Thursday 29 August 2013

Throwback Thursdays!


This is officially my first Throwback Thursday on my blog!

A few weeks ago I popped over to my dads place and were clearing out some old household junk when I came across these photos of me and my mum when I was 2years old.

Typical 90's kid wearing overalls, sneakers and a sweater on the inside with a side ponytail!

We were in hospital as my mum just had my little brother Dante (1993) and by the looks of it she got out her makeup case and we were having a little play around, as you do :-)

Putting lippy on my mums friend!

These photo's really warm my heart and really make me love my mum so much more!
When I showed her these we had a little cry as things have changed so much, what with me expecting my own baby girl very soon and all the things I can teach her from what my mum taught me is very exciting :-)

Mum has been such an amazing part of my life and I can't wait till my baby girl meets her.
Photo's like these also make me wonder what my baby will look like, if she'll have most of my features or half of mine and her dads......

One things certain, she's going to be a little blondie! And I have a sneaky suspicion that she'll inherit her dads blue eyes not my hazel eyes, but you never know....
XOXOX 

Thursday 22 August 2013

And baby is a.......

I have a huuuuggee announcement to make!!!

We went for our baby's anatomy scan yesterday and found out, not only how fast little bug is growing and is happy and healthy but also that little buggy is a GIRL!!!

Yes, we are having a beautiful baby girl in early January 2014 and are absolutely stoked!


An excuse to buy pretty girly things YAY!
It's the funniest thing cause Andrei and I thought we were having a boy for months!
And most of our family and friends thought we were too.
We put a bet on the night before and made a list of how many people thought baby was a boy or girl and we were to do a draw and the first person to be pulled out who guessed right got a prize!

But because only 5 people thought we were having a girl I think I may just treat all of them!

I cannot begin to say how delighted we both are and how much it's changed the whole pregnancy!
I feel a lot more feminine than I did when I thought we were having a boy, it's a lovely feeling :-)

Were both so in love and after the scan was over I was just casually having my conversations with my tummy and told baby about the name we had chosen for her. I received no response, but when I mentioned a different name she just would not stop kicking and doing back flips it was the sweetest thing!

So a name is definitely settled, but it's my little secret until our friends know at the baby shower in a few weeks ;-)

I can't wait to properly meet her, but I love having her growing in my belly and getting to know her little habits and what soothes her and what gets her up and going.
She's such an active little thing! Constantly kicking and moving about, but she's very lovely and is starting to develop sleeping pattern during the night (she was a night owl for ages) and I've found out that warm showers soothe her too.

A few hours before I was due to go for the scan.
Taken on my Instagram account, my fave photo of baby girl fist pumping!


So yeah, after weeks of waiting to find out we finally know, and it's such a relief cause now we can go buy some baby clothes!
I'm planning a few weekends with friends to browse around, it's so exciting!
Cute little dresses, shoes, accessories and I'll be browsing for a baby bracelet!

As soon as I go on maternity leave I'll be designing my new tattoo to get after I've finished breast feeding. I'm so excited, I'm going to do Matryoshka dolls as little buggy will be half Kiwi (from me) and half Russian (from her dad).


Andrei and I will be going out to celebrate this weekend, hopefully at this cool new dessert restaurant in town called Milse (pronounced Mill-say), but I'll tell you about that later....

How far along? 21 weeks!

Total weight gain/loss? Still at 63kg.

Maternity clothes? Still nothing. I can still fit my size 10 jeans with a belly belt.

Stretch marks? Nope.

Symptoms: Baby brain hahaha! I've almost fallen over myself a few times and keep dropping things!

Sleep: Sleep is still great.

Best moment this week: Seeing how much my beautiful baby has grown and knowing the sex!

Told family and friends? Yes :-)

Miss anything? Being able to complete simple tasks in a timely manner at work than taking forever to do them! Pregnancy, it slows you down.

Movements? Yes!!! Kicking, stretching and rolling. I love it :-)

Food cravings? Still tomatoes, mango's and kiwis. Also chocolate yogurt.

Starting to show? Yes indeed :-)

Happy or moody most of the time? Happy!!!

Exercising? Managed the gym once a week, but I think being on my feet at work will compensate for my lack of gym time!

Baby is a: GIRL!!!!

Belly button in or out: In.

Names? Yes! I won't announce anything till I'm ready.

Looking forward to: Getting in some baby shopping :D 



XOXOX

Saturday 17 August 2013

Instagrammin'

Haroooo!!!

I know on the left side bar you can see what I've been up to on Instagram.

