In the Bag

{Can you guess which bag belongs to Grace and which bag belongs to Sophie?  Hahaha.}

Wednesday night Grace and Sophie had a "Recognition Night" for Activity Days, and the whole family was invited.  The theme was "In the Bag," and all the girls were supposed to bring a bag that represented them, and contained 1 item for each of the following Faith in God categories they've completed in the last several months: 1.) Learning and Living the Gospel, 2.) Serving Others, and 3.) Developing Talents.  They also each created a poster telling a little bit about themselves, including their testimonies, and they helped to make some bunting banners for decorations around the room.  It was great!

Oh Grace.

{The refreshments were so fun and delicious -- an assortment of different flavored popcorn.}

Grace was one of the first ones up to showcase her bag of items, and she was a character as usual.  Her items were shoelaces (to represent Developing Talents -- because she's a runner), a whisk (for Serving Others -- we've started a "Cookie Crusade" to bring cookies to families in the ward each Sunday), and a prayer rock (for Learning and Living the Gospel -- because as Grace said, "we learned about prayer at some point this year.").  As a side note, another "new talent" Grace has been developing lately is the ability to cry on demand.  I'm not sure why she thinks this is so cool, but she's been practicing REALLY hard.  Mostly it involves a lot of prying her eyelids open with her fingers until her eyeballs get so dry that tears are produced, but she's really proud of this.  Hahahaha.  And apparently, she's developed quite a fan club amongst the younger Activity Day girls who think she is so hilarious.  That's my girl!  Hahahaha.

Sophie went the demure route for Wednesday's performance, and sweetly showed everyone all her objects.  For Learning and Living the Gospel, she brought an apple (representing eating healthy foods, from the Word of Wisdom); for Developing Talents, she brought her ballet slipper (because as she said, "I'm really good at ballet"); and for Serving Others, she brought an envelope (representing a thank you card she wrote for Teacher Appreciation week for one of the activities in the Spring).

It was really cute to see all the girls get up and showcase what they've learned this year.  Once they were done, the Activity Days leader spoke for a few minutes, and then the Young Women came in to talk a little bit about the Young Women's program, and what they have to look forward to when they turn 12.  The evening was finished off with popcorn and socializing, and we were able to head home before it got TOO late to get all the kids in bed.

So that was Wednesday night!  Last night was a little bit crazier, as I started having some pretty regular contractions around 10 o'clock.  They petered out around midnight, but I gave my doctor a call just in case, and she told me to come in to the hospital to be checked out if I felt like they were becoming more frequent or intense.  They never did, and I drifted off to sleep and managed to get a couple hours under my belt before waking up to use the bathroom and then experiencing the same thing all over again around 2.  This time they only lasted for about an hour, but never got stronger or more frequent, and once they stopped I fell back asleep because I was so tired.  This morning I woke up feeling great and like I imagined the whole thing last night!  Hahaha.  I gave the doctor's office a call and went in this morning to be checked out, just in case, and was thankful that the doctor was aligned to my mode of thinking, which is essentially to not be worried.  I'll be 34 weeks on Sunday, and she said that they wouldn't do anything to stop me if I started real labor from that point on.  She also said there was no need for bedrest -- apparently studies of late show that it doesn't really do much anyway -- but that I should definitely lay low and take it easy this weekend, even though she's not overly concerned that I'm in imminent danger of having this baby right now.  I'm not overly concerned either, so I was happy to see she agreed.  Obviously, if regular contractions start up again at any point and actually progress and become MORE intense and painful over time, I should call the doctor/head to the hospital, but other than that she said to stay hydrated and make sure I'm listening to my body.  That I can do!  So yeah -- that's how our week has gone.  Have a happy weekend!   I for one am super excited to attend the Women's General Broadcast with my girlie bugs tomorrow night.  :)