What I Ate Wednesday {25.4.14}


Breakfast
This picture of Emilia makes me laugh so much! She's so funny...I had pointed the camera at her while she was eating her breakfast and said "say cheese!" and this was her reaction! As you can tell, breakfast for me was the same as always - Flahavan's Organic Quick Oats with 1/2 banana, almond milk, blueberries & cinnamon. I also had a black coffee (Nespresso Vanilia) and Spatone in my water. Emilia had orange juice, milk, 1/2 a banana and Cheerios mixed with Rice Krispies Shapes. She's going through a weird breakfast phase at the moment! Sometimes I don't know what she will eat that morning so we try a bit of everything.


Lunch
We ate lunch at home so it was nothing special - just another multiseed toasted panino with turkey breast, sweetcorn, cheddar cheese, cucumber & tomatoes. I know, kind of boring! But we like these a lot! :)


Snack
I had another Nespresso Vanilia that afternoon when Emilia & Eduardo were napping, followed by a snack of a chopped up Pink Lady apple and 10 almonds.


Dinner
I took these pictures on a Friday, which meant it was Pizza Party Friday Night in our house! We ordered Domino's and I got the Rustica from their Gourmet Range. I love the thin crust! This one has bacon, sundried tomatoes, spinach and chicken on it. I shared with Emilia...I have half and she has about two slices chopped up!


Dessert
My dessert that night was some white chocolate carrot cake M&M's (which I think I bought out online...I ordered 10 big bags from Amazon and spent a ridiculous amount of money!! But they are so worth it!). I had these along with another Nespresso coffee (black). 

To drink I had 2L of water, and that's it! You can check out my What I Ate Wednesday video here:



xoxo
Anna

Beauty Tuesday: April Favourites 2014!


Here are my favourite beauty products for the month of April!



This Estée Lauder eyeshadow trio was a firm favourite all month long - I love the colours! There is a light vanilla shade, a taupe and a dark/smokey brown which is perfect for me because that's all I usually wear. I like how compact the palette is too for travel & packing into my makeup bag! 


I picked up Benefit Brow Zings in the shade medium and have been loving a lighter shade on my brows lately. I think it works better with my current hair colour! These were the brow kits we used in makeup school so I knew it would be good before I even got it but I am super impressed with how pigmented & long lasting this is! I don't tend to use the wax or the brush/tweezers but for travelling this would be very useful!


The Barry M Silk nail paint in Mist was what I ended up choosing to wear on my nails for Eduardo's birth as it became my favourite shade of baby blue after having tried & tested so many! Although I am completely sick of blue nails by now, this is very pretty and the pastel shade is perfect for spring. I don't normally like metallic nails but the silks are a lot more subtle and not so garish. This was very long-lasting too, much better than some of the nail paints from the regular collection!


After I got my hair done this month, my lovely hair salon gave me a goody bag with some Wella Professionals products inside. This Luxe Oil is what they used on my hair in the salon and I am completely obsessed with it! The smell is to die-for and it makes my hair feel silky soft...I can't get enough of it! The bottle is huge for how much product you use with each application (I only need one pump) and I love the packaging. If I had to recommend one product in particular this month it would be this one! 


This was the shower gel I brought with me in my hospital bag, just like last time I gave birth and I love it! Soap & Glory Clean On Me has now become my favourite shower must-have because I associate the smell with my two babies :) The first shower after you give birth is always heavenly so I wanted to use something special & this gel smells amazing. I bought two travel size bottles so I have been using them since coming home from the hospital too! I need to purchase a full-size version next!


Lanolin oil is normally associated with being used on cracked nipples during breastfeeding but luckily I didn't need that this time! However I was sent some Australian Lanolin Oil Moisturising Cream by an Australian viewer and had been keeping it on my nightstand for a couple of weeks until one night I decided to use it as a foot cream. I was so impressed with the results, as after using it every night for almost a month my feet have never felt softer! I really recommend this stuff if you can get your hands on it. 


Finally here's what I've been using to fade my stretch marks - a mixture of Bio-Oil and Bloom & Blossom Anti Stretch Mark Cream. I apply these both twice a day (in the morning after my shower and before bed at night). Then I wrap my tummy in the Belly Bandit which locks in all the moisture & helps the skin soak everything up! I know the Bio-Oil really works to fade stretch marks from my last pregnancy but I also love how the Bloom & Blossom cream feels on my skin.

