Ch-ch-changes

I do realize that by putting two or three weeks between posts that I'm losing a vast majority of my blog readers (not that I'm entirely sure I had that many to begin with!). My excuse? We've simply had a lot going on in our household during the past couple of weeks. Our biggest piece of news is that we're moving!! It's not a permanent move, but we're excited nonetheless. We're actually moving in with my parents until we figure out where we want to live next. Seeing as how we pretty much live in the ghetto now, and our lease is up, Will preferred for his wife, son and daughter to live in a place with less of a chance of the following:

* A break-in

* A shooting

* A death (Seriously, they found a dead guy about a mile from our apartment)

* General "shady" people wandering about at all hours of the day and night

My parents are gracious enough to let us stay with them, which is a huge blessing and means we don't have to sign another lease here. So now, we're in the throws of packing and getting ready to move. With Will working full-time now and sometimes into the evenings (It's after 7 and he's not home yet), this move has fallen basically to me, the 27-week pregnant woman. And I, of course, enlisted the help of my mom and Paula (the 30-week pregnant woman). Needless to say, we're an amazing team. We take breaks often and there's lots of grunting when one of us has done too much bending over. Plus, add in the Everett factor and I hope I've painted a pretty accurate picture for you. My goal is for us to be completely packed by Friday morning, with moving day being Saturday. Here's a look at our progress/diaster area (whichever way you want to look at it):

Everett finding a creative use for the as-yet-unused boxes.

Um, yep these two photos should give you a pretty darn accurate look at the mess we're dealing with. Honestly though, we made a lot of progress today and I'm hoping tomorrow is even better.

And for a bit of fun, check out the quiz below. I have to give Heidi props for this one, since she put it on her blog first. For all of you Jane Austen fans out there, definitely give it a whirl!

Weee!!!

On our trip to Texas last week, we got to visit Ty in San Antonio. After lunch we walked around the outdoor mall, La Cantera. In the middle of the mall was this great playground that Everett simply LOVED. Check out that grin:

He could not get enough of this slide and, much to my surprise, he enjoyed sliding the traditional way, as well as head first, on his belly.

It was a good trip, even considering the 18-hour car ride both ways. We saw Grandma, who will turn 89 this November, as well as the other big sites of Eldorado (ie, the water tower, the snow cone lady, the library, the gas station, the cemetary AND the big FLDS compound that Warren Jeffs' followers have set up just outside of town. Exciting times, I tell ya!).

In other Giddens family news, Will is really enjoying his job at MassMutual. He's as excited as can be and is super busy following leads and drumming up business. It's actually pretty inspiring to see him so satisfied by his career choice. Of my very brief stint in the working world, I was never half as content and excited about my job as Will is about being a financial professional.

I'm doing great too. I'm 25 weeks pregnant and I feel like September 24th will be here in the blink of an eye. We've officially decided to name our little gal Juliana Brooks (pronounced AWNA, not ANNA). Brooks is actually a family name on my paternal side and on Will's materal side, so we feel good about knocking out just about every limb of the family tree with her name.

And the little guy is too cute. He has so much personality and although he doesn't actually say much (at least not much that's decipherable), he definitely communicates. His latest loves are the movie "Shrek 2" and spaghetti. He's also a sucker for peppermint candies and my old baby blanket. Go figure.

Who Sleeps Like This?

Does this look uncomfortable or what? And for whom do you suppose he's "posing"?

Home Improvement Projects

I began 2007 with a long list of "crafty-type" goals. And although it's already May and I haven't made much of a dent in my list, I am really excited that I can cross off another item. I think vinyl-lettering is the neatest thing! I did a couple of projects in February using 8x10 tiles, but this time I wanted to use wooden boards. Many thanks to Will who sawed one very long piece of wood into manageable pieces and then even routed the edges for me! I primed and painted the board and here's the result:

Gold lettering with black overlay.

In case it's difficult to see, the overlay reads "Families are forever"

Also, a very nice family in our ward gave us their old, antique dining room table. They're a family of eight, so this table includes two leaves (not pictured) to make it even longer. Will and I (mostly Will) sanded the table down (it had been through six kids), re-stained it and then put on a sealant/gloss. It took us a couple of days, but we are so proud of our "new-to-us" table! Plus, now we have a killer game night table! Bring on four couples and one crazy game of "Settlers of Catan" please! Now if only we could find some chairs that match...

And the Verdict is...

We had our 20 week doctor's appointment today. You know, THE super, duper, muy importante appointment when you can find out the sex of the little one. Everything looked great and I was pretty proud of myself since I recognized what it was before being told. That's right folks...

We are just beyond thrilled and so glad that she looks healthy. She was a feisty little thing, literally doing somersaults in there. My only concern is that she's measuring a bit big (already 15 ounces! Yeah, that's a tad on the big side. Normally at this time they should measure about 10 ounces). I had a C-section with Everett and if this gal gets to be too big, they might make me have another one. Yikes!

