Her name is Noelle...

A few weeks ago Nick came home from the gym and said

"I just heard a song that started with her name is Noelle.." !!

 

ummm.

Nick meet year 2000...

Teenage Dirtbag was MY JAM in Jr.High school (and beyond)!

It's 2017 and he's just hearing it for the first time..?!?!?!

I mean he's really bad at pop culture and I'm pretty much the pop culture queen..

so I guess I'll give him a pass.

 

as much as I love Wheatus that's not why we picked the name Noelle...

 

 

 

Is it just me or is naming a baby hard?!?

especially girls names!

 

When we were expecting Elliott we knew from the start Elliott was the name.

About 10 years ago we use to watch a lot of Law & Order SVU..

one night we figured out we both loved the name Elliott and that was pretty much that.

(technically I was prepared to name the baby Elliott whether it be a boy or girl)

 

but I'm sort of happy he turned out to be male because Elliott for little girls has caught on recently and I'm stubborn with the uniqueness! (truth be told Elliott for boys is REALLY catching on right now, but 3 years ago there were almost none being born in recent time)

 

2017 rolls around and again we had a boys name picked that was solid, but girl names weren't even a blip on the radar.. we were SO sure we were about to have a second boy we didn't even discuss baby names until after the gender reveal ultrasound.

 

Pretty much the only girl name we ever discussed previous was the name Noelle.

I remember telling Nick when I was expecting Elli... and I was half prepared for him to laugh because I thought he would think of it as too 'Christmasy'.

 

So I kind of casually mentioned it, even though I was pretty sold on it.

I like names that are known but are not 'common' and I wanted a strong female name but also delicate and pretty.. (oxymoron much)

 

anyway, my only fear was that we would have a girl first and become that crazy Christmas family that signs cards:

 

Love,

Nicholas, Holly and Noelle

 

 

even though I don't really think of Noelle in the Christmasy way there's no way she's escaping the

 

"You must've been born at Christmas!!!??!?!?!?"

 

If I had a dollar for every time I've been asked, I would honestly be a hundred thousand-aire. lol

and the jokes on Noelle because my answer has always been a simple "yes".

really it's November.. but lets just answer yes and end that convo. hahaha

but Noelle's going to have to suffer through the "no, my parents were just annoying" answer.

 

long story short..

we just liked the name Noelle and didn't look into other names, it just felt right and of course her middle name is Heather for Nicks mother who has passed.

So we were really done the name hunt before it began!

 

Day of the section! ^

 

We were the flex delivery of the day so I had the feeling we would be waiting quite a while but I wasn't anticipating the wait we had.

 

When you're the flex you call in the morning and check the times, at first she said they were a bit behind so come in at 10:30am. That was fine as I wanted to get in a good shower, even though I was exhausted from not sleeping the night before - nerves!

plus I hadn't eaten.. and don't even ask how many people kept saying "you must be STARVING!"

TOO MANY.

 

Finally at 4:32 that afternoon.. evening.. ?

Noelle Heather came into the world!

I'm going to dedicate a whole post to the C-section and I have some amazing footage that I've been whittling down for a vlog, coming soon!

 

 

My guess was she was going to be near 9 pounds but she was a little less chunky at just over 8 pounds.

 

 

Elliott was so sweet after waiting ALL day to meet his "baby seester", they didn't get to meet until about 8pm!

 

 

that first night she was a little angel, waking up here and there to feed then sleep some more.

night 2 on the other hand was torture (which is apparently common)

she was up ALL night crying and would not settle for anything, add in my not sleeping the last few days (nerves and staying up all the first night watching her lol) AND the pain! ugh the section pain was really bad the first couple days.

but then on day 3 they let us go home!

I know she was born in June and me November, but she had to wear this little sweater that I wore home from the hospital and my grandmother knitted.

 

See me left ^ Noelle right ^

 

 

being at home has been so much better!

Noelle's eating and sleeping has still been all over the place but its nice to be in my own comfortable space.