That's it for this month! You can watch my April Favourites video below!



xoxo
Anna

Mommy Monday: 2 Week Postpartum Update!

Again, sorry about the crease-marks they are from the Belly Bandit!

Here is what my belly looks like at 2 weeks postpartum. I lost another 4lbs this week, putting me at 123lbs which means I have another 8lbs to go until I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I think the last couple of pounds are the hardest (and take the longest) to lose though...I remember that from last time! Also even though my belly is getting smaller the stretch marks/bellybutton area is looking more wrinkly. This is due to such a rapid initial weight loss but hopefully the skin elasticity will improve once I start working out again! (If I ever get started...ha ha!) Right now I am using a combination of Bio-Oil and Bloom & Blossom Anti Stretch Mark Cream to help fade them. I am also still wearing the Belly Bandit day & night! And of course breastfeeding helps, along with drinking at least 2L water a day! I am NOT dieting FYI - and don't intend to start cutting calories anytime soon, breastfeeding makes me ravenous!

I would like to get started on some kind of workout routine again...and I use this term very loosely. I'm no gym bunny, nor do I have any intentions of becoming a fitness model but I would love to get in shape for summer. My goal for now is to just do 30 minutes of exercise 3 times a week. Eventually I hope to build up my fitness level but I'm going to start slow...I also don't intend on doing any abdominal work until 6 weeks postpartum! 


And here's what Eduardo looks like at 2 weeks old! 

Height/Weight: We didn't get a height measurement at his 2 week doctor's appointment but he did gain weight! Yay! He now weighs 8lbs 6oz. My doctor was very happy with that and it was so encouraging to hear he is doing so well! As I've said before, it's hard to know when you're breastfeeding so I will be taking him to get weighed again next week by the PHN.  

Routine: It hasn't changed much at all since last week...I am still doing a mixture of feeding on demand and sticking to somewhat of a routine. I try to work around Emilia's as much as possible so that her life stays as close to normal as it can! Her schedule has also moved about an hour earlier to suit Eduardo's. 

7am - We usually wake up around 7am and I give Eduardo his first feed, then he stays in our bed while I get ready for the day. 

7:30/8amEmilia wakes around  and comes into our bed, then we all go down to breakfast around 8:30. 

8:30-10am - Eduardo naps in his bouncer/swing till 10am and I try to get Emilia dressed & all the breakfast things put away by this time. 

10/11:15am - I feed him at 10 and then again at 11:15 so he sleeps for at least an hour or two while I film/get work done. Thankfully Emilia still gets minded either by my mom or sister Erika from 10-1pm so I have this free time in the mornings! 

1:30pm - I try and eat lunch with Emilia around 1:30pm and usually have to feed Eduardo while doing this (multi-tasking! ha ha). 

2:30-4:30/5pm - Emilia goes down for her nap around 2:30 and Eduardo follows shortly after. This part of the afternoon is when I get all my editing/blogging done - and where I plan to eventually start fitting in my workouts! 

4:30/5pmWhen Emilia wakes up from her nap, Eduardo is usually ready for another feed. She usually gets a small snack & some milk on the couch with me while I feed him. Then Emilia normally goes out to play if the weather is nice.

6:30/7pm - We start getting things ready for dinner. I try to time it so that Eduardo is fed & happy in his bouncer while we eat. 

7:30/8pm - We bring the two of them up for a bath. We very recently started bathing Eduardo every night, only because I noticed it relaxes him and tires him out so he sleeps better in the evenings! At the start of the week we were doing it every 3 nights, but now we just wash him in his baby bath before Emilia and alternate between using products & just water.  

8:30pmI then feed Eduardo in the glider in Emilia's nursery while Jonathan washes her & gets her ready for bed. Then we swap and I read her a bedtime story & put her down for the night. We did attempt to put Eduardo to bed in our room (where he sleeps at night) but he didn't last very long! So for the meantime he is still coming back downstairs & sleeping in his bouncer while we watch TV.

10/11:15pm - I usually feed him again at 10 and then at 11:15ish when we go up to bed.


Sleeping: Eduardo is still waking about twice a night...although lately he has been WIDE awake at 5:30am and then takes a lot less at 7am which I hope he stops doing soon! 5:30 is a bit too early for me!! During the day he is still napping in his bouncer seat/swing downstairs & at night he sleeps in his co-sleeper and feeds in bed with me.

