Baby Shower!

My older sister threw a baby shower for me on March 7. She went all out with darling invitations and fabulous food. My mother and little sister also helped out. I'm grateful to have family in town that gives me so much love and support.
All afternoon, friends and family came and also gave their love and support. I was very touched by all those who made the effort to come. I felt very blessed. It will be difficult for me to move away from so many people I love!
In addition to the great company, I also received many gifts. I left the baby shower feeling prepared for our new arrival. I got nearly everything on my list that I needed for the baby and me. Thanks everyone!

As a side note, I also have received many thoughtful gifts from friends and lap swimmers at my work since the baby shower. I would also like to thank them for their thoughtfulness. You are all fabulous!

Gravity? Who Needs it?

For all those women out there that find themselves large with child, take a swim! It's the way to go. I am 38 weeks pregnant now and still swimming! Why you ask? Well, besides being a little crazy, I enjoy being...well, lighter! My belly is this flotation devise that makes me feel like The Unsinkable Molly Brown. However, I'd be no good at diving for pennies off the bottom of the pool! But, swimming has allowed me to still get my workout in while allowing me an hour free from my uncomfortable largeness.
Here are pictures of me taking a swim at the SUU pool. I am a lifeguard at the pool and jump in for a swim on my breaks. Look at this fabulous picture of me still doing flip-turns. It's okay, you can laugh out loud, I do. However, I think I'm the only pregnant lady that still even attempts them!

Mr. Stud takes 7th Place in Triathlon!

Southern Utah University hosted an indoor triathlon on March 7th. Aaron trained for only 3 weeks prior to the competition! His training was pretty hit-and-miss due to his demanding school and work schedule. On March 7th, Aaron began the triathlon with a 3 mile run in 20 minutes, a 10 mile bike in 27 minutes, and a third mile swim in 5 minutes. Including his transition times (changing from his workout clothes/shoes into his swim wear), Aaron finished his first triathlon in 54 minutes! That was good enough to give him a 7th place finish! We are all so proud of Aaron! Great Job! What a Hunk ;)

AARON IS ACCEPTED TO MIDWESTERN MEDICAL SCHOOL!!!

We just found out that Aaron has been accepted to Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona! He will be part of the class of 2013. This is Aaron's second acceptance but we are MUCH, MUCH more excited to accept this school. CONGRATS Aaron!

Christmas PJ's

As you all know, Aaron and I celebrated Christmas in California with Aaron's family. For both of our families, it is a tradition to open pajamas on Christmas Eve. Aaron's mom, or Mrs. Clause, does matching pj's which makes for fabulous pictures. I just received these pictures from Aaron's older sister yesterday--thanks Sara!
Aren't we all lovely?

28 Weeks!

I've had requests from many people that wish to see my ever expanding belly. Why? I don't know. Perhaps it is cute if it isn't yours! No, this part of pregnancy has definitely been the easiest. I'll take gettin' fat over that nausea nonsense. In my final trimester I finally have energy enough to get a good work-out again! I swim and/0r run everyday. This picture isn't the best, hopefully I'll be able to post a few better ones in the weeks to come!

California Greetings

GREETINGS from the warm and snow-less state of California! After Christmas, Aaron and I spent an entire week under the sun with his Mom, siblings (Sara, Katie, Rachel, and Trent), Katie's boy (Josh), his aunt and uncle (Tom and Cindy), and his uncle with two of his children (Rick, Mary, and Danny). We spent two days on the beach in San Diego, one day in Disneyland, and two days in Oceanside relaxing, eating, and whale watching. If you were counting, the other two days of our week vacation were spent traveling! The first day on the beach was spent at a park in San Diego. We caught some beautiful views of the ocean and some lazy sea lions and played "500" with a Frisbee. This was entertaining because two of the players were pregnant (Sara and myself). After letting everyone know that we would not be accepting cheap shots to the belly, Sara and I held our own and both won one game. The weather that day was beautiful, we couldn't even wear a light jacket because it was so warm. In the evening we opened gifts from "Mrs. Clause." The gifts were matching pj's for everyone! We took pictures 'cuz we all looked so darn cute, but I'll try to post those pictures later.
The morning of the second day was "Christmas" for the Dahlin family. We opened gifts in the morning and spent the afternoon at the beach playing in the water and on the sand. Many of us also watched surfers practice on an artificial wave and ate chocolate-covered frozen bananas! Mmmmmm! On the beach Aaron found seaweed that looked alien-like. In this picture he is dancing with seaweed.
Day three was spent in Disneyland. See the post below for that day.
Day four was spent in recovery move. All of us were so tired from a LONG day at Disneyland that we just sleep, ate, and watched movies all day.
On day five we called the front desk to find out were the harbor was, and the lady's reply was "look out your window." Oops! Sure enough, 100 yards from our window was the harbor. We decided to go on a three hour whale watching excursion that afternoon. Even though we did not see one single whale, we found two different breeds of dolphins in large "schools." Since I don't remember the bred names we will just call them, "small dolphins" and "large, grayish white dolphins." Here is a picture of the larger dolphins. We had a blast out on the ocean. It was a beautiful and relaxing ride.
All-in-all it was a fabulous week in California! I enjoyed spending time with Aaron's family and getting to know them a little better. Thanks everyone for the Christmas gifts and thanks to Pat for taking us on this trip! It was wonderful.

