Looks of Distress

These pictures perfectly capture how my kids look once we're finishing up at the grocery store:

Everett wants out and Juliana just looks bored. Pretty typical outing for these two.

Funny how they look exactly how I feel. Grocery shopping with two kids is a marathon filled with phrases like, "No, no, no don't run!" "Everett, watch where you're going, please!" "We're almost finished!" "No, we're not getting that today!" "No, put that back, please!" "C'mon please. Keep up with me." "No, no, back in the buggy!" Interspersed with some crying or all around fussing. Oh how I look forward to grocery days!

Can Hardly Wait for October 24th

I don't know that I've ever admitted this on the blog before, but I'm a sucker for Disney Channel movies. I just can't get enough of them! Yes, they're cheesy/corny/silly, but they are so much fun to watch. I think I've always had a secret desire to actually BE in one of those movies. If only...

Anyway, it should come as no surprise that I liked the High School Musical movies. The songs are great and the dancing and acting just make me laugh. So I was totally stoked to find this little gem when I was perusing through YouTube earlier today. Mark your calendars now for High School Musical 3: Senior Year hits theaters on October 24th! That's right folks, none of this premiering on the Disney Channel stuff anymore. This is big time. Anyway I could convince some of you to join me at the theater??

It's Great to Turn 28 on August 8th, 2008!

I read this morning that the Chinese consider 8 to be a very lucky number. Today is Will's 28th birthday, so if you did the math, you'd know that he was born on 08-08-80. When he turned 8 years old, his mom got the local paper to do a story on him. The headline read something like, "Local boy turns 8 on 8/8/88". As I am not nearly as thorough in my birthday giving to get Will in the paper, he'll have to settle for being mentioned on the family blog. That's almost the same thing, right?

There is so much I could say about Will, but as I tend to get overly sappy and sentimental when it comes to Will (especially when I'm talking about him on the blog), I'll try to keep this light-hearted and fun. And in keeping with the whole "eight is lucky" idea, here are...

Eight Reasons Why Will is Lucky:

1) He has a son who thinks he is the coolest, strongest dad around and a daughter whose face lights up all excited-like whenever he walks into a room.

2) He does GREAT impressions. Much to the constant delight of his wife. I'm forever asking Will to repeat funny things in funny ways and I've been known to still laugh and giggle at things Will has said a good week or two after he's said them.

3) He's 6'3". He's always able to see over folks, doesn't have to stand on his tip-toes to reach things and is the first to know where it rains.

4) He has a wife who doesn't mind if he owns guns, goes shooting/hunting, watches Ultimate Fighting or has "dude time".

5) He makes friends easily and well. People love Will.

6) He drives aggressively and never seems to get into or cause an accident.

7) He's been everywhere, driven every kind of car, gone to every concert and eat at every cool restaurant. I'm serious. Whenever I mention something I'd like to do, go or eat, he'll usually say, "You've never done/gone/eaten there? I have..." And of course, all of his stories are LONG before he ever met me. Coincidentally.

8) He always knows the correct words to songs, so he spares himself the embarrassment of belting out the wrong words at the top of his lungs only to discover that he has them completely wrong. Trust me, it's embarrassing.

So, in the words of Will's Primary kids:

You've had a birthday, shout Hooray!

We want to sing to you today.

One year older and wiser too.

Happy Birthday! To you!

Playing Catch Up

I realized earlier today that I have things I've been meaning to share, so this will be a fairly random post. You've been warned. Continue reading at your own attention span's risk.

We've been having some really good times lately - in every way - familially, couple-ly, financially, Will's job-ily, emotionally, etc. Things finally feel like they're starting to turn in our favor and it's exciting. Will's starting to do well at work and I'm so proud of him. And the kids! Oh, the kids. They are doing really well. Juliana is full of personality and I really love to see her and Everett play together. We have a morning routine that we all seem to enjoy. It goes a little like this:

1) Juliana begins to cry, signalling she is finished with her morning nap and would we please come and get her already.

2) Everett gasps excitedly, "Jew-i-ya's awake! Jew-i-ya's awake!" At which point we both stomp very noisily up the stairs all the while Everett's yelling, "We're coming Jew-i-ya, we're coming!"

3) Everett busts open the door and we see Juliana standing in her crib, smiling at us, usually with some form of very fine bedhead.

4) Next comes any combination of changing J's poopy diaper (she's like clockwork), getting her dressed, and/or getting Everett dressed.

5) Everett promptly goes into the closet (where their toy box is stored), drags it to the center of the floor and proceeds to completely dump it out.

6) Inevitably, the first toy Juliana reaches for is, of course, the one toy Everett wants to play with, so he takes it from her and she begins to fuss.

7) With my amazing Mom skills, diaster is averted as I somehow convince Everett that he really wants to play with a different toy, Juliana is pacified and playtime resumes.