 

the only thing I wish is that all homes had those bars on the walls to hold onto.. when say, in the bathroom or climbing in and out of bed...

 

seriously.

 

I could barely move!

bending to pee and standing back up again was a 45 minute event!

 

luckily Nick is off for quite a while and our routine is he gets Noelle out of her bassinet changes and hands her to me.. I feed, then he wraps her back up and puts her down again.

 

just going from a slight laying down position to a sitting position takes all the pain killers I can get!

 

flash forward another 2 days and I was feeling much better, flash to today, day 7 and I feel much much better. Still very slow moving and only able to lay on my back but yesterday I half laid on my side and it didn't feel like my entire insides would fall out so hopefully this is the beginning of healed!

 

I'm a stomach sleeper and having been pregnant and now wounded... I feel like I haven't slept a deep sleep in ages!

 

 

I have to say Elliott has been SO good, it almost feels like Noelle has always been here!

he has barely shown a sign of jealousy and he wants to show her affection 24-7.

 

one of his only 'jealous' acts is that he wants to climb in her basinet and crib!

this is him this morning.. which cant happen again because hes so heavy! lol but was cute at the time.

and the other day he climbed into her crib in her room when we weren't looking.

which was a total surprise because he never once crawled in or out of his own crib (which is the same crib). He said he wanted to see her mobile, we were just in the other bedroom and all of a sudden heard music. lol

this is her face when Dad puts her dress on backwards! ^

*she was actually pleasant, just the second I snapped a pic she wailed!

 

 

so far I think she's going to be our cuddly baby!

Elliott is a hug and kisser but not a cuddle person and never was.

She loves being snuggled into me and is a total mamas girl right now.. it may be because of the boobs! haha

so speaking of that, we are breastfeeding right now..
I know, I know.
I said I would never.

I breastfed Elliott for about 5 days and threw in the towel.
He would. not. latch.
It was a horrible experience and I'm a supporter of FED IS BEST so I felt no guilt either way.

I was not going to force myself to do something I never wanted to do in the first place.
I know, controversial... but I feel like I did enough growing and birthing the little guy, the last thing I wanted was him glued to my boob 24 hours a day, starting in July none the less... my body alone runs 10 degrees hotter than everyone else. I am also a big fan of having a solo body and being able to hand him over to feed, or cuddle or sleep over other family members houses.

But this time around I honestly felt the motivation to stick it out for two reasons..

1. weightloss
           &
2. money


I really want to ditch a portion of this baby weight, so hopefully breastfeeding can give a little jump start to it AND  having 2 kids now, I just feel like it would be nice to save a little money if we can.
We want to take a summer vacay in August so even if I stick it out for a few months that's a few months of not buying formula at $50 a box.

Oh also! we now live in a multi level house and I didn't want to have to deal with the prep and location of bottles being this far from the kitchen lol
all selfish reasons, I know.. but #momlife.. just do you.

with that being said LUCKILY Noelle is so much better than Elliott ever was! right from the start her latch has been good and there's none of the panicked non latching, smothering me, hysteric crying going on... minus me hysterically crying here and there over the nipple pain! but that's another post!

On the weight front I am down 15 pounds.. which isn't great because girlfriend weighs over half of that! but it is a good start and once this healing portion is over I cannot wait to get back to the gym!
I can hear the treadmill calling my name, I find it so relaxing to listen to some music and have some me time. weight loss or not that will be in my mental health future!

okie doke..
wrapping it up!
I hope this post is not complete nonsense.. I am really tired so the mild grammar and punctuation I have goes out the window.. but I wanted to connect before I start to forget those little details!
more to come :)
leave me some stories if you have any to share!

The final weigh in...

This is it guys.
The end.

or the beginning...
but it's the end of my ability to blame the baby for cravings and fast food sprees.. lolol

My final weigh in, I'm actually quite impressed with it!
With a record weight earning in the beginning of my pregnancy, I got myself under control and was able to stay under my goal of 200 pounds. like just barely... but I did it!