So, here we go! We're going to have one of each and it's going to be great! I already have visions of all the pink, red, yellow, purple frilly things we can put on our little gal. Plus the bows and ribbons, cute shoes and of course, pierced ears (it's a Latin thing). I would love to hear some name suggestions though. We think we've got one, but I'm curious to see if one of you mentions something else we like. And no worries, I'll definitely let you know what we've decided as soon as we know (Will and I aren't very good about keeping secrets)!

Yea for little girls!

For Hire: One Strawberry Picker

Skills include:

1) Many muscles to lift numerous buckets

2) Agility to navigate even the peskiest of bumpy paths

3) Discerning tastebuds to discard any strawberries that aren't up to snuff

Only request after a hard day's work?

Plenty of time for an afternoon nap

*For more info, contact Everett's mom

Playing With the Men

We had a Kilgore family dinner last week since Ty was in town and we were all here at the same time. Good food and fun company meant Everett had plenty of willing playmates for the afternoon.

Everett loves for Will to toss him up in the air. And if Will's not fast enough? Well, Everett has his own way of communicating.

This is Will's "Everett" face

Uncle Logan was kind enough to wheel Everett around in the wheelbarrow. Everett LOVES to ride in the wheelbarrow! He thinks it is the bee's knees.
Uncle Logan showing E some love.

The whole family, grinning for the camera.

(Minus Everett and my mom, whose eyes are closed)

One Little Monkey Jumpin' on the Bed

Whenever I change Everett's mattress, I put it on the floor. His face LIGHTS up and he gets so excited, as evidenced below:


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Playing Catch-Up and an Anniversary

Sometimes I'm really good at taking pictures of Everett and updating this blog. And other times...well, let's just say I leave something to be desired. But the lack of updating doesn't mean we haven't been busy. We celebrated Easter and have been busy getting Everett outside to play almost every day. He LOVES to be outside and I've noticed that the more time we spend outside, the lighter his hair is getting. Yea!! As a gal who's hair stays the same color no matter how much sun I get or how much swimming I do, having a child who's hair is blond in the sunlight AND getting lighter is such a treat!

In typical boy fashion, Everett loves dirt. He gets a kick out of grabbing handfuls and then throwing them down. Of course, no romp in the dirt would be complete for him without getting all over his clothing and in his hair. Naturally.


He also LOVES to chase my parent's dog, Bailey. Bailey is a good sport because if I were him, I'd go running in the opposite direction whenever I saw Everett approaching.

Another reason I haven't been as diligent in taking pictures of the little man is because he's on this "I'm not going to smile for the camera" kick. Somehow he's decided that the furrowed brow look is in. Am I missing something here?

He's become the King of Crusty Looks!

This is the closest we've gotten to catching him smiling, but you can see he's about two seconds away from giving us "the look".

Everett is growing in to his own personality for sure. Among some of his favorite things to do are the following:

Turn the power button of the printer/copier on and off. On and off. On and off.

Stand on the kitchen counter and mess with the bread box. I'm baffled sometimes at his ability to be so easily entertained.

Whew - I think I'm caught up on all things Everett...

And now on to an anniversary celebration. April 19th is a special day in the Giddens household. Today marks FOUR years since Will's life-changing accident. It was four years ago that he fell 40 feet rock climbing in Big Cottonwood Canyon in SLC. That fall has affected his life in just about every way possible. Due to that accident he was in the hospital for six weeks, he moved back to Atlanta, we met, dated and married, he transferred back here for school, he's had to learn how to walk all over again, the list goes on and on.

Will is such an amazing example to me of one who has faith in the Lord and an incredible "can-do" attitude, despite how much physical ability has been taken from him and the fact that he lives in constant pain. I have been so blessed to have him in my life and I'm grateful that our Heavenly Father saw fit to spare his life so that he could be a blessing to so many. Will is an amazing husband and incredible father and has a patience and compassion that have developed a hundred fold as a result of his accident. He is a pillar of strength - all kinds. Plus, he has a great sense of humor that has helped us both to deal with the trials we've been given.

Thank you Will for all you are and all you do for our family. We love you!!

Comfortable TV Viewing?

Despite all of my efforts to the contrary, Everett has decided that his favorite way to watch "Sesame Street" and "Clifford, the Big, Red, Dog" are as follows: Diaper (and pants) pulled down, with the occasional scratch, for good measure.

Privacy Needed??

The lack of posts lately is due more to the fact that our camera was having issues than that Everett hasn't been up to fun stuff. I feel like the past few posts have really neglected our favorite little guy, so here's an update: Mr. E is now 16 months old (only 5 more Sundays until he goes into Nursery!!) and becoming quite the little man. He can say apple, diaper, Dad and every now and then I swear he says Mama. He LOVES to wear shoes and is currently obsessed with a blue and red velcro pair from Target. He has been known to go down for naps with the shoes on, as well as in hand. It's gotten to the point where I sometimes hide the shoes so I don't have to fiddle with him wanting them on, then off, then on again. His shoe obsession extends to Will and me too. Every morning he runs to get Will's shoes for him and if I'm going around barefoot, he'll find my flip-flops, bring them to me and won't leave me alone until I've put them on.