But cause I haven't done an Instagram post in a while I thought I'd bombard you with some pics of what I've been up to as a little taster of posts that are to come :-)

From left to right. Grilled lamb chops and potato bake I made for lunch before heading to work for my late night shift!
Having a 'girly makeup' day and putting my pout to the test with M.A.C's Lickable lippy.
Throwback Thursday! An oldie of me when I was young-in'.
Yay! My first ever Benefit makeup purchase!!!
L to R. My fave chocolate makers, Whittakers, took on the Kiwi fizzy drink L&P and fused it with white choc and popping candy, ummm delish!!!
Selfie :P
A pretty spider web I caught while on my way to work.
Benefit VS M.A.C, post still to come, it'll be worth it :-)


Early 6year Anniversary gift from Andrei :-)
Beautiful blue pearl and sterling silver ring from Pandora.


Another throwback of me and my amazing mother!
She was in hospital after having my baby brother and we were playing around with her makeup :-)


Outfit of the Day!
Burgundy skinny jeans and plain white T both from Country Road and my 'pregnancy approved' Sketchers High Top wedge sneakers plus my cute round 20week baby belly!


Lunch time! Pregnant cravings include Tomato's (duh!), avocado, salad, cheese on crackers YUMMO!
 

 So that's all I've been up to really, nothing too extravagant, just life :-)
I'm so so excited that in 5 days we get to know what I'm carrying!

A lot of our friends and family think that were carrying a boy, and I was pretty adamant on that too but now anything's possible!
Either way, Andrei and I will be stoked at anything as long as our baby is happy and healthy :-)

Until next time!

XOXOX
 

Saturday 10 August 2013

Quick update!!!

Hello hello!!!

Just thought I'd let you all know that baby did his/her first kick the other day!
at 10:14pm to be exact while I was in bed watching T.V, gotta remember that moment :P

Since then bubs hasn't stopped moving and every single time it's just magical, and ticklish!

Also we've booked the day of the anatomy scan, Wednesday 21st Aug, so hopefully baby's will allow us to see what he/she actually is I can hardly wait!

So yeah, that is all :-)

What am I? No body knows, but we will soon :D
XOXOX

Wednesday 7 August 2013

Benefit VS M.A.C

"San Francisco's best known makeup brand specializes in cute names that spell out what it's products are supposed to do and Benefit's new generation formula's are effective. This foundation is one of the best I've tested lately and with nine shades you wont struggle to find a colour match.
It glides on easily with a hydrating texture that provides good, lasting coverage and the bonus of SPF 25" - Janetta Mackay, NZ Hearald on Benefits Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation.

Couldn't agree more.

Sorry about the long wait! But since my last post which outlined my purchase of the 'How To Look The Best At Everything' makeup kit, I've been met with glowing, flawless skin which on the plus side feels smooth, and incredibly lightweight!

Here today my friends is my 101 on the kit :-) 


1: POREfessional Primer / 2: Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation / 3: Boi~ing concealer / 4: Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow powder / 5: Swiping brush

  • POREfessional Primer
This little beauty is sheer gold!
It fills in fine lines and pores (obviously) so when I apply my makeup it glides on smoothly and gives me better coverage.
I apply a very small amount to my forehead, chin, cheeks and nose. The final result, my skin feels like silk and my pores are noticeably smaller :-)

  • Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation 'Cheers to Me' Champagne
The highly talked about foundation is exactly as it is per the review above.
It's hydrating and feels nourishing on you're skin.
It also has a skin brightener added to the formula so you're skin is literally left GLOWING and looking B E A UTIFUL without the added heaviness and looking like you've gone shades darker or making you look like you've made serious contact with a cake!
Another plus, it has SPF25 locked and loaded to take on the suns harsh rays and it's so easily absorbed that when I applied it a little more for extra coverage it still felt like I wasn't wearing makeup.
Despite it not being the right shade for me (I'm supposed to have 'Ivory') it looked pretty damn close to it!
The pic below was taken just as the sun shone through, but it's pretty much how it looks anyway.

Benefit's result. Makes my skin look amazeballs lol!
  • Boi~ing Concealer in 01 and 02
I've been in need of a good concealer for a long time!
Trying to match this was a bit of a mission as the foundation I was using wasn't my right shade so I ended up blending the two together to get the right tone so it didn't look obvious.
What can I say, it has fantastic coverage! And it even made my eyes look brighter as if a highlighter was sued plus it got rid of my dark under eye circles :-)
I love it, but I think I'll find better results with my true foundation match as it was quite a mission to blend both to get the right tone.

  • Hello Flawless 'Me Vain' Champagne powder
I would definitely say that not only can you use this to set you're foundation but you can also use this by itself over a primer.
It brightens skin, has a silky lightweight finish and just makes the whole look I was aiming for complete and....well...flawless!
This also sets perfectly so fine lines and pores are incredibly unnoticeable.

Wearing no makeup. My skin has cleared up dramatically since my healthy cravings kicked in! 
So yeah, my skin looked way worse than this...
  
