Guess whose back!

Back again! Chloe and annie are back, tell a friend! That doesn’t quite work does it? Never mind, I’m sure you are all super psyched cos you have been crying every day since our last post.

So let’s have a mini update… I now have a two year old, and annie has an 8 month old baba who is super beaut! After months of reading posts (mainly Rach’s) and missing blogging I decided… it’s time to get back on it.

So this photo currently sums up my life at the mo. Cutie babas, my pooch and living in the county side. So my face is currently a slight disappointment and I need some blogging inspiration to motivate me to love make up and skincare as much as I used to!

We haven’t decided on a blogging schedule yet, basically cos we don’t want to rush things and then realise we have no time to post every day or something cray. So currently I will be posting my usual beauty etc posts and annie will be popping in for some baba updates and to tell me how pretty I am and how much she misses me cos I currently have a constant cold so can’t go smooch them!

So thanks for reading and for staying loyal to our two little owls baby as well as our new (and not so new) real ones! WE MISS YOUUUUU

A Pregnancy Update: What to Expect in Your Third Trimester

C: hey lovelies… welcome to my final trimester update (you can see my posts about the 1st and 2nd Trimesters here and here if you are interested)! I literally cannot believe I am basically full term now… its crazy/apparently I am going to have a baby soon. Who knew being pregnant meant you had a baby at the end? I sure as hell forgot, cooking babies takes WAY too long. So anyway, lets get on with my third trimester experiences.

1. you thought your belly had got big in the second trimester? Seriously, somehow it just keeps on growing and growing and growing and growing… and you get the idea. Its massive and by the time you get to about 35 weeks you have forgotten what having a flat stomach ever felt like.

2. Talking of an ever expanding stomach? The stretch marks you have bragged about avoiding? They are coming for you. With a vengeance! The creams all lied and so did the idiots who said if your mum didn’t get any then you wouldn’t – I wrote a whole post about it here if you fancy.

3. You will forget how to sleep. Everyone tells you to rest whilst you can, but in between trying to get comfy, the need to wee every half an hour and the leg cramps? Its near on impossible. Naps are the answer and your new best friend.

4. Baby kicks felt lovely before (they didn’t for me, they still freak me out a bit even though I love them at the same time)? Well they won’t anymore! Baby runs out of room and you will feel like your insides are a punch bag/your skin might break if they move one more time.

5. Then they don’t move for a whole ten minutes and you assume the worst, drink all the cold drinks etc just so they move and hurt again. Excellent.

6. MATERNITY LEAVE! WAHOOOOO! The first couple of weeks are excellent. You clean, you make babies room look nice, you cook fun stuff…

7. and then you get bored. And stroppy that you don’t have a baby yet and its taking too long.

8. Suddenly everyone in the world has given birth to beautiful babies and posted their photos all over Facebook to tease/taunt you that you haven’t had one yet.

9. Everywhere you go people either give you pitying looks or stare at you like you are a bomb about to go off. Especially if you have Braxton Hicks in the supermarket… that really scares them.

10. Talking of Braxton Hicks… they aren’t very nice either. Even before labour you get some nice practice contractions to hint at the pain/delights that are to come. I would personally prefer to be blissfully unaware, but apparently this is your bodies way of practicing. Fabulous.

11. The thought of giving birth gets a little bit more scary/real and yet you are so desperate to see your baby and not be pregnant that you are also looking forward to it at the same time.

12. You know the old wives tales (yes we are talking long walks, all the sexy time, pineapple, curry… you get the idea) are probably a load of rubbish, but you decide that giving them all a go anyway(apart from the sex ones obvs, thats what got you into this mess in the first place), even though you know they aren’t going to work. No point risking it eh?

13. You watch One Born Every Minute religiously as “revision” whilst pointing out to the boyfriend (who you have also made watch it) what male behaviour you are witnessing is acceptable and which definitely is not.

14. You have a baby shower and then suddenly you realise that you completely over bought on clothes and your unborn child has more clothes to wear in their first 0-3 months than you have in your entire wardrobe.