8) I put the gate up at the top of the stairs and enjoy a relatively fuss-free shower. I can then get dressed all the while the kids are STILL PLAYING WITH THEIR TOYS AND EACH OTHER! Does this sound like close to heaven to anyone else?

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I finally got Juliana to the doctor for her nine month checkup. Our gal is tipping the scales at 21.5 pounds (around the 75th percentile) and measuring 30 inches long (around the 95th percentile). I so, so, so hope she gets a lot of her dad's height. I always wanted to be 5'7", just like my 7th grade Social Studies teacher, Mrs. Brantley. She seemed so tall and beautiful that I knew if I could only be 5'7" just like her, oh how my life would be complete. Little did I know that 7th grade would be the last time I grew vertically. And here I am, eternally stuck at 5'5". If my daughter could grow to be at least 5'7" I think I could die a happy woman.

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We finally got a booster seat for Juliana and it is so cute to have both the kids sitting at the table. Juliana has shunned baby food like a bad habit, so she is now the queen of bananas, egg whites, cheese, applesauce, strawberries, olives, bread, mini-Nilla wafers, goldfish, pb and j's, cucumbers, pancakes and bagels. I'd forgotten just how messy little ones first learning to self-feed can be. Yes, there's always quite a mess after she finishes eating. And unfortunately, it's not all just on the floor.

And though they don't look like it, they do actually enjoy being at the table together.
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One of the things I love about Will is how hands-on he is as a dad. He tries things with both the kids that I either don't think about or think will be too much of a pain. Like baking with Everett. A couple of weeks ago Will decided that he and Everett would bake some chocolate chip cookies together. Once Everett figured out what was going on he was THRILLED to help Dad. Will let Everett measure and stir and it's seriously all Everett can talk about. "I make cookies with Dad." Repeated about 50 times a day. Every day. I'm not kidding.

But it was really cute and so fun to see Everett get so excited about something. Baking cookies with Dad is now their own thing, which I am more than happy to relinquish to Will.

This is the smile of a little boy so excited he couldn't/wouldn't go to sleep until 10 o'clock that night. Joy!

Everett must have enjoyed the cooking baking experience so much so that later that week as we were driving in the car and stopped at a red light, he spotted a "really BIG cookie". Keeping dreaming son!

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I got a new swimsuit! After being inspired by how cute my friend, Kim, looked in her Modbe suit, I got online and got one for myself. I got this top, but I paired it with a red bottom. It came in the mail today and I'll admit, I was a little nervous about how it would fit. But nervous I needn't be! Because it is cute and sassy - just like any gal likes to feel in her swimsuit. So thank you Kim for getting a Modbe suit and posting a picture on your blog. And thank you Modbe for designing and selling cute swimsuits. I couldn't have looked halfway decent in a swimsuit without you!
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And finally, I just have to say that Will is pretty awesome. Unknown to most, Will is a fan of the theater. He acted some in high school (in addition to playing football, wrestling and playing the cello in orchestra. I know, my own modern-day Renaissance man, right?) and actually won Best Actor in State his senior year. Anyway, we went to a couple of musicals when we were dating and engaged, but since we've been married we just haven't been able to enjoy the arts as much as we would've liked.

When Wicked came here a couple of years ago we weren't able to go. I decided to read the book, that maybe that would satisfy my desire, but let me tell you, it didn't. I just didn't get that book. It was weird. And long. And a little boring. But I've heard the musical is a million times better. So ever since we missed it the first time, I've been dying to see it. Also, Will's birthday is next Friday and we were talking about what he might like to do to celebrate.

So imagine my surprise when he came home today and told me that not only would we be going to Wicked in October (YES!), but we were going to celebrate his birthday by going to Les Miserables in September (double YES!). Seriously - YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Will, it's true, you are pretty awesome.

Memories, Like the Corner of my Mind

I've seen this on Emma's, Christina's and Christianne's blog and thought it was so cute! Please indulge me, if you have a moment. Also, I know some of you know Will better, so feel free to leave a Will memory. Whichever you'd like...


1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Pulling a Load

Ugh, seriously. When Everett insisted on lugging Juliana around in his red wagon, I honestly didn't think either of them would enjoy it, but much to my surprise, he got quite a workout (she's HEAVY) and she seemed content to let him fling her about.Have I mentioned before how much I love having two kids merely for entertainment purposes? It's so nice to have Everett want to lug Juliana around in the wagon since I have no intention of doing so. I prefer to think of my attitude as helping Everett become independent as well as helping the kids learn to play together, and not indicitive of laziness on my part at all.
This picture is priceless. Kind of like, "Mom, I'm supposed to be enjoying this, right?" Yes, darling girl, enjoy it and just keep that death grip on the sides. I promise I'll come to your rescue if it looks like your brother is going to pop that wagon up on two wheels!

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!