Tribute to Disney

I want to start off by saying that I love Disney. Always have, always will. Aside from the few complaints I have about them (pleeeease! stop making sequels and prequels to everything!) I love their movies and Disneyland is my favorite place in the world. But as I was watching Enchanted last night, and something really caught my attention:



Do you see what I see? Then I noticed a pattern:



Society always blames models, actresses, and fashion magazines for the ever growing body image epidemic among women. But wouldn't you agree that perhaps the process starts at a much younger age? We've loved these characters since we were little, and always adored them because they were so pretty. But does pretty = anorexic-ly skinny?

Then I started to think about fuller figured characters. Only a few come to mind. Mrs. Potts, Mulan's grandma, Mim (the evil wizard from The Sword and the Stone) and of course, Ursula. Come on Disney, are you trying to tell us that if we are overweight we are old and evil?

Boy or Girl?

Although it's still way early to tell, I've been having some fun (and wasting a lot of time) doing research on gender predictions. I've taken just about every "test" on the internet, tried some old wives tricks, done some math, and this is my conclusion-- I don't think anyone really knows what they're talking about. Here are the results I have found:

Old wives tales:
I crave salty foods= boy
I haven't had any headaches= girl
I also crave meat and cheese= boy
I have acne= girl
I haven't had morning sickness= boy
I dream of having boys, so therefore I must be having a girl. (Does dreaming about having triplet boys triple my chances?)
My left breast is bigger than my right (a little too much info? yeah I thought so too when I read this one) =girl
I grip mugs by the body instead of the handle= girl
I show my hands palm down= boy
I carry my extra weight out front= boy
Dustin hasn't gained any sympathy weight (but does he ever?!?) =girl
The hair on my legs isn't growing any faster than before I was pregnant= girl
The maternal grandmother doesn't have gray hair- natural or dyed =girl
My feet are not colder than they were before pregnancy= girl.

Crazy right? Some of these make sense, but I just can't believe that because my mom colors her hair that means I'm having a girl.

String test:
I read about this once in a book called Mrs. Mike. It's how midwives used to predict gender before there were ultrasounds. And, it's all over the internet. You get a piece of thread, attach a light weight (i.e. a paper clip) and hold it over your belly. If the string moves from side to side like a pendulum- you've got a boy. If it moves in circles- you're having a girl.
I'm only 10 weeks now, so it might have been to early for this test- but it moved in circles.

Chinese Gender Prediction chart:
This one can be tricky. It's based on you lunar age and the lunar month in which you conceived. So you have to use conversion tools, which are all over the internet as well. Example: I'm 24 and I'm pretty sure I conceived in July. My lunar age is 25 and the lunar month is June. According to this chart I'm having a boy.


But--- I also took 2 gender prediction tests that are supposed to be based on this calender and they said I was having a girl.

Other Mathematical equations:
My age (24) and the year I conceived in (2008) are both even numbers= girl
The sum of my age (24) and the number of the month I conceived in (7) equals an odd number (31)= girl

Other "tests" I took:
Old Wives Tale Test (http://www.amazingpregnancy.com/oldwivestales/) =boy
Will you baby be a boy or girl? (http://www.childbirth.org/articles/boyorgirl.html) = girl
Gender Tool (http://www.babygendertool.com/baby-gender-test.aspx) =boy
The Gender Predictor Test (http://www.nerdtests.com/mq/take.php?id=7830) =girl
There was also this site called fortunebaby.com that wanted $19.95 to see your test results! What? Who is seriously that gullible?

It won't be another month or two until we actually find out. But now you have all of the information to make an educated guess :)

There's really something in there!

I had my very first ultrasound yesterday. Dustin came with me and together we got to hear our baby's heart beat for the first time. It was a wonderful experience (I teared up a little), and definitely made the whole pregnancy feel more real. I'm 7 weeks along now, and everything is looking pretty good!

Flight to Utah: $0
Rental Car: $150
Wedding luncheon: $0
Telling you that there is actually 3 of us in this picture: Priceless.

That's right! We're pregnant! After 4 years of marriage (quite possibly a Mormon record) we finally decided to start our family. I'm about 6 weeks along now, and will be due around April 20th. We are nervous, but very very excited for our little boy or girl!

I guess I'm just not that type of girl...

I’ve never seen The Notebook and refuse to see Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I hate the radio show Delilah, and cringe when a guy writes a love poem or says something like, “Watch over my heart…I’ve left it with you”. I like David Cook better than David Archuleta and I don’t like the Twilight series.

It’s not that I haven’t read the books. I have. I really tried to like them. Everyone is obsessed with these books. My sister, Jennifer, has read the series 9 times (not an exaggeration). My sister-in-laws love them; my friends love them…I thought I could too. I mean, what’s not to like? It’s fantasy, adventure, werewolves, vampires and a character named Edward that instills unrealistic expectations of men in all women. But a story that ultimately ends in all love and no sacrifice really isn’t much of a story to me.

So sorry, Twilight fans, I guess I’m just not one of you. But please remember these things (I’m talking to you Jennifer!!): True love does not manifest itself when you’re a sophomore in high school. Men are not perfect; they will be a jerk about something sometime. And if you think getting married at 18 will be a perfect fairytale—you’ve been misinformed.

Once again, I apologize to all the Twilight readers. Mushy love stories just aren't for me.

This last weekend Dustin and I went to Utah for my cousin Khristen's wedding. We took advantage of Dustin's free flights, and rented a Dodge Charger when we got there. We felt pretty special for a couple of days. We had an awesome time hanging out with my family and awesome cousins, and really enjoyed the break from the Arizona heat!


Okay, so four years ago at my wedding, my cousins got together and completely trashed our car. Honey, oreos, window chalk on the outside-- and the worst about 5 bags of birdseed on the inside of the car. So ever since then Dustin and I have been waiting for revenge. We weren't able to make it to the last two weddings, so we made sure to get everyone at this one. This is the bride's car, but we made sure to get Elaine's and Kim's as well.
Another tradition that started with my wedding was a joke gift from the family. For my wedding Dustin and I got about 5 of every gift. Waffle irons, can openers...etc. We had to return it to wal-mart for store credit, and so it's been for every wedding. Elaine got toys, Kim got shoes, and Khristen and Jared got cat toys, litter... everything they need for a cat. When they return it they have to say with a straight face that they're cat just died.
The girl cousins all together again! ME, Elaine, Khristen, Kim and Natalie.
Welcome to the family Jared! Congratulations to you both!
The Timpanogos temple!

All in all it was an awesome trip! We had so much fun and hope to see everyone again soon!

introduction

At the request of my cousin Kim, I've decided to finally start a blog. We're Dustin and Erin Watson, and we've been happily married for 4 years now. Dustin works at US Airways as a graphic designer, and I just got my first job as a hairstylist at a salon called Beauty Brands. We live in Gilbert, AZ and love it.