27 September 2016

Spring has Sprung!


I would have to say September is one of my favourite months of the year.
Spring is officially here, the days are getting much warmer and I have even been tempted to go for a swim! 

I also love a doing a good Spring clean and especially now am in full nesting mode. Yesterday we emptied out the guest room, ready for new carpet to be installed next week, then I can start putting together the nursery for the twins. I am so excited! I keep walking down the hallway, looking at the empty room and cannot believe that soon there will be cots, teeny tiny clothes and two little babies. It is such an exciting time! 


21 September 2016

Chewy Choc Chip Cookies

I had a moment where I had a craving for chewy chocolate chop cookies.

 You know the ones they sell in the bakery section of the supermarket? Filled with sugar, preservatives, but oh so good and chewy?! 

I wanted to recreate this cookie to satisfy my 3pm cookie craving. I came across this recipe and its an absolute winner, I thought I would share it with you today!


 ingredients

1 1/4 cup almond meal
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup cacao
1/4 cup cacao nibs
1 cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup coconut nectar or rice malt syrup
3 tbs melted coconut oil

1 egg

method

STEP 1Preheat your oven to 190 degrees and line a tray with baking paper. In a large bowl, sift almond meal, baking powder and raw cacao. Stir through cacao nibs and shredded coconut.
  • STEP 2Whisk remaining wet ingredients in a bowl and add to dry mixture. Use a large spoon to combine.
  • STEP 3Scoop out tablespoon sized mounds onto your baking tray.
  • STEP 4Bake for 10-12 minutes, less time for more chewy cookies, more for some crunch! Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
DO YOU GET THE 3'OCLOCK SUGAR CRAVING? 
Do you like making healthier options like these cookies, with no added refined sugar too?

On a side note - I just wanted to say a big thank you for all the love and well wishes on my post yesterday - I was honestly so touched and cannot thank you enough. Such exciting times ahead and I cannot wait to share them with you all. so from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!
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20 September 2016

Big News!


It is a very exciting time at our house.

You may have noticed over the last few months that I have been missing in action a little - not so many blog posts and over on Instagram only every now and then?

You are probably thinking its the new house build plans that have been keeping us busy? 

Not quite!

You see 1.6.2016 was a very exciting day for Nathan and I. 
It was the day we signed the contract to buy our new renovator and build our dream home, but it was also memorable for another reason. 
At 10:30am that day, we found out we were pregnant.

P R E G N A N T.


We were so thrilled, completely over the moon. 

The morning all day sickness kicked in very early, from 6 weeks. I was spending hours at a time horizontal on the lounge, unable to move, for fear of being sick. I would have an hour or two at a time where I felt well enough to stand and I would squeeze some work in, before retiring to my horizontal position. 

Dry crackers, popcorn, mandarins and ginger was all that got me through. 

Our blood tests revealed that our hcg levels were very high and we joked about being pregnant with twins - which the high levels can sometimes indicate. 

It came as a complete shock to us then, when we had an early ultrasound at 7 weeks and discovered two strong little heartbeats.

Yep, we are expecting TWINS!
Soon those three footprints in the sand will be five...

No wonder why the all day sickness was so bad, I had two bubs on board!

From early on, we discovered that they were identical, meaning the one fertilised egg naturally splits and develops two babies with the exact same genetic information. Our babies Monochorionic diamniotic (MCDA) twins and are sharing the one placenta and one outer membrane, but they each have their own separate amniotic sac. This also means that they will be the same gender - either girl/girl or boy/boy.

So, currently I am 20 weeks pregnant and now over the halfway mark of pregnancy (full term twin pregnancy is 37 weeks). I cannot believe how quickly time is flying and in the last few weeks we have really started getting organised - buying cots, prams, car seat capsules and all the big ticket items. 
Next job on the list is to start clearing out the spare room, which will become their nursery and starting to assemble furniture. That is certainly something you don't want to do under pressure! 

Here is our latest scan of the twins, both hiding their face from us, with their backs to us and the twin on the left has their little hand up - can you see the teeny tiny fingers?