15. And then apparently… you have a baby? Who knew? (Although I’m deffo still waiting impatiently for mine/probably will be pregnant forever) 

So has anyone else had similar third trimester experiences? I shall post up a birth post if anyone is interested? I don’t want to scare you all, and won’t share unnecessary gory details, but am happy to write a post on it if anyone is interested? Let me know! #twolittleowls

Baby Diaries: The SassyBloom Subscription Box Review.

C: whilst having a little mooch about on twitter (you know, as ladies on maternity leave do), I came across the SassyBloom Subscription box and was very intrigued. My baby could have post already? I liked that idea a lot! Basically the idea is you let them know your due date/babies date of birth and they send you a monthly subscription based on their age/products that are suitable for them and you. Meaning as there are so many different items available nowadays, you can try out a selection for £30 a month and see what works for you and your baby without having to spend loads and loads of money. I really liked the idea behind it so decided to sign up and get a pre-baby box to see what all the hype was about. Here is what I received:

First up the box is beautifully packaged, which makes you feel very excited for all the baby things inside – its nice to get a treat every now and again isn’t it!? SassyBloom also email you a couple of days before your box arrives to let you know it has been dispatched, and I think I received mine within four days of signing up!

Beaba Scissors RRP £3.99 – I haven’t seen this brand before to be honest, which makes an interesting addition to the box as its nice to learn about new brands! Baby scissors are also one of those items I can imagine many people forget about buying before baby arrives so its useful to include them in the pre-baby box!

My Buggy Buddy Clip RRP £6 – I was pleased to receive this as I can see it coming in handy! I haven’t even had my baby yet and I already struggle when practicing with my pram! This will help keep any well loved toys etc safe and sound, and is totally something I would never have thought of buying!

Keel Toys Belle Rose Bear Soft Toy RRP £10 – I think this was my favourite item in the box, it is so soft and super cute! Obviously I assume they would send a slightly manlier bear if you thought you were having a boy, but this is already taking pride of place in our little ones cot ready for her arrival!

Shea Mooti Mama’s Everything Body Balm RRP £16.99 – a good idea for any pre-baby box is some stretch mark cream! I was pleased to see this in the box, however it is quite a strange texture and once again from a brand I have never heard of! I shall be reviewing this for you all soon so I won’t ruin it too much!

Rock A Bye Baby Blanket RRP £15? – this is super soft and lovely, but for some reason isn’t included on my SassyBloom account for review, so I am not sure if I should have received it! I can’t find an online stockist, but these were on amazon for about £15 so I have guessed the RRP! This is a lovely addition to the box as there is no such thing as too many blankets when you have a new born baby!

Therefore giving this box an approximate value of over £50! Super good value for money when the box itself costs £30 including postage! There is also a points system where giving feedback/sharing your experiences/referring a friend earns you points, which in turn earns you a free box! I have paused my subscription for now (I still have 8 weeks to go till my due date) so my next box can be a review of the products received when baby has arrived, but I think this is an amazing idea as a present for a mum to be you know, or even as a little treat to yourself!

If you fancy signing up please use my referral link here, as you will get £10 off your first box! Let me know what you think of this/if you decide to sign up! #twolittleowls

A Maternity Leave Beauty Haul!

C: hello lovelies! I recently went shopping with my fellow preggo friend Danielle (who is now mother to a beaaaautiful baby boy), as she is on maternity leave and I finish in 2 shifts! So celebratory make up shopping and lunch was needed. I have become a bit obsessed with making sure I have a large enough make up stash for when baby arrives, which is quite the difference from trying to use up all my many samples/stashed products the past year! So here is what I bought!

Gosh BB Cream in Sand 1, £9.99 from Superdrug – I love BB Creams for every day wear, just because I find them to usually be more lightweight and comfortable on the skin. They also offer SPF which is good for preggo skin as I am more sensitive to the sun than usual! I decided to pick this up as I hadn’t seen any reviews, and the palest shade actually seemed quite a good match for me – usually I struggle to find a range of BB Creams that don’t look super orange!

L’Oreal PAris Infallible Matte Foundation in Porcelain 10, £7.99 from Superdrug – I decided to invest in this as I had seen so many positive reviews on this one! I have found that recently my skin is a lot oilier, and my base products seem to have disappeared by the afternoon so thought I would give this a go for those days when I need a bit more coverage.

