Wednesday, December 30, 2015

20 Week Pregnancy Update | Baby #2 ♥

On Christmas Eve I reached the halfway point in my pregnancy and it feels amazing to have gotten here. I can't believe that tomorrow I'll be entering my 21st week of this pregnancy and that there'll only be four month and one week to go until we meet our new baby - if all goes to plan of course.

Last week we had our 20 week scan and it was great to see the baby again. They were moving around lots and I was surprised when the consultant kind of gave us an indication that the gender may not be what we were told at our private gender scan at 19 weeks... He's sending us for an anomaly scan in one or two weeks time (I'm just waiting for the appointment letter) so hopefully we'll get a definite confirmation then as that scan is 20 minutes long and will be looking for any defects or syndromes in the baby. Fingers crossed all will be fine and that we'll have another healthy baby on our hands.

I'm also being sent to the hematology lab for a blood test to determine whether or not I have Von Willebrand disease - a condition that causes prolonged or excessive bleeding as the consultant suspects that I lost a lot of blood after giving birth to Tyler Lee as my iron levels had gone down to 5.7 and 7 is probably the lowest that they should be allowed to go to. He just wants to make sure there's blood on standby for a transfusion if I need another one (I had to have one after Tyler Lee's birth and refused a second) - oh the joy...

My iron levels are already beginning to lower, they were 12.7 when I began this pregnancy and they're now 11.3 so I began taking an iron supplement this week along with my pregnancy vitamin. I've been doing pretty well this week apart from almost fainting in the city, I don't know if it was the crowds or what but I had to collapse on a manky step in a shopping centre and Jacek had to get me water and a sandwich - this isn't the first time this has happened during pregnancy either. I hope this doesn't continue because I'll be afraid to leave the house on my own with Tyler Lee, eek!

This week...

Baby is the size of a - Palmier cookie, according to my Ovia pregnancy app. I'm love being able to see baby's size in relation to Parisian bakery treats.

I'm looking forward to - the anomaly scan where we'll get to see baby in more detail and for twenty minutes.

My favourite moment was - seeing the baby again and Tyler Lee falling asleep in my arms on Christmas Eve - that boy melts my heart.

I've been feeling - much better this week, I'm just longing for the rain to stop so we can all go and get some fresh air.

I've been buying for baby - I've finally purchased some clothes for the baby! I've bought a vintage item on Etsy for them and have picked up some gorgeous bodysuits and 6-9 month outfits and cardigans for them in the sale, I couldn't resist the bargains! As you can see in the pictures above, I've picked up some sunny yellow for my summer baby.
    
I'm missing - my glass of bubbly at Christmas and now with the New Year happening tomorrow. I need to go and get an alcohol-free sparkling drink!

I'm craving - nothing really this week. I didn't gorge on chocolate during Christmas and my stocking is still full. We've been having chicken, mash, stuffing and veg for dinner since St. Stephens Day and I'm pretty happy with that to be honest.

I'm loving - Jacek having five days off work together so that we can spend some quality time together as a family.
    
I've been meaning to - clear out a space to put the things that I've been buying for the baby. It will be done this week, promise...!

I can't wait for - my silent reflux to end, it's tearing my throat to bits!

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Tuesday, December 29, 2015

My Blogging Progress In 2015 & My Goals For 2016 ♥

2015 was a great year for me, not only in my personal life but with my blogging progress too. This was the year that I decided to step up my blogging game and try to turn this into more than just a hobby - as I wrote in a previous post "I am working for my blog, not just relying on it to work for me".

It's fair to say that my blogging stats have exploded this year, but this has been down to some serious hard work and strategy on my part. I now promote my blog on a daily basis, (not always on the weekends, but then we all need a break!) using Facebook groups designed for blog and website promotion. I was so impressed with these groups and the impact that they were having on my blog that I even went so far as to set up my own group for blog promotion - Promote Your Blog. I've shared my experience from using these groups and have documented my stat growth on the blog before. I've also shared the techniques I used to triple my blog traffic in one week. I'm a huge fan of these Facebook blogging groups and love the fact that this form of promotion is free and that it's bloggers helping their fellow bloggers. I couldn't recommend them more to anyone who is looking to grow their blog and gain more exposure.

