Partying and Marching

Posted by Kathryn Hixson May 07, 2017

Partying and Marching

January 19th was Elliott's FIRST birthday! Guys, he is a real boy now, not my little baby! But he just keeps getting cuter every day! For his birthday we had a little party with a smash cake, which he ate only the frosting of, and he had a few of his friends over.

This video is WAY too long, but I made it to show at his birthday party. (I cut it down a lot from the original version, there are way too many cute pics of this kid). Here's the link if you want to watch in a separate window.

On the same day as our birthday celebration, we also all got to participate in a historic event, the Women's March in Boston. It was the first demonstration for both Elliott and I, (Nate dabbled in college protests) and we really loved it. Not only were women there, but men and children too. The T ride there consisted mostly of other families on their way, all of us holding our signs feeling connected despite them being complete strangers. The whole crowd had such a positive vibe, which was very surprising considering it was SO crowded and emotions ran high. I loved being there to fight for women here and around the world, and for the many other issues our country is facing. Elliott's sign read Hate ≠ Great and I hope that our parenting will convey that message as he grows.

My life has been a blessed one filled with privilege and I am lucky that my loved ones have always had a respect for me and other women. Despite encountering implicit bias, I don't think it has held me back too much thus far in my life. I recognize that MANY people cannot say the same, and I marched for the many people who suffer from domestic abuse, sexual abuse, the wage gap, objectification of women and systemic sexism that promotes the idea of 'locker room talk' and admitting to sexual assault being an acceptable behavior for the POTUS.

In addition to the Jan. 21 Women's March I also marched for another issue I'm passionate about this past month, science. I was pretty dang proud of the sign I came up with, so if you've taken any neuroscience before you'll get the pun, "It's a no brainer... Inhibiting science eliminates our potential". In addition to that being incredibly clever (I'm very proud) I also whole heartedly agree with that statement. I'm so glad that the budget that passed actually gave a boost to NIH funding, which dramatically needed it, (despite Trump's proposal to cut funding in hopes of replacing actual facts with his alternative ones).

I got to march for science with my colleagues from BU medical School

Other fun things that we've been up to included a visit from my Mom, sister, and NEW niece to Boston for some family time. It was a perfect weekend and we all loved (especially Elliott) the chance to see them and spend time with them. Being far away from home is the hardest part about being here, and I've especially missed having them close since having Elliott, so this visit was exactly what I needed. We got to visit the Public Garden, the Children's museum, the park, North End, watch General Conference, and Elliott got to love on his cute baby cousin. Unfortunately, he was a bit grumpy because he had his SECOND bout of hand, foot, mouth disease in two months and for the first time EVER wasn't eating that much.

Meeting Abby for the first time

With Grandma Ba-ba

We also had more visitors come, my childhood friend and her husband came to see the city, and we got to show off Beantown with some Legal Sea Food and Fenway. It was Elliott's first time to go to a Red Sox Game, since we've always made him stay home in the past. He loved it, even though we lost horribly and he had to leave a little early to go get some sleep.

Even though I didn't get the chance to go, Nate got the chance to go and see his family in DC for his two twin nieces' baptism and give a talk there which he really enjoyed.