a thanksgiving dinner (kind of)

last night dave and i were out and about and decided to pick up dinner on the way home. we went to arctic circle...with sweet potato fries and pumpkin pie milkshakes, it was almost like thanksgiving dinner. it made me excited for thanksgiving. the pumpkin pie shake was delicious, the sweet potato fries not so much...

gender stereotyping

my sister rachel told me her husband had started reading "the female brain" and i found this interesting because dave read this (or parts of this) book when i was pregnant. i read a few chapters as well and found it interesting but also found it interesting that when she reinforced each stereotype she did not note exceptions to that stereotype.

i have thought about gender role stereotyping a lot the last few days. i am definitely setting audrey up to be a girly girl. everything she owns is pink (with a few yellow and purple exceptions) and we even call her "princess" as a nickname. i don't know that she will like pink when she is older or if she will be a little princess or if she will be a tomboy, but for now she is immersed in all things girl.

in "the female brain" the author, Louann Brizendine starts the book off by telling the story of a patient who gave her little girl a toy truck instead of a doll. one day she walked in on her daughter rocking the truck and saying, "don't worry, little truckie, everything will be all right."

I found this story fascinating. Though this isn't hard proof that the girl's brain was wired for nurturing as she could have been shaped by other influences, it supports the author's idea that "there is no unisex brain."

I think about my childhood. i remember dressing up in my mom's slips with my sister and walking up and down the sidewalk humming the tune to "here comes the bride" and hours and hours of playing barbies. i also remember dancing around the room to showtunes like "annie" and "west side story" endless times. i liked cabbage patch dolls and my sister collected porcelain dolls.

my older brother was sandwiched between two older sisters and two younger sisters and flexed his muscles in every picture taken of him for the better part of a decade. his favorite movies were the rocky and rambo movies and he played with GI Joes and transformers. these are the movies and toys he liked despite having sisters singing showtunes and playing with dolls constantly. though this is how my brother was, there are boys out there that play with dolls because they look up to there big sisters and think that is cool. i don't think it is "against their nature" to be nurturing too. it is pretty fun to see how gentle and loving my little nephew is with baby audrey, he sings to her and cuddles up with a blanket while he "reads" to her, this is the same nephew that loves to crash his cars off his toy chest...

it was interesting to read the about the differences in the male and female brain. i just wish that she would have recognized that there are exceptions to each stereotype. she did say that child development was both nurture and nature but each of her examples were based only on gender stereotypes.

it was interesting, just not interesting enough for me to finish. it just seemed to be written from too narrow a point of view for me.

ten years ago

I was tagged by Brooke. Here's how it works:

Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you’ve answered the questions on your blog.

i have done this tag before, but since it has been over a year, here goes:

10 years ago I was:
1. 19 years old
2. Working at TomTom CDs
3. Taking classes at SLCC
4. Driving my first honda civic
5. reconnecting with high school friends

5 things on today’s to do list:
1. Pick up Audrey's pictures
2. Lunch with Rachel and JJ
3. Go to Target
4. Make dinner
5. Meet with realtor

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. granola bars
2. apples with caramel dip
3. string cheese
4. dreyers fruit bars
5. dried mango

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Pay off house
2. Start a trust fund for Audrey
3. Go on vacation with Dave
4. Go back to school
5. Buy Dave a black prius

5 places I have lived:
1. Draper, Utah
2. Buena Vista, VA
3. Seattle, WA
4. Oceanside, CA
5. Fairfax, VA

5 jobs I have had:
1. snelgroves ice cream
2. raging waters
3. tomtom cd exchange
4. media research center
5. fidelity investments

The rules say I have to tag 5 people. Michaela, Mariah, Janette, Christy, Jessica... YOU'RE IT!

eleven weeks ago...

not only was a baby born, but a mother also.

"miracle" blanket

so dave ordered this miracle blanket (that is the actual name of the blanket) last week and it arrived yesterday. it is almost like a baby straitjacket, it has extra fabric to secure the arms against the body before you swaddle them up. though she doesn't like being swaddled much anymore, she stayed asleep ALL NIGHT! yes, all night. i couldn't believe it. she didn't wake up even one time throughout the night. i thought a six hour stretch was great but this...wow. she slept from 8:30pm until 5:00am. this is a miracle blanket, indeed.

so sad

here is a picture of audrey on her tummy. oh, she hates this. and bathtime. she hates tummy time and bath time. i feel like the meanest mom in the world when we give her a bath because she screams bloody murder and it takes a long time in my arms before she calms down. when we got her pictures taken we told the photographer that she does not like being on her tummy. even though she didn't freak out like she usually does, you can see how unhappy she is...when you look at this picture, don't you just want to scoop her up and give her some love?

vice presidential debate '08

just a couple of pictures of dad and audrey watching the debate because it was too cute not to capture on film.