Fourth of July Weekend & 36 Weeks!

As you may have been able to tell from my latest album on Facebook, Dalin and I spent the Fourth of July with his family here in Provo. They stayed in our apartment which is infinitely cooler since they hooked up the A/C unit the Ritchie's (previous tenants in our apartment) left us. I was anxious because the A/C unit looks old and was quite dusty from sitting on the porch for the last year. But THANK HEAVENS it works perfectly. We would be dying without it. 

Our weekend included Fourth of July attire, a visit to the mall, movies, golf (for the men), fireworks, hilarious games, dining out, a day trip to Lagoon Park and Lagoon A Beach, Church, and Sunday dinner. Walking down University Parkway toward the Stadium of Fire to watch the fireworks and spending more than eight hours walking at Lagoon might be too much for some pregnant ladies...but not for me, though my feet truly ached at the end of every night. I almost wished we had saved those trips until 38 or 39 weeks so it might have helped my labor along because I guarantee the baby would have dropped at least a little. Plus, playing games like Bea Arthur and Group Pictionary would have been enough to get my labor going probably--we laughed so hard during both games that my abs were aching by the end of the night. It was such a fun time! We seriously had a blast and were not looking forward to our family's return to Boise. 

In other news, I had my 36 week appointment (which involved the strep B test--which was nothing at all) on Monday, during which my doctor checked my progress for me (he was already doing other things so I thought, why not?). He said I didn't seem to be dilated yet (which is good I guess, since it would have been a full month early) but I was 50% effaced (which means my cervix is thinning) and that is good. It must be from all the walking. Seriously. Overall, things went well and Dr. Pace told me he fully expects me to have a good experience without complications. I sure hope he is right! 

Pregnancy updates at 36 weeks: 

Weighing in at a ripe 133 lbs

My stomach measures at 34cm

I'm 50% effaced (but no dilation and only slight dropping)

A few stretch marks appearing (Dalin claims they aren't noticeable, but they are to me)

Experiencing occasional tightening or most likely, Braxton Hicks (not painful, just noticeable)

The right side of my lower back is sore (I think from how I've been sleeping on it)

Peeing frequently (but not very much...so annoying!)

Baby girl is as active as ever: kicking, stretching, hiccuping

Baby prefers the right side of my belly--she's almost always over there

My feet are at least a size larger (hopefully temporarily)--I couldn't even get them in my sister's Toms!

Now there is nothing I can do but be patient and pray that (for my sake) she comes a little early or on time. Dr. Pace is vacationing next week, so as long as she comes after 37 weeks, I'll be happy!!!!!!

Do you think baby girl will be early, late, or on time? 

Were you early, late, or on time? (I was like 9 days late...)

surprise!

wonderful bridal shower thrown by my roommates. even though they kept me cooped up in my room for the entirety of the morning, i forgave them fast when i saw how fantastically they did. the shower was sweet and small, with creative game ideas, an amazing home-made mint ice cream cake (my favorite!!!), and exquisite yellow and blue (wedding colors!) balloons and decorations. and, best of all, it concluded with a surprise visit from my wonderful, handsome fiance himself!!!!!
              before he arrived...
the girls had a game where i had to answer questions about dalin, (thus testing my knowledge of my future husband). for each question i answered incorrectly, i had to put a piece of double bubble in my mouth. did i do well? well, not going to lie, dalin's answers to a few of those questions totally threw me for a loop. like his favorite movie?! Madagascar 2??!!?! since when??? all in all, i think i remembered more than i thought i knew. i got maybe 5 or 6 wrong. but i can promise that now i will remember those answers!!!

anyway, as the game was coming to a close, courtney and rachel suddenly started to get antsy and began to hurry things along. i was confused about them rushing things all of a sudden. i was thinking we have all the time in the world today, what is going on?? i admit i was totally oblivious that dalin had driven all the way from provo that morning.

