Beach. Birthday. Belly.

Fact: I feel 100% more comfortable in a bikini when I'm pregnant 

than when I'm not. Like, I don't have to worry about tummy rolls or feeling like I have 

squishy midsection or sucking in, cause I mean, there is a baby in there. 

Your belly is supposed to poke out. ;) 

In the middle of all our unpacking craziness, I turned 29. Gulp. That is almost 30! I can't

believe I am almost 30. I made myself not do any unpacking or organizing on my day and hubby let me sleep in. We hit up the beach for a little bit and a friend and her toddler daughter met us there and we had the yummiest dinner at a restaurant that reminded me of Athens, Ga. It was low key and lovely. Not to mention, I've been getting lots of birthday packages in the mail. I have the best long distance friends ever. Gifts in the mail are the BEST and it makes me feel so, so loved. Yay birthday! 

I am now 22 weeks pregnant. This pregnancy is flying by! I feel like I am so busy with Adoration and moving that I don't quite feel as in tune with my body. Like all the pregnancy updates people give I don't even know how to answer. Cravings? Umm...I try to remember to eat. Symptoms? I'm usually so tired by the end of the day I have no clue if my symptoms are from being pregnant or just exhausted. Baby's size? the right size. Which is some kind of fruit. Next doctor's appointment? I don't know! I have to find a new doctor because we just moved! You get the picture.  

I am feeling little one move around a lot which is my favorite. It really is so amazing. And yes, 

we know the baby's sex. ;) I'll be announcing it on the blog soon. Any guesses? 

On the Move Again....

We have been busy, busy around here. We just recently moved out of our first Florida home into our second.  We made the decision to move about an hour further south to be closer to where the hubs will be predominantly working. And man oh man....packing AND unpacking sure is hard with a pregnant belly and an almost two year old who is constant motion. I am tired. I think I need a vacation. For reals. And a massage. And a fake alcoholic beverage that I can pretend is real. On our last night in our old home we managed to take a small break from packing to grab a bite to eat and pay a visit to the beach. A couple of deep breaths of that ocean air just melts the stress away. It was a sweet time with both my loves and our way of saying goodbye to our short lived home.

Honestly, despite the beach wonderfulness, our move to south Florida has been hard on me. We left a place we loved that felt like home, dear friends and community to move to a place where we knew no one. I think as a stay-at-home mother with young children, community is especially important. It can be easy to feel isolated anyways in that role. Pair that with not having any community...and well....I've felt more isolated this year than I have in a long time. We never found a church that seemed like a good fit during this past year, and my soul is longing for that specific kind of community as well. The town we moved into was not a very friendly feeling place. It was very vanilla and plastic, and from my southern girl perspective, people were just plain rude. The main priorities of our surroundings seemed to be money and outward appearance. Without a church home, and the culture of our surroundings, it was pretty much impossible for me to find other moms I could "click" with. And I mean, I'm not asking for a lot. I just wanted some friends that were generally nice and real. Actually, moving down here made me see some of the perks of the blogging community. Cause I totally contacted a blogger momma who I knew lived in south Florida. I felt a little lame and definitely desperate contacting her but I got a sweet friend out of the deal. So yay blogging!

Needless to say, I'm pretty stoked to be in our new town. We are surrounded by a myriad of different cultures. James and I are both internationally minded, so being surrounded by people from different nations is exciting to us.We finally have a church. We actually discovered this church and were drawn to it when we lived farther north, but it was just too far away for us to practically be involved. We will be living in a tiny, three bedroom 1950's house with mango trees in the backyard. I can walk to a playground and a lot of our neighbors and have introduced themselves, and some of them even brought us a pie! People are more laid back in general. With baby #2 on the way, I'm eager to get some roots in this new community.

This season of moving here has taught me a lot about trust. We didn't have to move here, but felt like God was leading us here. It's been confusing in the midst, seeing little purpose for it, having no friends, community, or church, and dealing with a ridiculously higher cost of living. It didn't "feel" like it made much sense but I've had to trust God's leading. Maybe a little grumpily at times, but hey, we have no plans of running away from this.

And thank you God for putting us by the ocean. It's like a love letter to my soul.

<3 Kristina

Mother's Day

I am so thankful that I get to be this sweet girl's mama. She adds so much sunshine to our lives and I really can't imagine life without her. To know there is another little person growing in my tummy that will call me "Mama" as well just gets me all choked up inside. There are many facets to this mommy life, many wonderful, some tedious and exhausting. But most of all, it is a privilege. The greatest privilege of my life. So that was what Mother's Day was about for me this year; recognizing this amazing privilege I have to mother, nurture, and love these amazing little people. And thanking God for showing me the way. 

And I'm so very grateful for my sweet husband who not only showers his appreciation upon me for Mother's Day, but for everyday. 

Life Lately.

I realize posting all my instagrams as a blog post is the lazy route of blogging. 

