Month: March 2023

Sooo, I’m pregnant!

On By MarishaIn Mindset & Well-being, Motherhood, Parenting, Pregnancy2 Comments

I’m 28 weeks pregnant! (That’s a little over 6 months.) So officially into the third trimester, woohoo!

I’m feeling pretty good about it at this point, and I finally feel ready to share with people that I’m pregnant, although I started showing super early, as usual, so people who see me regularly have known for a while. If anything, when people see my belly, they expect that I’ll be having the baby anytime now. “Nope,” I say. “Another 3 months to go, almost.” “Phew,” they say, “good luck!”

The first trimester was tough for me, as it usually is. It came with the typical nausea, food cravings and aversions, poor blood sugar regulation, and fatigue. This time around, this phase was also a bit longer than usual: from week 5 until week 16. Wow, was I happy when it was finished!

Then, the second trimester came around, I had more energy, and I could eat my usual foods which made me feel good. I had stable energy and generally felt like myself again. What a difference that made!

While I was glad and grateful to be pregnant, this pregnancy was accompanied by many fears. I’ve spoken at length about how we lost our baby at 21 weeks of pregnancy in December 2021, so this fear was real until at least 24 weeks or so. What I haven’t mentioned is that we had another loss in June 2022: at 7 weeks, so much earlier but still sad.

These two losses meant that I went into this pregnancy with apprehension as well as hope. I didn’t know what would happen this time around, but I was also happy to be pregnant.

I still have 3 months to go, and there are no guarantees about how things will go, even though all indications are good. The tricky thing is that now we’re much more informed, and we know about many more things that can happen at any stage of pregnancy or birth. This means that the feeling of security (“Oh, things will go just fine for us”) is no longer there.

But I have a great deal of hope, and I have lots of gratitude. All I can do is wait; in the meantime, I can have hope and appreciate the moments when everything is going well.

The budgeting struggle at the end of the month…

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At the end of the month, many of my budgeting categories are empty. What to do?

Monthly Budgeting:

Quarterly + Yearly Budgeting:

Exercise in the middle of the day, if you can swing it!

Exercising in the middle of the day?!

On By MarishaIn Health, Organization & ProductivityLeave a comment

I’ve been experimenting with something kind of crazy lately: exercising in the middle of the day. What?! you might say. People usually exercise in the morning or the afternoon (although there are those who exercise in their lunch break instead of having lunch). I usually also prefer the afternoon for exercise, but hear me out…

Recently, I experienced some neck and back issues that tended to get worse the longer I remained sitting. Now, I work at my desk, so that’s kind of unavoidable. “How can I break up the periods of sitting?” I wondered. I began by looking at what my typical day looked like: identify the problem.

A typical day

Here’s what a typical day looks like for me. In the morning, I walk to daycare with William and then back home. It’s nice to start the day with a walk outside, and I’m glad I have this opportunity. Then, I come home and sit at my desk for the whole morning. I take brief breaks, but in the end I still spend about 3 hours sitting.

Continue reading “Exercising in the middle of the day?!” →

Don’t make your budget too strict!

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Don’t make your budget too strict! You need to be able to breathe.

Your budget can only be effective if you check it often.

Daily + Weekly Budgeting.

… And the revamped morning routine! A surprisingly chill way to start the day.

My morning routine

On By MarishaIn Organization & Productivity, ParentingLeave a comment

The previous evening sets us up for the day ahead. I described extensively what I do on a typical evening here, and now I’ll talk about my mornings.

The funny thing is that my morning routine is much shorter than the evening routine. The latter is elaborate, with many moving parts, while the former is rather straightforward. Anyway, I’ll walk you through it.

Wake up 30 minutes before my son

This has been key. I used to wake up at the same time as William, and that felt stressful even though I didn’t realize it so explicitly. I was trying to take care of his needs while also taking care of my own, which often led to frustration on both sides: he wanted me to cuddle him, but I just wanted to pee!

Continue reading “My morning routine” →

How to budget as a couple

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I’m tackling one of my favorite topics! How do you budget as a couple?

Each person in a couple should have their own fun money!

If you share a budget, always consult your partner before making a big purchase.

The revamped evening routine! Everything I need, while staying practical, to set me up for a good next day.

My evening routine

On By MarishaIn Organization & Productivity, ParentingLeave a comment

A good evening routine would set me up for a restful night of sleep and a good next day.

I wanted to create a realistic and stress-free (as much as possible) evening routine, so I had to leave enough time for everything I wanted and needed to do. I hate to be pressed for time in the evening when I’m tired and trying to wind down! Sometimes it still happens, and it’s oh-so annoying.

My evening routine starts early

I figured out that the evening routine starts as early as 17:00 (5 pm) when I leave to pick up William from daycare. I could pick him up anytime before 18:00 (6 pm), but if I leave later than 17:00 (5 pm), I just end up being too late for everything else, and I then have to rush. So I do my best to finish up my work, get ready, and leave on time.

Continue reading “My evening routine” →

Don’t forget to budget for fun things!

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Your budget provides a clear answer to the question, “Can I afford this?”.

Don’t forget to budget for fun things!

Fun money: my favorite budgeting category!

I decided to revamp our evening and morning routines.

Your morning routine starts the night before

On By MarishaIn Organization & Productivity, ParentingLeave a comment

Ah, this is so true! How your morning goes depends to a large extent on what your evening looks like.

Do you go to bed at a time which allows you to get enough sleep?

Have you prepared yourself for the next day (e.g., clothes, food, backpack, living space)?

Have you made a plan for the next day?

Continue reading “Your morning routine starts the night before” →