Busy, Busy, No Baby.

Class and Baby
Monday and Tuesday we had class. Tuesday we visited the midwife. Baby sounded normal and I measured just a little dilated. They stripped my membranes which can cause you to go into labor… nice thought, but no such luck. Wednesday night I had some good contractions Tuesday night and we thought that I might go into labor but the contractions stopped. I went for a run to try and get them going again, but Hailey is a little too free-spirited for that nonsense so I closed the evening by baking Bruce pies.

Projects

With a short week of school Bruce and I were able to get quite a few projects completed.

The baby hammock and stand with a sugar baby for the test run.

Baby Hammock
Bruce designed a hammock stand and we bought parts for it and built it. He sanded, stained, and varnished it while I made the fabric portion of the hammock. The stand is designed so it will break down and store neatly or transport. Hopefully Opal will love it because I do! I made the greenish-blue curtains and amended the brown ones so they would hang the same way.

Curtains

Months ago we bought material to make new curtains but I never actually got them sewn, so over the break I finally tackled the project and finished the living room curtains.

Table

Painting the table black is another project that we started, but put on hold. Bruce sanded and painted the orange half of the table, so it now matches its other half. We still have a few orange chairs to sit under our black table, but we’ll finish those up soon.

Apples

I dehydrated some apples from Scott and Lisa’s tree. They are delicious.

Diaper Bag

Lisa (mother-in-law) is making Hailey a quilt and had some quilting squares left over so she gave them to me. I’m working on a diaper bag. It’s close to finished, but not quite, so I’ll post pictures when it’s finished.

Research Participants

Bruce and his childhood friend Mark Jensen were my research participants over the break. Bruce was really ornery- he provided lots of suggestions about how I could make the study better, none of which were useful- but Mark behaved and their participation allowed me to get a little closer to finished.

Thanksgiving
On Thursday, Bruce played in a Turkey Bowl in his parents ward while I watched, then we went to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving dinner with Bruce’s extended family. Bruce and I both played in a Turkey Bowl with the family.

Football
On Friday night we went to the BYU football fireside. It was fun to see 200+ lb linebackers play the violin, and the whole team sing- unique talents for football players. (Not to be stereotypical….). The team puts on a fireside before every game, so the next time they play in your area you should attend. The fireside Friday was a good introduction for the big game on Saturday.

BYU played the University of Utah. BYU was ahead by 14 at the half, but Utah made a comeback and put the game into overtime. Utah scored 3 points in overtime, and then BYU made a touchdown to win the game. After the play the stadium erupted. Bruce grabbed my hand and we ran onto the field with thousands of other people. Bruce says that we can tell Opal that she got to storm the field. It was really cool! And because the crowd was so wild, traffic was light on the ride home, and we didn’t have to cruise past everyone on the left like we usually do after the game. (Don’t worry, we only do it on the side streets where traffic is stopped waiting to turn left. When we get on the busy streets we abide by the traffic laws).

BYU Football Field (We're somewhere near the goal post on the right)

Hopefully we’ll have a baby this week. I’ll post pictures when she gets here.

