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Baby Martian // Week 33

August 18, 2019 0

There’s this song I’ve known and loved for like 16 years, called “What’ll She Look Like,” by this band called Stephen Speaks.

and ON THE DAILY, I get that song stuck in my head for very obvious reasons.

Will she be soft, will she be strong
Will she be ready to be wrong
Will she move too fast or wait too long
Will she look me in the eyes
What’ll she look like?

every time she gets really bad hiccups or squirms, I think of that song.

Who. the. heck. are. you., baby.?

What color is your hair? (I think blonde because Justen and I both started with light hair that got darker when we got older)
What color are your eyes? (blue like Justen’s?)
Do you have any birth marks? (I have a super weird one)
Is your nose as big as it looked in that one ultrasound? (I really hope not but that’s more for you than me)

It’s bizarre to feel another human being inside of me – someone I don’t know and have never actually met.

I was telling my aunt the other day that this year has ZOOMED by, but August has been the slowest month of my life… oh except September will probably be so much worse.

We had our last appointment with our current midwife. She said everything is great, the baby’s growth ultrasound, the size my uterus was measuring (lol what that’s such a weird sentence), my weight gain, etc. When I told her about my frequent heartburn she smiled and nodded because I guess it’s normal. I’m not a fan of heartburn at all. I’ve never had it until this and it sucks, fyi.

I just can’t wait to meet her.

Baby Martian // Week 32
Baby Martian // Week 31
Baby Martian // Week 30
Baby Martian // Week 29
Baby Martian // Week 28
Baby Martian // Week 23
Baby Martian // Week 22
Baby Martian // Week 20

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emotional life poshmark series

Mugs with Meaning: What Would Elle Woods Do?

August 14, 2019 0

I’m a huge fan of coffee mugs. Every morning when I stumble blindly to the kitchen to grab something to pour my coffee into, I carefully think through what mug I want to use. What vibes with my day, encourages my heart or reminds me of someone I love?

Really I only have access to like 2 rows of mugs because I am not about to climb on a step ladder and reach for the other ones at this point.

This morning I woke up and looked at my Poshmark balance. You know, my income.

Let me be really real with you. This is how my summer has looked, income-wise:

It’s fine. I’m fine. Everything’s fine.

Remember how one of my goals was to save $1,000? At this rate, I won’t even profit $1,000 this month. I thought last July was my worst Poshmark month of all time, but August 2019 is shaping up to hold that prize.

This morning I waddled out of bed, feeling really discouraged. I walked to the kitchen, opened the mug cabinet and started scanning the options of mugs I can reach. and there, tucked behind another mug, I saw the perfect mug for today.

What would Elle Woods do?

Elle Woods, my bad-a fictional hero, is no stranger to obstacles and making a way when there seems to be none.

Very pleased with my decision, I found my glasses and got to work channelling my inner-Elle Woods on a day I’d honestly rather lay in bed and feel sorry for myself. This is what would Elle Woods do looks like for me today:

Tithe
Last week it occurred to me that we’ve only been tithing on Justen’s income. Yesterday I deposited a $219 check from Poshmark, so even though money feels tight and my income non-existent, I made my first tithe on that little check. If I can build the habit of weekly tithing on my income while my income is small, how much easier will it be when it resumes normal operation?

I also feel like tithing is an investment in God’s creativity. Who better to invest in when I’m feeling tired, worn out, burned out and stuck?
Think outside of the box
I have a second Poshmark closet for higher priced items, and I recently became a Poshmark Ambassador on that closet (it basically says you’re an active Poshmark user who has had great sales and made purchases) and with that, I have the opportunity to participate in Poshmark campaigns that make $10 each. I linked a random Instagram account I never use, and I’m planning on running those campaigns to make an extra $20.
Work
Right now, there’s just so much I can do with my Poshmark closet. I have literally run out of room to store clothing. I have bags of clothes in our apartment and in my car that are listed but haven’t sold. There’s a part of me that’s like “well, what else can I do?” but after thinking outside of the box, I see that there is SO MUCH I can do. I just need to think creatively and keep showing up.
Clean up
Last night I made cookies, and the dishes are still in the sink. We did laundry, which is still on the couch. I have way too many unused beauty products in the cabinet. There are little things that suck my energy, make me feel like a failure, and overall just weigh me down. After pouring my coffee, I went through some of my beauty products and gathered a small pile of things to sell on the internet. I got a little distracted with blogging and such, but after I hit “publish” on this post, I’m tackling all the cleaning.
Chin up
That in-bed pity party I was tempted by earlier won’t make me any money. It won’t give me purpose, it won’t lay the foundation for me to crawl into bed tonight and feel like I was a good steward of my time. There’s only so much I can control, and it all starts with my attitude. So here I am, one homemade lavender vanilla almond milk mocha later, grateful for the challenge and creativity to pave my own way. Listening to upbeat music on Spotify, feeling grateful that the struggle and stress of being self employed far outweighs the anxiety I felt every day working for a limited, hourly paycheck.
Get dressed
This one is about to happen, but I had this massive surge of energy that resulted in me at the table with my coffee while still in my pajamas. But waking up and getting dressed, even if I’m the only person that sees, helps my productivity, the direction of my chin, and feeling like a productive member of society, even when sales are slow and I’m feeling lost/confused with my purpose.

