Easter Festivities

Easter somehow managed to sneak up on me this year.  I have no idea how since it was on the calendar for awhile.  But you know, that first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal equinox is a tricky one.  Regardless, we managed a celebration or two.

Our family was lucky enough to be invited to an Easter egg hunt on the Saturday before Easter.  All the families that were there go to the same elementary school Everett attends, so he was super excited to see friends from school, especially his classmate, Brendan.  And Juliana is smiling with our next-door neighbor, Kate.  Juliana and Kate play together almost every. single. day.

All the kids there were extremely anxious to get the hunt started.  And our wonderful hostess with the mostess was so organized that she had different parts of the park sectioned off for different age groups.  It worked out well not to have 5th graders hunting in the same area as Giselle.

The weather was so crazy that weekend, hence Juliana in long sleeves and pants and Kate in shorts with a sweater.  Juliana came straight home and changed after the hunt.

Fussy Face did a pretty good job, thanks to Daddy's help.  Will was patient enough to allow Giselle to go at a snail's pace.

Pay no attention to that boy in the University of Utah hat.  That was a Will purchase, I think (we all know I didn't buy it!) and unfortunately, Everett loves to wear it.  We were all over the map with college teams at this Easter egg hunt.  Will had a Georgia Tech hat, I had a BYU sweatshirt and Everett was supporting the Utes.  All we needed was some Mizzou gear and we would've been set!

Juliana's friend from church, Preston, was not a happy camper. 

Whenever I hear that phrase "happy camper", I inevitably think of this clip by comedian Jim Gaffigan.  The part I'm referring to starts at about 1:43, but the entire four minute clip is hilarious.  If you're looking to waste even more Internet time, have at it:

Ahh, Everett.  That is a Natalie face if I've ever seen one.

The kids loved it, they had fun, they were with friends - yeah, this Easter egg hunt rocked.

Easter Sunday was pretty sweet.  The kids were completely stoked to find their baskets and gasp with surprise.  If there's anything these three are consistent about, it's gasping.  They are master gaspers.  

It seem like a lot of the little boys at church wear bow ties and Everett wanted to join the party.  I think he looks beyond precious, but I understand that he and I are related, so I could be biased.  And Juliana. Oh, sweet, sweet Juliana.  I wonder if she'll ever let me pull her hair back for church?

I tried to get a picture of all three kids before church, but someone under the age of two wouldn't cooperate.  The next few are the best I got...

Seriously, this one was the best.  It's official - I stink at picture taking.

After church we dyed eggs and I made a killer Easter dinner.  Seriously awesome.  Homemade rolls, ham, some kind of potatoes, but the piece de resistance was a homemade coconut cream pie.  It ruled!

Everett helped me with dinner, hence the apron.

Man, I love these people!

What's that you say?  You weren't sure I was still around?  Well, it's true - there's actually a picture of me.  On the blog. With the kids.  It's an Easter miracle!

Cutie Pies

Lovely girls +

The Butterfly House =

Lots of mouths agape, 

lots of finger pointing, 

and a fairly good time had by all.  Well, mostly...

Small Bump = (kinda) Big Deal

I read once that when you move to different part of the country be prepared for an initial increase in colds, sickness and doctor's visits.  Over our past year in St. Louis, the kids have proven 100%, without a doubt, that theory correct.  

Giselle and Everett seemed to be competing neck and neck for first prize with number of doctor's visits and weird diagnoses , but that Giselle, she's stubborn and a fighter, two characteristics I hope will serve her well throughout her life.  Just before our year mark, our baby girl came in with a medical procedure that all but assured her the title of "Giddens Kid with Most Doctor's Visits and Weird Medical Issues"  (What?  You didn't know about that award?)

Sometime last May, around Giselle's first birthday, I felt a small bump on the right side of her neck/head. It felt odd to me, but I wasn't too worried.  Worrying's not really in my nature. At her year check-up I pointed it out to her pediatrician who suggested that it might be a swollen lymph node.  She said to keep an eye on it and let her know if it didn't go away.

By the end of the summer the lump was still there and if anything, seemed bigger and harder.  When I pointed it out again to the pediatrician, her first comment was, "Whoa, that seems bigger."  So off to get an ultrasound we went.  Since by this time the bump was causing Giselle some pain, imagine how fun getting that ultrasound was!  A perfect stranger pushing a weird device all along the back of Giselle's head, pressing on the painful bump.  I think the entire floor of the hospital heard Giselle's screaming that day.