My final weigh in is 190 pounds respectively.
and I'm quite pleased with that.
 

Now mind you, the emotions have been rolling all around about it.

I mean, I feel HEAVY, I can't breathe, I can't walk, I look at my face in the mirror and see all the puffs and chins, its hard enough growing a baby but the amount your body changes while growing is scary..

 

I have 60 extra pounds on, I have acne, skin darkening, dry patches, stretch marks (yeah two more showed up on my stomach dang it, I know that's still mild but I was being optimistic lol), aches, pains, changes you don't even want to know about!

 

Some of them will go away but a lot of them are here to stay. Its only normal that you would feel down about it at least mildly down, off and on throughout your pregnancy. Everyone acts like you should be thankful and joyous 24/7 but the truth is you're not.

 

I am my own human outside of the baby making and this time period is hard, it is a sacrifice, and its ok to feel that weight burden. (HA. pun of weight vs physical weeeeeeeeight)

 

So the other day I was feeling it hard, I was hating my appearance and cranky about the pain and then I got an update about this story..

 

Go Fund Me, Lindsey Hubley

 

I don't know her personally but have some connections to her family and their story just makes me bawl.. These stories break me down, bad, don't even ask me about the poor women who just passed after welcoming twins.. story here, she also wrote a blog here.

 

so although I'm entitled to my sorrow, pregnancy is hard, body changing is hard, I own that.

 

and there are nasty people out there who make you feel worse, I don't know whether they do it on purpose or if they are wired a different way and actually think its acceptable to judge others, or worse don't even notice that they're so hateful/hurtful..

don't even get me started about the media vs pregnant women....

 

I try not to wallow in my self pity for too long.

Its pointless and wasteful.

I have my health and I'm about to have 2 adorable kiddies.

*I will never stop preaching about how women don't get enough credit for bringing these lives into the world. Seriously, godly miracle, science-y miracle, whatever way you cut it, it's a crazy miracle.

 

so cut yourself some slack!

Gyming may be hard, it may never be what it once was for me but its gonna happen and I'm determined to drop at least half of the weigh gained..

that's an appropriate goal, right?!

because that's my goal. hahaha

 

 



Other than that I am SO ready for this to be done, but I am SO starting to realize how real it is.

 

My hands have been sweating ALL DAY.

like not just a little sweating, they're like dropping tears of sweat!

kidding, but seriously clammy. LOL

 

I can talk my mind into forgetting about what's about to happen but my palms speak the truth.

I feel 100% like this Eminem song...

 

 

Let's please pray for no vomit on my sweater tomorrow!

I'm not allowed to eat from now on so I'm hopeful there will be nothing to come up, but I hadn't eaten while in labour with Elliott and some how I was sick for what felt like eternity.

 

Ok enough shop talk.

I will try to update Instagram stories as much as possible tomorrow so follow along there if you are interested!

 

and I will see you with my newest blog assistant soon! XOXO

 

those lips! ^ LOL

He always says baby 'in dere' and points to his belly. ^

 

The last ice cream..

 

JK.

Ice cream will 100% still be on the menu, I will just try to prioritize it into a healthy moderation, LOL.

Canada Day 150 nails + GIVEAWAY...

This post includes 2 of my favorite things..
Nope, scratch that 3 of my favorite things..

Nail polish, Canada and FREEBIES!

If you watch my Instagram stories you know the other day I picked up CND Vinylux in 'Cream Puff' and I was so excited to try it and not only try, but test out a Canada Day mani!!

 

I go full on for Holidays and I'm especially hyped up about this Canada Day with it being the big '150' and it will be the first holiday with 2 kids AND Elliott's just really into anything celebratory these days, so its going to be fun.

 

Luckily I partnered with Nail Polish Canada just in time to add a little maple leaf to my mani..

(For a funny story about how I first found out about Nail Polish Canada scroll to the end + a giveaway!)

 

^ This was just a quick test run to get a feel of how the Nail Vinyls would apply..