Happy New Year From Disneyland!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope everyone had a blast to kick off the new year. However, I doubt anyone had as much fun as Aaron and I! We spent New Year's Day in Disneyland! Aaron's Mom treated us, along with all of her children, to a week in California. We had a fun filled week, which I will cover in another post. In this post I'll tell you all about Disneyland. We woke up at 5a.m., left our rooms at 6a.m. to drive from San Diego, arrived at the park at 8a.m., and played hard ALL DAY LONG!!! We left the park at about 10:30pm after about 14 hours of being on our feet! I know that doesn't seem like much, but try being 6 months pregnant, it is a little more difficult! I couldn't ride any of the rollar coasters, so I made Aaron ride Space Mountain and Indian Jones while I waited. Luckily most of the rides in Disneyland are for kids so I was able to fill my day with rides like Pirates of the Carribean, Nemo's Submarine ride, and the Haunted Mansion. I did, however, ride two rides that pregnant woman are cautioned not to ride. I dared Star Tours and the Thunder Mountain rollar coaster. Star Tours was very mild, but Thunder Mountain was the rockiest rollar coaster I'd ever been on! Oops! All is well though, and it was a fun adventure. The day's events also included a Fantasmic water/light show and fireworks to celebrate the New Year. Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Santa Clause were also there. Aaron and I waited in line to catch a picture with them! There were also several parades but we thought that this would be a good time to eat and catch the short lines while everyone else enjoyed the parades! It was fun to be able to spent time with Aaron's family. We all went to Star Tours and the wild ride Autotopia together. This is a picture Aaron took of the rest of us waiting in line at Star Tours. My favorite part of the day was just being able to spent time with Aaron and enjoying a beautiful day in California (while it was snowing back home). Aaron and I were surprised at the "magic" of Disneyland. The staff and the atmosphere were wonderful. Thanks Pat for the tickets! We had a great time!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving! Aaron and I had THREE Thanksgivings in two days this year. It was great. How could you ever get sick of stuffing and turkey? We loved also seeing our families. This is my favorite time of year because of all the family gatherings. Aaron and I are definitely blessed.


This last Saturday my dad, Aaron, Boa (our dog), and I went hiking. We had a great time and the weather was beautiful. We forgot how lucky we are in Southern Utah to see breathtaking views by just stepping out our door. It was also just great to get out, work off some of that turkey in our bellies, and have a fun family adventure. I was glad that my 5 month, bulging belly didn't slow me down! Plus, Boa loves walks. This was her first time in the mountains, she'll probably never be satisfied with just a trip around the block again! Thanks Dad for taking us!


Next, we went to the movie "Bolt" with the Croft family cousins and finished off with a pizza dinner at my grandparents. It was a fabulous weekend. Monday came too quick, but we are looking forward to seeing and spending more time with family this Christmas.

It's a Girl!

Today was my week 18 ultrasound. Aaron was unable to come to the doctor's office with me on this special occasion but the radiologist sent my mother and I home with a CD full of cute pictures and movies of our baby. The baby was full of life and was moving in every position. It was probably just posing for the camera! The heart rate was 138 beats per minute and the measurements of the baby proved that I am indeed due on the 18th of April. As you can see from these two pictures, we also have a little thumb sucker! We were hoping that the baby wouldn't be shy this time (this was our third ultrasound in 3 weeks) so that we could determine the gender. Luckily, with all the movement the baby was making it was easy to determine that it had "no boy parts." Thus, we are pretty sure I'm having a little girl!