Everett has been a one-nap man for about four months now, but it has just been in the last couple of weeks that he's started taking that one nap in the afternoon. He hung on to the morning for as long as he could, but now he's going down between noon and one, which has been absolutely lovely for me.

The weather here has been gorgeous for the entire month of March, so we've been spending many an afternoon at the park. E loves the kiddie swing and climbing up the slide on his feet (with Mom's help, naturally) and then sliding back down, feet first, on his tummy. I can't begin to tell you how much joy this way of sliding has brought him. Everett also enjoys any type of ball. Soccer ball, baseball, golf ball, oversized basketballs. He thinks they are the bees knees and his face lights up whenever he's within a 50 ft radius of a ball.

Our little guy has also been reading up a storm. I must admit, I've been really anxious for him to show some kind of interest in books, and now that he has, I'm day-dreaming of the time when we'll have juvenile fiction books in our home (Juvenile fiction is only some of the greatest reading ever!!). Some of my favorite childhood memories are of reading some great juvenile fiction. Anyway, E's favorites these days are "Thomas and the School Trip", "Clifford the Big, Red Dog", "Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, I'm Off to the Moon!" and "Dr. Seuss's ABC Book". I almost have all of the Thomas book and the Clifford book memorized, thank you very much! Who says your memory goes down the toliet when you get pregnant and have kids??

And perhaps what is definitely signifying that Everett is growing up is the following: He must have some sort of privacy when going to the bathroom. You know, the serious, must concentrate type of bathroom. The other day he and I were playing around in his room having a grand old time. He was all smiles and giggles and then, for some reason (yes, folks, I'm a tad slow sometimes), he would NOT look at me for anything. I thought maybe he was trying to play a game, but when he peeked out over the folder, I could tell him was getting down to "business". Everett, no worries, Mom has learned her lesson and will be giving you all the privacy you need to get the job done!

Whirlwind in Washington D.C.

Last week was Will's Spring Break (I know, it's still amazing to me that colleges actually GET spring breaks. I wonder when BYU will get hip and start giving it's students a well-deserved break in the middle of Winter Semester?) and we spent it in our nation's capital. We left early Tuesday morning and returned to the ATL late Friday evening. It was such a wonderful trip!!
Especially since my mom graciously agreed to watch Everett for the week. A whole four days without the little man??? We love the little guy to pieces, but it was so wonderful to be able to set our own schedule, take only one suitcase, eat when we wanted to, and not have to take into account E's nap/sleep schedule. Plus, it was pretty cold there, so we were glad we left Everett in 70 degree warmth.
Will and I fell in love with D.C. What a neat city! I had been there once before in 5th grade, but Will had never been. We crammed as much as we could into our visit and we still missed out on a ton of stuff. We've decided we'll have to do one of two things: 1) Move there or 2) Visit frequently. We're up for either option.
We took as many photos as we could and quite a bit of video as well. We were the quinessential tourists, complete with backpack, cameras, maps and of course, our Fodor guidebook. Here are some of the better pictures and I'll see if I can't figure out how to post video from our camcorder as well.

Oh! And many thanks to our friends, Craig and Jennifer, for letting us crash at their place. Plus, Shanna, Michelle, Eric, Ryan, Lacey and little Aubrey for making time in their busy schedules to visit with us and share a good meal!

At the Atlanta Airport waiting to board our flight. That BYU hat was such a conversation starter! We met someone at the airport, the Washington Monument and elsewhere who spoke to us simply because they recognized the "Y".


One of the first things we saw, besides the International Spy Museum, was the National Archives. It was awesome to see the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Magna Carta (the Declaration of Independence wasn't on display due to some work they were doing on it). And for the record, the room didn't look anything like it did in National Treasure!


Next up was going up, up, up 550 ft. to the top of the Washington Monument. We could see all over downtown D.C.!









On Wednesday, we drove over to Annapolis to check out the U.S. Naval Academy. We saw the D.C. Temple from the interstate, we ate at the famous Chick and Ruth's Delly, saw the Maryland State House, walked down Main Street in the snow and visited the United States Naval Academy.

On Thursday we saw Ford's Theater, the White House, the Air and Space Museum, the Museum of Natural History, the Capitol, the Holocost Museum, the Supreme Court Building and the Library of Congress.


















Ok, I am now far too frustrated to continue this post. Pictures are taking forever to load and are being funny about placement. Sometimes I really, really miss the old Blogger. Sigh. Suffice it to say, we had a WONDERFUL trip, saw too many more things to list, and simply can't wait to return. Yea for Spring Break and Washington D.C.!!