Kind of a big deal

It happened.  The doctor finally said those magical words that I've been waiting to hear, and was very much expecting at this appointment given the amount of Braxton-Hicks contractions I've been having the last several days.  I am now two cm dilated, 80% effaced (the amount my cervix has thinned out), and I no longer have my mucus plug (meaning she can feel the bag of waters and baby's head!).  WHAT?!  That was actually more than I had been anticipating but I'll take it! She also ran her finger along the inside of my cervix which releases hormones that could potentially move things along.  Eeeek!  I'm so excited and freaked out and in disbelief all at the same time.  This is REALLY happening.  Possibly very soon I could be holding our son.  Oh. My. Gosh.

39 weeks!  This might be the last weekly picture!

Everything else I want to say seems so insignificant to this baby update, but I'll do my best.  My birthday on Friday was great.  Not the most exciting day of all time, but considering where I/we are at with the whole baby thing, it was just right.  We had our "unhealthy weekend breakfast" a day earlier and made homemade doughnuts using biscuits.  Not a bad way to start the day. 

Mmm homemade doughnuts!

I took Callie for a walk to the dog park and let her run around for a little bit and then I met Brian for lunch at a restaurant by his work that serves awesome gyros.  Here's a picture of my Bosnian gyro - it's the size of a dinner plate! I only ate half but should have eaten less because it was heartburn city afterward but kind of worth it =)

Delicious Bosnian gyro

We had planned to make grilled pizzas for dinner, but after a big lunch we weren't really hungry.  Instead we went to see The Odd Life of Timothy Green.  It was only okay and I would definitely recommend waiting until it comes out on DVD.  That being said, Jennifer Garner is still one of my all time favorite actresses.  We went out for ice cream after the movie and Brian pampered me with hand and foot massages at home.  He definitely did a good job of making me feel special, which is all a girl can ask for on her birthday.

I am also pleased to announce that since we decided to start locking up Callie again when we leave she has been perfect.  She has shown no signs of anxiety while we're gone which is a huge relief and comfort.  Unfortunately, I did find her at 1:30 on Sunday morning destroying one of my flip flops.  The odd thing is she has never gone after shoes.  She used to chew laces when she was really little but we were able to get her to stop pretty quickly.  First of all, I'm glad that it was just a cheap Old Navy flip-flop.  I think I forgot to mention in my last post that to deter Callie from chewing on the wood in the front entry area, I sprayed it with hairspray (something I read online, and pleased to say she hasn't attempted to chew on it since).  However, the reason for her actually chewing on my shoe is yet to be determined but I have a theory.  The only two times she was naughty in the middle of the night were both relatively recently, both were Saturday nights, and both times she hadn't had her typical amount of exercise on Friday OR Saturday.  I think it's her way of saying, "This is what happens when you don't take me swimming enough!"   She was exercised both Friday and Saturday but I think it was just less than what she's used to so her energy sort of built up.  For such a mellow dog, she can be pretty demanding!  I guess we just need to be more aware of making sure she gets enough a lot of exercise.  She might also be going through some weird growth/hormonal changes.  All I know is I took her to the dog park for over an hour last night and she slept on her bed all night last night.  Hopefully we can remedy this soon!

Reminding me that she is still just a puppy.  I mean look at that face!

Say cheese!  I have no idea how Brian got her to do this.

And last, but not least, an update on the church we are helping to plant here in Ankeny.  I mentioned several months ago that our current church in Ames is planting a church here in Ankeny.  This is something we are very excited about and very much looking forward to being a part of.  We had the "soft" opening yesterday which was basically just a test run to determine how long set up takes, work out any bugs in the equipment, etc.  The services are being held in the middle school auditorium here in Ankeny, which means all equipment and supplies need to be removed from storage, set up, torn down, and put back into storage for each service.  It's A LOT of work.  Brian is helping with set-up which he's enjoying.  I have signed up to help with hospitality, i.e. greeting, ushering, information, etc, but won't be able to help until sometime after baby is born since the actual services don't kick off until September 9th.  It is easy to see that God's fingerprints are all over this new church and we can't wait to see how God is going to use us.

Love,
-K