Life

There's so much to report...

I'll highlight a few of the major points and anything that needs explanation because there is a photo.

Graduation
Last week I graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelors in Exercise Science. I didn't walk or attend any other graduation rituals so it's just as though summer vacation is here, not the end of my educational career for a few years.


Hailey

Hailey standing. 4 months old. She's improved a lot since then and doesn't need to be held "Simba- style" anymore.

Hailey's growing quickly. She's almost 5 months old and can almost crawl. She gets on her hands and knees and pushes herself backward very well, and with some effort can lunge forward to get closer to her toy. The whole ordeal is pretty cute.

She also pulls to standing while holding on to your fingers, and if getting much more stable standing alone.

She's discovered her feet, but not her toes since she almost always wears socks.

She's been eating solids for a month and a half- we were too excited to wait all the way to the recommended 4 month mark and the early introduction of food can cause food allergies later in life, so if she's allergic to rice or bananas we take full blame :) She eats rice cereal, mashed bananas, applesauce, green beans, graham crackers, and whatever other bread Mom and Dad share with her. She can hold graham crackers by herself and with some success can feed herself them. She loves to help with spoon feeding which is sometimes cute and sometimes just a giant mess.

Hailey's become quite the giggly girl. Sometimes without warning or reason she will giggle at the slightest touch. For example, one night we were at the BYU Creamery and I spotted a diaper blowout. I hauled her to to bathroom to clean her up and as I pull her clothes off her head, the end of her onesie brushed her stomach. She started giggling and laughed and laughed the whole time I put her new outfit on. It's so cute!

She recognizes Bruce and I and grins when she sees us, but then again, who doesn't?

Hailey in the Bathtub

Hailey also loves her bath. She's going to be an Olympic swimmer- you can tell because she's such a good kicker. See video at bottom of page.

Dresses

Maire and Hailey in the dress Marie made for her

My old roommate Marie made Hailey a dress. She inspired me to make a dress for Hailey too. All I manages was a jumper, but I'm working on a dress.... we'll see how it goes.

Bruce
Bruce finished the Junior year of accounting program and will hear if her was accepted into the masters program mid June. He has interviewed with 3 of the major accounting firms- PWC, E&Y, and KPMG for a Summer Leadership program which would allow him to visit the accounting firm in the city where he would like to work. He has an offer from E&Y but none of the other firms, so sometime this summer he will fly to Huston, TX to get to know some of the people at the Houston office. It's supposed to be a good opportunity to get to know some people in the office, get an idea of the atmosphere, and help you decide if you would like to work there. This summer leadership will not lead to a job or internship offer, but does help with the networking. In October Bruce will begin applying for internships which (assuming all goes will during the internship) should lead to a job offer, so any chance he has to confirm compatibility in a particular office can help the internship decision.

He's working with the family lawn care business now. They mow about 25 lawns and we hope to increase the number of lawns to about 30 or 35 this year.

March 2010

Work
Bruce and I installed a sprinkler system in Layton, UT Monday and Tuesday of this week. We stayed with Aunt Mary and Uncle Kelly and were able to say "hi" to some of the other family in the area when we stopped by Grandma Waite's house. It was a long two days, but the job was profitable and it was fun to work together on the system. Hailey was really well behaved. She slept well in the Pack 'n' Play (borrowed from Scott and Lisa) and was fairly content playing in the walker (borrowed from a friend in the ward), or scooting around on her blanket or the dirt when she could make it off the blanket.We hope to get a few more sprinkler jobs this summer to supplement the income since I'm not currently working.
I do some weeding for lawn customers. It's not consistent, but it's flexible and it allows me to take Hailey, interrupt my work to attend to her needs, and earn a little money.

Party Pak
Party Pak Rentals in going well. We have all the machines and supplies and have rented the cotton candy machine once. We will be using it at a ward social next weekend and will be renting it to someone else the next day. Hopefully we'll continue to have a few rentals a month and be able to pay of the equipment this year. It's been a fun investment thus far and we have enjoyed the personal access to shaved ice and popcorn. :) Check out the website that Bruce designed (use Mozilla, not Internet Explorer): www.partypakrentals.com

Investing
Bruce has taken an interest in the stock market, so we've invested a little money in the market. Bruce always informs me when we are making or loosing money and even though I always say "Let's go shopping" when we are making money, I have yet to go :)


Play
Work doesn't take all day, so we've had some fun playing.

For one particularly good date we built boats and sailed them. I placed a few items on the table including potatoes, celery, and knifes and told Bruce that he could add 3 additional items. He chose packing tape, grocery bags, and C hooks. I proceeded to build a potato boat with a celery mast and a packing tape leash. Meanwhile, Bruce crafted a watertight boat with a giant sail from a box (was already on the table, but not intentionally placed there), waterproofed with packing tape, weighed down with a potato in the center, and with a celery mast, cardboard supports, and a grocery bag sail. My boat sank immediately, while Bruce's sailed across the duck pond.

Rachel and Bruce with their respective boats

The boats

Bruce's boat voyage across the duck pond

Another day, for an afternoon activity I made a scavenger hunt and Bruce had to use the clues to find some cookies. He had to drive around Provo and didn't know what the prize was but was a good sport.

As a graduation present Bruce got me a basketball and a net to hang on the hoop in our parking lot. We've played a few times and have confirmed that I really am terrible, but I have the whole summer to improve and I'm excited to get a little better. One day when we were shooting hoops the little neighbor boy came out (he's almost 2 yr old) and played with us, a few days later when he saw Bruce walking to our apartment he said, "Baketball." It was cute.

Hailey Bath Hailey Crawl.... kind of