Cute

In the weeks since my first post, I have been wrestling with what sort of blog I want to create. Is this "family blog" going to turn into a pregnancy/childhood milestones blog? A blog of posts for special occasions (e.g. birthdays, holidays, vacations, etc.)? An introspective blog? A picture-centric blog? An entertaining blog? Unfortunately, I am not as good at taking pictures or at making people laugh as some of my blogging friends. Basically I don't know what kind of blog I want to create, though this paragraph is making me think I may accidentally end up with an introspective blog.

Since I'm already waxing introspective, I'll tell you that I've really begun to worry about the effect that studying economics is going to have (has already had?) on my perception of reality. For example, what makes something cute? My dear older brother used to tell me that if there were three cinder blocks in a row and one was smaller than the other two, girls would call the runty cinder block "cute." I suppose he meant that it had become semi-synonymous with small, or that smallness could automatically endear literally any object to some of the more tender-hearted among us. Well how about these examples of cuteness, courtesy of two of my professors:

(1) Did you know that generically there are an odd number of Nash equilibria in any game? A very "cute" result from game theory.

(2) What word other than "cute" could accurately describe the fact that the unconditional cumulative distribution function of ln(capital) is a fixed point of the operator that integrates its derivative with the conditional probability distribution of ln(capital')?

Before I started my PhD program, I was under the impression that this is the sort of thing really embodies cuteness: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/18/lovely-owl-video_n_1101488.html. It's strange how economics (probably other fields as well, but I wouldn't know firsthand) really gets under your skin and changes the way you talk and even what you mean by the words you use. Perhaps by the time I'm done, my brother will be praying for me to go back to the small = cute mentality.

In between visions of the "this is your brain on economics" commercials I could make to warn away the unsuspecting beginning students of economics, I convinced Russell to grow a little goatee this week. I think he grew it for a good seven or eight days, and this allowed the hair on his chin and mustache to get as long as it has ever been in his entire life. What did we learn as a result of this experience? For one thing, it turns out that Russell has a sort of reddish beard. Which begs the question: what evolutionary or creative purpose can there possibly be to having a single human being with blond head hair, red facial hair, and black chest hair? My husband, the Neapolitan man.

But now the beard is gone, my brain is still on economics, and I think I should probably save the rest of my introspective musings for my journal, rather than assuming that anyone besides me could possibly be interested in them. In three weeks we get to find out "what flavor" we're having, in the words of my OB/GYN. Also, Thanksgiving will have happened. So perhaps I can escape an excessively mind-vomity blog after all...

The Alien

This is the new Russell and Emily Leslie family blog. Sort of. Mostly, it's going to be me, Emily, blogging about the Russell and Emily Leslie family. I feel a little bad about taking over PR for our family, but not too bad. I figure I can succeed in being at least as unbiased as most major news outlets (am I setting the bar too low?).

I guess since this is the first entry, I have about 16 months of stuff to cover. Here's the first 13 months: We got married in June 2010, made it through one last year at BYU, successfully got admitted to our respective graduate programs at the University of Iowa, and had a summer of epic adventure.

My epic adventures:

-going to Guatemala

-building a bookshelf

-orchestrating our entire move

-researching the pretrial detention of suspected felons

Russell's epic adventures:

-finishing classes

-interning at clinics

Mine may have been a little more epic, aside from the shared epic adventures:

-nuptial celebrations for bosom buddies

-Webb family reunion (i.e. temporary tent city, complete with family "Survivor" activities to separate the wheat from the chaff in my mother-in- law's wonderfully large extended family)

-first anniversary celebrated at amazing B&B in Salt Lake

The last three months have been spent mostly here in the Shire of the U.S.: Iowa. Russell is now well into the first semester of his MHA (masters of healthcare administration) program. He has become an avid reader of Atul Gawande books (I recommend them on his behalf, and also based on the two chapters I have read so far). He is also well on his way to a successful career in politics, having won in his first bid for elected office as a member of the Student Faculty Liaison. I think we're both still figuring out what the SFL does exactly, but we'll let you know when we know.

For my part, I spend most days doing math. None of my classes have math anywhere in the course title, but it turns out that as a first year PhD student in economics, that's pretty much what all your classes boil down to. There are five other students in my year, so we're getting to know each other pretty well. For anyone who's wondering, Russell's program is two years; mine is five. How's that going to work? Excellent question.

This brings me--tangentially--to my final and most important topic, also the inspiration for the title of this post: I am pregnant. I had my very first appointment on Friday (two days ago), and so I am finally in possession of an estimated due date, which is April 22. I never knew where due dates come from, and I guess I still don't know if they are all estimated the same way, but mine involved an ultrasound. This was awesome--probably the best thing that happened to me all week. I didn't know I was already 13 weeks along, so I wasn't expecting to see the little heart beating, and the not-quite-as-tiny-as-expected limbs so clearly. The technician printed two images for me: one from the side of the entire fetus, and one of its face. "Aw, it's looking out at you," she said as she handed it to me. Perhaps I'm experiencing an oxytocin deficiency, but honestly all I could think of when I saw that picture was the striking resemblance that the dear little face bore to the iconic alien. I suppose we'd all look a little more like aliens if we were looking at each other using ultrasounds (or x-rays?), so I can only assume that the baby will resolve itself into a lovable infant bundle by the time it gets into my arms and I'm looking at it with normal vision instead. What will I do about school when that day comes? I don't know yet. I think about this question a lot, but I doubt I'll actually decide in advance.

For now, we're both happy to be in Iowa, grateful to be in school, and excited about the prospect of a baby.

P.S. Russell just showed his sister the picture above. She thought it was an alien picture that he was showing her as a joke.