Mario and One Seriously Impressive Gingerbread House

We didn't post any pictures of Halloween this year, but it is still definitely worth doing.. even a couple months late. Derek and his fellow student athletic trainers/athletic trainers who all worked in the BYU dance training room this semester decided to do a Mario theme for Halloween. Derek - the only boy- was Mario and there was also a Bowser, Yoshi, Toad, Princess Peach, and maybe one or two more. They did a great job! They didn't stop with just their costumes though - oh no! They actually made a Mario Kart track right there in the training room and had races and listened to classic Mario tunes all day. My costume was simple and last minute. I decided to make my belly a pumpkin. I posted several pictures. Enjoy!

So in this picture we have (left to right) Bowser, Mario, Yoshi, and Toad


Here is our lovely Princess Peach


Mario and myself :)

The pumpkin

On December 6th Derek's siblings came over to watch the Christmas Devotional and to make gingerbread houses. It was so much fun! We actually only ended up making one gingerbread, but it was really elaborate and cool. Here are some pics of it. Prepare to be impressed :D


The front wall was done by Alisha and the yard was a team effort of several of us


The roof and the cute little chimney were done by Chelsea and Santa's sleigh was Alisha's masterpiece :)


This was Derek's side of the house


This was Jake's side - I love how detailed his windows are!


I did the back of house. Jake added the lovely wreath and bow - what a great touch!


Here's the finished product! The detail we put into it is kind of insane, but it turned out so good! I love the snow (powdered sugar) and the ice-cicles (i don't know how to spell that) around the edges. We made a little fence out of gummies, a gate with the mini candy canes, the path is made of red hots, and we have a rock wall that goes all the way around made of nerds. We made several little shrubs and trees as well. So fun!! I wish I had actually taken pictures of everyone who was there... a bit of an oversight.

It's been way too long!!

Well, the semester has officially ended. Today was Derek's last final. I've had it super easy and only had to finish a research paper. It's nice to have him home with me now. The semester went really well. Derek seemed to do really well - it seems like everytime he took a test the result would be 90% and up. Smartie pants. :) I got a part-time job at Macy's at University Mall and actually ended up working on Black Friday. It wasn't bad actually.. I'm sure working at Target or Wal-Mart would have been WAY worse. Derek has been crazy busy with going to school full-time, doing his clinical experience with the BYU dance department (which is like a part-time job), and working part-time at the MTC as an athletic trainer. He's really enjoyed working there. When he isn't helping an injured missionary he gets to play basketball, volleyball etc. Lucky kid! With such a busy schedule as he's had it's really great he's been able to get some exercise.

The last leg of my pregnancy has really been wonderful. I really can't remember what it was like to not be pregnant! It's so cool to see her and feel her move around. There have been some unexpected developments in that area. For those who haven't heard our full story of the past week I'll go ahead and share it. It's an exciting story :)

Me at 34 weeks (today)

Well, I had my 33 week ultrasound last Tuesday at my doctor's office and the tech said the baby's abdomen was measuring a little small. So, just to be safe, they set up an appointment for me to see the ultrasound specialist at the hospital the next day. So, we went in and she ended up measuring just fine - Yay! However, the guy happened to notice some evidence of dilation. So he took a closer look and sure enough he said I looked dilated about 1 cm! I'm not even full-term yet, so that was a shock. They sent us down to labor and delivery to do some tests, where they found out that I had actually dilated 3cm, I'm 80% effaced, and I tested positive for fetal fiberonectin, which is the "labor hormone." Shortly thereafter I started having somewhat painful contractions only a few minutes apart. They hooked me up to some magnesium sulfate, which, after several hours, slowed the contractions waaaay down - maybe 1 an hour. They gave me steroids (ouch!) to speed up baby's lung development as well. And so, what was supposed to be a simple checkup turned into a 2-day stay at the hospital. They sent me home on Friday with some more meds to keep the contractions at bay and an order to stay in bed for the next couple weeks. So, the question now is: when is she going to come? Well, on Christmas eve I will be 35 weeks along, which is considered full-term. If we can make it there it would be nice. Of course, the most ideal situation, and which happens to be entirely possible, is for her to wait another 6 weeks until the due date. So the answer is: we have no idea!! :) Exciting, yes! A teeny bit scary, yes! But only because I wasn't expecting it to happen yet.. I hadn't prepared myself for it. haha. She will be just fine if she comes now, but let's hope she gives herself a little more time to fatten up! :D