Vinyl
Kevin, Bruce's brother, was at BYU doing some recruiting for the accounting firm he works for last week, so we had him bring us some vinyl (His wife has a vinyl cutting machine). We put Haliey's name on the wall and embellished it with cute flowers. Thanks Kevin and Laurel! And with that addition, Hailey's room is finished.
Blankets
Some cold weather blew in for a few days and we only have single pane windows so it was hard to keep the apartment warm so I took some blankets from our collection and hung them in the windows. It seems to have worked pretty well- between the blanket, the blinds, and the curtains the window is at least better insulated. And the whole experience is a good reminder why we NEVER install single-pane windows.
Volleyball
Bruce had two volleyball games this week. The normal intramural season ended last week, so both games this week were tournament games. They won the first, which qualified them for the second. They also won the second, so after the Thanksgiving break he'll have another game. They have to win 4 games to win the championship. They aren't that good so we probably have another game or two before they are eliminated, but we'll see.
Squatters
Friday I went to Salt Lake for a meeting and then went shopping at an outlet store.I picked up a couple shirts for a great deal and enjoyed the outing. When I arrived home the office/Hailey's room was full of boys. Bruce's accounting group had come to work on an assignment. One of the guys informed me that my husband is a genius. (I already knew this of course) Bruce used the program while he was serving in the office on his mission and his familiarity allowed him to work much faster and help the others with they assignment. The group returned Saturday morning to resume the party and topped the ordeal with pizza. Not a bad trade-off.
Football, Battery, Dinner
We sent the team home around 1PM so we could make it to the BYU-Air Force game. BYU won. One of Bruce's mission companions drove from CO for the game and was going to join us for dinner. We had about an hour between the game and when Ryan would come over, so we studied for a half hour and then went to have the car battery checked (we've had some trouble getting the car to start-especially on cold mornings. It's not a big problem since we have the scooter, but it could make going to the hospital more memorable) and stop and the store. AutoZone tested the battery and confirmed that it needs to be replaced. The test took any juice the battery had and the car wouldn't start. We tried to push start it (Bruce has push started cars more so he drove while another guy -who offered to help- and I pushed, but we couldn't push fast enough so then Bruce tried to push and I tried to start it) but couldn't get it to start. The guy who helped us push pulled his car over and we jumped the battery. Because of the unstable nature of the battery, I sat in the car while Bruce ran into the store, and we made it back to our house just as Ryan Norris (the mission companion) arrived. We enjoyed a dinner and a short visit with Ryan and finished the evening with homework, TV, and sleeping on the couch (that's what I do while Bruce watched TV and does homework).
Research

With delivery just around the corner, I've been trying to get my research finished. I was able to finish the data collection for a few participants (half of the subjects are finished) and recruited a few more. I applied to present at the Undergraduate Research Conference which will be held in St. George in February.Rachel 38.5 weeks

Hailey
Hailey behaves most of the time and I don't even notice that I'm pregnant until I try to run (I can manage a slow trot but I look retarded and get sore, so for the last 2 weeks I've avoided it) or look down at the bulging belly. Bruce thinks she'll be born Monday, November 23 (He wants her to be born then so she can go to the last football game of the season- BYU vs UofU, on Saturday). I think she'll be born on Dec 8th (it's more convenient if she's a week overdue because then I only miss the last 2 days of class and have "reading days" to study). So depending on when she's born, we'll know who her favorite parent.

Baby Name

Opal's Crib

Congrats to Sarah on delivering this morning!

This last week was test week for Bruce which means he doesn’t have class but he takes a test on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It’s nice because his schedule is more flexible, but also means lots of tests for him. Overall he reports they went well. Scores won't be available for a few weeks.

Our week was generally uneventful.

Monday and Wednesday Bruce and I both had tests.

Tuesday we studied most of the day with a break for devotional. I had a midwife appointment. She said I'm getting fatter and everything looks normal. We went to Home Depot, maybe our favorite store, and bought the part to finish the crib (actually, we bought the metal piece that is used on the corner of drywall and pounded it into the crib). The piece works great and when it was assembled we put all the bedding on the crib. It is darling. Bruce bought a whiteboard last weekend and we cut the board to fit in the office. We also cut a board for the kitchen. I'm going to make the board in the kitchen cute with ribbon or something.

Wednesday night I used the dehydrator Bruce got for my birthday to dry some mangoes. They turned our good, but I should have taken them out an hour or two earlier so they would be a touch softer.

Thursday we studied most of the day again. Bruce had a volleyball game. He's playing on a co-ed team with people from the ward and enjoys it. I played with a 2 year-old little girl in the ward while her parents played volleyball and was reminded that toddlers are way cooler than babies. :)

Friday Bruce took a test, I went to class and worked on my research project. We went to the temple, had dinner, and went to JoAnn's Fabric store to spend my birthday money from Mom. I was going to get a rotary cutter and board but had a moment of indecision because I'm not sure if I'll use it enough to justify the purchase. But, I got some thread, pins, and a corner rounder for scrapbooking and when I make a decision I'll finish the spending.

