Week 28!

Well for some reason I decided that it is easier to see my belly in a shirt that gets tight at the bottom, so here is another picture so you can see how much baby girl is growing! :)

She has been so fun this week (and last week). We can see her move around and kick from the outside instead of just being able to feel it. She has been very entertaining. Love this girl!

Family Videos

I know sometimes we focus on how the media is often pulling families apart, so I love to see stories about families coming closer together because of the media. Family videos used to be taken and then occasionally watched by members of the family in the privacy of their own home. Now, many of these videos are posted online for everyone to see! I can think of a few off the top of me head (Charlie Bit my Finger, the four babies laughing as their dad makes a silly noise, and the husband who videos his wife trying to figure out how long it would take them to travel a certain distance). These are often positive videos but can cause damage. I recently saw a video of a mother and son dancing to Gangnam Style (and yes I know I posted about this song just a bit ago. What can I say? I really love this song). Anyway, their video was so awesome and funny that they were invited to the Ellen show. I love seeing how doing this video has brought this mother and son together. I hope the media can keep bringing families together!

Halloween Media

Sometimes I love how the media can apply to areas I never would have thought of before. Who knew that the Korean artist Psy's song Gangnam Style would now be a big part of Halloween? I just love this video and how awesome it is. People are so creative and I love that they can use the media to show off their talents! I love the Christmas light shows too, especially if they are set to Mannheim Steamroller :)

Are Weight Inspiration Boards Really Inspiring?

I see them all over pinterest: boards dedicated to pictures of skinny women who have zero percent body fat and are working out. There are also links to 'diet secrets' and other skinny inspirations. I remember reading about thin-spiration that girls with anorexia had. These were picture of way too skinny girls to inspire and remind the anorexic girls to not eat. Is this really healthy? I mean, I know the thin-spiration for the anorexic girls is crossing the line, but is posting and looking at pictures of thin and skinny women in general good for us? In my opinion, instead of motivating us, then just make us feel bad about ourselves. Most of the girls are unhealthily thin, and when we compare ourselves to pictures of these girls it just brings down our own self-esteem. I'm all for being healthy, but I think posting and focusing on these pictures is not healthy for our own self worth. I am worried about the self esteem of all of the women who post these pictures. I know it is good to have a goal for ourselves but I think that if we focus on it too much then it causes more damage than good.

How videos affect everyday life

If any of you have watched the news lately you have probably seen this video of a girls soccer game. In the game, a girl in the head who had fallen after twisting her ankle is kneed in the head by a player on the opposing team. There has been a LOT of discussion about this incident. Many news stations wondered if violence like this is something that has happened for years and years, or if we notice such incidents more now because of videos/cameras/cellphones. It is interesting to see videos that are similar, such as the recent one of the coach who supposedly shoved a member of the other team down. The football player suffered a concussion and there was a group of people who met to decide what actions should be taken against the coach (from what I understand another angle showed that he acted more to protect himself and so no disciplinary actions were taken). For those of you who remember before cell phones were this prevalent, do you remember there being similar incidents that no one knew about because they weren't filmed? Do you think athletes are more violent or competitive today or do we just have more evidence of it because of videos?

Week 26

We are in week 26 :) Baby is almost two pounds now and she is still super wiggly. She can now hear a lot more from outside and so the other night Marc read a story to her and she kicked and moved around while he was talking but stopped when he did. She is so awesome! Also I think the cucumber sizing guide is a little strange but I guess I'll go by it. Life is great for out little family right now :) Oh and a special thank you to my Uncle Mike and Aunt Carolyn who brought up our crib and our couch and space heater. Thanks! You are awesome and we are so grateful!

Missrepresentation

After watching the film Missrepresentation in class, I feel like my eyes have been opened to a lot of new information. I've never been much of a feminist, figuring that men and women deserve the same treatment but also that we were not made exactly the same. There is nothing wrong with the fact that there are differences and I don't think we should be the same always. However, after watching this video I feel like there are a lot more issues in our society that should be addressed. Maybe we shouldn't expect men and women to be exactly the same, but I couldn't believe how few politicians are women in our country, especially when compared to other nations. I think the documentary said that our country places 90th on the amount of women politicians. I think I am most concerned about how young girls dream about the future. I don't really care all that much that there are more men than women politicians and leaders in our country, but I do care that this can cause fewer young girls to aspire to have a position of power when they grow up. This film was especially moving for me because I am currently pregnant with a girl and I am so worried about her growing up in a world that so sexualizes and objectifies women. I am tremendously worried about how to help her body image and how to help her to dream big and not be afraid to be herself. I hope that the media can begin to change the way they portray women and girls so that girls' opinions of themselves can become better.

I do recommend this movie to anyone who wants to watch it, but I would not advise it for children because it does contain images of women being sexualized.

Week 25

Week 25! I am feeling really good but I did have a small kidney stone this past weekend. Honestly though I had hardly any pain so I guess I am lucky.

Books I Love

I have always loved reading books. It actually got me into trouble as a kid because my mom thought I would read to get out of housework, which wasn't really true. Every time I found a new book series I would disappear in my bedroom for a while and absorb the books as quickly as I possibly could. For our class assignment I had to decide which were my two favorite books. I spent quite a bit of time trying to decide and finally just picked two that I liked because I knew I could never truly narrow it down to just two books. So here are two of my favorite books. I recommend them to everyone!

As a child, one of my favorite books was Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. This book is about a late night adventure taken by a girl and her father. They go deep into the forest “owling” which is looking for owls. This is a children’s book and contains very little dialogue, but lots of descriptions of the forest and the night and how the young girl feels to have this special night with her father. Another special not about the book is that it won the Caldecott Medal.

One of my current favorite books is The Alliance by Gerald N. Lund. While it is by an LDS author, it is not an LDS novel necessarily. This book takes place after the end of the world in a small town in Wyoming that survived. They pretty much go back to living the way people lived a century ago until they are brought into The Alliance which is a new government. There is no crime in this new country because they surgically implant a device that causes you pain whenever you think, say, or do anything rude, negative, or hurtful. It goes through the efforts of the main character, Eric, to figure out a way to go back to the life he had before.

Week 24

Sorry I skipped a week! School is keeping me busy and time just got away from me. I am now 24 weeks along and things are going really great. Baby girl is kicking up a storm and I'm starting to be able to tell her sleep schedule. We have gotten a few cute clothes and other gifts from friends and family and we are loving having these reminders that she is really coming! We also just bought a changing table/dresser for her room. We are so excited!

MP#7: Test Studying

It is crazy to see how studying for tests has changed even from my freshman year at BYU. For many of my classes, it is expected that a google doc for the whole class will be emailed and everyone (although I usually suspect it is only a handful of students) answers the study guide questions. Instead of having to do all of this alone or in a small group and taking several hours (possibly) to answer them, they are now updated and answered almost instantly! For me this has been a lifesaver on a few occasions, but I also tend to find myself dissatisfied with them. Some of the questions are not answered as well as I would. Some answers appear to be incorrect. Also, I know that by actually filling out the study guide I learn a lot more than by just reading what other people have said. What do you think? Are these google docs helpful for studying or not?