 
M.A.C result 

So now that you've seen my Benefit verdict, here's my M.A.C 101....

  • M.A.C Pro Longwear Foundation NW20
"A comfortable, long-wearing foundation that gives up to 15 hours of wear in any environmental condition. Lightweight and creamy, applies and blends easily leaving the skin feeling soft and free to breathe all day while controlling oil. Specially treated micronized pigments help give a smoother, more flawless, natural finish with stay-true colour."

 
            

 
 I may have that more when I started using it. But in saying that now with all the changes I'm going through I'm not exactly finding it as easily absorbed as it once was.
Today I find it still lightweight, stay true to colour and blendable as I apply it, but after I've used concealer and finished off with a powder I find (and feel) that the Pro Longwear sits like a cake on my face, and after a few hours my face feels greasy and I have to cleanse my face a few times before it's completely removed!
Plus I'm finding it makes my fine lines and pores more prominent and it's just not doing the trick for me anymore, thank goodness there isn't much left of the bottle!
I'll save some till after I've had my baby and see how I d, but so far Benefit's Hello Flawless is giving me what I need, sorry M.A.C I think this is where my relationship with you're foundations end.

So that's really it. I'd say I'm about 99.9% Benefit Cosmetic converted!
But just a word to the people that still love M.A.C foundations, this is just one opinion if M.A.C works for you then by all means keep using it! It is a world renown brand afterall :-)

Next on my Benefit purchase list is more POREfessional primer, Fakeup concealer and 'They're Real' mascara!

XOXOX
 
 

Pregnancy Latest

Hey everyone!

It's been a while since I posted about my pregnancy, and I'm now in the second trimester :D
5months to be exact and I can't believe how fast it's going!

So so much has been going on, changes happening left right and centre with my body which I will update you on.....now via pics :-)

From left to right - week 7, 8, 10, 11, 13 and 15

So as you can see there have been slight changes with my belly growth.
Now that I'm 18weeks along my belly has since popped and rounded a bit more than week 15!

It's quite cute :-)

Anyway enough about me!
Here's the latest scans of baby. I must warn you, he/she has gotten so big in such a short amount of time!!!




These 3 pics are my favourite that were taken during the ultra sound.
Andrei and I still giggle at the second picture as we think baby looks like Predator from the Alien movies!
The last one I really love too, it looks like baby's fist pumping!

During the scan, I found out that as you gradually get bigger during pregnancy they have to push the scanning wand down a little more firmer than what you'd be comfortable with.
I spent most of the visit in a strained position trying not to laugh as I found it not only uncomfortable but also hit some funny nerves!
I laughed so hard at one time I must've woke baby up as he/she ended up bouncing up and down, kicking punching and just wriggling all over the place!

It was the most amazing thing ever to see that is going in my body, I've never been so in love :-)

A few weeks back after this ultra sound was done I had my monthly midwife visit and she did heartbeat scan for baby.
The heartbeat was so amazing! He/she has such a strong sonic heartbeat I could've listened to it all day.

Not if little mini had anything to do about it!!!

Baby ended up kicking the scanning wand so hard I almost had to block my ears, it was so funny and I instantly thought of Andrei when that happened as I think the little one will definitely take after him :D

So that's what been happening otherwise, I'll let you read the rest and update you in a few weeks when hopefully our next scan, the anatomy scan, will show what sex little mini is!

How far along? 5months (18weeks).

Total weight gain/loss? 63KG, beginning to gain.

Maternity clothes? No, but I'll need a pregnancy band for my jeans as I can't button them up anymore!

Stretch marks? Nothing, I'm using Bio Oil and it seems to be doing well. I also don't have a Linea down my belly.

Symptoms: Spider veins on my legs, increased appetite.

Sleep: Sleep is great, I have quite vivid dreams and can't sleep on my belly anymore, but otherwise it's all good.

Best moment this week: Managing to go to the gym twice this week!

Told family and friends? Yes :-)

Miss anything? My usual gruelling gym routine. I'll be getting back into it after bubs is born.

Movement? I'm beginning to feel slight rolling movements :-)

Food cravings? Tomatoes! I hated them before I got pregnant and now I can't get enough. I love them especially on crackers with salad, avocado and cheese :-)
I'm also craving citrus fruits I.E. mangoes, kiwis, oranges etc...

Starting to show? Yup.

Happy or moody most of the time? Happy.

Exercising? Of course! The weathers warming up here too so I'll start swimming shortly.

Baby is a: Not sure yet, will find out before the end of the month hopefully!

Belly button in or out: In.

Names? Yes! We've chosen a full boy's and girl's names. But I'm not letting that out until much later ;-)

Looking forward to: Summer time! My next ultra sound and also my work bonus so I can purchase this beautiful dress from ASOS.

XOXOX