Christmas 2006 Trip to Utah

We decided it was be really fun for our little family of three to take a Christmas vacation to Utah. Since both Will and I used to live there and missed certain things, and also since we've been promising Jessica and Scott we'd come see them for the last, oh I don't know, 5 or 6 Conferences now, we figured a vacation was in order. We had a LOVELY time and hope to make a Christmas vacation a regular thing.

We took a ton of pictures, but they're mostly of Everett, so here's our trip through Everett's prespective:

We flew out on Christmas Day and stayed a couple of days in Bounitful with our good friends, the Phillips. Everett not only saw and felt snow for the first time, but he also got to see the Bountiful Temple.

Uh, yeah, I don't think he was a big fan.

We also went to Temple Square as well and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building where we met a 14 year-old boy who was also named Everett and thought it was the coolest thing in the world to meet another Everett.

All of the Christmas decorations were up and in the following two pictures Everett goes from not very happy to full-on grin - all due to the fact that I pulled out the camera.

Next, we headed to Provo so I could reminisce about my college days. We went to Cafe Rio (YUM!), the Malt Shoppe (banana cream pie shake, please) and of course, BYU campus. We had a blast hitting up the Bookstore for some BYU gear and Will now feels like a 100% Mormon with his BYU shirts, hat and jacket. Everett did NOT have fun being bundled up, but did have fun wandering around the Wilk.

Everett's also pretty happy whenever he can get his sticky hands on either of our cell phones. Oh and he knows the difference between a real one and a toy one!

And he's figured out that it goes next to his ear, but hasn't quite mastered the technique yet.

Of course, our trip was filled with plenty of naps for our little man - you can see one trip to the Bookstore has totally wiped him out.

A lot of our trip was spent feeding Everett and this night was no exception. Before this trip he'd only eaten at McDonald's once. And now?? Don't ask! But judging by the following pictures of his tummy, you'll get an idea...

During this trip we also learned that Everett has discovered how to invert the nipple on his sippy cup, as evidenced below:



And one of the highlights (at least for me) was spending time with good friends, Scott and Jessica and their kiddos Ethan and Grace. Everett really liked Ethan and Grace, although I'm not sure the reverse is true.

So yes, it was one heckuva trip! It was cold, we saw snow, ate some good food, did fun things, made some cool purchases, spent time with friends and generally had a fantastic time. Yahoo!!!!

PS - Can you believe we met on my 2nd day in Provo in August of 1998?!?! How can we both be married with children when I still feel like I'm 18?

Hello 2007!

Wow, our first post of 2007! Happy New Year to everyone. We in the Giddens Family had a fabulous Christmas holiday, the crowning jewel of which was our little jaunt to the Beehive State. I'll definitely post pictures of that trip in the near future, but I thought these were pretty funny to skip over:

Everett has gotten into the habit lately of climbing onto our computer chair. While it's usually harmless for him and pretty entertaining for us, sometimes he runs into a snag, as pictured below:




I especially love the last picture - he's stuck, but whenever he sees a camera, no matter what position he's in, he absolutely has to smile.

And in other news:

1) Can you believe I know 18 women who are pregnant right now? Congrats to each of you, most of whom are telling people, but there are a few who aren't quite yet. Man, there must be something in the water!

2) Congrats to two new bloggers Shanna and Julie. It's nice to know with enough begging you two have decided to hop on the bandwagon. Yea for even more blogs to read!

3) I have a list of crafty "goals" for 2007, one of which is to create a few things with vinyl lettering. Do you guys know what that is? I'm all over that and will hopefully have a few pieces to showcase sometime soon.

More Baby Book Recommendations

Ok ladies, since I had a couple of requests for more helpful books, here are some other suggestions:

1) The Baby Whisperer - Talks a/b listening to your newborn/baby and taking cues from them. Also has a WONDERFUL suggestion for a "schedule" of sorts to follow when you first bring the little tyke home. I thought it was really interesting and also has a little questionaire for you to evaluate your baby and learn more a/b their specific temperment.


2) Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child - This book is a MUST! I still refer to it for Everett. The doctor who wrote it is a pediatrician sleep expert and he is right on. Once you read it you'll realize that most behavior problems you see in kids are really just due to tiredness and/or sleep deprivation. I think Everett's sleep habits have consumed more time, energy and thought on my part than any other aspect of his growth and development.


3) What to Expect: The First Year - Like What to Expect When You're Expecting, this book provides a great overview of the milestones and common questions of the first year. It's a great reference for all sorts of stuff, but I especially like it for the "Sickness" chapter. I just refer there to find out at what temperature I should be worried and also some common remedies.





