18 Weeks!

All too quickly time is flying by! As of Saturday I am 18 weeks pregnant. I've got an ultrasound and doctor's appointment this week. And I've got to be sure to let the technician know that we do NOT want to know the gender. Hopefully they don't let anything slip. I hope that everything is normal and progressing fine. I can't believe we are almost at the halfway point.

I am definitely showing now. There isn't any hiding it anymore. I've had some feelings, like flutters or fake gas as most of the blogs/websites report. It's a weird feeling for sure. I am still burping a lot. There is a lot of gas involved with pregnancy. I never imagined how much it changes the REST of your body.

We are also looking at some houses. Everything we've looked at has been a HUGE step up from the first house we looked at, the one with the holes in the walls and was basically destroyed. As we thought, some of the houses in our price range have come on the market only to quickly go under agreement. So we are trying to keep ourselves as free as we can in order to go see houses at a moment's notice.

I love our realtor, she is great to work with and really gets us and what we are looking for. But she's also not hesitant to give her opinion about a property. And she's got the experience to back it up.

One frustration has been one house that we all like and want to see, has been horrible about setting up a showing. We've tried for 3 Sundays now with no dice. So we are hoping that on Friday we'll be able to see it. We really like this property and where it's located, so we are hoping we can at least get inside and see it to see if it's for us.

The one house we saw today, I will say, was very nice. We are waiting to hear back, as there are 2 other offers in on the house, and we don't want to get into a bidding war with other potential buyers. It's easy to say not to get emotionally tied up into a house, but it's hard to actually live that. Even harder when pregnant and hormonal.

I can see myself living in that house, it's very nice and only needs a small amount of work done to make it liveable. And some additional projects to be done over the next few years. Enough to keep Ben busy, that's for sure. And the neighborhood and town is quite lovely and would be great for raising kids.

Here's to hoping we can find something! I'd like to be moved in before this baby comes. Ben and I both agreed that if we aren't closed or close to closing by late July that we'll probably wait until after the baby before trying again. It would really suck to try and move while so close to the baby coming.

Be very quiet! We are hunting houses!

So I didn't win the $640 million Mega Millions jackpot last week. Le sigh, Ben and I had our dream houses all picked out, his and hers of course.

But what we did do is meet with a realtor on Saturday. We drove by a couple houses, and there was one that we really liked. So when we met with the realtor later on, we asked to see it. We were able to get in and see the place, it was a foreclosed house and the previous owners trashed it. Most of the walls had big holes in them, some of the bedroom doors were kicked in half. What would have been the master bedroom had a deadbolt on it! It was just really in rough shape. And we came to the conclusion that it has the potential to be a beautiful house, but it would take a fair amount of money and time. Two things that we are limited on. So we passed.

Our realtor this morning sent us a couple more listings, Ben and I liked the looks of them so I believe the plan is to go check them out on Saturday. 

I am not a big fan of house hunting, I want to find a house but it's just trying to find something that fits what we want and what we need. For the right price of course. My biggest sticking point has been schools. I want to make sure where ever we are that we are in a good school district.

But both of us would like to find a house and be settled before the baby comes. Our apartment right now is big enough where we could have a baby there, but it's not ideal. That being said, we aren't going to buy a house just for the sake of being in a house, we want to make sure its the right situation for us.

We are excited about this next step, but we want to be cautious and make sure it's the right step for us.

First Quarter of 2012 Update

For the original post, you can go here. For the last quarterly update, you can go here.

Current List: 