I began the year with 600,000 or so page views on the blog and I didn't think this was bad going for a blog that was less than two years old. My ultimate goal for the year was to reach one million page views and I'm delighted to say that I smashed that goal back in September and since then my little blog has gone on to gain almost 250,000 more page views - my blog now averages a quarter of a million page views every three months and I've shared how I get these quarter of a million page views on the blog before.

My social media stats have also grown and this is something which I'm equally delighted about. My Instagram and blog Facebook page have gained over 4,000 followers each, my Twitter now has 27,000 followers and my Pinterest has grown to 1,300 followers.

I've been so fortunate and lucky enough to be able to work with some amazing brands this year too and to get the chance to review some amazing products. Some stand out ones for me have been the Cosatto Supa Firebird, Lancome makeup, Graco Evo XT Pushchair, Rowdy Roddy Vintage, Hand On Heart Jewellery, Wickey Sand Pit, Soufeel Charm Bracelets, Stokke Tripp Trapp, Urban Decay makeup and IsaDora makeup. As you can see, the products I love to review the most are baby/toddler products/clothing, jewellery and makeup and these are the types of things I shall concentrate on reviewing in 2016.

This year I also attended my first ever blogging conference - Britmums Live in London. I was sponsored by the lovely people at My 1st Years and was delighted to be able to go meet some bloggers, speak with some brands and learn some blogging tips. It was an experience I shall never forget and I hope to go to another blogging conference soon.

Finally, to end my amazing year in blogging, I was delighted and surprised to have won bronze for Best Photography Blog in the Blog Awards Ireland 2015. This was such a fantastic achievement for me, having only received my DSLR camera in December 2014. This award has spurred me on to want to further my photography skills in 2016 and take some amazing shots.

My Goals For 2016 -
1. Take more photos, have more spur of the moment shoots and take part in some photography challenges and linkys. I'm most interested in doing Living Arrows again, 100 days of summer and the black and white challenge but this may change and I might even take part in some more if I have the time.

2. Gain another million page views. This would be an amazing goal to achieve and would take my stats to 2,500,000. Plus, if I reach this goal Jacek might by me another cake to celebrate!

3. Grow my social media stats some more and engage more with my followers on there. Facebook is one platform that I'd love some more engagement on.

4. Feature more family days out, travels and more of the things I love. I don't want to get bogged down with anything to do with the blog this year so I'll be a lot more subjective to the things I take on and the things I wish to post on here.

5. Make 2016 as great a blogging year as 2015 and try to top it in some way if I can.

They're my goals, all are pretty simple and straightforward but I really do want to incorporate the photography aspect even more into the blog and make it about myself, my family and all that we love once again.

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Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Yankee Candle 'Berry Trifle' Large Jar | Review ♥

I've made no secret of my love for the Yankee Candle brand, having featured their gorgeous smelling candles many times on the blog before. I'm still burning through my large jar Christmas stash from lash year and have a jar full of wonderfully smelling wax tart melts so I wasn't planning on buying any new ones this year, but last week I was very kindly gifted the new Berry Trifle Large Jar and I was absolutely delighted to add another candle to my collection - especially as this one smells both festive and delicious!

Berry Trifle is described as - " a mouth-watering fragrance of fresh berries, tangy and sharp, nestled on a white bed of soft vanilla cream - delicious!"and I definitely think this sums it up quite well. The fragrance is distinctly festive, not one I would burn outside of winter, yet it has a fruity side to it too with its distinct smell of berries. I've had this burning in the kitchen, after all, where else would you find Berry Trifle?

I think this scent has such an atmospheric element to it and it's definitely one which could stir up feelings of nostalgia for people who favour a trifle dessert at Christmas time. It's a personal favourite scent of mine.

Yankee Candle large jar candles provide up to 150 of burning time and Berry Trifle is a scent which most definitely fills up the room. As the scent lingers in the room I find that you don't have to burn the candle for as long, so it really will last for a long time - fantastic value for money for sure.

Berry Trifle is available from the Yankee Candle UK and is £21.99 for a large jar.

*I was sent the Yankee Candle in Berry Trifle for the purposes of this review, as always, all thoughts and opinions expressed are 100% my own.

