been a struggle for her and us. She is truly a little ball of chaos, both good and “bad”. However, I am struggling to understand why she has suddenly been so hesitant to go down the stairs and with her potty training at times throughout the day. Is it a regression? Is she trying to push boundaries? If anyone has a clue, I’d love to be informed!
Speaking of potty training, might have to do a post on that….hmmm…
Second, I removed my fake nails and went to just shellac. Doesn’t last nearly as long (shellac chipped after 3 days and one my nails broke from being so fragile), however I felt like this was a bit more cost effective for the future. Or if I even continue to do it. Times are rough here in Canada and my money can definitely go elsewhere.
Third, I cut off my hair. Let that sink in for a moment…. I’m not just saying a little trim since my hair was half way down my back. I mean full on chopped it off. One side shaved and a little bit edgy, which suits my style. HOWEVER, it was a little shorter then I had intended, so I’m going to grow out the longer side a bit.
BEFORE
And here is the AFTER
Drastic right? Yeah, I’ve had a few moments where I’ve doubted that I did the right thing and wondered if it made me look too masculine. But, no turning back and hair grows. It’s always kind of been my motto when I do short hair cuts.
You might be wondering why I did this though and it wasn’t just for the change of style or a fresh start. All valid reasons included in this change, but ultimately I was sick of pulling out chunks of my hair all day long. I was shedding so badly I couldn’t handle it any more and it’s not just from postpartum. I’m severely anemic and that’s just one of many wonderful symptoms I’ve been dealing with the past year. A tale for another day.
Fourth is that we celebrated Silas’ 1st birthday (one of the nephew’s on my husband’s side of the family) and it was great. He was a smiley and happy boy through his whole party and it was wonderful to celebrate with everyone. The kids had a blast running around and playing together. My favourite part of the whole day was all the kids helping to blow out the birthday candles (Valeria included) and when Silas took his first bite of his cake. Those little eyes went so wide with happiness, it was magic.
Fifth, I took down all our Halloween decorations and put them away. I went to bed spooky and woke up festively kooky. Haven’t started decorating for Christmas yet, but maybe next weekend. We’ll see.
Sixth is that we were suppose to visit family this weekend, however they all got sick even the baby. So I have been keeping in touch throughout the week and told my cousin for them all to rest and recover. We can always plan for another weekend, but no rush. I know when we aren’t well, we just want to be left alone. With winter fast approaching, it might be a weekend in the spring time.
And that’s about it right now and nothing else really to report. Other than a mountain of chores, ideas floating in my head on how to make Christmas more vintage, homey and warm. Along with a ton of other things floating around in there. Ahh got to love anxiety and over-thinking!
I hope your November is going great and that it’s been nice and cozy so far. And I hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!
We’ve had some pretty great fun this Fall – spooky foods (compliments of mama chef), silly crafts and great outdoor adventures. I truly believe that parents, especially us mom’s, are the memory makers for our children. Those precious little moments and things that we do for specific seasons/holidays to make it more…magical.
Who doesn’t want stuffed bell peppers with a Jack-o-lantern face. Really easy and simple to make and tasty too! She loved this dinner, she thought it was funny.
Mummy hotdogs anyone? Okay forgive me for the mayonnaise/mustard eyes, I had to improvise. But super delicious, filling and easy to make.
For Halloween dinner, we decided to have spaghetti and Monster balls, which she really loved the monster balls, she thought the eyeballs were funny. (They were edible, however we did not allow her to eat them).
There were plenty of baking days as well sprinkled in there, between making pizza dough all the way to cakes and cookies. It was non-stop kitchen fun with her these last two months. However the fun wasn’t just limited to the kitchen!
I’ve sprinkled a few of our crafts that we’ve done together through various posts in October, but I find all the patterns online. Please, if you want some wonderful craft patterns for kids, this is my go to: https://www.simpleeverydaymom.com/
I found her site by accident and it’s been such a great tool to use, so full credit goes to her. But I’ve also gotten ideas on Facebook (from mom groups) and on Pinterest as well. Here were the last two crafts we did in the month of October.
