Hi!
I'm Manuela, a mother of two little wild beings, Luna (a 20-month-old) and
Pablo (a 3-year-old) and the soon-to-be wife of my kids dad and the
love of my life. We live in a small apartment in the
Plateau neighborhood in Montreal, Canada and we live a very happy and
simple life. When we became parents, it was instinctively clear to
us that we wanted to prioritize the time we spent with our kids so we
decided I was only going to work part time doing something I love
(taking pictures of kids and families) and that I was going to be with
our kids and in our home as much as I could so we
could have a peaceful and unhurried life.
We are also very lucky to
have my mom's daycare only a ten-minute walk from our place. They go
there part-time and they love being with their grandmother and playing
with their friends. I'm there very often too and
I love being able to share all those beautiful moments with them. My
boyfriend is an amazing portrait and advertising photographer and he's a
living example of what hard work, faith and creativity can accomplish. I
was born in Colombia so Pablo and Luna are
half Colombian and half Canadian. I speak to them only in Spanish and
their dad speaks to them in French. It is very important to me that they
understand their roots. We've been to Colombia 3 times in the last 3
years and it is fantastic to see how much they
learn and enjoy every trip. Being a mom is simply the most eye-opening, overwhelming and exciting adventure!
Our morning routine is pretty similar every day. Pablo
and Luna always wake up before the both of us at 7 a.m. We let them play
with their toys and with each other and sometimes they do it for a bit
but they always end up in our bed smiling
and giving us hugs and kisses which is the BEST way to get up, really!
Then I go make breakfast and while I do that they often make a fruit
smoothie with dad (they love it!). We have breakfast together and then
my boyfriend makes me the most important thing
to start the day right, COFFEE! At that point I let them play again
while I clean the kitchen a little bit and then dad goes to work and we
shower and get dressed for the day! That's the part that's very similar
each day but once that is done, the rest is
always different.
On the days they both go to their grandma's daycare, we
walk together and get there around 9-10 am. I go back home and work for a
while and then I go back around 3-4 p.m. and sometimes I stay for a
little bit and do some kind of activity with
them. On the days we stay home, we go play outside in the morning and
we get back around 11 a.m. to start making dinner. Most of the time
they're somewhere in the kitchen (they're never too far from me) and
when it's ready, we eat and then we go to their room
and we read stories until it's time for their nap. Pablo isn't napping
everyday now, but we still lay down and if he doesn't want to sleep we
knows he has to wait until Luna falls asleep and then he can go back to
reading books or just resting for a bit. After
their nap, around 3 p.m., they play again! They used to each have their
separate room but it wasn't working well with both of them still waking
up most nights so we decided they would share a room and it has been
going very well! They now have a small playroom
and a bedroom where they can rest and sleep. They're starting to play
together a little bit more and they both love playing with their toys
and making up stories. We've moved a lot of furniture and the beds
around since we moved but I think we finally found
a way that works well for us.
Once a week I have a day just with Pablo and on those
days we often go for a croissant at a café in our neighborhood, we go
play outside and we play a lot with LEGOs. We also go to the supermarket
and/or the pharmacy together which is something
I think is great to do with him and we talk, a lot! I also have one day
just with Luna and we mostly play while doing the laundry and cleaning.
We also play with dolls because it's her favourite game or with a
spiderman figurine which she loves! Those days
I get to spend with each of them are very special to me because I know
it is an incredible opportunity and it's amazing how many good things
come out from one-on-one time with your kids.
That's what our different week days look like. Our week
nights are pretty similar though. Their dad gets home around 5h30 p.m.
and their faces light up when he arrives! We always welcome him with
kisses and we often talk way too much to him
before he even gets the chance to take off his coat! After that I
finish supper if I haven't already and we eat together around 6 p.m. We
then run a bath for the kids and let them play there for a little bit.
Around 7 p.m. it's story time! Pablo LOVES books,
I could read 15 stories straight and he would still be listening!
After a couple of stories, we turn off the light and I stay with them
until they fall asleep. I love that time with them. We hug and they
often say beautiful things to me!
The weekends are their favourite time with dad! We visit
our family or have friends over and it's always about enjoying our time
together as a family.
Thanks Manuela! I'm so glad we're neighbours!
Instagram - @lelagomez
I have a question for you: do you know where Manuela bought her shoes on the first photo? I buy very few things every year and I am looking everywhere for shoes like that! My only wish for the summer. :)
ReplyDeletehaha good question! I'd head over to Instagram and ask her personally :)
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