L’Oreal Brow Kit in Medium Dark, £9.99 from Superdrug – as there was a get the second L’Oreal product half price offer going on I also invested in their eye brow kit. I currently use ELF’s eyebrow kit, but it has almost ran out and we can no longer easily get hold of their products in the UK so decided to try out some others. This offering from L’Oreal was the only kit without loads of unnecessary extra in (no I don’t want a bright pink glittery highlighter thanks) and that hadn’t clearly had someones mitts in, so thats the main reason it went into my shopping bag!

Lastly, I then did my food shopping on the way home and a couple of standard essentials just fell into my trolley… first up Batiste Dry Shampoo. Not my fave dry shampoo, but it was on offer for a massive bottle so decided to invest as I have completely ran out! When I remember I want to pick up some COLAB offerings to try out, but this will have to do for now! I also got another bottle of Bio Oil. Being pregnant means the inevitable stretch marks that 90% of preggo ladies get, and although I have been quite lucky and not got many, I don’t want to start jinxing it now! Im not entirely sure these products work… but figured it can’t do any harm/its quite nice to have a nice belly massage to say hello to the little one!

So thats what I have been buying this week! Any recommendations, particularly on BB Creams that do super pale shades would be very welcome please! I am sure I will be reviewing these items in the coming weeks once I have had a chance to try them out properly, but if there are any that you are desperate for a review on please let me know! #twolittleowls

A Pregnancy Update: What To Expect in Your Second Trimester

C: I don’t want to bore all you beauty lovers with too many pregnancy posts, but as promised here is my second trimester update post! I talked about the experiences I had in my first trimester here if you fancy a look too!

1. This trimester is a couple of weeks longer but 100 times easier! Goodbye morning sickness! I shall not be missing you!

2. Saying that, everyone tells you how you will be less tired in your second trimester… don’t believe them, they are liars! You will continue to want 12 hours sleep a night and still need a nap by mid-day. Make the most of it and do it!

3. You will start showing. Which is super exciting, because the whole of the first trimester you can see it but no one else can, suddenly (as if by magic/overnight) you are full on preggo and every one can tell!

4. You spent your first trimester wishing you had a preggo bump to show off, now you finally have one and its a love hate relationship. You go from lovingly stroking it and making your partner look at it every ten minutes to throwing a hissy fit because you are fat and none of your clothes fit.

5. None of your normal clothes fit, but all of the maternity clothes you have bought are still way too big. Second trimester/first world problems. Seems like the end of the world at the time.

6. Talking of feeling fat… you will be hungry all the time. Like literally, all the live long day. No matter what you eat you can fit a little bit more in, and can eat three course meals for dinner and tea.

7. Second breakfasts are essential. Third breakfasts are recommended.

8. By the evening you have eaten so much, you sit there feeling stuffed/with heartburn that no Rennie can solve…. but you are still a little peckish and convince yourself that a nice yoghurt will get rid of your heartburn.

9. Talking of nighttime- you start feeling baby move! It is super exciting at first… and then you realise it feels like a fish flapping about and its a bit gross really. Oh your lovely cute little baba decides to wait until you are just falling asleep to start kicking and swirling around and generally keeping you awake. Excellent practice for when baby is here apparently!

10. Everyone starts coming up with theories on why you are having a boy/girl and making predictions! You are too scared too guess incase you get it wrong and people think you would prefer one or the other and think you are a bad mother…

11. You get your second scan! Scan lady can show you vessels in your babies heart that are like 2mm big but still says they aren’t 100% sure on whether it is a boy or girl… you think they might be fibbing.

12. You find out, but even using logic from number 11 and even though you are super excited, you are still scared that they told you its a girl but a boy might come out. So you refuse to buy girl stuff (or vice versa).

13. You accidentally go shopping and buy all the girl stuff.

14. You suddenly realise that you are basically in your third trimester and get super excited/scared because once again time has disappeared!

15. Strangers start thinking it is acceptable to touch your belly. You like it and hate it at the same time. Mainly because you are excited you are pregnant and people can tell you aren’t just fat, but still know strangers touching you is weird.

So there we go… the emotional rollercoaster that is the second trimester! Has anyone else had a similar experience?! #twolittleowls

A Pregnancy Skincare Essential/Holy Grail!