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Last Minute 2nd Hand Gifts ♥

We all know that Christmas can be a very expensive time of year, with presents taking up the majority of people's budgets. However, even if you don't have money to spend on brand new, big, expensive gifts, you can still find some lovely gifts for people from places such as charity shops, carboot sales, stores which sell new and used goods such as Cash Generator and 2nd hand selling sites such as Ebay and Etsy. I'm a fan of shopping in charity shops and going to the carboot on a Sunday morning, you can find some incredible bargains and most of the things you can pick up are in fantastic condition, making them great gift choices.

I was recently challenged to take £20 and see what 2nd hand gifts I could pick up for this and under. I accepted the challenge as £20 is actually a lot of money when you're picking up 2nd hand items from these type of shops, there are so many bargains to be had. So lets see how well I did with my £20...

Tyler Lee and I love all things Sylvanian Families but they can be quite expensive, so you can imagine my surprise when I spotted this Sylvanian cottage and old style nursery bus in a local charity shop. The cottage was just £2.50 and the nursery bus was 50p! I was so delighted to find these and Tyler Lee will love putting his little families in these.

I found this adorable vintage Peter Rabbit romper on Etsy and I couldn't resist picking it up for a friend who shares my love of all things Peter Rabbit and Beatrix Potter. The light blue colour is absolutely gorgeous and the Peter Rabbit stitching on the chest is the same as one of Tyler Lee's Peter Rabbit outfits. The back of this is also adorable. This isn't my picture as this is arriving from California but I love it and I think it'll make a great gift. This was only £8.75 - such a bargain I'm sure you'll agree.

I always like to pick up some books anytime I go to the charity shop and this time I found some real gems. Carrying on with the Beatrix Potter theme, I was lucky enough to find this Beatrix Potter Treasury which is in perfect condition and it was just £1.50. I also found this Beatrix Potter Nursery rhyme book, which again is in amazing condition considering it was published in 1987. I spotted this on Etsy last week and it was selling for over £10, I got this one for just £1. I also picked up Deans Book of Fairy Tales, simply because I couldn't resist the cover. This is in perfect condition even though it was published in 1967. I love this illustrations and this was just 50p! These will be gifts for Tyler Lee as I love building up his library.

I think I got some amazing bargains out of my £20. By the way, the rest of the £20 went on the postage of the romper. It just goes to show that you can pick up some amazing items 2nd hand and most of the time there's no need to go to any added expense and fork out for new things. Just today Tyler Lee was gifted a bag of 2nd hand toys and you know what, he hasn't stopped playing with them, he's absolutely delighted! Children don't care if something is new or not, they just see the fun in everything - I wish adults were like that too.

Have you picked up any 2nd hand gifts this Christmas?

*This is a collaborative post on behalf of Cash Generator.


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Tuesday, December 22, 2015

19 Week Pregnancy Update | Baby #2 ♥

Tomorrow I reach the halfway stage of my pregnancy, I can't believe how quickly it's all going by now and it doesn't seem that long until our second precious baby will be in our arms. We've seen baby twice this week - once at our private gender scan and again at our (almost) 20 week hospital appointment and all is going great. It feels so surreal to finally know the gender and we've decided not to share, only ourselves and six other people know and that's the way we'd like to keep things until baby arrives. Baby was adorable in the scan. They have the cutest face and were cuddled up to the side of my womb. They were also upside down which reminded me of the arch of a rainbow - well, they are my little rainbow baby after all.

This week I've gotten ill again thanks to my darling son coming home with a cold from playschool. I can't stop coughing and I think the cold is turning into a chest infection now, it's horrible! This week I've also tried to introduce the idea of having a new baby in the house to Tyler Lee. We took him along to the gender scan and he was mesmerised by hearing the heartbeat and afterwards was giving kisses to the 3D pictures we got of the baby. I think he's a bit worried that I'll forget him though because he's constantly coming up to me for cuddles, has started calling me mumma again instead of mummy and he is following me everywhere. He doesn't want to leave me out of his sight!

This week...

Baby is the size of a - Crepe Suzette, according to my Ovia pregnancy app. I'm love being able to see baby's size in relation to Parisian bakery treats.

I'm looking forward to - relaxing with my boys over Christmas, I seriously can't wait for my Christmas dinner.

My favourite moment was - seeing the baby in 3D, it was amazing to see their little face and see them cuddled up to the side of my womb.

I've been feeling - like I'm about to cough up a lung... I may have to give us all a Dettol bath once a week! I joke of course, I'm not that obsessive about germs... yet!