Isn’t it cute!? Valeria loved sticking the apples together (with some help from mommy).
This one was a lot of fun and really nothing crazy is required! I had a picture frame looking cardboard piece that was used from a package we received. It was perfect for the sheer fact it looks like a little frame for the tree. The craft was easy; draw a tree trunk and colour it, then cut it out, place packing tape along the back for the leaves to stick to, go for a walk and let your little one collect leaves to stick on. That simple! Valeria placed all the leaves herself, pretty beautiful if you ask me.
I also have been putting the month and year her crafts were made so we have that as part of the memory.
We also had two pretty great day trips to an apple orchard and a honey activity farm. Lots to do and it’s become a bit of a tradition that we go every fall. This is our second year and it was so wonderful to watch her run around through the corn maze with us, to pet/feed the animals herself and to just explore and play. Truly a blessing to be a part of it as a mom.
But that’s about it, we had a wonderful Fall season full of activities, parties, cooking/baking and crafts galore! Another Fall season in the chaos chronicles completed. Now…onto the Winter fun!
I hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!
How the time has flown by, you are two already and it has been such a wonderful and blessed ride with you thus far. Watching you learning, growing and discovering who you are and that incredible little personality forming, I can’t tell you what a proud mama I am. You have brought me so much love and light, even in the darkest of times. I love you baby girl and wishing you all the joy and happiness this year and beyond!!
Now please indulge me as I go over her wonderful birthday party that was held this weekend in the company of our family. We unfortunately couldn’t celebrate with my husband’s side, so she will be getting another party this weekend coming to celebrate with them, which we are very excited about.
Nevertheless, she had a wonderful time, adored the decorations/food and got to be the center of attention all day long (even though she didn’t really want to be). It was wonderful to see the smile on her face as she ate cake and opened her gifts, truly remarkable!
The theme was Under the Sea/Mermaid and when I plan, I go all out. It’s just who I am, plus I want these to be memories she will always remember. So weeks of planning, prepping and crafting all lead up to this….
Personalized Banner from Grandma
I made this on Friday night, decorated my mom’s place on Saturday night, cute right?!
Waaaaaaaaay too much food….not my idea just FYI, but all delicious! My husband the BBQ Master that day
I just thought that was funny…Made the signs in Canva
Jellyfish pull apart cheese bread made with puff pastry, a ton of cheese and herb butter….woke up early to make that one!
Fish bone pull apart Nutella bread made with puff pastry and Nutella….another one I woke up early to do that day
Sand dollar sugar cookies and sugar cookies in the shape of sea creatures (those were frosted later)…I’m not a baker, don’t judge my burnt cookies….okay judge a little..
Valeria helping mama unsafely cut the first piece of her birthday cake….yup birthday girl has to cut the first piece, tradition for us.
Her candle – since you couldn’t see it
The design on her cake, which you couldn’t see in the photo. I designed this with AI and then tweaked it to what I wanted. It turned out great!
Her dress and gifts!
She is obsessed with this tea set! I had to stop taking pictures because she needed help with opening gifts, but she got a lot. Everyone was very generous. Thank you to everyone!!! ♥
Anthony and I created a book specifically for Valeria. YEEEES….I used AI to help with the idea, but again I tweaked it to make it our own. A gift for her birthday
We used AI for the images….I’m artistic, but I ain’t THAT artistic. We had it printed through Canva as a hardcover book.
So there you have it folks! An absolutely incredible day for little Miss Valeria! I’m glad you could come on this photo journey with me….apologies for all the little captions. She was a lucky little girl and spoiled rotten to say the least, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Showered with love and gifts….not to mention A TON of food.
Hopefully one day, I’ll show her all the photos from the day and hopefully it makes her smile.
Wishing you a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!
Mama on the Move 
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