PTC Forever!

When Will and I first got married, we moved into a ward* that had mostly older families or grandparent type folks. There just weren't a ton of young, married couples or young families. So for us young people, we formed a unique bond. We had fun living so close to such good people and really shared a part of our lives with them. Over the three years we lived in that ward some couples moved in and then out, but we really enjoyed everyone. Last year was a banner year for five of us in that we all were pregnant and gave birth within just over two months of each other. We have all since moved out of the ward boundaries and since the Hutchisons are moving to Chicago next month, we decided one last get together was in order.

The Fishs hosted the shindig and it was so fun to have the five babies together. I wish I could find the picture of all of us pregnant together, but seeing our little ones crawl around, each with their own personality and look, was priceless. Plus, Everett and his pal, Jacob, had fun being rambunctious older boys of the group.

And now for picture overload...

Channy and darling Annabelle

Natalie and cutie Blaine

Joe, the Grill Master

And his daughter, Annabelle, the Bow Master.

This party was great because in addition to tons of cute kids, we ate food,

Chatted

and enjoyed the summer heat

All while chaos ran supreme around us. It's interesting to note how having kids makes you just figure out how to converse with adults above the noise and distractions around you.

Jesse's mini-me, Blaine, really enjoyed being pushed around by Logan.

And here all the September babies. Juliana was born on the 10th, Blaine on the 11th and Lydia on the 18th. (Juliana was in need of a nap, whereas Lydia had just woken up. Pretty much explains the difference in expression.)

The September born with Nicholas, who just turned one. Again, it's not hard to tell which two need some shut eye.

And here they are! All the babies born between July 5th and September 18th of last year. Everett was a trooper and is posing with them with the real purpose being to restrain Juliana from getting away. To say that she was not a happy camper is an understatement.
And there they go...
Thanks again everyone for good times and cute kids. We'll miss you Hutchisons when you leave - your Chicago door is always open, right? (wink, wink)

*A ward is the name for a congregation in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I'm Probably Right?

Everett and I were outside talking the other day and he pointed to an annoying little gnat/bug and asked me, "What's that?" I told him I didn't know, but that I thought it was a bug. He looked at the bug again, then back to me and said, "You pro-bly ight" (He really struggles with that "r" sound). I looked at him surprised and said, "I'm probably right?" "Yeah, you pro-bly ight, Mommy."

So rest assured, when it comes to identifying bugs, take it from Everett - I'm probably right.

(This is how Everett spent his 4th of July afternoon. Barefoot, shirtless and running around in the dirt picking up sticks. Does that kid know the true meaning of 4th of July celebrating or what?)

A Family First

I knew it would happen eventually, but I was thinking more along the lines of elementary school-aged or later. So color me surprised when, at the tender ages of 9 months and 2 and 1/2 years old, we in the Giddens household would reach the day when Juliana made the big mess and Everett was the one to clean it up. In our house, it's usually Everett making all the big messes.

That little stinker got into the pantry and promptly pulled down the Sam's Club purchase of granola bars. Trust me, she had a blast taking them out one by one.
And of course, once the damage was done she high-tailed it out of there faster than I could say, "Juliana! Did you make that mess?"

Enter older brother who saw the mess and was appalled enough to do something about it. He was just as meticulous putting them back in the box as she had been taking them out.
Just so I didn't faint in disbelief, Everett brought the box over to prove that all the bars were in fact, back in the box.

But what two year old can resist the call of 35 individually wrapped granola bars just asking to be tossed onto the floor? Yeah, apparently not this one...

Top Dogs

This is a Monday for the Giddens Family Recordbook! Which reminds me, Will, I think we should start a Giddens Family Recordbook. We NEED to document monumental days such as today. I'll have all of blog world know that we (meaning the kids and I) were dressed, bathed (both Everett and then me), fed, cleaned, my hair was blown dry and make up on, and Juliana had taken her first nap ALL BEFORE 11 a.m. And as if that wasn't enough for me to feel like I could actually be in the running for the Mom-of-the-Year award, I now have BOTH of the kiddos down for a nap. At the same time! In the same room! It's days like today that I honestly feel like I'm soooo on top of my game. So in honor of me being so great today (trust me, this is a only a one-day triumph. More like only a couple of hours triumph), I thought I'd list some other folks who are really on top of their game.

1) With the upcoming Olympic games, I thought it appropriate to give props to swimmer Ryan Lochte. Ok, honestly, I haven't the first clue about swimming. Other than it looks like an amazing workout and I'm pretty terrible at it. And other than Michael Phelps and Gary Hall Jr., I couldn't really tell you much about famous swimmers either. But last night we were watching the U.S. Trials out of Omaha and oh my goodness Ryan Lochte is a hottie! He's the one in the middle in the picture. Yeah, that one. He didn't finish first in the event I watched, but as long as he makes it on the team and swims in Beijing come August, I'm one happy gal.

2) Those engineers at Dyson are really on to something with this ball vacuum. I haven't yet tried it, but when I first saw the commercial I thought, "Gosh, it seems so simple. Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?" It's gotten great reviews, it's light-weight and compact. As if vacuuming needed to be any more fun than it already is (I'm serious now. I love to vacuum!). You'd better believe next time we're vacuum shopping I'm definitely vying for this bad boy.

3) I'm a fan of the Food Network. I like most of the shows and some of those recipes are just plain awesome. Also, I practically majored in Broadcast Journalism at BYU (I changed my last semester to Print Journalism). Anyway, there's a gal named Kelsey Nixon who is a BYU Broadcast Journalism grad and is one of the 10 finalists on "The Next Food Network Star". She is totally cute and is doing really well! I'm definitely pulling for her because how neat would that be for a fellow alumna to be on the Food Network? Uh, yeah!