in fact, dalin had fed me this stupid story which i was dumb enough to believe...especially since i had known for a fact that he had nothing planned for that saturday--no work, meetings, or anything apart from watching the Wimbledon--so it was incredibly silly of me to not suspect a thing when he told me that someone from his ward randomly came to his door and asked him to go on a service project with them to salt lake. having been cooped up in my room all morning, i was annoyed at first when he told me that he couldn't skype but was easily satiated when he promised to talk to me on the phone on the way to "salt lake." he told me he was in a van with a bunch of others and that his bishop was driving. when i asked why it was so quiet, he said that everyone else was asleep. probably from getting up early on a saturday to do a service project. (okay, am i an idiot because why would every single other person be asleep on the forty minute drive to salt lake??) as dalin listened to some "Motab" he asked if i could hear the bishop blasting it. after a bit, he told me they would be arriving soon, and that he would text me when he could.
                so, clearly i am not as observant as i had sort of thought i was. either that or the excitement of my bridal shower was diverting enough to completely blind me to the obvious...

when dalin walked in our apartment--all of a sudden--with a yellow rose (my favorite of all roses) and my actual engagement ring--i had NO IDEA what was going on. i have definitely never been so surprised in my life. my parents know i am not a huge fan of surprises and never really did them. so after i rushed into dalin's arms, i was at a loss for what to do. i was so shocked that he was there. perhaps that tells something about long-distance engagements. it pretty much feels like eternity before you see the other person again. also, that was the first time i had seen my "real" engagement ring (i am still very fond of my first ring and still wear it--but on my right hand) and i loved it immediately. dalin knows me so perfectly and i was so, so, so happy with his selection.

pretty ring, pretty rose

juntos :)

after dalin's arrival, the bridal shower pretty much ended but i was just so HAPPY to be with dalin that i didn't mind at all. it was a perfectly executed surprise and completely made my entire week as dalin stayed in rexburg and went to classes with me until thursday, after which he returned to provo and brought me along to spend the fourth of july weekend with him! our first holiday :)

in provo, i stayed with abby billin from thursday night to monday night. staying with her was wonderful--particularly because i loved her cute apartment and it gave me many ideas for my future apartment with dalin. throughout the time i spent in provo, here were some of the highlights:

• while dalin was working, i spent around 5+ hours in the mall (shopping from claire's to zumiez to victoria's secret to american eagle to a used book store)
• seeing Transformers 3 in theaters (which was sweet)
• eating some fro-yo (hun-cal ;)
• going to church together (something i love so much)
• making every meal together (also love so much...)
• eating Sherbet ice cream! (please note the spelling...i was unaware of this before this weekend)
• watching movies in his apartment
• watching lots of sports on TV
• eating shaved ice (and, like always, i lost at "whose flavor is better")
• reading together
• falling asleep on the couch together (before curfew rolled around and he had to drive me back to abby's)
• "tanning" (ahem) by the pool in the bright, bright sun
• watching fireworks on the grass together
• going for walks
• viewing campus and going to the bookstore
• spending the Fourth of July together...like we will be...for the rest of eternity :]
• eating hotdogs from Sonic on the Fourth
• having me eat a huge dog from J Dawg's...
• talking about the future and our children and plans and being patriotic by wearing red, white, & blue
• grocery shopping at Wal*Mart (it's much more fun together :)
• getting raspberry cheesecake shakes from Arctic Circle
• learning more and more about one another

needless to explain, it was a wonderful (full) eleven days together. it was incredibly hard for me to get on that salt lake express bus to return to rexburg. it was slightly comforting to be reminded that i only have three weeks remaining of classes before dalin comes to retrieve me and bring me to boise for his sister cassie's wedding! and then to the salt lake airport so i can fly home to new hampshire! and then dalin will join me in new hampshire soon enough! and then we'll be sealed forever and ever :). i just need to be patient. just about 36 days...thank heavens we have eternity ahead of us! ;)