I heart Instagram.  I seriously love it.  I have so much fun posting about the everyday moments that might otherwise get overlooked.  I also love following so many of you ladies, and getting little glimpses into your everyday lives as well.

When I heard about the sweepstakes through Instagram and Crocs (you can win $3,000 worth of shoes!!) I was intrigued.  Turns out, it’s a whole lot simpler and more fun than I imagined!

OK so here’s ALL you have to do: take a picture with your smart phone (I used my iPad) where you see a splash of color.  Get creative – it’s fun!!  With summertime around the corner, it’s easier than you think to find some splashes of color in your world.

Upload your picture to Instagram, and use the hastag #splashofcolor

Connect your Instagram through the  Crocs Instagram Sweepstakes page.

Um – that’s it.  SERIOUSLY simple!  Here’s the three pictures I entered into the sweepstakes from my Instagram:

LOVE the color in my mom’s outdoor decor – I have such a black thumb and I’m hoping that some of her gardening wisdom can rub off on me now that I have my own gardens to take care of!

I’m trying to not just wear black all the time – I was so excited when I found this shirt for $1.98 in the clearance section of Old Navy Maternity – score!!  Side note – this was from when I was 28 weeks pregnant.  Not sure where the baby is going to be fitting over the next 12 weeks…yikes!

Finally, I loved the color of my sister’s dress and decided it was the perfect splash of color for the sweepstakes.  We had a low-key evening after celebrating her graduation from college AND her 22nd birthday in the same day!!  Love my sister!

What splashes of color do YOU have around you? I’d LOVE to see your shares – just don’t forget the #splashofcolor hashtag so you can be qualified to win cute shoes like this:

How adorable are those???  I know I could definitely spend $3,000 on shoes this summer

Leave your Instagram name in a comment – I’d love to see your splashes of color and get a glimpse into your everyday life!!  While you’re commenting, let me know why you would want to win this amazing prize!

The post Add a #SplashofColor through Instagram (and win $3,000 from Crocs!) appeared first on Christinas Adventures.

1. Took the 3-hour glucose tolerance test (I failed the 1 hour test).

2. Found out I have gestational diabetes.  Yuck!  My doctor thinks I shouldn’t need insulin, but I’ll have to check my blood sugar 4x a day and be put on a special meal plan.  I’ll go to the perinatal center this week and find out what the details are.

3. Injured my rib – a lot more.  I was at my sister’s graduation (outside) and my allergies were acting up…I sneezed & heard a “pop” from my already injured rib.  I am now SUCH an invalid – it’s ridiculous!  Trying to take Tylenol around the clock and keep a heating pad on it whenever I’m sitting down.

4. Found out the crib we were going to use (a crib my grandpa slept in!) wasn’t going to be a reality.  I was SO sad about this – felt like we were starting all over from square one, so I was discouraged.

So – trying to stay positive!!  I am convinced that this week will be better – we will come up with a plan at the perinatal center, see our “little” baby in an ultrasound on Monday, and begin working on getting the nursery set up.  Woo hoo!  I already am having fun collecting new “toys” for the baby like this latest one (LOVE it!)

Oh, and I cracked my iPad screen (right through the camera part) so I can’t take the pictures the same way anymore.  See?  I told you it was a rough week!

The dreaded 3-hour glucose test:

Buckley just snoozed while I stressed about what clothing I had that could fit this third-trimester belly for my sister’s graduation weekend…

How far along? 29 weeks

Maternity clothes?  absolutely!  I’m not always wearing maternity shirts or dresses- but jeans are a must!

Sleep: I seem to wake up at 4:00 AM on the dot.  Every morning.  And I’m wide awake for hours after that – so frustrating!

Best moment of the week:  Constantly feeling our baby moving around.  When I’m feeling frustrated/discouraged/huge it helps to have little reassuring kicks & rolls constantly!

Miss anything?  I did get a craving for white wine a few days ago – too bad that’s not a craving I can give in to

Movement: Yes!  Baby is starting to kick and move more & more!  He/she is pretty active alllll throughout the day AND night!

Food cravings: Craving lots of sweets lately.  Some candy, but fruit too.  Not too good for the gestational diabetes news…

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Nope!

Gender prediction: I have NO idea!  Honestly, I’m split down the middle & could go either way at any time!

Labor signs: Nope

Symptoms:  Swelling has gotten pretttty bad this week.  We just laugh at how puffy my poor feet/cankles are!

Belly button in or out?  In – but it’s very shallow!!

Happy or moody most of the time? We’ll go with moody this week.  Really going to work on making next week much more positive!

Looking forward to: Getting an ultrasound tomorrow!!  Can’t wait to see how much our “little” baby has grown!!