It’s just a little coffee mug, but man it really can steer the direction of my day. Anyone else feel a connection to coffee mugs like this?

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Baby Martian

Baby Martian // Week 32

August 13, 2019 0

A week behind on this, but somewhere between Week 31 and Week 32, my answer to “how are you feeling?” went from “great, I barely feel pregnant!” to “PREGNANT!!!!” all caps, bold, underline.

My back hurts, the baby kicks me real hard at real random times and takes my breath away (but I’m so grateful to feel her active!) and I am freaking TIRED, you guys.

So tired that last night I FELL ASLEEP during Bachelor in Paradise. I LIVE for that stuff, so the fact that I fell asleep, got up and went into bed (without brushing my teeth btw) and slept until 3:45 am really says how tired I was.

We’re halfway through (!!!) our 4 baby showers and I’m honestly just really honored to have so many people at the ready to love our baby when she gets here.

I’m still on the watermelon italian soda > coffee train, which is weird af and honestly perhaps my dramatic decrease in caffeine is the culprit behind my constant exhaustion, haha.

Pants are completely out of the question at this point, so luckily I have a bunch of t-shirt dresses that are 1. easy and 2. breezy. I caved and bought a pair of brand new maternity shorts at a resale store for $4 and honestly they are the best thing I’ve worn since I discovered I can’t wear pants a few weeks ago.

We did our first load(s) of baby clothes and I wanted to explode into a shower of glitter because they’re all so little and so cute and soon we’ll have someone to put them in.

Baby Martian // Week 31
Baby Martian // Week 30
Baby Martian // Week 29
Baby Martian // Week 28
Baby Martian // Week 23
Baby Martian // Week 22
Baby Martian // Week 20

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Baby Martian

Baby Martian // Week 31

August 3, 2019August 2, 2019 1

31 weeks down, 9 to go!

Apparently, homegirl is as big as the crystal ball from Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Me too, Ron Weasley… me too.

I have no idea how they measure this size. Length? Weight? Please tell me it’s not girth because sign me OUT.

Aside from a wall decal with her name, we’ve pretty much set up her stuff in our room, which I shared here.

This week, I really FELT pregnant. We had plans to hit up a few places one evening, but I couldn’t hang. My body was just miserable and I had to go home. After arriving home, I planned to catch up on The Handmaid’s Tale.. but I ended up sleeping through that.. and then slept an extra TWO HOURS the next morning. and struggled through the rest of the day.

While not the baby’s first experience with live music (when she was past the point of hearing sound, we saw my friends in The BGP and my friend Ernie), Mei-Ling and I went to THE BACKSTREET BOYS and it was SO LOUD. I think it definitely startled her for a little bit. Then she probably realized she was in the same room as greatness and appreciated it. That’s what I’m going with, at least. 🙂

Okay and I’m THAT person… I dug this dress out of the Goodwill Outlet the same day I found my other dress from a few weeks ago. I’m trying really hard not to buy maternity clothes but to instead take advantage of clothes in bigger sizes that I can just list on my Poshmark closet if I don’t need them after the baby gets here.

My appetite is still gone. 2019 has been the year of no appetite. Justen is the one who is eating for 2, because he eats his food and then I give him the rest of my food. I also went an entire day without coffee this week, which Justen pointed out is so weird. I did, however, have an iced chai AND a watermelon italian soda. After realizing how much money I could rack up buying watermelon italian sodas (yo anyone else have pregnancy cravings that have been pretty much exclusively beverages?), I ordered some stuff on Amazon so I could make my own. So that’s going to happen soon.

Now that it’s August, our due date is NEXT MONTH. This may very well be our last month of a party of two. I have loved the past almost two years of just being Justen and Stephanie Martian, so I’m nervous to lose that but also excited to meet our new family member. I hope she’s cool.

Baby Martian // Week 30
Baby Martian // Week 29
Baby Martian // Week 28
Baby Martian // Week 23
Baby Martian // Week 22
Baby Martian // Week 20

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#goals

August 2019 Goals

August 1, 2019July 28, 2019 0

It’s been a hot minute since I shared some goals with y’all. Thanks to my Happy Planner, I’ve still been making monthly goals and keeping track of them but as I was carefully writing them into my August sidebar, I realized that I haven’t been sharing them (or really anything, lol) on my blog.

August Goals

01. Pack our hospital bag
02. Save $1000
03. Use our Groupons
04. Try a new coffeeshop
05. Register at the hospital
06. Book maternity photos
07. Go to the zoo
08. Finish our apartment cleaning list
09. Deep clean our cars
10. Bake cookies

Some are baby related, some are “let’s enjoy the last of our time together” related. I’m trying to get back into the habit of setting and tackling goals. As I’ve really stepped into the whole “work for myself” thing, it’s been hard to manage my time and prioritize what’s actually important to me.

It’s something that’s going to be challenged in a few months – I’m used to waking up and doing whatever I want, whenever I want. and soon that’s gone. My productivity will be challenged, my time management skills (or lack thereof) will become very clear, and I’m realizing that I’m starting to brace for the impact.

Here’s to August, the last hurrah of summer.

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