I've been buying for baby - I'm in the process of ordering their first summer outfit. It'll be a handmade piece and it's just adorable!
    
I'm missing - the energy I had before I got this cold, I honestly hate being sick.

I'm craving - still mayo, I smother my chips with it. I've also been having roasted chicken with potatoes, stuffing, gravy and veg and I can't get enough of that dinner either.

I'm loving - looking online at all the adorable things I'd like to get for baby, the majority being from Etsy and Instagram shops. It'll be lovely to order some things in the New Year and to get started on the nursery.
    
I've been meaning to - start filling in the baby's journal. I'll begin doing it some evening over Christmas.

I can't wait for - the day when I'm able to feel the baby moving. I know they're moving in there but I've felt nothing so far.


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Photobox A4 Personalised Photobook | Review ♥

As you'll all probably know by now, I love photography and snapping pictures of the beautiful world around me and my wonderful family. I love to capture pictures of my little boy especially and all of our family adventures in the great outdoors. I have thousands of photos stored on my laptop, most of which will sadly never be printed, so when Photobox gave me the opportunity to review a product from their range I was delighted.

The product I chose was the A4 Personalised Photobook as I thought that this would act as a lovely keepsake for my family and I, a book to look back on to see some snippets of our outdoor adventures throughout 2015. I will advise you that if you're wanting to make one of these books for yourself to give yourself plenty of time. It can be quite a long process choosing the perfect photos for your book, making sure they look and fit well and the pages, adding in any text that you want and all the other finishing touches. I decided not to add any text to my book as some of the pictures took up the whole page and I didn't want to spoil the photography. I will also advise you to look over the completed book a couple of times before completing your order to make sure there are no duplicate photos - there's a duplicate photo in my book and I honestly don't remember seeing it twice in the preview.

One thing I found strange about uploading the photos was that I was constantly being told on some pictures I chose, that the resolution was of bad quality and this would be reflected in printing. I have no idea why the resolution of these photos was worse than the others as they were all captured on the same camera and not heavily edited. This was a bit annoying as I really wanted these photos in the book as they're some of my personal favourites from the year. So just be careful as to what pictures you pick and pay particular attention to the resolution - you'll see colour coded smiley faces to let you know if they're suitable enough.

Once I ordered the book it arrived very quickly. I love the hardback cover, it makes it just that extra bit special. The fact that the pages are glossy and of good quality just make it all the more perfect too. The A4 Personalised Photobook really was the best product to store our treasured photos in.

The A4 Personalised Photobook would make a fantastic gift, it's perfect for weddings, birthdays and anniversaries, to share special memories captured on camera to look back on in years to come. I'm going to order another photobook once the new baby arrives and I can get some pictures of the baby and Tyler Lee together.

The A4 Personalised Photobook is such a lovely keepsake to have and it's a great alternative to a traditional photo album. I'd recommend it to anyone who wanted to display some of their favourite photos in print forever. The A4 Personalised Photobook is €32.99 for 26 pages and is available from the Photobox website.

*I was sent the A4 Personalised Photobook for the purposes of this review, as always, all thoughts and opinions expressed are 100% my own.

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Thursday, December 17, 2015

Tyler Lee's Christmas Eve Basket 2015 ♥

Every Christmas I put together a basket of goodies for Tyler Lee to enjoy on Christmas Eve. I love seeing his little face light up when he sees the big basket full of books, sweet treats and various other bits and bobs that I've put together especially for him. If you didn't know already, my family is tri-national, I am of course Irish and Jacek is Polish/South African so when important times of year such as Christmas come along we try to merge both our traditions to make a fun and traditional type Christmas for us all.


I've had the contents for this years basket put away in the spare room for a couple of weeks now but I just haven't managed to get them into the basket, for shame! I should have had it prepared and this post written a long time ago but now that Tyler Lee is almost three (February please take your time in coming around), it's getting harder and harder to find a place to hide the basket so that he won't see it or take everything out of it!


 Included in this years basket are:

New Christmas themed pyjamas. New pyjamas for Christmas Eve were always a tradition for my brother and I and I've passed this onto Tyler Lee. These gorgeous ones are from Powell Craft.

Three books - Happy Christmas Mr. Nimbus, A Christmas Carol and A Letter To Santa . All of these were bought in Dealz for just €1.49 each.

Lush 'The Magic of Christmas' bubble bar wand for his Christmas Eve bath time.


