@SheilAnneSmith - I am glad that you were able to avoid dipping into your maternity savings, one less thing to worry about!

@pezhed - Good luck on planning for Kris' party, I am sure it will be fabulous- December does have a way of creeping up and flying by, before you know it is the new year. We just looked at our calendar and we legit have plans every single weekend (at least one of the days, some weekends F-Sun) up until the 2nd week in January. Blessed to have plans and a social/family life, but wowee, I am tired just thinking about it! Sending you good vibes.

Still not on track as far as diet goes, just being honest; though I will say I have gotten out of the "just forget it, I will eat whatever I want, as much as I want, whenever I want" pitty party I was apparently throwing, guest List: 1/me. LOL. So hey, that is good. I haven't started tracking again but Husband and I did sit down, and have made a plan for what we are going to do.

I have an orientation tomorrow @ Planet Fitness, for a "build your own program". I think maybe having some sort of direction will be helpful to me. I am somewhat limited in cardio, so having someone guide me and give me a planned workout for strength building I am hoping will give me some motivation.

We also planned a trip in July to Grenada- Sandals! It will be our 3rd trip, and will land on the week of our Anniversary. We were holding back on making a trip just in case we got pregnant, but we also had a talk about that. We cant STOP living our lives in hopes that it will happen- I don't want to sit around and have life and fun experiences and opportunities pass me by because we want children. (Plus, we will by trip insurance, if for some reason we are pregnant and need to cancel, we will be covered).

Have a great week ladies.

Your long winded, TTC friend!

Holy cow yall have been busy! Um, lets see...if any of you want to connect on reddit (Im in a few ttc groups there) or Fertility friend, send me a PM and I'll give you my username/add you as a friend on ff.

Amanda-girl, you have got a crazy busy schedule. Have fun with your parties-try to remember to do your best, and forget the rest. If you cant make the homemade cookies, buy store bought. Or ask someone to bring them, people love bringing things bc it makes them feel useful. Delegate! Where in VA are you going-I live in NoVA. Also, here is my long overdue recipe for grandmas caramel popcorn:
Caramel Popcorn
8 quarts popcorn(1cup unpopped) cooled will all unpopped kernels removed
Boil 5 minutes in a heavy bottom pan (I use cast iron) mix but dont stir, leave it alone:
1/2 tsp salt/ 2 cups light brown sugar/ 2 sticks butter/ 1/2 cup dark brown karo syrup
Remove from heat and stir in 1tsp baking soda mix well and CAREFULLY. Put popcorn in large roaster and pour caramel over popcorn, stir well until coated. Bake 45 minutes in a 250 degree oven, stir every 15 minutes.
**I'll add BE CAREFUL if you havent made caramel or candies before, this *kitten* is boiling and sticky and can cause serious burns (and wont come off your burning flesh) if it gets on your skin while its boiling hot in the pan. It does cool quickly though so stir fast and enjoy picking the fresh caramel off the spoon and snacking while you wait to stir every 15 minutes! Super easy and fast recipe, dont be intimidated about making the caramel, I was the first time until grandma showed me, and now Ive made it like 6 times all by myself For chewier caramel kick the temp down to 200, for crunchier, more "store bought" add another 15 minutes in the oven-also adds a more burned sugar/caramel taste to it...I like both ways!

Rhiannon, your vacation sounds great...I was literally just reminiscing about our vacation at this time last year (thanks Google photos for reminding me that I was on a beach this time last year, one last hoorah before we got pregnant and now its been almost a year with no baby and baaaahhh-mixed emotions about this today guys.) I completely agree about not putting your life on hold, that is so important.

Kayla, sorry to hear you're having a rough time. Im so with you on the hoping not to fall into bad habits year after year and not making any progress. Hang in there, life is a journey and you're doing great

Heeey. I'm still alive. Read a bunch of you guys' posts; but haven't been able to face typing. Love you all though. Weeks 5-6 of pregnancy, I was sick all day, all night--every day, every night and throwing up every day. Meds and B6 not enough to really help. I kinda shut down communication with the outside world. Hormones crazy. Then lost internet due to a flub on CenturyLink's end. Just got it back up today.