C: I don’t know about other pregnant beauties, but one of my concerns (around myself, not the baby – the babies health is obviously most important!) is having a whole body of stretch marks! I am literally on daily stretch mark alert and make L check too! Poor man. So I did a little research into what exactly causes stretch marks and therefore what skincare products to focus on.

Now clearly stretch marks are caused by your skin stretching… but what makes that worse? Dry skin. Dry skin isn’t as supple, and will not stretch as nicely as lovely hydrated skin. Plus dry skin is super itchy as it stretches and no one wants that. So whilst out baby shopping (buying things in miniature is so much fun) I kept having a little goosey at skincare and eventually picked up this:

I got this Derma Mum Superior Moisturising Stretch Mark Cream from Babies are us for about £6. It is a massive 500ml tub which I can see lasting me until the end of my pregnancy – although lets already state that I will be repurchasing this if I run out! It is a thick, white cream that requires a lot of rubbing in but does sink into the skin nicely once warmed up. It doesn’t smell of anything lovely… just slightly like aqueous cream or something similar which can easily be disguised by a little perfume/body spray.

Now just look at the ingredients: Rose Hip, Evening Primrose, Shea and Cocoa Butters. It was seeing the ingredients that decided the purchase for me! All ingredients that are good for your skin and okay to use whilst preggo. Now since using this all of my dry skin has disappeared, I still haven’t got any stretch marks even though baby has decided to go through a sudden growth spurt and that itchy stretched skin feeling has disappeared. Perfect.

So if pregnant, have very dry skin, or you are loosing/gaining weight (which can lead to stretch marks too unfortunately!) I would 100% recommend this! It truly is amazing! I shall add a little update to my post when super preggo to let you all know whether the stretch marks are still banished! #twolittleowls

A Pregnancy Update: What to expect in your First Trimester

C: now I know most of you lovely followers aren’t going to be that interested in hearing all the gory details about being preggo. But unfortunately I can’t do something this exciting and not blog about it at all… so you will have to put up with it. However, I am just doing a trimester sort of thing… so you will only have to put up with 3 (and maybe a post about the birth if its horrendous/anything funny happens). So here is what I have learnt so far:

1. The first 12 weeks is pretty much like a permanent hunger hangover. I have never been pregnant before, but I have often been hungover and it is the only thing I can compare it to. You will be super tired, have a headache and feel sick, yet want to eat everything all the time.

2. You are meant to eat super healthy but all you want to eat is toast/crumpets and all things that are not good for you. I forced myself to eat healthy at first, but it made me super ill so I gave up and just ate what I fancied until the morning sickness died down. Don’t feel guilty about it, you are taking vitamins… you will feel better soon and be able to eat normally again!

3. You won’t poo. Ever. Soz but its true. A diet consisting of toast also doesn’t help.

4. By the time you have got showered/dressed in the morning you will be ready for a nap again. When you wake up from your nap you will be super hangry…. by the time you have eaten its time for your next nap. Just roll with it, I have heard babies don’t sleep much so get as much sleep in whilst you can!

5. Once people find out they will tell you either horrendously boring stories about their children that you aren’t interested in, or tell you horror stories about giving birth. These are more interesting… but also something you don’t want to listen to.

6. You will start watching one born every minute as “revision”.

7. You will see babies everywhere. One minute you want to squeeze them/put them in your handbag and run… the next minute you freak out and think OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE and try and escape from the evil children that are everywhere.

8. Eating takeaway/fast food and thinking “its okay, I’m pregnant. Baby needs chips” one minute, then the next weighing yourself and moaning you are fat. Then going to have a piece of toast to make yourself feel better about it.

9. Loads of people will be telling you how lovely it is to be pregnant/how you will start to feel better soon whilst you just want to punch them in the face as you still feel rubbish now and the second trimester is AGES away.

10. Panicking as you are suddenly in the second trimester and you haven’t bought anything yet/you are over a third cooked and it has gone too fast!

Seriously. Being pregnant is the weirdest/best/worst thing ever. Obviously everyones pregnancy is different, others may have different symptoms or not be as grumpy as me or have a fabulous time… but let us know if you agree or disagree with any of these experiences! Can’t wait to hear about all of your first trimesters! #twolittleowls