An extra day, yay! I hope you’re making the best out of this bonus time. I’m kind of jealous of everyone who could potentially have their baby on February 29th (not that I’ve been thinking of babies lately)… sigh. Maybe next time.
But all that is neither here nor there, today I’m linking up with Emily to share what I’ve learned this month.
Things I Learned in February:
It’s important to put yourself out there as is, instead of waiting until things are perfect.
Because things are never going to be ‘perfect enough’. I learned this in a major way from our “little” Airbnb side-project. At first I was hesitant to put our house on Airbnb. What if people didn’t like it? What if we got bad reviews? What if we got zero bookings? What if we invested some money into it and never made it back? Well, of course we listed it and are so, so glad we did, because we’re already making money off of it and the reviews have been great! I’m glad I didn’t listen to the seeds of self-doubt in my mind that told me to wait longer or not do it at all. I think this applies to everything in life – it’s better to show up as-is than to wait to be perfectly ready and miss opportunities.
Papaya enzymes are good for digestion.
At prenatal yoga my instructor informed the class that if we’re having trouble with acid reflux/heartburn/etc we should try taking papaya enzymes instead of TUMS. I forget what her logic was against TUMS, but it probably had something to do with the extra calcium and them not being all that natural. So I’m now taking papaya enzymes after my meals and I think they really are helping! Yay pregnancy heartburn… wah wah.
The order of the 66 books of the Bible.
It was my mini-goal this month to memorize the order of the books of the Bible, and I finished with one day to spare! I’m finally able to flip to the correct section of the Bible when the pastor tells us to find a passage at church, phew. My days of checking the table of contents are over!
A long walk cures a lot of things.
At least mental things. And some physical things, probably, too. At this stage of pregnancy there isn’t much exercising I can comfortably do (my round ligaments do not like much movement!) but I have enjoyed a few long-ish walks around our neighborhood. These walks have lifted my spirit and have also given me the chance to catch up on my favorite podcasts!
Maternity clothes are worth it – especially when they’re cheap or free.
When I was pregnant with Clara I barely needed to wear maternity clothes. She was born in mid-July and by the time I got really huge, I could wear maxi dresses and skirts every single day. Baby Beni (due in April) is a bit trickier. This time around I had to get a maternity coat, some pants, some sweaters, some shirts… And let me tell you, though I resisted at first, I’m much happier now that I have a few outfits to choose from! I especially love the outfits that have been passed down from friends or that I was able to buy used. My favorite online maternity store for used clothes is ThredUp, which also sells non-maternity clothing and baby clothes. (I’ve sold items through ThredUp and never feel like I’m actually making enough money, but I do love buying from them!)
Love is worth celebrating.
Every single time. You can call me cheesy, but I generally love Valentine’s Day. I love to celebrate friends and family and all loved ones who play an important part in my life. I don’t think we celebrate love enough in our lives, so when we get the chance to recgonize love through weddings or engagements or baby showers or welcoming a new baby or even via a “Hallmark holiday”, we may as well do it.
I kid you not, this was one of the better family pics we were able to take via tripod. Ignore how tired/awkward I look and let’s focus on the fact that Tim actually wasn’t trying to hide behind me yet somehow managed to disappear entirely from the photo.
Professional pictures are worth it.
I tried to take a few family pictures via tripod on Valentine’s Day… let’s just say they didn’t turn out well (see above). Thankfully, we hired a professional to take our family/maternity pictures the next weekend and the sneak peaks have been so great that I can’t wait to get my hands on all of them! We have a tradition of having family photos taken once per year (or for a life milestone, such as pregnancy), and I fully intend to keep this up forever.
I have 20+ pregnant friends.
TWENTY. (Yes, I counted them all.) And I have a few friends who just welcomed new babies into their families as well! 2016 is going to be a crazy fun year with so many little friends entering the world! Sadly (for us), a lot of these friends are long distance, but we’re excited to share in the happiness of the families we love so much, near or far!
I feel best when I eat well and sleep more than 7 hours at night.
DUH, Lisa. This probably doesn’t even need an explanation, so I won’t give it one.
What did you learn this month?!
