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.