Saturday I had a baby shower with Bruce's relatives and a few of my friends. Opal got some cute clothes and a few toys, and I really enjoyed the event. Bruce cleaned the whole apartment and the car, and exchanged my BYU sweatshirt at the bookstore while I was gone. He's wonderful. He watched the BYU game while I wrote Thank You notes. (Bruce would like me to note that BYU won 52-0 against Wyoming). That night we walked to the local park to watch the stars and burn old checkbooks. As you might guess, one of those activities was more fun than the other.

Hailey Elizabeth Sommerfeldt

We officially announced that we'll call the baby Hailey when she is born. Please continue to refer to her as Opal until then. Just kidding, call her whatever you want. I reckon she'll be stuck with Opal forever, even if she has another name. On that note, Bruce and I decided that we are ready for Hailey to be born. She's been cookin' for a while and we reckon she would probably like living with us, not just in me, and I've heard you have a lot of control over those sort of things.

Halloween Week

Our Pumpkins- Note the "Opal" Pumpkin that Bruce made for the fetus.

Rachel Carving her Pumpkin

Bruce and I have had a good week with some fun to break the monotony of school

Carved Pumpkins

Monday Bruce surprised me with a pumpkin carving FHE. We had a lot of fun and even carved "Opal" into one so she wouldn't feel left out.

Registration

I registered for classes early in the week and Bruce was able to register later in the week. Registration date is determined by the number of credit hours you have, so I was able to register first. I am registered for ceramics for non-majors, nutrition through the life cycles, abnormal psychology, a couple information systems classes, and public speaking. :) Bruce's registration was a little more eventful since he's taking real classes. He set an alarm for midnight the night he could register so he could choose his class time and his teachers. It's a good thing he sacrificed the sleep because by 12:15 the class was completely filled.

Birthday and PaintingBruce Painting the Ceiling in Opal's Room

On Friday we celebrated my 22nd birthday. Bruce got me an Under Armor BYU sweatshirt and a food dehydrator. Super excited to use both. We studied and I had class in the morning, then enjoyed lunch out, and painted Opal's room in the evening. I don't remember if I've explained landlord's opposition and the eventual consent on behalf of the baby, but the short version is, we were originally told we could not paint and then the management said we could if it was a neutral, approved color. We even got to choose the color. The room looks great- it's brown and even looks okay with the orange carpet, if that's possible.

Football, Study, Party, and Date

Saturday we finished painting. Bruce bought a white board from Home Depot, which is actually a piece of hardware intended for something else, but it's erasable like a white board. He'll install it in the office to enhance his studying. Mid-morning Bruce played football with some of the guys for high school. Bruce played QB for one of the games and made some incredible 50-yd passes for touchdowns. I didn't witness the throws because I left early to go to a baby shower for a sister in the ward, but he said they were pretty good plays. In the afternoon we pretended to study and fell asleep on the couch instead. Although, for a change, Bruce was more tired than I was, so I got to wake him up after he had slept for an hour. That night we stopped by the ward Halloween party, stayed about 10 min and then went to the store to get doughnuts and chocolate milk to have eat during a thrilling date watching Ronald Dahl's Witches on TV.

CribBruce Assembling Opal's crib

Today we brought Opal's crib to our apartment (we've been storing it at the Sommerfeldt's) and set it up... mostly. We stripped one of the screws so our final assembly is on hold until we can cut the screw off and buy a replacement. But, the room is so cute! We have bear bedding (bumpers, headboard, sheets, a pink and a blue quilt) and wall hanging which look great with the new paint! Thanks for the crib and accessories Mom! I'll post pictures when we get it the crib assembled.