Pardon My (Lack of) Blogging

So I'm in a blogging funk. Big time. I know I probably should be posting, but I just have no desire to actually sit down and try and be creative. Do you ever get like that? I'm still reading everyone's blogs and I'm totally up-to-date on everyone else, but have I made any comments? Nope. Should I have made comments? Yep. Sigh

Rest assured, we're still alive and kickin' and maybe sometime soon I'll actually get in gear and resume regular posting. Until then my friends! :-)

P.S. - Usually when people write a post like this I always get suspicious that they're pregnant and not feeling well, but they don't want to announce the pregnancy yet. That is NOT what's happening here. Sorry if I tricked anyone!

Free as a Bird

When I suggested to Everett that he might want to play in his pool, I fully expected him to wear his swim trunks. As you can see, he definitely had other plans...





Believe you me, there were some other pictures that were even better, but we do try to keep this blog G-rated. I have a feeling it's going to be Everett's summer of freedom. I hope the neighbors are prepared!

Mom vs. Dad

Here's what Juliana looks like when I'm in charge of her:



Here's what she looks like after Will's had her for about five minutes:


Any questions?

Happy Mothers Day!!

Mommy, I love you For all that you do.

I'll kiss you and hug you'Cause you love me, too.

You feed me and need meTo teach you to play,

So smile 'cause I love you On this Mother's Day.

This is a special post for a special woman. Happy Mothers Day Natalie, we love you!

Natalie, you are such a wonderful wife, that I could not have imagined that the Lord would bless me with such a perfect bride. You are always happy and cheerful. I have never had so much support from anyone like I continually get from you. I knew you were wonderful from the moment I met you, (which was EFY 97 and to this day you have absolutely no memory of me beign there whatsoever) but it wasn't until I saw you become a mother, that I truly saw that you are the greatest blessing my Father in Heaven could give me, and the world's greatest mom. You are the mother of two of the sweetest children in the world, and again I feel blessed beyond measure because of you.

Here is a message from Everett:

The lighting is bad but you can hear the little man talking. I know sometimes you get frustrated that Everett begins and ends EVERY sentence with Mommy, but it warms my heart to see the two of you together.

Then there is Juliana. She is so sweet and beautiful and amazing. She is always happy and smiling and very content. I know she gets these characteristics from you. I know she is still little, but she knows her mommy and loves her very much. You seem to think that our children prefer you to me because they are with you more, but it is a lot more than that. They can feel the Spirit with you and know that you are willing to do anything from them and can feel how much you love them. Our children are very blessed to have such a cool mom, especially one that shops at H&M. A mother is one who loves, serves, and sacrifices constantly for her family. You are always thinking of us, us being your three children, and rarely have time or energy to think of yourself. I am grateful for you and I know that Everett and Juliana are too. We love you very very much and hope that you have a wonderful mother's day!

H&M Bestill My Heart

Ahh, wonderful, marvelous, totally cool and amazingly trendy H&M. How I love thee. You are my first real fashion love and even now, after all these years of little to no contact, when I was afraid that maybe I had forgotten just how neat and hip you really were, you did not disappoint.

For those of you living under a rock, H&M is one of the greatest clothing retailers known to man. I remember both Emily and Heidi, who were lucky enough to go while we were in college (well, Heidi, yours was a college-related trip, so even though we had graduated, I'm still counting it) relating their experiences of shopping at H&M. It sounded like heaven on earth. Cute, trendy clothes at inexpensive prices? Bless those Swedes! Between Ikea and H&M, they have U.S. consumers on lock. (Do you like my use of the trendy vernacular? Yeah, I'm still with it...)

My first time actually shopping at H&M was in February of 2003. My friend Mandy and I took a four-day trip to the Big Apple and I fell in love. We literally spent hours in the store, trying on anything that caught our eye. It was neat because everything seemed so affordable. A bounty of shirts for less than $10, a plethora more for less than $20. And we're not talking cheapo plain-colored t-shirts here, we're talking cute shirts, made of more than just cotton, with neat cuts or cool designs. Not to mention all the jackets, pants, jeans, skirts, dresses and accessories. Heaven!

Imagine how thrilled I was to discover my personal shopping heaven was finally, FINALLY making its way to my part of the country. H&M, as cool as it is, doesn't do online shopping. It's strictly in-store only. So when they announced Atlanta would be welcoming not one or two, but FOUR H&M's in the metro area, I was overwhelmed.

The big day was yesterday, the 8th. The first H&M in Atlanta celebrated it's grand opening. And guess which totally cool moms were there with babies and strollers in tow?

Thankfully, my mom convinced me to leave Everett at home, and good thing I did because when we got in line at 9:45, we thought the store was going to open at 10. We soon found out that it wouldn't open until noon. We made a quick, unanimous decision to stay put and see out our dream of local H&M shopping. And we weren't disappointed. Juliana and Lydia did fabulously! They ate and smiled and played with each other. They totally wooed the other women standing around us in line. So much so that after we had gotten into the store and were shopping, one gal, who had been standing near us in line, came up to me, asked me what I was planning on buying and then played with Juliana one last time. She even remembered her name. "Bye bye Juliana. Be a good girl." Ahh, the bonds that come from standing in line like a crazy person waiting for a clothing store to open. Those are the ties that bind, I tell ya.


We even had a slightly famous person show up for the grand opening: Robert Verdi, celebrity stylist.
For all its grand openings, H&M hands out gift cards to the first 200 people in line. These cards range from $10 to $250. Paula and I got $25 and $50, respectively. We also scored a black H&M bag, H&M bottled water, a black H&M t-shirt and an H&M umbrella. Hello? Score!

Once the doors opened the inside quickly turned into a madhouse. I have to give us props for maneuvering well with our strollers. It was nice to have a built-in shopping cart and they also helped us to bully people out of our way.
Whew, it was a full-day affair. We didn't get home until after 3 p.m. and we were exhausted. Exhilarated, but exhausted. I scored a pair of black capris and two patterned shirts for a total of $49.73. Did I plan that well or what? We had so much fun, we're contemplating going to the grand opening of the next Atlanta location to see if we can win a bigger gift card. What do y'all think? Would it be worth it?

One of my new shirts. I was home with the kids, so this was the best shot available. It was either this or let Juliana try her hand at photography at the tender age of 8 months. I took a chance that I could take a better picture than my infant. Looking at this picture makes me think Juliana's old enough to use a camera.

Everett's Dating Do's and Don't's

As Everett is fairly mature for his age, he kindly offers the following advice to all the fellas out there who may be a bit confused about dating etiquette.

DO: Offer your date a hand. Women love for men to be chivalrous and holding her hand can be sweet and charming.

DON'T: Ignore your date when something more interesting catches your eye. Being rude is never in style.

DO: Offer to help if she seems to be struggling. Women appreciate a man who can help when they can't do something on their own.

DON'T: Force her to do things exactly like you do them. Women love to be independent and being a dictator is not appreciated.

DO: Appreciate nature together. Ladies love a guy who can stop and smell the roses.

And Everett's last piece of advice?

DON'T: Hang your head in shame if one relationship doesn't work out and she goes running for the door. There are always other fish in the sea!

*Many thanks to Aubrey for agreeing to pose with Everett for this tutorial. Your check is in the mail.