Call me lazy, then. ;) 

a little beauty. be still my heart. 

just showing.

napping with her menagerie.

dancing friends.

 mommy/baby shoes.

a Miami shower for Ivelisse.

cheesin'.

a little bigger now. 18 weeks. 

Peace.

genius toddler art. 

My mini.

praying for the baby in my belly.

Florida friends. 

the cutest, thrifted chair.

beach love. 

post-beach happiness. 

I feel like instagram makes life look pretty sweet. I'm a bit addicted, but I think it's not so bad of an addiction. Because I look back at all these little snippets and I remember that I have so much to be thankful for. And I love that I can take a peek into the lives of dear friends that live states away. Seeing all their cute growing babies really makes my day brighter. 

 But instagram also apparently makes it look like I have no husband. Where is my beloved in my instagram pictures? I promise he is a HUGE part of our lives. Possibly the best part. I guess I take most of my pictures when he is as at work and it's just me and Adoration.  Or I'm usually busy just enjoying him, instead of taking pictures of him?? Whatever the reason, know he his the best husband/daddy ever. And I promise I will include him in more of my instagrams. ;) 

Grieved.

     I am not one to usually delve into politics in public, even around friends or in groups.  Primarily because I don't want to be known by my political stance. I would rather be known for my imperfect self, and hopefully, that I have treated you with kindness and grace, and that through that, you would see Jesus who is at work within me.

Yesterday, Amendment One was passed in North Carolina. Until pretty recently, I was a North Carolina resident so it felt close to home. The decision to pass the Amendment affected me more than I would've expected. My heart was heavy and I was deeply grieved and troubled....to the point of not being able to sleep and I lay awake praying in intercession. I am aware that just by voicing this I opening myself up to judgments by other Christians, which is partly why I keep politics to myself. 

But I couldn't keep quiet on this one. 

Because, in my eyes, this Amendment is just taking it too far. The picture that entered into my head was a stoning...a stoning of people that are already down. And the Jesus I know never threw stones. He revealed truth and sin, but he never threw stones. His righteous anger was only expressed in response to the hypocritical religious leaders of the day. Jesus picked people up out of the dust, met them with love, and healed their hurts and sin. He wasn't fighting a political culture war, he was changing the culture with His love. Every one was confused when He came claiming to be Messiah but didn't take His place as king over the government of the day. Nor did he come, aligning himself with the religious leaders (except perhaps for John the Baptist, who was believed to be crazy, and lived in the desert eating locusts.) No...He was not what was expected. Instead, he came and made friends with prostitutes, sinners, and outcasts, sharing bread, life, and company with them. He was their friend and washed their feet. I really do love Him. 

My friend Kara, expressed my thoughts on the matter of Amendment One more eloquently than I could have. Read it here. 

There is a song I really love, by Jason Upton that has been stuck in my head. It says:

"...And we'll guard each man's dignity,

and save each man's pride

And they will know we are Christians,

by our love, by our love

Yes, they'll know we are Christians 

by our love. "

May that become a reality. 

Learning at Home: Sidewalk "Painting"

           This is such an easy activity, with virtually no mess. It's perfect for hot days!

All you need:

bucket/bowl of water

a paintbrush or roller ( a nice, big house paint brush works great for this.) 

Just let your child "paint" using the water onto a concrete sidewalk. The water will leave markings on the concrete. Letting your child "paint" a fence or outside wall is also a fun way to do this activity. It's great imaginative play. And go ahead and let them splash around in that water. It's hot outside. ;)

Hair Help?

One thing I particularly enjoy about social media is that it's like having a bunch of girl friends at the ready....like if I'm in Target and I need another opinion on if I should get the skirt I'm trying on. I can just instagram it and get some opinions. Well, I need some opinions....

On what I should do/not do with my hair. 

I don't know what it is about being pregnant but it always gives me the itch to change it up a little. So this time around, I'm thinking of going ombre with my hair. Not a super obvious ombre but a more subtle, natural ombre. Something like this:

Now, I've never really colored my hair before ( well, except that time I put burgundy in it, in the underneath layers of my hair in college. It washed out in a couple of weeks.) I think what has held me back on coloring my hair is that I am super low maintenance when it comes to hair/makeup. Color just seems like a lot of maintenance.  But I think I'm ready to take that leap. I mean...I have a lot of brown going on...brown skin, brown eyes, dark brown hair. Maybe a little golden in the hair will make my skin look a little more golden? And a subtle ombre doesn't seem too high maintenance. But I'm having a little trouble deciding for sure. 

So what do ya'll think? Should I go for it??

Here is what my hair looks like now: 

And for the record, if I do this thing I'm gonna do it right and go to someone who knows what they are doing. My nightmare scenario would be a botched job and having to cut my hair off! Also, I know pregnant ladies got to be careful about chemicals, so I would definitely go to an Aveda salon where their hair color is really gentle and mostly chemical free.