Anyway, not as sick this week. Still queasy almost 24-7, but barfing a lot less. Since the end of October, I have gained 2.5 lbs--mostly in the boobs. lol. Eating bread, pasta, potato chips, dry cereal, mild cheese and salty foods since they appeal much more. Also eating raw fruits, raw spinach and sugar snap peas. Desserts and chocolate and baked goods are all aversions.

Exercise: I have started some limited walks but get winded and light headed really easily. Maybe next week I'll feel good enough to extend the walks and get back to working on the house. Trying to decorate for Christmas now, but it's hard. Found out from blood tests, my vitamin D levels are less than half of what they're supposed to be, so taking D and magnesium supplements now. I have not missed a day of work so far. Huzzah! But have come late to work several times. Sometimes I go to work, come home and barf, then go back to work. Lol.

I'm peeved that my muscle tone is vanishing fast from lying around, and I'm developing a pot belly from bloat. But movement such as walking, turning, or bending over makes me nauseous except for a 2-3 hour window each day. Hoping week 6 was the peak though, and that I'm stabilizing now.

Good luck everyone! Hope you are all having a great December and sticking with your fitness plans better than I am!

Thanks for the encouragement! Wow, what a nice boss. Sounds delicious!

@Kirstie155 so sorry about the loss of your kitty Your boss sounds nice and that pie sounds delish! Thanks also for the pointers about the parties and the caramel popcorn recipe! My family is in western Virginia, a town called Covington. I usually give people Roanoke as the reference point but we're about an hour north of there.
@RhiannonBecks how did the orientation at Planet Fitness go? Did you come up with a program for yourself? I need to get back on track too!
@WifiresGettingFit I'm so sorry about the health issues and your husband's car accident! Dealing with insurances can be so frustrating even when the fault is clear so I can imagine it's worse with changing stories. I really hope it doesn't hit your premium too hard.
@Alioth I'm so sorry you've been feeling so sick! That must be terrible. I hope you can get your Vitamin D up and get in the Christmas spirit!

Hey ladies,

Another Monday, already?!

@Kirstie155 I'm sorry to hear about Sadie BooBoo Kitty, it is always hard letting one of our furry friends go, I know for me, mine are like family - glad to hear you have an awesome boss though and decided to live life & enjoy those bites!

@pezhed - I am SO glad the surprise was, well a surprise! I know the anticipation & excitement of it all turning out so I am glad to hear he felt loved & enjoyed his experience. You reminded me that I should probably start planning for my holiday baking, oops!

as for Planet Fitness, I apparently got the time wrong and signed up for something totally not what I thought - it was more of an orientation/walk around the gym and explain what areas have what machines. meh. I could have figured that out. LOL, before I left though I did ask and the class I am signed up for tonight IS the correct one. It is an hour long, so hoping I can get something set in place where I have a plan at least 3x a week for strength training and then do some light cardio other days. I just know myself, if I commit to going every day, I will guilt trip myself If life happens and plans get in the way; so starting out at 3 days I think is a good compromise. I'll let you guys know how it goes!

-- My husband and I also talked more in depth about diet this weekend. We are going the cliché route, but starting back up after our friends holiday party on NYE- so basically a January 1 start up. As much as I hate to say that, we were just talking honestly and I've been so off track for what seems like so long, I am not sure what my will power will be over the next few weeks. I have reigned in a lot of the "who cares" attitude though that was spiraling out of control when choosing what/how much/when to eat, and I can tell a difference already.

Also, random, but very excited, I finally purchased a real set of holiday dishes. I have wanted them for a while, but hesitated bc it is just myself/husband in the house, and we usually don't celebrate the holidays with everyone at our place we typically travel. Anyway, I decided I was going to order them anyway; because one day, when I DO have children, I will want to start a new tradition, and I'll have my dishes! Macy's had 30% friends & family + I used ebates and will get close to $60.00 cash back on my purchases.

I hope you ladies have an excellent week. I am CD 21 and trying my hardest not to worry, track and focus on TTC. Just focusing on the holidays.

Hugs to all!

Thanks for the well wishes everyone, that means a lot.