Eating/Feeding: He is still feeding really well, and has been going for a little bit longer which means longer rest times too...thankfully! 


Sizes: At the moment Eduardo has just started growing out of all his newborn clothes. Pretty much all his babygrows & vests are small on him now! He is currently mostly wearing 1m clothing from DPAM and/or Zara Baby. He is wearing size 1 nappies (Pampers).

Milestones: Lots of smiles...and he laughed at Emilia which I managed to catch on camera! He has also started making more sounds that aren't just crying...little gurgles & baby babble :) Our doctor commented on how aware he is for a 2 week old - he definitely has become a lot more awake & aware of his surroundings! He loves looking around him and has started reacting slightly to when we talk to him or move objects in front of him. 

That's all I have to report at two weeks postpartum! You can compare Emilia's 2 week update here! And don't forget to check out my 2 Week Postpartum Update video below!



xoxo
Anna

My Week in Pictures - April 21st - 27th


Monday
This is what we like to call...a milk coma! 


Tuesday
A postpartum outfit of the day - this was actually the one I featured in my Fashion Friday post! It was my first time wearing the Mother Tucker leggings by Belly Bandit and so far I love them! My shoes are from New Look, cardigan is by Senes Paris and my tank top is by Boob.


Wednesday
Eduardo turned 2 weeks old! Here he is in his DPAM babygrow which is size 1 month - he is already almost out of his newborn clothes!


Thursday
Emilia & I got some cool shades in our PO box! Ha ha ha! She is obsessed with sunnies...although I think she liked my ones better ;) 


Friday
Looking very grown up in her pretty little outfit! This was featured in my Style Saturday post. The top and headband are from The Children's Place, leggings are from Next and her shoes are from Clarks!


As if she wasn't growing up fast enough already...Emilia got a toddler pillow! We got her the Clevamama Toddler Pillow from Mothercare and she absolutely loves it. I was actually pleasantly surprised by how much this has improved her bedtime experience! Even though Emilia has always been good at going down for naps & bedtime, this makes her want to go to bed even more! She literally can't wait to put her head on this pillow...it's so cute!


Saturday
Another grown up OOTD - can you believe these pants are 24 months?! The top & jeggings are from Target (I think), her Twinkletoes shoes are by Skechers and she is wearing a lavender Layniebug Designs bow with her Princess Sophia headband from Heather's Bonny Bows


Sunday
My dessert for tonight :) I baked these chocolate chip cheesecake swirl cupcakes for Jonathan yesterday...they're not the prettiest of cupcakes & the first batch didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. But after some tweaking, well - swirling, I think I got it right. But regardless of how they look, they do taste pretty good if I do say so myself! Although cheesecake brownies are better (I've baked both - trust me!). But that didn't stop me from eating them for dessert two nights in a row ;) I recommend them with a coffee - I had mine with a vanilla soy latte.

Those were my pictures for the week! If you'd like to keep up with me on Instagram, you can find me here.

xoxo
Anna

Style Saturday: Pastels & Polka Dots!


Another postpartum/breastfeeding outfit of the day! This is the same outfit I wore on Easter Sunday - I liked it so much I decided to recycle it! Can you tell I'm living in these Zara jeans?! They are comfy for postpartum but the low-rise can be a pain with the Belly Bandit as it creates a gap at my mid-section which means I'm constantly either trying to pull them up or pull the Belly Bandit down to cover it. I normally favour a mid-rise jean but these are the only pair that fit me right now! The last couple of pounds are definitely the hardest to lose!

My shirt is a regular Tommy Hilfiger one that I've had for years, and I just layered it over a white long-sleeve Boob nursing top. I bought the pashmina at one of the many little stalls in Sorrento last summer and my flats are from ASOS (about 3 years ago). On my lips I'm wearing Estée Lauder Crystal Baby lipstick & my bracelets are by Alex & Ani.


Personally I think Emilia is killing it in this outfit today! Jonathan got some really amazing shots of her and she looked so cute! Her top & headband are from The Children's Place (she is wearing size 2T/24 months now...how is this possible?!) and her leggings are from Next. Her shoes are by Clarks.  