The ultrasound proved inconclusive, so our doctor recommended seeing a pediatric ENT specialist.  This was right around the holidays and since things got busy, we decided to wait until January to schedule an appt.  When we finally met with the specialist he came in and immediately recommended surgery.  He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but due to it's location, he wanted it out asap.  Surgery was scheduled for the end of March.

I was still fairly confident that this would turn out to be nothing, but during the time between meeting with the specialist and going in for the surgery, I felt like I was inundated with more than one story of something tragic occurring to children.  Thankfully, lots of prayers were said and Will, with the help of one of our home teachers, gave Giselle a blessing the Sunday before her Tuesday surgery.  While still a bit apprehensive, I felt peace.

The night before her surgery, Giselle was fine.  The morning of her surgery, Giselle was fine.  In the pre-op room, Giselle played in the sink.  This girl had not a care in the world.  She fussed a little when they took her away, but overall, she was fine.

The surgery took all of 40 minutes, during which time Giselle was under general anesthesia.  The doctor reported that he took quite a big mass out of her head.  He said it was so big that he had to take it out in chunks.  Dr. Clary (really awesome, by the way) said he thought it looked like a benign hair follicle tumor, but that he would confirm that once he had the pathology report.

The last time I was under general anesthesia was 20 (!) years ago when I had my wisdom teeth out.  Will, on the other hand, has had it much more recently than that.  He, along with the nurses, warned me that Giselle would not be happy when she came out of surgery.  Oh boy was she angry!  Screaming and crying and yelling about the I.V. on her hand.  She wanted me and then she didn't, she wanted Daddy and then she didn't.  She was calm and then screaming.  It was actually kind of funny.  We took her home about an hour after she came out of surgery.  Once we got home, she. was. totally. fine.  I couldn't believe it!  We had all sorts of warnings about how she might be fussy, or tired, or have a hard time balancing, or sleeping, etc.  Giselle was outside running after the big kids by 4 o'clock.  She didn't skip a beat!

That was two weeks ago and things have been completely fine.  Her incision site is healing and she still has a couple of stitches that have yet to dissolve.  They don't even seem to bother her.

We went for a post-op check-up this morning and Dr. Clary confirmed that the mass was exactly what he thought it was.  Giselle was given a clean bill of health and everyone's happy.  Yea for modern medicine and lots of prayers!

Spring Break Extravaganza

Our recipe for one awesome Spring Break Extravaganza:

Monday: Visit the library to stock up on books that we'll make absolutely no time to read over the course of the week.  Hit up the playground which is beyond crowded with other local elementary-aged kids.  Have Juliana be scared of the big slide and Giselle refuse to give up a bouncy seat to a seven year old.

Tuesday: Go to the zoo.  Get there so early that we don't have to pay to park (yahooooo!).  Ride the carousel first thing for free.  

Spend another 4+ hours at the zoo and have the kids tell me their favorite part of the entire, exhausting day is...wait for it...the carousel.

Wednesday: Visit the Missouri Botanical Gardens (free on Wednesday for St. Louis County residents - that's us) with the Creer crew and friends.  Have the kids be somewhat baffled by all the flowers (what, no rides? no animals?  What is this place?), but then embrace the openness and general craziness of three moms and 12 kids.

Definitely enjoy Juliana fussiness.  This is her refusing to smile for me.

Enjoy chillin' Giselle.  Well, temporarily.  Scroll down for some Giselle awesomeness.

Ahh, there it is.  Contrary to this photographic evidence, my girls loved these sheep.  We enjoyed not one, but two, tantrums when we tried to move beyond these sheep to other parts of the garden.  Fun times!

Thursday: Attempt to instill an appreciation for fine art at the St. Louis Art Museum.  Another freebie.  We went, along with the Creer kids, for two exhibits and two exhibits only (I didn't want to press our luck).

We saw the Egypitan mummies (THE highlight of the experience, according to Everett and Juliana).

And the swords and armor.

It was a beautiful building and I can't wait to return soon and see more of it than I did with the kids.

Friday: Go to the children's museum - The Magic House.

While this sounded like a good idea in theory, in reality it was a crazy madhouse with kids as old as 12 and 13 running around like madmen.  We really only lasted about 30 minutes until I'd had enough and yelled at everyone that we were leaving.  Dragging one particularly fussy child (who shall remain nameless) back to the car was totally a highlight of this day.

And there you have it.  Follow this recipe and you are sure to have fun, make memories and be completely exhausted by the end of the week.  Enjoy!