Bath crayons which I also picked up in Dealz for just €1.49.

Two Thornton's chocolate lollies, a Santa and a snowman.

Jelly Tots, Milky Bar buttons, Smarties robin, Santa and reindeer and some chocolate gold coins.

A glittery gold crown - because why not have a bit of dress up on Christmas Eve?

This years Christmas Eve basket is smaller than last years but I know my boy will just love everything included. This year Jacek and I are trying to pay more attention to Tyler Lee's stocking so we're sharing things that would have been in the Christmas Eve basket with that too. If you're looking for more Christmas Eve basket ideas you can see the baskets I put together for him for Christmas 2013 (his first Christmas) and Christmas 2014 here. A big shoutout to The Plaque Company for their wonderful 'Christmas With Tyler Lee' plaque they gifted us with, so kind and fab quality too.

Do you put together a Christmas Eve basket for your little ones?



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Wednesday, December 16, 2015

18 Week Pregnancy Update | Baby #2 ♥

It's now the last day of my 18th week of pregnancy. I can't believe that I'm almost at the halfway stage, I'll be exactly halfway on Christmas Day and I bet when the New Year comes that the months will just fly by. This week has been so much better and I've had no health problems - I haven't even had to see a doctor, yay! I've managed to get my Christmas shopping done, even though bump was not in the mood for shopping, the top of my stomach was so hard on the day I went to the city and it's been like that on and off all week, baby must be pressing their legs or bum up against my tummy!

I have a lot more energy this week and I've given up on my nap during the day, I have so much to do while Tyler Lee sleeps at the moment. I'm just waiting for a day when the weather is better so we can go out and get some fresh air, it's been so dark, damp and gloomy since November it seems and I really can't wait to get out and about with my little boy again. I'm so happy that we're having a summer baby, it'll be such a contrast to having a winter/early spring baby and going for a walk in the snow!

 Tyler Lee having love for the baby ♥

This week...

Baby is the size of a - croissant, according to my new pregnancy app. I'm now able to see baby's size in relation to Parisian bakery treats rather than fruits and vegetables!

I'm looking forward to - getting to see baby on Friday and Wednesday - what a treat to see them twice in one week.

My favourite moment was - getting lots of cuddles off Tyler Lee and taking him to see Santa.

I've been feeling - still a lot better this week. I was able to get my Christmas shopping done and have everything wrapped too. Yay for starting to feel a bit normal again!

I've been buying for baby - Nothing. I'm waiting until Friday when we find out the gender before I pick up any clothes. I've been lusting over so many gorgeous vintage pieces from various Instagram shops.
   
I'm missing - not getting up in the middle of the night, my bladder must be tiny! At least it's getting me ready for the night feeds once the baby comes!

I'm craving - mayo has been my big thing this week. It has to go on everything!

I'm loving - getting into the festive spirit. This week so far we've seen Santa and I've seen Tyler Lee in his first ever Christmas concert, it's been lovely.
   
I've been meaning to - declutter the house. This time of year there just seems to be way too much stuff in the house, I need to donate a lot to the charity shop. I've already cleaned out Tyler Lee's wardrobe.

I can't wait for - the gender scan! Just two more days to go until we know if it's pink or blue again!

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Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Seeing Santa At Wish, Fota Island Resort ♥

Yesterday evening we took Tyler Lee to see Santa Claus, something which he was very much excited about this year as he now understands what Christmas is about and who Santa is. We chose to go back to Wish at Fota Island Resort, even though we were quite disappointed by it last year when it was called Imagine, but having gone there the year before when it was Believe, which I blogged about here, we decided that it was worth giving it another go and we are so glad we did, it was absolutely amazing!

Wish is not just a 'pop in and see Santa' event, it's a whole magical experience for children with lots to see and do, lots of friendly interaction with various elves and characters along the way and a good dose of wonder thrown in for good measure. We arrived a bit early for our slot so we went to experience the delights of the Christmas market. It was a bit emptier than last year (there was no one an nothing in the chocolate stand) but we enjoyed it anyway, Tyler Lee getting a spin on the gorgeous lit up carousel and a large colourful lolly to enjoy before we went on our journey to see Santa.

