Best Birthday Present Ever

She is here! I share a birthday with our new daughter, Rachel Faye!

Here are the stats:

Born Tuesday, June 17

9 lbs 2 oz

22 inches long

We arrived at the hospital at midnight (early Tuesday morning) and she was born at 8:59am.

Here are some pics - the birthday girls (worn out after our big party), sleeping, first bath, and proud dad!

The baby obviously didn't get my (Brandon's) punctualilty

It would be a significant understatement to say that I love to be on time. I was always the kid in high school that showed up to the stag dance, not merely on time, but 15 minutes early. It turns out that this is not cool to do. Fortunately I eventually found friends who were able to hold me down long enough to be "fashionably late." However, years later I continue to be punctual for nearly everything I do, even if I look stupid doing so. One might say that this has become a source of pride for me.

I am sad to report that my wonderful daughter does not appear to have inherited this wonderful quality from her father. Tomorrow is her due date and there is no sign that she will be joining us anytime soon. She is perfectly content to sit back and wait a little longer.

For the last several days, I've been trying to figure out when she is going to come. Although I would really like her to come right now, I think I have finally realized why she is choosing to be late. Assuming she is rational, she understands that the longer she waits the more badly we will want her to come and the more excited we will be when she finally does come. Thus, by waiting a few extra days, she is able to increase her utility. However, as she waits, the marginal returns from doing so will slowly decrease as we become more annoyed. Eventually the marginal returns will become negative because not only will everyone be ticked off that she is so late, but all of the clothes she has waiting will no longer fit. Thus, economics would lead me to predict that she will enter the world precisely at the moment the marginal benefit from waiting inside the womb another day equals the marginal cost of doing so. (See Figure 1 below). I'm not sure exactly when this is, but I'm guessing it will be a few more days. I will keep you all updated.

Girl's Night Out

Last night I got together with four of my BYU roommates for dinner & a movie. We don't get together all that often, but it's always a blast when we do! (Kasey, thanks for planning the get together & Shannon, we missed you!) Six of us in total lived together sophomore & junior year while at BYU. Then, you know the drill...we all started getting married one by one - we all got married within one and a half years of each other. They were the best roomies a girl could ask for and we have such good memories together. All five of my roommates are from Mesa, AZ and 3 out of 5 now have homes here in Arizona. So fun!

Pictured: Natalie, me, Kasey, Sarah, Suzi
(Suzi & I have due dates only one week apart and Kasey is looking hardly pregnant at 28 wks)

Pregnancy update: MY DUE DATE IS THIS FRIDAY THE 13TH!! Hopefully the next post will be baby news?!

Tagged

Confession - usually I won't respond if you "tag" me (sorry!), but I've been meaning to post something that is not entirely focused on my tummy, so thanks for the opportunity, Lauren.

How long have you been together? 3rd Anniversary this July

How long did you date? Can I count the engagement? Almost 9 months, which includes a 4 month engagement...yeah, we're one of those couples

How old are you? almost 25 - 13 more days

Who eats more? You take a wild guess - I'll give you a hint...I am 9 months pregnant - it's me, for sure! And even if I wasn't pregnant, I'd still win.

Who said I love you first? Brandon

Who is taller? Brandon, and I can wear any pair of high heels I want and he's still taller. This was not the case before his mission - I think he grew at least 3 inches while he was gone! I did not recognize him at all.

Who is smarter? Definitely, Brandon. But I like to think that I'd be as smart as him if I were done with my 2nd year of law school. :)

Who does the laundry? 75% of the time - me, 25% of the time - Brandon

Who does the dishes? Depends how good my meal is...if it's real good, he's definitely on dish duty! It's a shared chore.

Who pays the bills? Definitely me.

Who mows the lawn? In the future, Brandon will. That is, if we have grass. There are a lot of front yards made of rocks here in Phoenix.

Who cooks? Me, but not even close to every night. p.s. Brandon's specialty is Mormon Enchiladas.

Who drives when you are together? I prefer to drive us around town, especially since traffic doesn't frustrate me like it frustrates Brandon. On road trips, Brandon is the official driver - I can't last more than an hour.

Who is more stubborn? Brandon. (I love you, sweetheart.)

Who has more siblings? I do - I have 3 younger brothers; Brandon has 1 brother and 1 sister

Who wears the pants in the family? It depends on the topic. What do you think? If you are brave enough, feel free to leave a comment. :)

Don't feel obligated, but I tag my sister-in-law, Cindy, and Lindi (Lindi, I need your password to your blog - email me - whitneyhale@gmail.com).

Quick weather report - I watched the forecast and the next 7 days are all over 100 degrees. Brandon is loving life!

107

The significance of 107 is that it was 107 degrees my first day in Phoenix! Brandon was loving the heat. I can honestly say that it hasn't been all that bad.

The good news is that we both arrived safely (Brandon by car and I flew) and we are both excited about our summer here. Our place is great - it's a very large one bedroom apartment and the complex is beautiful. Hey family, here are more pregnant pictures of me on our balcony, 36 weeks. I also met my new doctor this week and he was great - whew!

The sun found Chicago!

Whitney, future mom!
Brandon, future attorney :)
(Sorry that Brandon's head is cut off - we opted for the camera timer rather than asking a stranger to take a picture of us - Brandon used weeds to prop up the camera...guess he didn't use enough weeds...he he he)

EFY Sheet Music?

I am searching for some sheet music for two songs. They come from the 2002 EFY CD: We Believe. I'm looking for "I Need Thee Every Hour" and/or "Stand in Holy Places" and I can't find it anywhere on the Internet - not even to buy at full price. Does anyone have a copy or know someone that has all the EFY sheet music?

Also, as a sidenote, I've been meaning to post my new found delicious treat...you may remember this from when you were a kid - Bubble Gum ice cream. YUM!