June 3, 2012 Update

McKayla is on the brink of crawling. Early last week she started pulling on the carpet to belly-scoot to reach toys. Today she was up on her knees and stood on her feet while her arms were in crawling position. I didn't have the heart to tell her that walking on your feet is pretty much pointless until you can balance without both hands on the ground, but she'll figure it out when she's being chased by something really big or scary. Maybe by end next week she'll have crawling mastered.

She sits with moderate proficiency- meaning she still falls over when she tries to do something else at the same time, but if she's only concentrating on sitting she's got it. 

McKayla has also discovered the joy of eating- though the size of her thighs might make you think she discovered that joy long ago. She eats a few bites of vegetables before she decides she should wait to see if something better is brought out. I'm a sucker, so I usually do bring out some fruit and she gobbles that up. Hailey like to help feed her and can always make McKayla laugh when she is in her highchair. They are good friends.

When Hailey is not helping with McKayla she loves to ride her trike, play with Sparky, the dog, tote her doll around, and act like an adult. It's pretty cute when she says, "I don't like tomatoes" at the dinner table, or when she says, "O, shoot." One night we were putting her to bed when she said, "Close the door all the way so a bad guy won't come in and say 'hi'." -Cause when a bad guy goes in her room, I'm sure he'll be saying "hi."

I am working for Utah State University and the Central Utah Water Conservancy District scheduling free evaluations for residents' sprinkler systems. My job primarily consists of phone calls to schedule and confirm, but I occasionally do water checks and have a few other work tasks. One day Hailey was playing with Bruce's phone and said, "Hi, I'm with the water checks," which is similar to what I say when I call people to schedule a water check for them. Pretty cute.

When I'm not doing water check stuff, I'm taking care of the kids or making stuff to sell at the Farmers Market. We currently sell aprons and missionary plaques, but plan to broaden our sales to other kitchen related items- a recipe stand- and whatever other ideas we come up with and can produce by Saturday. Ideas welcome.

Bruce makes the missionary plaques, has been refinishing a dresser for the girls, studying about 30 hours a week for the certified public account (CPA) test, and doing sprinkler repair. It's nice to have him around, though for both being at home we don't always see much of each other. We often will switch-off who is watching the kids while the other one works/studies. The setup has worked well thus far, particularly since Lisa is often around to help with the kids.

Hailey has loved living with Grandma and Grandpa Sommerfeldt. The first thing she asks every morning is, "Where's Grandma." She eats the same breakfast as Grandma, cottage cheese, yogurt, fruit, and cereal, and often insists that Grandma make it.

Hailey love to read and have one-on-one attention. She's very independent which occasionally gets her into trouble, but generally works out well for all of us. She tests her limits, which makes me tired, and Bruce is better at reasoning with her, but overall parenting her is an enjoyable experience.