Ten minutes before our time slot we returned to the entrance marquee and took a seat while we waited to be called. We were worried about having a long wait between attractions as last year was just a nightmare and we knew that our almost three year old would not want to be sitting around again this year but luckily we had nothing to worry about. We were called first and were told to make our way through Candy Cane Lane down to Alpine Lodge. What I liked is that they staged people leaving the first marquee so that you could experience the gorgeousness of the lit of Candy Cane Lane as a family and take some pictures without anyone else around.

At then end of Candy Cane Lane we arrived at Alpine Lodge, which was also where we registered for our experience. We had a short wait there before we were taken into a room with two elves and a large book who checked if the children (and adults!) were on Santa's nice list. After this we were told to make our way to the Enchanted Forest, at the end of which we would meet Santa.

The only real wait we had during the whole experience was in the hut before we met Santa. There was an elf in there trying to entertain the little ones but most, like Tyler Lee, were just too excited to sit down and play games. When we did get to see Santa is was so lovely. Once again he was in his little log cabin, which is gorgeously decorated for Christmas. The Santa we got was such a lovely man who actually did have an air of Santa Claus about him. He was so patient and engaging with Tyler Lee, who sat on his lap and got his picture taken. It was a lovely experience and I'm so glad that Tyler Lee loved it. The only thing I was unhappy about and which you can see clearly in the picture above is that there's a line running through the centre of Tyler Lee's picture with Santa. For €10 a picture I really wasn't impressed with this and it really did disappoint me as these pictures are keepsakes and I thought this was such a lovely one.

After meeting Santa and getting our picture taken we went on the red train to The Wonderful Lands of Wish and we really didn't know what to expect for here but it was amazing! Inside was Wibbly Wobbly's Chocolate Factory, done out like the chocolate factory in the Willy Wonka films. There were crazy mirrors, tunnels for the little ones to go through, a chocolate lab and lots of gorgeous decorations.

Bubblefizz Lane led us through to an elf communications centre - Tyler Lee ran through this point, a present wrapping room with another tunnel and finally onto Mrs Claus who was making reindeer food and who gave us all some delicious chocolate drops. From there we went onto another elf who played a snowball dunking game with Tyler Lee and who even let him sleep on one of the elves beds. The last stop was to Santa's sleigh, which Tyler Lee wouldn't sit on long enough for a picture but all these activities after meeting Santa really were great and were so much fun for the little ones.

We really enjoyed our Wish experience and will definitely return again next Christmas - it's annual tradition at this stage now that we've been three times. Everything was perfect, the attractions were fantastic, the elves, Santa and other characters were very friendly and most importantly Tyler Lee had the time of his life. He was so happy when we were on our way home, he thanked myself and Jacek and he was wiped out after the excitement of it all. Even though Wish was an expensive experience at €62 for the three of us, including the picture, it was worth every penny for the experience of it all and for seeing the gigantic happy smile on our little boys face.

Thanks to Jacek for taking the pictures for this post, I was on toddler minding duties for the evening!


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Monday, December 14, 2015

Pregnancy | Baby #2 | Boy Or Girl? ♥

The only thing I seem to be focused on so far throughout this pregnancy is whether baby is a boy or a girl. Honestly, the excitement doesn't weaken from pregnancy to pregnancy, you still get so excited for all the little huge milestones along the way, such as finding out the gender - if you choose to do so of course. I honestly would have loved a surprise and hearing the doctor announce "it's a ...!", but I just can't handle the anticipation and it would drive me insane trying to figure out what baby's gender is for the next six months. I'm the type of girl who shakes her Christmas presents every year to guess what they are and that's only a three week wait!

We will be having a private gender scan on our around the 18th of December when I turn 19 weeks and it was such a lovely experience before when we found out that Tyler Lee was a boy, that I really can't wait for it all again. I thought it'd be a bit of fun to share my symptoms and answers to the various old wives tales I've tried and to see what you all guess I'm having. I had such a strong feeling with Tyler Lee that I was having a boy, I honestly knew from the start that I would be having a son, but with this baby I'm so uncertain, there's been no clear indication - unless you count having various dreams about a baby girl!

Jacek is convinced we're having another boy as all his family is boys, so is mine too apart from myself and my little cousin - it's the two of us among eight boys. I honestly don't mind either way. Yes it'd be lovely to experience children of both genders and lets face it, I really do love the girly things but, I love the idea of Tyler Lee growing up with a little brother too. I'd love them to be best friends. Either way the baby is lucky because I always wanted an older brother, instead I had a younger one - maybe Tyler Lee will be the same?