I'd go on with a few more things, but Juliana is now up from her nap. It looks like my mommy duties are a-calling. Wish me luck that when bedtime comes my good fortune will continue!

The Blogger Returns

Yes, folks, it's true - I've returned!Now that I've had a two week break, I feel ready to blog again. Yea! While I've thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone else's updates, and although I really haven't been up to anything too exciting over the past two weeks, I'm still excited to update. Rest assured, this will be a random blog peppered with our recent to-do's as well as thoughts I've had over the last little while.

If you're reading this update via Bloglines or Google Reader, might I suggest you visit my actual site? Simply because I'm SOOOOOO excited that I've changed the template on my page. I've been aching for a three-column format for a long time now. Too long, actually. Something about taking a two week break really inspired me to make some long-anticipated blog changes. Can I tell you how much I love the new set up? Because I do. I really like that all my links and the archives are on the right side, while the other "fun" stuff is on the left. It's a little crowded, but I really love it. Thoughts?

Everett and Juliana have been wonderful lately. Everett still really loves his sister and Juliana is content to pretty much let Everett roll on top of her head or legs and then two seconds later give her hugs and kisses. Everett's been insisting on "holding" her quite a bit lately. And she's happy to sit next to him too.

Everett is turning into a smarty-pants, which is fun to watch. The poor kid can't say his "f's" or "g's" very well (or actually a few other sounds either), but it's so funny to hear him try. He still loves Curious George and Calliou. And holy cow has he been on a "The Incredibles" kick lately. Now that it's freaking hot as blazes outside, Everett's turned into quite the nudist. He loves to play in his pool naked and if I'd let him, would play in his sandbox naked as well (all together now - Ewwww!). Thankfully, I at least demand that he puts on a diaper to play with the sand. On Saturday he was outside "helping" my parents with yard work and decided then too that naked was the best way to go. And as much as he enjoys getting dirty and sweaty, he also loves to take a bath. There was one day when he took three baths in less than 24 hours. Oh, and he now loves Nursery! He's been pretty good about going in without too much of a fuss since December, but he's really come into his own with Nursery during the past two months. I'd venture to say he actually looks forward to Sundays when he can go to Nursery. Whew!
And Miss Juliana is a cutie. She is now 9 months old, has four teeth and is only now starting to crawl. Everett crawled at 6 months on the nose, so it's been interesting to see Juliana continue to just sit there. She's a funny one though since she will only crawl on super soft surfaces like beds or couches. Put her on one of those and off she'll go. Move her to the floor or carpet and she just sits there and cries. Is that weird or is it just me? She has almost completely shunned the bottle. I think she only drinks maybe 8 ounces a day. The rest of her liquid intake comes from Everett's sippy cups which she likes to steal. I got her her very own pink sippy cup, but whenever I offer her that one (which is EXACTLY like Everett's blue one that she keeps stealing), she looks at me with an "I'm supposed to drink this?" look and won't touch it. Hmm... She's been standing a lot more, which makes me think that yes, this child will walk someday. Other than that, she is content to sit (usually with me) and observe the mayhem that is her older brother. Chill and laid-back don't even begin to describe this gal.

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Last week Will and I were on the other side of town trying to make our way to the interstate (they'd shut down the on-ramp we were going to take), so Will took some back roads to try to get us home. We were driving through a random neighborhood when I spotted this house under construction:

I was so excited, I made Will stop the car so I could snap some pictures. This folks, is a rough outline of my dream house. When we are ready to buy a house, or if we have the funds to build one ourselves, this is totally what I'd like to have. With Will's feet and back the way they are, stairs are a no-no for us. I am not an artist, but I've tried my hand at drawing up a floor plan for our future house and believe it or not, the outside would look a lot like this. I especially like where the front door is centered and how the house kind of makes a V shape. Plus, judging from the pictures (I didn't get to peek inside), it looks like the ceilings would be kind of high, which I like. I figure if we're going to have only one level, we may as well have vaulted ceilings. Who's with me?

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Ok, I LOVE Facebook! This may be really silly to admit, but I find Facebook stalking so much fun. I have reconnected with folks that I knew in high school and college that I never in a million years would have even thought about except for Facebook. I love catching up with people ever so briefly by reading their profiles, looking through their pictures and I'm a BIG fan of my friends who update their status pretty regularly. It's great! If you're reading this and aren't on Facebook yet or we aren't friends yet, what's the holdup??

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I got my hair cut almost two weeks ago and I love it! It's definitely shorter and it's one of those cuts that you can totally tell that I did something different to it. So why is it that almost NO ONE has said anything to me about it? I'm not dying for compliments, but I haven't even gotten uncomfortable, "Oh, you got your hair cut" kind of comments. Aside from Will, Paula and my mom, no one has said anything. Not even, "you look different". The general lack of noticing has led me to a few conclusions, any of which could be true.

1) People have noticed the cut, but think it stinks, and thus have refrained from saying anything
2) People simply don't notice me as much as I'd like to flatter myself that they do
3) Um, let's see...I'm really at a loss here.

So as you can see, with only two options that I can figure, I'm tempted to go with #1. Which is confusing since I think it's a nice cut and facially flattering. I'd post a picture right now, but I'm without a photographer and it's the end of the day. I need to take one in the morning right after I get ready. Maybe I'll put one up tomorrow and let you be the judge?

**UPDATED**

Ok, here are some pictures of me with my haircut. I took one with it parted either way. What say y'all?

Gosh, it's good to be back!

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.