happy thanksgiving!

First off... no baby yet. Everyone can breathe now.

We've had a pretty darn good week! Over the summer right before we moved, Eric completed a program to become a certified Pharmacy Technician. He did so well and passed his final exam with flying colors! He received a national pharmacy tech license and when we moved to California, he had to apply for a state license as well. All he had to do was send in the application, some personal info, and money. Then they send the license back to him. Simple, right? Well.. California is slow. REALLY slow. Plus there was that whole government shut down thing, which I'm sure didn't help. They said that it would take 45 days to send him his license. We sent in all the stuff as soon as we got here in August and he FINALLY got his license last week! In the mean time, he was still applying for millions of jobs (either pharm tech jobs where he'd say he had a license pending, or just regular Joe jobs) and didn't have any luck getting one. He sent in so many applications and had quite a few interviews, but was just not getting any takers. His parents own a dental tech lab, so to make money he's been working for them a couple of times a week cleaning and running errands. When we found out I had to be on bed rest, we honestly saw this as a blessing. He was able to stay home and take care of me when I couldn't do very much for myself. I was able to stay down and keep this girl healthy. He was also able to focus on school and has seriously rocked this semester. Then, about a week after we found out I was good to get up a little bit more, his license came. And the very first pharmacy he applied for, he got an interview and was hired right on the spot!!!! Now that I can take care of myself, he'll be able to work so we can provide better for our little family! This girl can come anytime with no fear :) He's been so patient and has had SO much faith in knowing that things will work out. He's helped me through many a tear filled night and never lost any confidence. When we got married, we got the advice to wait to have kids and spend time together from numerous people. I thought that was smart advice, and I honestly thought we would have at least 6 months to a year before a pregnancy test turned positive. When I got pregnant right away, I was thinking of all the advice we'd gotten and wondering if it was going to be difficult on our marriage. Honestly, I feel like we've spent more time together these past 9 months than many couples do in a couple of years. We've gone through a lot together already and our relationship has been strengthened so much. I'm grateful for all the time I got with my husband before we enter into the phase of parenting. I never thought I'd be grateful for unemployment haha

We had our 36 week appointment yesterday and it looks like things are beginning to progress a little bit! I've dropped, I'm dilated to a 1.5 and I went from about 5cm to 3cm. The doctor walked into the room yesterday and said "Are you seriously still pregnant?! Is this real? Someone pinch me." haha He told us about a lady he knows who had the same issue as me and is still in the hospital to prevent her from moving any faster. House arrest was much better than hospital arrest haha Anyways, at the end of our appointment, we set up a date for me to be induced! He said just in case we make it there, he wants to keep an eye on my labor the whole time. But he's more expecting us to go before then. The induction date is December 19th at 7am. 20 days is our max! 20 DAYS or less and we'll have a baby!! We are so ready for this girl.

Eric and I decided to practice swaddling and diapering. This monkey was the closest size to a newborn we could find... haha (Baby Payne will be MUCH cuter)

Since it's Thanksgiving today, I thought I'd share a list of things we're grateful for :)

-Heavenly Father
-Our Savior
-Marriage
-Temples
-Baby Payne
-Our big, loving, helpful, gracious family
-Our incredible friends (you know who you are!)
-Warm California weather
-FaceTime
-Social Media (to keep up with our loved ones)
-Our great ward
-The luxury of having really yummy food every day
-All the gifts, and hand me downs we've received for Baby Payne (We seriously don't know what we would have done without it all)
-A nice, comfortable home to live in
-The ocean
-Ultimate Frisbee (Eric)
-Our awesome Doctor
-A great car with the best gas mileage ever
-The Gospel.

This is a very small chunk, but we seriously are SO blessed. Words can't express our gratitude for all the things we have. I love this day and this season.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!!

great news & another birthday weekend!

I'm just going to go ahead and jump into the good news, because it rocks!