These are my symptoms and old wives tales -

My only craving is for salad things like tuna salad with mayo, potato salad, bean salad, coleslaw, etc. It was the same with Tyler Lee so that doesn't really indicate any gender.

No real desire for foods I used to love such as chocolate, jellies, etc. Supposedly if you want these foods you're having a girl.

My skin has gotten worse. It's not too bad but it used to always be clear so it's strange to have spots! Bad skin supposedly indicates a girl.

Morning sickness from weeks 4-8, nausea has started to creep back in again at week 15! Morning sickness is supposed to indicate a girl but I had it terrible with Tyler Lee.

Chinese calendar says boy. It was correct with boy for Tyler Lee.

Bump seems to be carrying high instead of low. It was low with Tyler Lee. High supposedly indicates a girl.

A needle on some thread above my palm first went back and forth and then went round in a circle which supposedly indicates a boy and a girl - there's only one in there though, promise!

During a psychic reading I had when I was about 5 weeks pregnant I was told I would have two children, a boy - who I already have and a girl.

So what do you think, boy or girl?

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Friday, December 11, 2015

Naughty & Nice Lips With NYX Cosmetics ♥

I'm a self confessed makeup addict and the two makeup items I love the most are eye shadows and lip products, especially lipsticks - seriously, can a girl ever have enough of them? One brand whose products I've had the pleasure of trying out this year are NYX Cosmetics and I recently got to try some of their gorgeous lip products, all perfect for achieving the perfect pout this Christmas - no matter if you want to be on the naughty or nice list.

I created two lip looks with the products I sent, one being light, pretty and demure, the other being bold, daring and bright. Both lip looks are perfect for this time of year as they both have a little something special to them and I have to admit, even though I shy away from red on most occasions, I actually liked both of these looks a lot.

The first look is the 'nice' look and this reminded me of a fairy type look, it's mix of light pink and shimmery gold gloss being super pretty. I outlined my lips with the NYX Lipliner Pencil in 810 Natural (€4.99), a nude coloured pencil with a hint of soft brown and pink, perfect for wanting to create a natural looking outline to the lips. I then used NYX Lip Smacking Fun Colours in Strawberry Milk (€6.49) to fill in my lips. This is a very light, almost baby pink hued lipstick which glides onto the lips perfectly. I have to admit, I wasn't sure this colour was quite me. It's very light and I'm not sure it suited me at all but it looked better with the NYX Glam Lip Gloss Aqua Luxe in GLG02 (€6.49) on top - a lovely, shimmery, golden gloss with a hint of peach that gave that hint of sparkle to the lips that everyone loves for the festive season.

Swatches of the three products used for the 'nice' look. I really love the pink and golden/peach combo. On the lips the lipliner is not as dark.

The finished 'nice' look, very wearable, very shimmery and very pink, perfect for those who want to rock a more demure and pretty lip look this Christmas.

The other look I created was the 'naughty' look and this is definitely one for those who want to rock festive lips and be a bit daring too. As I said, I usually shy away from reds and this is indeed very red but the look really grew on me. The red reminds of the red of Snow White's lips, it's very bright and eye-catching. I outlined my lips with the NYX Lipliner Pencil in 852 Pumpkin(€4.99), an orange toned red shade, perfect for wanting to create a bright, red lip look. I then used NYX Lip Smacking Fun Colours in Electra (€6.49) to fill in my lips. This is the perfect Snow White red lipstick, a fab colour for Christmas and one that's definitely sure to get you noticed, which again, glides onto the lips perfectly - these Lip Smackng Fun Colours really are fab. I finished the look with the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creme in SMLC10 (€6.49) on top - a deep, blood red shade that is perfect for finishing a red lip look.

 Swatches of the three products used for the 'naughty' look, you can see the definite orange tone to the lipliner and the gloss and lipstick actually look like perfect colour matches when swatched.

The finished 'naughty' look - very daring, very bright and very definitely will get you noticed. I actually really like this look now, it's perfect for Christmas time.

You can shop for these products and more from the NYX range on the NYX Cosmetics website.

Would you be on the naughty or the nice list? Which lip look is your favourite?


*I was sent these products for the purposes of this review but as always, all opinions expressed are 100% my own.
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