@RhiannonBecks show me those dishes!! I'm such a 1950s house wife, I love house wares like sheets and bedding, table cloths and blankets, dishes! Here is the Lennox tablecloth I picked up at Tuesday Morning recently: ugh nevermind, why is it impossible to add a picture from mobile? Mfp, it's almost 2018, get with it!! I was collecting these gorgeous gold rimmed pointsettia dishes, very elegant- got the first set for a steal at Goodwill then found the same set at Kohl's and ordered them. Then Chris' mom gave me her dishes that have a Christmas tree and are more cartoony, not really my style at all but they have a lot of meaning. So I returned my pointsettia dishes to Kohl's but still have the 4 placesetting from Goodwill. I also have a 4 placesetting of snowman dishes I got in college. If you've lost count, that's 3 kinds of Christmas dishes!

Kayla, sorry you got hit too, that's so annoying. At least he didn't run, and you can have his insurance pay for the repairs. We *still* don't have Chris's car back, hoping this week he can get tit back. It had really extensive damage

Amanda- glad kris's surprised party went well, enjoy having your guests and the holiday season. Your cookies sound great!

I have that patterns tablecloth, and a platter. So pretty. Great job at the gym!

@Kirstie155 if the cartoony tree dishes are the ones I’m thinking of, I’ve always wanted those, haha. I guess we have different tastes.

@RhiannonBecks that sounds like a great experience at Planet Fitness and way to get there early!!! Those are pretty dishes! I may talk myself into some Christmas dishes when we start storing things in the new shed...

@WifiresGettingFit so sorry your neighbor hit your car! People make excuses for everything! Glad they exchanged info but what a hassle that you didn’t need!

Our company is showing up today. Kris’s party last night only ended up being 5 people, including us, so I went way overboard on the baking. It’s good we had some snacks though because Kris made a turkey that wasn’t ready until like 9pm. Our puppy is getting spayed tomorrow. I’m wondering if she’ll be less crazy afterward. I know I would be if it weren’t for hormones

Forgot to add...does anyone else have google albums just of their Christmas decorations? Just me?
Also, Amanda good luck with your company and getting the doggo spayed. Try and relax a bit and have a great time with your friends/family Glad you have lots of tasty leftover bakes to nom on!

@Kirstie155 I love your Christmas pictures! Especially your pooch.

@WifiresGettingFit I'm so sorry to hear about your car now getting hit. That is so much unnecessary stress all at once! I hope things start improving for you both and you can have a relaxing and enjoyable remainder of the year.

@pezhed I'm glad the party went well. A clarification on exercise while pregnant - it's not that you can't start anything new but that you shouldn't push yourself harder than you did before pregnancy in order to avoid overexertion and injury. The way my doctor put it is - you can keep running and but don't start training for a marathon. A lot of women start light exercise and yoga while pregnant when they didn't do it before.

In regards to pregnancy and fitness, the one thing I cannot express enough is to work on having a strong core and back before getting pregnancy. Pregnancy really messes with that area badly between the separating muscles, increased weight, shifted center of gravity, etc. But the other thing I hadn't thought about is that as your belly gets larger, you have to lean over so much farther to do things (wash dishes, cook/meal prep, carry the laundry basket, etc.) which puts a lot of added stress on your back. By the end of pregnancy, I deeply despised washing dishes and cooking because it just hurt my back so badly.

@Kirstie155 -eek I LOVE your hutch and how it displays everything; I do see that platter peeking out. love the holiday spirit you have + the doggo pic just makes everything better!

@puffbrat - thanks for the pregnancy tips, this is partially why I decided as well (one of many reasons) to start going back to the gym and starting weights NOW, I have been talking a lot of talk, but actually doing it was different. I'd love to be pregnant now, but in the mean time, I am going to take advantage of not having that BFP and work hard on my core & back (among many other areas).

@pezhed -I just said to my husband that apparently my hobby as of late is challenging myself to see how full and uncomfortable I can get and then feeling guilty, lol - ok, so maybe it isn't funny but that is just how I had been feeling, see you say sitting around & stuffing your face was your MO just made me giggle and think "same sista".

I have my 2nd session today @ PF- I am soreeeeeee, but actually looking forward to it. I was laying in bed and thought - I never even knew these muscle could hurt, ha!

Have a great day ladies, if it is snowing where you are, safe travels today!