And one final recommendation: As great as all of these books are, don't fall into the vicious cycle of reading TOO much and not trusting your own instincts. You may not think you have much experience being a mother, but it's so true that no one (not your mom, mother-in-law or even doctor) knows your baby as well as you do. If you think something's off, it probably is, and if, after you've read what these folks have to say, you think your child is just fine, they most definitely are. Just my two cents on the topic! :-)

Book Recommendation: Momfidence

Since I'm a relatively young mom and have lots of young mom-ish friends (either who are moms or who will be moms in the near future), the topic of motherhood and raising children is forefront in my mind. It's amazing how having a child has introduced all sorts of new topics into my daily vocabulary. Naps, poops, baths, sippy cups, onesies. I find myself doing things I NEVER would have thought I would do like clean dirty bums, wear tennis shoes more than simply to exercise, SING outloud in front of other people with NO music to help me out. I've often asked myself, "Who am I? What happened to Natalie?"

And since I love to read and be generally well-informed, I've read a host of child-bearing, -rearing, -sleeping, -disciplining books. Reading and learning are excellent things, but I've found that there's plenty of gray area when it comes to children and what really matters is what works for me and my family.

Enter Momfidence. I randomly picked up this book from the library and thought it was a great read. Light-hearted and easy to read, the author has plenty of practice writing about being a mom and raising children (She writes a monthly column on the subject in Woman's Day and she has four kids). I laughed out loud at some parts and giggled my way through the rest. For all you moms out there, be sure to pick this up, you'll not be disappointed!

Thanksgiving Recap

For our loyal readers, we apologize for the lapse in posting. I've been having issues transferring pictures from our camera, to our laptop and then to the desktop - all so I could post! I know what you're thinking, "Alright, genius, why not skip the middleman and simply upload photos directly from your camera to the desktop?" You would be one smart cookie, but alas, due to a memory card and no connection cables for the camera, I was stuck in the Middle Ages, having to jump through forty hoops everytime I wanted to upload new pictures.

Another reason for the lack of posts is that I'm still so frustrated with Blogger beta! I can still only post up to four pictures at a time, I can't seem to left justify my text, and the "help" feature in Blogger is really no help at all! I'm pleading with anyone who's reading this (for I know that there are plenty who read but never leave a comment, which is fine, but if you know how to help me, then PLEASE help me!) to please throw me a bone. I'd really like to get back to semi-regular postings, but Blogger's really making it pretty unappealing for me.

Moving on...

Since I'm like three weeks behind here, a recap of Thanksgiving is in order. We spent Thanksgiving in Birmingham celebrating with my Uncle Giles (aka Stoogie. Believe me, that's what I call him. I remember being SHOCKED when I learned in my teens that his real name was Giles) and Aunt Kathi, plus my Granny, and cousins Amy (husband Ryan, child Thomas) and Nancy (husband Chris). We had a wonderful time visiting and ate some really great food. The next day we headed to Sylacagua (about an hour and 1/2 away) to visit with Will's grandpa, Papa, and his wife, Brenda. They've been married for just over a year and are very sweet with one another. We had a good visit with them, but no visit is complete without pictures:

Will, Mr. E and Papa on the front porch swing.

Our little man giving an almost toothless grin.

A sweet picture of E with his great-grandpa.

Friendly Behavior?

So do you think it's safe to say that Everett hasn't quite figured out how to play with other kids yet? We had a wonderful visit from our pals, the Lunts, before Thanksgiving. They have two adorable kiddos, Olivia and Carter. Everett wasn't sure what to do with 3 month old Carter, and 34 month old Olivia really wasn't an Everett fan. Can you guess why?

He went from tugging on Carter's leg...

to ignoring Olivia...

to completely invading Olivia's personal space...

To ignoring them both and playing by himself and with his friend the refrigerator.

**So any ideas on helping Everett be more kid friendly??

A Birthday Mess

Well, here are a few of Everett making a mess out of his birthday cupcake. Again, I'm still fighting to upload more than 4-6 pictures at a time. Maybe sometime in the next couple of posts I'll manage it??? Enjoy!






Like I said earlier, it only took Everett a matter of seconds to realize that he could make a supreme mess of his cupcake. He quickly moved from using one hand to digging in with both.

Everett's 1st Birthday!!

Our little man turned one on Friday and we decided to let him indulge in a little fun. Instead of making a whole cake, we figured we'd let him go to town on his very own cupcake. And go to town he did!

Happy Birthday Everett!!!

(And once again, I'm having issues posting pictures!! If any of you have updated to beta Blogger and have some tips, I'd love to hear them.)

Back in Business!

Alright!!! I finally figured it out! Whew...Well, these are the pictures I tried to post last night. Everett is really enjoying his new zebra toy from the Strange family. He was a tad hesitant at ride on the toy, but as you can see, once he got started, he was in hog heaven.

No Pictures Tonight!

Ok folks, I'm really ticked! Sometimes I'm just not the brightest gal. Like tonight. For some crazy reason, I got it into my head last night that I wanted to upgrade by regular 'ol Blogger account into a beta Blogger account (I LOVE my new beta Yahoo! account, so I figured what's to lose?). Well I'll tell you what's to lose: Picture posting capabilities!!! For the life of me, I can't upload pictures to this blog. I've tried simply clicking the "Add Photo" button in Blogger, with my pop-up blocker turned off, Hello(which I don't think is compatible with beta Blogger, but who knows?), Picasa 2, and then Flickr. I can't seem to figure out how to get any of them to post to this stinkin' blog. And I'm really bummed because I had cute pictures of Everett playing with one of his birthday toys. Argh!!