The post 29 weeks! appeared first on Christinas Adventures.

As you all know by now, we are beyond excited to welcome our first baby this summer!  When I was asked to review the mombo nursing pillow, I was SO excited.  There was just one problem – I didn’t have an adorable baby to take pictures in the Mombo.

I decided I should get creative, so I took matters into my own hands.  I decided to morph our faces using a free online face-morphing tool.  Here’s what our baby should look like:

HAHA – we laughed at this for a little too long.  Wow.

Since I didn’t have an adorable baby to place in these pictures, I decided to do the next best thing – put our “fur baby” into the Mombo to test it out.

He refused to look at the camera (what a little diva) but he DID appreciate the Mombo’s contour!

In all seriousness – I am really excited to test out this pillow in the summer.  I have many new mom friends who warn me all the time about how difficult breast feeding can be in the beginning, and having this pillow should make the process just a little more comfortable.

There’s a few really great things about this pillow that I wanted to highlight.

It actually has two different sides – for 2 distinct purposes.  The top (the one with the elephants on my cover) is firmer for breastfeeding, while the bottom is soft so the baby can lounge on it.  I think this is genius!

The other really amazing thing is that it has a removable vibration unit.  I’m quickly learning that babies are comforted by vibrations, so I think this will really be useful!

It’s incredibly important that this pillow is functional, but let’s not forget about how CUTE it is. I’m having a hard time finding cute gender neutral items, but these elephants are absolutely adorable!!

Ahh I am in love!

You don’t have to search high & low to find these pillows either – they’re sold at Babies R Us!

This summer can’t come quick enough – this momma is getting antsy to meet our little peanut (and use our fun “toys” like this Mombo!!)

Looking for more quality baby products?  Check out Comfort & Harmony on Facebook OR Comfort & Harmony on Twitter.  They have some great products in addition to the mombo nursing pillow that I am excited to check out (and you should be too!)

The post Moms Love Mombo {and so does Buckley} appeared first on Christinas Adventures.

As a reminder, here is what the family room looked like when we bought the house:

Remember what the flooring looked like when we tore up the carpets??

These are NOT “after” shots – because it’s not decorated yet!  But here’s what it looks like currently:

We are in LOVE with the flooring, and so glad we made the investment to get them refinished before we moved in!

I want to accent this room with lots of graphic patterns in all shades of BLUE.  Here’s my inspiration board right now:

I want to modernize all of that wood trim, so bringing in some modern graphic prints and color will help to make the room feel updated.

Links to above products/projects (some of these are affiliate links):

Hand-hooked Alexa Trellis Rug

Slipcover (I already own this- LOVE it…especially the price!!)

Glass Lamp Bases

Lamp Shade

Navy Grommet Curtains

Throw pillows

Gallery Wall

What do you think?? I am SO open to ideas/suggestions – this is such a work in progress, and I can’t wait to update all of you as it comes along!

The post House Tour: Family Room {and inspiration board} appeared first on Christinas Adventures.

I’m able to see the light at the end of the tunnel with our boxes, and it feels SO good!  We’re starting to settle into “normal life” again, and we’re loving it!

It’s getting a little harder to find non-maternity clothes that fit well – breaking out a lot of things that I had in my back of my closet!

It’s hard to believe that we still have 12 weeks to go – this belly is starting to feel so much bigger lately!

How far along? 28 weeks

Maternity clothes?  absolutely!  I’m not always wearing maternity shirts or dresses- but jeans are a must!

Sleep: The baby actually woke me up last night with some crazy movements- it’s getting hard to get full nights of sleep lately!

Best moment of the week:  WOW feeling this baby MOVE!  He/she is getting so much stronger- we can now SEE the movements!!  And like I said, waking me up in the middle of the night…doesn’t even get me upset because its pretty amazing feeling this baby move so much!

Miss anything?  I’ve been drinking small amounts of coffee when I need it – so not really

Movement: Yes!  Baby is starting to kick and move more & more!  He/she is pretty active alllll throughout the day (and night now too!)

Food cravings: Still loving my orange sherbet & cool whip – also had a big craving for cookies this week (that I totally gave into – whoops)

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Nope!

Gender prediction: I have NO idea!  I think “boy” one day and “girl” the next – my hubby is saying “girl”!  An old Italian lady contemplated this for a while and told me she thinks it’s a boy

Labor signs: Nope

Symptoms:  Swelling & heartburn this week…fun all around haha

Belly button in or out?  In – but it’s getting shallower now!

Happy or moody most of the time? This week has been mostly happy!!

Looking forward to: Getting the nursery started!!  Let the nesting begin!

The post 28 weeks! appeared first on Christinas Adventures.