We had our 34 week doc appointment last Thursday. Despite me releasing labor hormones, despite lots of contractions and major uncomfortable-ness, my cervix was looking the best it has yet!! How it did this, I don't know. We had our ultra sound and the baby was measuring at 5lbs 1oz (she's getting SO big!!) and my cervix was a little over 5cm! Which is above average! This was super unexpected for us and our doctor. He was actually laughing at how well I'm doing and joking that he's going to have to give me a c-section at 44 weeks haha (he would NEVER let me go that long). I'm too far along now for the medicine to really do anything, so we're off that for good! And at the end of the appointment he said "I'm going to go off on a limb here and treat you like a normal pregnancy. See you in two weeks!" So we don't go back until the week of Thanksgiving! It's nice to have a break, but a little nerve racking since we've both gotten so used to having all of our questions answered once a week. I'm not "officially" off of bed rest, but I've been given much more freedom to do things, and I don't feel nervous about getting up and getting around now! If we make it ALL the way, we have no more than 5 weeks left! Time is going rapidly. I'm nearly 35 weeks and we both are SO excited to meet this special little girl :) She's already been such a blessing for our marriage and personal growth. It will be an honor to raise her. I just can't express my gratitude enough for the wonderful, close care we've gotten from our doctor. Without him, we'd have a baby in the NICU right now. Instead she's growing safe in my tummy where she should :)

At our church, Eric and I teach 4 and 5 year old kids in the primary. Two Sundays ago, they had a primary program where they sang all the songs they learned through out the year. I couldn't be there because of the bed rest (But I can go to church now!!) so Eric sent me a picture of our little class after the program. We love them so much! He had some help from the Missionaries in our ward, which I'm so grateful for. Look how cute they are!!

We also had family staying with us from Utah on and off through out the week while they played it up at the beach and Disneyland. It was SO much fun having some more family over, and I loved getting to know them better :)  Here's Eric with his cousin's little girl. He's kind of amazing at painting nails :) And she's kind of adorable.

Mine and Eric's birthday's are about 2 weeks apart, so this past weekend it was my turn to get spoiled! Eric was really excited when we learned that I had more freedom so he could take me out a little bit more the day of my birthday :) He's extremely romantic, thoughtful and he plans things out well in advance. He also REALLY loves surprises. I'm not ashamed to say, he totally out did me on the birthday thing this year haha. Here's how the day went:

We stayed up late the night before having pillow talk. At midnight, Eric reached to the side of our bed and handed me a single pink rose. I cried. It was so sweet and perfect. Then, we went back to sleep and woke up again at around 6 or 7 ish in the morning. When we woke up, he reached to the side of the bed again and handed me a Happy Birthday card and a little certificate that said I had an appointment to get my makeup done at Sephora! I was really excited about that one :)

How sweet is he?!

The family we had staying with us was leaving that morning. I went downstairs to say goodbye to them, and they were already waiting at the bottom of the stairs. I got a surprise Happy Birthday song from everyone before they left! It was so adorable and made me feel so special! Then I went into the kitchen and this was there!! Being a proud member of the LDS church (where we don't believe in drinking alcohol) and being pregnant (duh), my family improvised to be funny with lots of different flavors of sparkling cider! And Eric got me a beautiful bouquet of flowers :)

After our family left, I got partially ready and we all went out to breakfast. It was SO good! 

After breakfast, we came home and opened presents. Eric got me a refill of my favorite perfume (Refuge from Charlotte Russe. I've been using since I was like 16, and I still love it), new shoes that I've been wanting forever, a sweater, boots, my favorite mascara, and new eye makeup brushes. My in laws got me a tiny Christmas outfit for Baby Payne, a dresser (much needed), and a pajama robe (I've been bugging Eric to get me one... haha I was SO happy). Then we got to FaceTime with my family and we went off to the mall so I could have my makeup done! The girl who did my makeup was super cute and nice and Eric had so much fun watching the transformation. He even got me a couple of things that he liked seeing on me after! Then, he took me to get another present. Ice :) You know the good ice that Sonic and Taco Time and Kneaders have? It's my favorite and I could snack on it all day. So he took me to Sonic and got me a 10 pound bag to have all to myself! I was so happy!! 

Here's the makeup all done!

After that, we came home a relaxed for a little while. Then, Eric's parents took us to a nice Italian restaurant (Italian's my favorite, and they've been wanting to take me to this place for a while). It was SO good! I got a piece of cake with a little candle in it at the end :)

I look huge. But it's the angle, I swear.

When we got home for the night, it was time to pop some bottles and celebrate! I felt pretty cool drinking all that cider :) We had so much fun! Then we got all dressed down in our jammies, snuggled up and watched a movie. It was such a perfect birthday. I really think I had more fun than any other 21 year old. I'm so blessed to have such a great husband and family! Life is awesome for the Payne's.

maternity shoot: 33 weeks

So when we moved to California, I remember thinking "Oh this will be so great! We can do my maternity pictures at the beach!!" But now that's not really an option, although it's so close. I'm allowed to get out of the house for doctors appointments and the occasional drive (Although I've admitted to some cheat days on here.. whoops. I'm usually really good!). But I can get up and do things I need inside the house. So it's more like I'm on house arrest haha I've seen a lot of lifestyle maternity and newborn pictures floating around lately and I've totally fallen in love with them. So I decided that was the style I wanted to go for, instead! We spent an afternoon taking pictures in our room and the baby's nursery using my camera, Eric's newfound photography skills, and a chair as a tripod so he could sneak in some pictures too :) Enjoy!

