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.

Two Peas in a Pod

In order to make all this:

We first had to go here:


After a whole year of enjoying the jam made from last year's strawberry picking escapade, we decided to make it a yearly tradition. Homemade strawberry jam is seriously yummy and Will now turns his nose up in disgust at even the thought of store bought jam. So we got the group together (Paula, Lydia, Grandma, Wendy and Tyler) and headed for the strawberry patch. The weather was beautiful and sunny and we all picked to our hearts' content. Well, except for maybe Everett and Tyler, who decided it would be more fun to hug, play, push each other, run in the woods, etc. Basically everything EXCEPT pick strawberries. Oh well, such is the life of and 2 and 1/2 and almost 3 year old.


We brought along Grandma so she could watch the girls while the moms picked the berries. The girls did so well and played in a little makeshift playpen and spent the time soaking up some rays.

Afterwards we munched on some goodies, which Tyler and Everett simply LOVED. Check out Tyler's cool shades:

And then it was home to make the jam. We picked six buckets of strawberries which means in addtion to what you see here, we now have five gallon-sized bags of strawberries in the freezer and two more buckets I need to get to in order to make more jam. Uh, yeah, just call us some jam-making fools!
PS-Thanks goes to Wendy for the title of this blog post. Of course, in reference to Everett and Tyler.

Gratitude for Will

Ahh, good 'ol April 19th. A date that will live in infamy - in the Giddens household at least. April 19th is one of those anniversaries that we can't help but look forward to, even if it does commemorate a less than happy event. April 19th, 2003 is the date of Will's rock climbing accident. The accident that has had such a ripple effect on every other aspect of his life. I've been ever mindful that it was this Saturday for about a month now. I don't really want to repeat everything I wrote last year, or bore those who already know the story, but I would like to record my feelings about this date, especially for posterity's sake, so here I go...

Whenever April 19th rolls around I'm always filled with so much gratitude for Will. I always love, admire and respect him, but when April 19th gets here, I'm filled to the brim with love and gratitude for this amazing person I'm lucky enough to call my husband. How lucky am I that he survived the accident and came back to Georgia and met and married me? How lucky am I to have a husband who is so perfectly suited for me and my personality? How lucky am I that we have such a wonderful, happy and fulfilling marriage? How lucky am I to see him be such a devoted and loving father to our two kids? I call it lucky here, but I truly know that Will's life was spared for a reason and there really wasn't any luck involved. I firmly believe Heavenly Father had and still has a special plan for Will's life and that April 19th, 2003 simply wasn't his time to leave this earth.

Will is such a example of strength. For those of you who know him personally, you may have noticed he rarely mentions the pain he's in or that he's uncomfortable in any way. In fact, a lot of folks have told us that they even forget Will's disabled at all. As his wife, I get to see first hand the hardships he endures on a daily basis. From getting out of bed, going up and down stairs, to working in the yard, or running around with Everett. All very simple tasks and yet each provide their own challenge to him and his feet and legs. He rarely complains - even to me. In fact, he usually has a humorous comment and a ready laugh for everyone he meets. I often look at him in sheer amazement that one individual could be asked to endure so much. And yet he does so, with hardly a complaint.

As April 19th is a Saturday this year it's been especially poignant as it was a Saturday five years ago. Sometimes I wish we could turn back time and have things turn out differently, but then I remember that although the accident was terrible, it brought Will and I together and that has been the biggest, most amazing blessing to us both. And so, today marks another year that I've been able to enjoy Will. Here's to many more and happy April 19th to everyone!