We will be starting our house build (hopefully!) around end of November and babies are likely to be delivered around Christmas, so it is going to be a busy couple of months ahead of us! We envision at this point that we will be living at our current home until around April, when we will move to our new home. Not ideal, but hey, we wouldn't have it any other way!! 

Telling the Family
Sharing our news with our parents and siblings was the best part. I had a baby onesie printed (see below), with the news that we would be having a baby (if it was a singleton baby, our actual due date is 2/2/2017). I had it made before our 7 week scan, as we had decided that as soon as we had heard baby's heartbeat, we would share it with the family. We just wanted to play it safe first. It had been such a long hard journey to get to this point and we also had a miscarriage, so we were keeping it a little under wraps and not shouting it from the rooftops initially. When we found out that it was two babies and our due date wasn't now going to be February 2017, we wanted to still use the onesie as the announcement to our family anyway. Isn't it just the cutest?!

So we had our 7 week scan and couldn't wait to share it with our parents and siblings, firstly handing them a bag with the onesie inside and telling them to open it. There was squeals of absolute delight, tears and lots of "Oh My Gods". Once over the initial shock, we then produced an envelope, showing the ultrasound and the two little peppercorn sized dots on the scan, telling them there wasn't just one, but two buns in the oven.

Their reactions were priceless and we even recorded it. It was just so much warm, fuzziness and amazement all in one- it was the best moment EVER!


Here is how we shared the news with family and friends...


We are so smitten and excited to become parents and feel so blessed to become parents of twins. Such a miracle!

 Clearly this is all very new to me!
 Feel free to give me any advice mamas or pregnant ladies! 
Be sure to let me know your first time parent advice, tips, tricks and must have things I need to buy?!
I am told the white square cloth nappies are a must for spew rags and clean ups, any other great tips?!

I promise to post another update soon x

PS: any guesses on the gender?:P
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16 September 2016

Feature Friday: Old Meets New

Hello! If you’re new to my Feature Friday posts this is where I love to show you inside real homes. Today's home tour, is the perfect marriage of old meets new.


A little slice of the Hamptons in metropolitan Melbourne.

That's how the former owners of this home, The Blocks Julie and Sasha describe their home which they recently renovated and sold in Elsternwick. 
The home sold to reality TV's The Bachelor couple, Sam & Snez for a cool $1.6 million.

10 September 2016

Spring Entertaining with Sodastream

 This post is in collaboration with SodaStream.

Spring is here, my favourite season of the year. 
The birds are chirping, flowers are in bloom, the days are getting longer and definitely warmer. We topped 26 degrees here at home on the Gold Coast today. Beautiful Spring weather!

Today I had my Sister visit and we spent the morning lazing by the pool and sipping icy cold drinks poolside using my new SodaStream machine. Although we dipped our legs into the pool, it wasn't quite warm enough to swim yet. Maybe another week or two and I'll be in!

With a SodaStream machine, you can turn tap water into sparkling mineral water all at the touch of a button too. 

Perfect for spontaneous entertaining.

9 September 2016

Feature Friday: The home of Getaway's Catriona Rowntree

Hello! If you’re new to my Feature Friday posts this is where I love to show you inside real homes. I know you are going to love this home i am sharing with you today.


A home oozing with old-world charm, with blossoming wisteria and elegance.
This is the home of Catriona Rowntree.

6 September 2016

Insta Love and Style Crushes


Today I am sharing some style crushes I have...

I am in the midst of creating some mood boards for our new house build.

 I need to start thinking about exterior colour choices, interior floors, tiles, window furnishings - you name it! I want to be organised so I can understand my design and direction for the home. I want all these elements to tie in together and not have any after thoughts or regrets!

Here are some of the looks, styles, designs and inspiration that I am loving over on Instagram.
 

CONTACT/WORK WITH ME

ASHLEA KERR

Blogger, Creative + Business Owner

Gold Coast, Australia

Interested in working with me? Sounds fantastic, I love working with brands and creating fabulous content for my readers.

glamourcoastalliving@gmail.com

On Glamour Coastal Living