She had just spotted Albi in his bed :) 

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! I still have yet to get my bum in gear with my exercise routine :( I feel so lazy! I had promised myself I'd just do 30 minutes 3 times a week this week and although that seems totally doable I just can't seem to find the time! Hopefully this weekend I will get the chance to do some sort of physical activity...I really miss it! 

xoxo
Anna

Fashion Friday: Mother Tucker


Here is another OOTD at 2 weeks postpartum! This was my first time wearing the Mother Tucker pants from Belly Bandit. Initially I was a bit unsure about how comfortable these would feel on, as they look teeny tiny! But the material is actually incredibly stretchy so they are very comfy & easy to wear. They suck everything in including your belly, bum, thighs & legs and the material is thicker than regular leggings so they give you a lot more coverage! I'm obsessed with them...I could live in these! I love that they make my body feel much more toned & less jiggly! 

My tank top is a nursing singlet from Boob, my cardigan is by Senes Paris and my shoes are from New Look. I'm wearing MAC Creme Cup on my lips & Leighton Denny Babydoll on my nails!


Emilia is all in pastels today! She is wearing her new jumper & jeans from Next, a pink bow from Layniebug Designs & lace headband from Heather's Bonny Bows and her canvas cupcake shoes from Start Rite (similar style here).


Eduardo is wearing a babygrow from Ted Baker...and taking important business calls on his imaginary phone! ;)

And here's the video we made!



I hope you are all having a fabulous Friday!

xoxo
Anna

Throwback Thursday: Daddy Daughter Love


Since he's been born a good few people have commented that Eduardo looks like me, but for some reason I could never really see the resemblance...until I came across this picture! I think he looks like a mix between Jonathan & my dad (and sometimes I see my brother in him too) and while I can definitely see Emilia more in a lot of my baby pictures, this one looks like Eduardo to me! What do you guys think?

I have this framed in my room - I think it captures the daddy daughter bond perfectly! <3

Also, my Ask Anna video went live today! In this episode I talk about topics like sibling jealousy, religion & family planning! If you are interested you can check it out below!



xoxo
Anna

What I Ate Wednesday {Easter Edition!}


This week I thought I would show you guys what I ate on Easter Sunday! I always think it's interesting to learn about different cultures & holiday food traditions...my own family is a bit of a mixed bag! So here's what we ate this Easter.


Breakfast
Since I can remember, we have always eaten the same thing for breakfast on Easter Sunday - La Colomba! It's a traditional Italian "cake" or "sweet bread" would probably be a better way of describing it. There are three types that we generally eat on different holidays, at Christmas it's either Pandoro or Panettone but Colomba is definitely my favourite! It has candied fruit on the inside and a sugar crust with almonds on it. It tastes amazing with a cup of coffee in the morning! This was also Emilia's first time having Colomba and she loved it, although she didn't eat a lot...actually I think she quickly figured out that the crust was the best part - ha ha ha! Along with my big hunk of a slice I had a Nespresso Vanilia and a pint of water with apple flavoured Spatone.


Lunch
Lunch was nothing special, as we had plans to eat at my mom's later that evening so we didn't make a big deal. There were no full size ciabatta bread-rolls left so I had two of Emilia's mini ones with tuna made with light mayo & melted cheese (basically a tuna melt) and some slices of cucumber on the side! I also drank another big pint of water.


Afternoon Coffee
I drank a cup of Nespresso Vivalto Lungo (I ran out of decaf, but these are only level 4 - very weak!) while catching up on some editing & blogging during Emilia & Eduardo's naptime. I actually didn't eat any snack after that as I was pretty full after lunch.


We went to my mom's house for dinner...this was her Easter table setting!


Dinner
Usually we have roast lamb with potatoes & peas for Easter dinner but this year my mom made something different! She used a recipe from her Two Greedy Italians cookbook - Agnello con Piselli Freschi (lamb with fresh peas) which was sort of a stew. It was absolutely delicious! Yum yum :) To drink I had...yes, you guessed it. More water!


Dessert
For dessert we had apple tart from La Cocina - a beautiful apple custard pastry which I've featured on WIAW before! 


After we got home that evening I had another Nespresso Vivalto...it also occurred to me that I never ate any chocolate! I have since gotten stuck into my stash, but I wanted to share what I got :) My mom gave me a white chocolate Lindt Gold Bunny & Jonathan gave me a Lir White Chocolate Pearl & Butterfly Egg. Can you tell I love white chocolate...ha ha.

To drink during the whole day I had about 2L+ water. And that's it! Let me know what you eat for Easter! You can watch this week's What I Ate video here!



xoxo
Anna

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