Well, I said I'd post every day this week, so consider this my cranky, tired, I'll try again tomorrow post.

So Long Curly Locks!

I was born with a TON of hair. Seriously, ask my mom. I think it's one of her favorite stories to tell, "You came out and you had hair everywhere!" Will, on the other hand, barely had any hair at all. And when it did grow, it was so blond that it looked like he was still a little baldy.

And then there's Everett. Born with a fair amount and over the past year it's grown a tad. At least to the casual observer. To Observer Numero Uno (that would be yours truly), his hair has been great except for the back. In the very back, just above the nape of his neck, he had this thick mass of curls that, I'll be honest, I HATED! To me it was like he had this perfect little head, with hair that basically laid flat, and then there were these inexplicable curls. Other folks, especially women, always commented on his "cute" curls and cautioned me to wait as long as possible to cut them, otherwise they might not grow back (I could only wish!).

Thankfully, we have a skilled hair stylist in the family and Grandmama Lynn was only too happy to give Everett his very first haircut.

Will wet Everett's hair and Lynn got out the scissors.

But Everett decided sitting still was not on the agenda.

Uh, yup, still moving...

Ok, this is what I'm talking about!

Check out this picture closely and you'll see the long patch of hair right there in the back.

Still moving...

Really not happy with Dad for trying to make him stay still.

But even with a fussy, fidgety client, Lynn came through and Everett's hair is flat all over.

Everett says, "Thanks Grandmama Lynn for making me look respectable!"

Like Father, Like Son

There seems to be an ongoing debate about who Everett looks like. Some say Will, others say me, and still others say he's a great mix of the both of us. I think he has my eyes, but other than that, he's Will all over. See what you think:

My pal, Heidi made a good point in that Everett looks like me in pictures, but like Will in person. Anyone know how one 12 month old can manage that?!?!

A Second Helping of Sommer

We in the Giddens Family were beyond thrilled on Friday when a blast from my BYU and CNN pasts dropped in for a little visit. Miss Sommer is without a doubt one of the nicest, friendliest, funniest and of course, cutest gals I know. She's awesome and I was so glad she and Everett were finally able to meet. Everett loved her, naturally and Will and I are lucky Sommer didn't succeed in packing him away in her suitcase!

Sommer was in town for a wedding, which is why she is looking oh-so-snazzy. Thanks Sommer for being totally awesome!! And remember, our couch is always open for you. See ya in AZ - hopefully soon!

Everett couldn't take his eyes off of Sommer.

He had a perma-grin the entire time she was here.

Except when it came to eating. Then he was all business.

(And no, we're not really feeding him a spoon)

Memories, like the corner of my mind...

Mom and Dad Are Cool Too!!

Shocking as though it may be, Will and I actually like to get out sans Everett. I'm really grateful that Will makes it a point that we have date night once a week. Sometimes date night consists of us getting a babysitter and going out, and other times we have movie night or game night at our place.

Well, last week was SUPER cool because date night was The Fray concert! If you aren't familiar with The Fray, please do yourself a favor and start listening to their music. I think they're awesome and they have a couple of songs that are getting pretty solid radio play these days. And their song, "How to Save a Life" is on the Grey's Anatomy promos, if you're in to that TV show.

Anyway, they were playing at The Tabernacle, which is a way more intimate venue that say, a stadium or arena. We were on the floor, dead center and it was seriously one of the most fun things I have done in quite awhile. The concert ROCKED!! I felt young and carefree, if only for an hour or so. Here are some pictures of the night.

(Of course, we would be remiss if we didn't give serious thanks to the coolest brother-in-law in the world for scoring us tickets and my parents for providing free baby-sitting. Muchas gracias!!!)

Before going inside. Can you tell I'm excited?

They were singing "Over my Head (Cable Car)", which is probably their most well-known song.

Very cool!

Hubby and wifey rockin' out. Do we look hardcore or what?

A WHOLE Week Worth of Blogging

As an ode to Everett's birthday week (he turns one on Friday, can you believe it?!?), I've decided to try (try is the optimal word there) to post something about our little guy every day this week.

Everett, as most of you know, is a VERY happy boy. I don't know why we got so lucky, but he is very quick to grin and laugh. Will and I joke that he makes everyone feel like they're "so good with babies", because just about anyone who tries, strangers or family members alike, can get our guy to grin. He's especially smiley in front of the camera, which he seems to LOVE. He knows what our camera looks like, what noise it makes when it's being turned on, and even the beep beep it makes before the flash goes off. This kid is a natural in front of the lens. He was looking especially cute (in my humble opinion) earlier this week when we took these gems. Enjoy!

Gotta love a guy who's not afraid of a little belly showing.

Yup, he "nose" he's cute!

(Oh, I quack myself up - ha, ha, I did it again)