I'm going in for my C-section at the end of the week and I'm not allowed to wear polish! ugh.

so for Canada Day, I'm thinking a more elaborate mani with some accent nails and DEFINITELY a silver glitter!

 

I'm thinking I'll apply the glitter polish with a sponge like I did at Christmas, see glitter mani post.

and I will do a combination of the maple leaf decal AND you can use the empty space stickers (see above) as a stencil to paint in or glitter ;)

 

I also really like that there are a couple of sized Maple leaves, I didn't notice until I applied.. so you can match the size to your nail size.

 

So that's the C-day plan!
I have all my sparklers ^ ready to go!
I have a stash of sparklers and JUMBO sparklers.. they're just from the dollar store so you should grab some while you can!

AND

since Nail Polish Canada is so great they're letting me give away vinyl's to the first 10 lucky Canadians to read this post!



Go to:

http://www.nailpolishcanada.com/products/free-canadian-flag-nail-vinyls-1-sheet-20-stencils-by-whats-up-nails.html

 

and use code:

UY1D1WVPG7XG



for your own totally freebie Canada Day Vinyls!

 

 

 

If you're one of the lucky ones, you can tag me and Nail Polish Canada on Facebook or Ig so we can see what mani you come up with :)

I'm just really nosy as to peoples beauty creations, so give me a tag or inbox haha!

and being nosy is kind of how I found out about Nail Polish Canada in the first place!

Whenever I'm out and about I will compliment random people on their makeup, nails, fashion,  whatever.. I just think its nice, if you like something why wouldn't you tell the person. lol

 

So at least 5 or more years ago, I was shopping at Winners in Halifax and I went to try on some clothes in the fitting room, I noticed the lady working the fitting room had a really pretty coloured polish on so I told her I loved it and she replied:

 

"Thank you!!!! I actually got it off of Nail Polish Canada! Have you heard of it?! YOU HAVE TO CHECK THEM OUT, THEY HAVE SO MUCH POLISH"

 

This was before my blogging days and I hadn't heard of them so I vividly remember saying to myself over, and over, and over, Nail Polish Canada, Nail Polish Canada, Nail Polish Canada..

so I wouldn't forget the website. LOL

*Clearly this was before making a note or sending it as a text on your cell phone was a thought...

 

anywhoo, that's my Nail Polish Canada story..

Have you heard or ordered from them?!?
and what's your Canada Day plans??

 

Holly's Housewife Life IG

Nail Polish Canada IG

 HHWL FB
NPC FB
 

 

 





The Body Shop's Youth Liquid Peel, all it's cracked up to be??...

I received two hundred messages about this little green beauty so I'm finally putting my thoughts on blog!

Even though I'm a tad conflicted..
I personally really like it!
but I can see it not being for everyone..
if you're a super low maintenance beauty lover with decent skin, maybe skip this and stick to a regular exfoliant but if you're ok with an extra step or feel your pores are clogged/you go heavy on the foundation regularly, this IS FOR YOU.

Let's start at the beginning!

^ Elliott is SO nosy.

I try to be 10000000% patient and understanding since he's seeing basically everything for the first time.. /really understanding things but MAN. lololol

 

just as an example, he really loves watching America's funniest home videos, and luckily so do I.

unfortunately it's not as much fun watching when you have to in very detailed, detail, explain every single thing that happens... because he likes to know "what's that?" "what are they doing?" "where are they going?" "why did they go there?" "what made them do that?"  .........cont.

 

I love his thirst for knowledge.. but I'll be happy when I'm not his sole teacher. hahah

anyway...

 

 

I saw the Drops of Youth, Liquid Peel on The Body Shop's Instagram stories about a month ago,  the model used it on her skin and I knew I wanted it!

 

It was unlike any product I owned so I needed it.

The model pumped a drop onto her dry skin, massaged in and her skin magically peeled away.

but did it work like that for me, you ask?

 

YUP.

it basically looked exactly like the model had shown!

 

I removed my makeup with a miscellar water, allowed skin to fully dry, then pumped two beads of gel onto my finger tips and massaged circularly onto my cheeks.