Here's the handsome man at work!! 

Being pregnant is tough. There's the never ending sickness (more commonly referred to as "morning" sickness), weight gain, stretch marks (I haven't gotten any yet, for which I feel blessed haha), clumsy ness, random pain, and for me, the constant fear of keeping our baby healthy and safe where she should be. But regardless of it being hard, I LOVE being pregnant. I think it is absolutely fascinating that our bodies can transform like this to create a human being. I love feeling her grow and move. I love that I have the ability to create a bond with this little person I've never seen. I feel beyond blessed that I have been given such a gift from my Heavenly Father to create life. There are many people close to me who struggle being able to get pregnant. I wish so badly that they could experience it. It helps me appreciate my pregnancy more, and take it all in.

So far this week, things are continuing to look stable! We have so much hope for our baby to keep growing inside of me. Next week will be our last ultra sound exam, and then we get to have regular weekly exams like a regular pregnancy from there on out! Thank you again for all the concern and prayers. We truly believe it has made all the difference in having such a successful pregnancy! 

fun filled weekend!

This past weekend was so much fun! I took lots of pictures, so enjoy!

Thursday: Halloween! 

This was my first year ever not dressing up...  kind of sad, I know. But I did make Eric take a cheesy picture with me! We set my camera up on a chair outside (I have yet to get a tripod that can hold my beast of camera) and got this! My baby bump is MUCH larger than it appears in this photo. I need to document more with the shirt I made.

After we took this picture, we carved the pumpkin Eric is holding. Well.. Eric carved it. I drew on a face and he did the rest while I watched :) We named him Jack. And we love him. 

We got our candy bowl all ready for trick or treaters and watched a hockey game while we waited. and waited... Eric was SO excited to hand out candy and see all the little costumes. Every time he heard something outside he would run to the door and look through the peep hole, but no one would come up to our porch! The poor guy was so sad :( But then... around 7:30, the doorbell finally rang! And Eric was in the bathroom! I got up and handed out candy to a big group of kids while my poor husband was scurrying to get out so he could join in. He made it out in time to see them walking away... Our bell did ring a couple more times that night and each time he enthusiastically jumped up to hand out the candy. It wasn't a total disappointment. He was even super generous and nice to the teenagers who came. After our hockey game was over, we watched Sleepy Hollow (which I've never seen. That Johnny Depp did it again!) and went to bed. I felt it was a successful Halloween for staying home! 

Friday: Doctor Appointment

Our usual weekly appointment routine goes like this: We check in, and get called back. We have an ultra sound (one big pro to having a high risk pregnancy!) to check on the baby and then another to check the length of my cervix. Every other week we do a Fetal Fibronectin test (Fetal Fibronectin (Ffn) is a hormone released when labor is coming soon. They say it's like the "glue" that holds the amniotic sac to your uterine lining. The test can tell if this hormone is present, which means that labor could be coming soon. If it's negative, it means you have a 90% chance or more that you won't be going into labor in the next two weeks). After those tests, I have the regular pee in a cup time, blood pressure and weight check. Then, we talk to our doctor about the results of these things, talk about what I've been doing and what we'll continue to do. 

She's Perfect.

This week, the baby looked great (she's seriously going to be SO cute!!) and my cervix looked awesome again! When we got in to talk to the doc he let us know that our last Ffn test came back positive.. we've had negative results since I was 26 weeks, so this freaked us out a bit. Like I said, when it's negative, it gives you at least two weeks to breathe easy knowing you won't go into to labor. But when it's positive, all that tells us is that I'm at an even more increased risk to deliver before 36 weeks. No two week timeline, just a higher risk. Which is something we've all kind of expected, but it's still scary. We still have a chance of going full term, even with releasing the hormone, so we're keeping our fingers crossed! We're more on guard now, and with each day brings a little more hope. We want our baby to keep growing inside of me where she should! The doctor did say that if we hadn't have caught my condition when we did and if he didn't put me on the medication he did (which most doctors probably wouldn't have done) then we would have had her by now for sure. We are SO grateful that we chose him and that our sweet girl has been given so much more time to grow. Each day is a blessing.