Starting Date: Friday January 1st, 2010 Ending Date: Friday September 28th, 2012

1) Spend a rainy day watching films in my PJ's
2) Try two new cookie recipes this Christmas (Brown Sugar Cookies & Chocolate Crunch Balls)
3) Attend the midnight premiere of a movie
4) Get married
5) Go skydiving
6) Learn to knit
7) Organize my closet
8) lose 15 pounds
9) Go on a cruise
10) Go whitewater rafting
11) buy a house ( In process!!)
12) See a Broadway show
13) spend a day at the spa 
14) Lose 5 pounds
15) Own an iPhone
16) Try a new (and possibly frightening) food 
17) Watch two movies at a cinema in the same day.
18) Influence a person to make a day zero list
19) go fly a kite
20) Pay off at least one credit card
21) Have a housewarming party
22) Floss every night for a month
23) Tie a note to a balloon and let it go
24) Go sledding
25) Lose 10 Pounds
26) start a family - This is a work in progress! Still Growing and due right around the end of this list!
27) help a stranger
28) Have a sleepover party 
 29) Have a friend choose a complete outfit for me 
30) Play a new board game
31) Travel by train (Did the Conway Scenic Railway Trip, but I'd like to do another)
32) Make homemade bread
33) Go to a casino
34) Take at least 5 photos a day for a month
35) Eliminate non-fitting clothing from my wardrobe
36) Save $5000
37) Read 100 books (45/100)
38) Compose a new list of 101 things to do in 1001 days
39) For every task I do not complete, donate $1 to charity
40) Put aside $5 for every completed task
41) Go to a Patriots game
42) Drink nothing but water for 2 weeks
43) Watch the sunrise at the beach
44) Host a giveaway on my blog
45) Organize photos and get and stay caught up with my scrapbooking
46) Climb Mount Washington
47) Attend a hot yoga class
48) Do 100 situps for a month (0/30)
49) Ask for someone else's advice and take it
50) Give a stranger a compliment
51) Write down something positive about myself for 30 days straight
52) Have “date night” one night of the week for 1 month (4/4)
53) Work out faithfully 3x a week for 2 months
54) Take a trip to Las Vegas
55) No swearing for a day x12 (12/12)
56) Play a game of 18-hole golf 
57) Put change in someone’s expired parking meter 
 58) Take the Cat ferry to Canada
59) Have a weekend getaway for SO and I
60) Start our own Christmas tradition
61) Get my HAM radio license
62) Participate in a 5K (run/walk)
63) Make my own candles
64) Climb Cadillac Mountain
65) Learn at least 50 ASL signs
66) Go one weekend "Unplugged" no phone/Internet
67) Send/Give 100 cards “just because.” (43/100)
68) Leave SO a love note/note of encouragement/surprise email 1x a week for 2 months
69) Complete 3 – 1500 piece or more jigsaw puzzles (0/3)
70) Visit 5 new states not previously in (driving through doesn't count) (2/5) - NJ, HI
71) Participate in a 10K (run/walk)
72) help a friend in need
73) take a class (work related)
74) Have one day off per week for 1 month
75) Make SO breakfast in bed 
76) Bring coffee in for the boys at work
77) hang pictures/art on walls
78) Buy flowers/edible arraignments for someone.
79) Be able to buy clothing in the regular women's section
80) Invest my money better
81) borrow books from the library; instead of buying them 
82) get a makeover to include makeup!
83) Try a new recipe once a week for 1 month
84) Call one cousin per week until all Bridle Cousins have been spoken to
85) Host a girls night at my house 
86) Host a couple's night
87) Prepare my will
88) Take a pole dancing class
89) Travel to Nantucket / Martha's Vineyard
90) Visit my grandmother at least once a month for a year (12/12)
91) plan a couples camping trip - I love our Memorial Day Weekend camping tradition with friends!
92) Play Bingo with friends
93) Host a transit party
94) See an old friend once per month for one year (11/12) - Coming up, hopefully catching up with one of my old co-workers, Ms. Holly!!
95) See Rocky Horror at midnight showing
96) Go and shoot a gun at a firing range
97) To get a physical each year
98) To see a UNH/UMaine Hockey Game
99) To kiss the Cat at UNH
100) To go to a Red Sox / Yankees game
101) To complete this list in less than 1001 days

Ugh, I've only completed four tasks this quarter! And I've come to the realization that not every task will be completed. Making a baby has kind of put some of these on hold (like sky diving!) But I do plan on adding it to my next Day Zero list because it is something I want to accomplish.

Aside from starting my family, I am most excited about buying a house! But I will get into that in another blog post!

I ask (many times) for advice from my friend, who's pregnant with her second child and has been through this before, for advice, and many times I've taken her advice, she has been a huge asset to me!

Why I won't be attending FitBloggin' this year...

Although I really wanted to attend FitBloggin this year, it just isn't in the cards. The event is September 20-23rd, and my due date is the 22nd.

Although Steve really tried to convince me that there are some really great hospitals in the Baltimore area. I think Ben might kill me even if I tried to attend!

So I will miss the event again this year, which I am so bummed about, but I plan on keeping up with everyone via twitter and blog posts. Maybe we can even arrange a skype date or something!

Happy Friday!

Source

So it's time to come clean about something... a secret that I've been hiding from MOST of you. I didn't mean to deceive any of you we just had to wait and be sure... but now I can fill you in on what's been REALLY going on.....

Ack! I can't even type it I am too excited to share... it started out like this...

and then looked like this!

That's right folks! Life by Cassie just got a little more crazier!!! If you recall, when I had my banner redone (by Erin of Samantha's Day) I added the baby pacifiers in blue and pink to my thought cloud, that's because we don't plan on finding out the gender of our baby until it's born! There are so many things in life that are planned, this is one thing we can control and we don't want to know, we want it to be a surprise.

So as was the case with the wedding, my blog will probably be geared more towards baby and pregnancy updates for the near future.

I did weigh in the first day of that positive pregnancy test at 329! :-( ugh, not my shining moment, I will have to be very careful with my weight gain throughout the entire pregnancy.. I weighed in today at 327.6. My doctor says that because of morning sickness and the fact that I am already overweight that I shouldn't be terrible concerned if I lose weight in the beginning. All in all, I should gain no more than 20 pounds, and I am going to try my darnedest to keep to that.

This is partly the reason why I didn't accomplish my mileage goal to reach Steve! I am finding that I get winded very easily, and pretty much I have been walking. It's a lot easier for me to walk at the gym on a treadmill, since the bathrooms are right there. But I have enjoyed a few walks out and about in my neighborhood.