(I did the cheeks and nose area, then used a new pump of gel on forehead.)

 

This is what the skin looks like after a minute of massage ^

 

the liquid starts to 'dry' and you'll see your alleged dead skin etc. start to form.

 

really quickly your skin starts to feel dry and those dead clumps seem to start sticking to your peach fuzz, this is when I panic and rinse face with water but that only seems to partially solve the problem.

 

see below:

even after washing with water and drying you'll have some sticky pieces that refuse to leave your skin.

 

DO NOT rub vigorously...

trust me, I tried and it did nothing but add redness and irritation.

 

The first time I used the peel I was quite disappointed, seeing my skin immediately after and having those little pieces stuck like that was discouraging.

 

I posted about it on Instagram and a few people said this is a common result with peels, they said it doesn't flawlessly remove every speck for an immediately smooth look, but they will fall off shortly and your skin will feel fresh. 

 

After I showered the next morning I noticed the little flecks did fall off and my skin did look a little more 'glowy' than it had before I used the peel.

 

so I trudged on! 

but this time I added a few steps..

 

 

I started by removing my makeup.

then used the Youth Liquid Peel.

then washed with warm water and the Kate Somerville daily cleanser.

finish with a gentle moisturizer, like the Origins Drink up mask (technically a mask but I find a thin layer left on overnight is SO hydrating and non harming on sensitive skin)

 

Washing with a cleanser after the liquid peel got rid of a lot of those left over clumps and any remaining are gone by morning.

I was skeptical of the peels whole "this is all your dead skin, build up, etc!" claim.

 

I exfoliate regularly and take decent care of my skin so to lose that much extra gunk 1-2 times a week with the peel seems questionable...

 

so I tried it on the back of my hand this morning to see if the gunk would look any different ^

and I will say it took a lot longer to see the gunk form (as the back of my hand is normally always makeup free and clean lol)

 

also, the colour of the gunk was very white/clear and the junk that comes off of my face is definitely tainted with foundation/ more dirty looking for sure!

so that's interesting!

 

Final thoughts: 

 

- I really like this addition to my skin routine, my skin does feel more baby like fresh and I can also see a glow that wasn't there before. It just rids you of that old dull layer, without going too deep and leaving you with skin burn. (thankfully, lol)

 

- It didn't dry me out!

I was scared to use this 1-3 times a week! that seems like a lot for a sensitive skinned gal but surprisingly (followed by moisturizer) it didn't dry my skin out any more than a normal face cleanser/exfoliator.

 

- do not use in the morning!

just a tip, its best to use in a before bed routine and not immediately before a special occasion.. just stay on the safe side! at the very least you'll probably have some little bits stuck to your peach fuzz like I did.. so just avoid that at like, your wedding or whatever. lol

 

- the price is right!

after looking on Sephora for similar products, I am shocked that The Body Shop option is only listed at $25!

the others seem wayyy pricier and yield similar results (from what all my intel told me! aka IG messages. thank you girls!)

 

So that's that!

I'm pretty impressed and I'm not alone, check out my girl Samantha Jane, YouTube guru, and her May favorites!

 

 

See the Youth peel at 9:50 mark ^

 

I wasn't thinking to take some after photos of how my skins been looking but I'll post a couple of selfies below just to show that my skin seems to be doing well, I haven't had any major skin changes or break outs..

 

Its just been overall happy to normal skin!

 

^ with makeup

 

^ without makeup!


so let me know what you think!
I hope this blog post is easy to understand.. sometimes explaining things like skin care on paper can get confusing but I tried to simplify it. (like, peach fuzz gunk stuck.. is there an easier way to write that! lol!)
have you tried a gel peel??????
will you try this one???


I will continue to use and right now I can see myself repurchasing but you know I love trying new things so I can't commit to this exact brand!

but the price is 100% on point so unless I REALLY feel the need to try something similar to compare that after use peach fuzz stickiness situation.. I'll probably stick to the youth peel!