Our family sent us a jogging stroller for our birthdays!! It was the last thing on my list of things I wanted before she got here. Now we have everything we need!!! Yay!!! We're so excited! And I'm extra excited to get running again :)

I found a promo code online and got this nursing cover for free from UdderCovers.com. It's so cute, I can't wait to use it!

At our appointment, our doc asked if I'd received my flu and whooping cough vaccines. I got the flu vaccine couple of months ago, but haven't really given a lot of thought to the whooping cough one yet. He said that it's extremely important for me, Eric and anyone else who will be coming in contact with the baby to have this vaccine up to date because it's an illness that can be deadly to a little baby. It's more common now that more and more people are choosing to not get vaccinated. So. For people reading this who will be visiting here, or who plan on seeing us when we go to Utah in January, PLEASE get your vaccine! I definitely want people to see her and hold her, but more importantly, I want her to be healthy. Thank you! 

Saturday: Eric's Pre-Birthday Celebration!

Since Eric's birthday fell on a Sunday this year (We don't believe in going out or spending money on Sundays) we had to do some fun stuff on Saturday! Earlier in the week, Eric's mom took him shopping and out to get Indian food. Saturday morning, I made him a big breakfast and he spent most of the day watching football. Eric is super into fantasy football and so every game is very important :) Since I couldn't really get up or get out with him, being able to have full control over the TV for just football was heaven to him :) 

Through out the day, we were getting texts from our family in Utah saying that my sister was in labor! She's been 5 weeks ahead of me in pregnancy and it's been so much fun! According to my mom, she was a champ. She was a little early, and she had some complications during labor, but now mom and baby are doing really well! We're so excited to have a new niece!! They also let us know that it was snowing.. and it was a beautiful sunny day for us. My gratitude for California has been increased!! I can't believe we'll have a winter with no snow! 

Little miss Chloe Lucy Jacobs. 5lbs 12 oz 18.5 in long. And all the weight is in her cheeks ;)

Mama and Chloe. 

In the evening, we went on a drive through a canyon right by our house. It was so beautiful and relaxing. Then I broke the rules to take my boy shopping (it was a VERY short trip haha but he got some great stuff) and to dinner. We went to Chili's and had a great time :) Then when we got home, we watched a hockey game (I'm learning to love hockey. It's been a process for me haha). We fell asleep on the couch and it was perfect :) 

Sunday: Eric's Birthday!!!! 

I love Birthdays :) We woke up and Eric went to church while I stayed home as usual on my couch. I knew I needed to take it extra easy since I was out a little bit the day before, but I still had to wrap his presents! I went with the easiest route and just threw everything in individual bags with tissue paper. I did all of his birthday shopping online and everything came just in time! I made him a birthday sign on our chalk board, and waited for him to get home. 

Eric got a card in the mail from my brother filled with money :) 

 I love him.

He loved the presentation I set up for him when he got home! We ate our leftovers from Chili's for lunch and then he opened his presents. We went and saw the movie "Captain Phillips" a few weeks ago and we both LOVED it. After seeing it, Eric mentions at least once a day how badly he wants to read the book that the movie was based off of. I got it for him, and he was pretty excited about it :) I also got him some cologne that he's been wanting since March.. (Lacoste Blanc, it smells like a dream), some shirts, sports stuff, and gave him one of my famous back/foot massages :) We started reading the book (which is awesome so far) and then FaceTimed with my family so they could see the birthday boy :) 

Guys. I don't cook. I've tried.. but I'm not good. If my high school cooking class wasn't graded on participation, I would have failed. But Eric really wants me to learn and he is confident that my creative mind will figure it out! So for his birthday, I did something really special. I made a meal. This is so sad to be confessing, but I'm so proud of myself. haha and it didn't suck! In fact, Eric really liked it, and so did I! Huge confidence boost! Now I will have to venture farther into cooking once this child is here!! 

I made cheese, spinach cresent rolls. With baked potatoes and a fruit salad :)

Dinner by candle light. I'm romantic. haha 

We ended our night watching Zoolander and snuggled on the couch :) 

This weekend was so much fun and it made us both so happy! I asked Eric if he had any special requests of fun things to do for the weekend, and the only thing he asked for was to relax and hang out with his wife :) He got it :) 

We're hoping that nothing changes this week, but we'll let y'all know if anything does!