The morning sickness was manageable, especially compared to other horror stories I read online... but there are a lot of learning curves to this whole process. Thankfully my friend is pregnant with her second child and she's about 2 and a half months ahead of me! So I've been leaning on her for a lot of support.

I am due in late September, which is great, aside from the fact of being very pregnant in the summer. But I will manage. 


So there is my big news! Happy Friday and I hope you all have a great weekend! And St. Patrick's Day!

Getting some mileage in!

Having someone meet you at the gym is a motivating factor to get to the gym. I have actually been to the gym the last 3 days in a row and I have plans to go again tomorrow night. I've really been focused on cardio, so I've only been on the treadmill, but I am ok with that. Anything is better than just sitting on the couch all day.

I may have really missed the mark on how much time it would take for me to get all the mileage in to get to Steve, but I am committed to logging all of my mileage until I can complete that task.

I finally have a dress for my friend's wedding in July! The David's Bridal debacle was a nightmare. I am so happy to have a resolution. A bigger concern is I had to buy the dress online, so I am hoping it's the right everything...but it was on the inexpensive side, so worse case scenario I can scrap it and go back to the drawing board.

I can't believe today is March 8th and it's 68 degrees out. It's really quite lovely. And of course, I am at work. But at least I can open some windows and let the fresh air in!

I am newly addicted to "Draw Something" it's like pictionary.

Please send some love and positive thoughts to Brittney. She's hurting. And my heart hurts for her.

11 things

So Steve tagged me in a blog post, and since I haven't done one of these in awhile, I thought I would entertain and share with you all. (You're Welcome)

First up here are my questions from Steve: 

1. What is something that you have done, or would like to do, that most would consider to be out of character for you? - Be selfish? I am a very giving person. I give a lot, usually of myself and my time. I am very rarely selfish with my time. I would like to be more selfish, and I am learning to find a good balance.
2. What is your favorite movie? - There are many, but perhaps Super Troopers and Spaceballs? I guess I do love me a good comedy!
3. What is a fitnessy/athletic/sporty type thing that you’d like to try, but haven’t yet? -  mothereffin' burpee? Probably CrossFit, I hear so many good things about that style.
4. If you won a million dollars today, what is the first thing you would buy that costs less than $10,000? - Pay off some debt
5. If you won a million dollars today, what is the first thing you would buy that costs over $100,000? - Buy a house
6. Do you prefer beer, wine, or liquor? - Coke Zero and Coconut Rum is my drink of choice, but I also drink Moscato wine when I am feeling saucy.
7. Favorite restaurant? RonJillian's (a local Italian restaurant)
8. Favorite thing to order from said restaurant? Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo
9. What is the first song in your iTunes (or whatever you use) “Top 25 Most Played” playlist? - Part of Me, Katy Perry. It's catchy!
10. What was your first cell phone? I know it was a Nextel, I was on my dad's plan... but for the life of me, I can't remember the exact phone/model.
11. Favorite quote? "If it's not fun, then why do it?"

And now 11 random facts about me: 

1. In college, I created my own minor in Equine Sciences. I got college credit to horseback ride. 
2. I spent one summer as a camp counselor, and if I can ever do it again I would. 
3. Growing up, I wanted my first car to be a Neon (they were cute!) I ended up with a Jeep Wrangler and had a blast! 
4. My dad took me out for my 21st birthday and some random thought I was his date.... sadly that has happened more than once.
5. I have lived in New Hampshire my whole life
6. Growing up, my brother and I fought, often. Once even pulling kitchen knives on one another. Now, we are so close!
7. I am an ocean/water person, but hate swimming in salt water
8. I like NASCAR (go ahead judge away!)
9. I have my CDL-B license, I drove buses in college. Including the drunk bus! 
10. I don't have a desire to get a tattoo ever, it's just not for me
11. I miss having an animal/pet in my life. Hoping that once we own a home we can get a dog!

Then 11 more bloggers that can do this next:

1. Alan @ Sweating Until Happy
2. Angie @ Angie All The Way
3. Kristen @ There is only one Kristen Lehouiller
4. Emily @ Fit and Free with Emily
5. Ericka @ Buzy Bee Buzz
6. Chubby McGee @ Chubby McGee
7. Amy @ Everything is Bigger in Texas
8. Whitney @ Getting Healthy
9. Brittney @ Life In A Holding Pattern 
10. Jenny @ Melting 1 pound at a Time
11. Anda @ Leaving Fatville

(Too bad I can't chose Kerri, since Steve already did, but she's awesome as well... )

Lastly, here are YOUR 11 questions:

1. What is your ideal vacation?
2. What is the first song in your iTunes (or whatever you use) “Top 25 Most Played” playlist? (Stolen from Steve, it's a great question!)
3. What was your favorite kid's cereal growing up?
4. What was your first car?
5. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
6. What are you most looking forward to in 2012?
7. If you could meet anyone (living or dead), who would that be, and why (No zombies!)
8. If you could change one thing in your life right now, what would that be and why?
9. What exercise would you like to try, but are afraid to, what is holding you back?
10. What is your favorite meal of all time?
11. Were you in a clique in high school? If so, what one was it? (nerk, jock, cool, etc)

Enjoy!