"ok... fiiiiine."

Having a 12- and 9-year old around to help with their little sister is incredible in so many ways, but it's not without its drawbacks.  Like the things they teach their sister to say, even indirectly.

At the moment, Elliott's favorite way to respond to any command from me is to say, "ok...  fiiiiiine."  She doesn't say it with a whole lot of attitude necessarily, and some times it comes out down right sweet.  But it's such a shock from the mouth of the little girl whose every response had always been "yes mommy."  At least I can now perfectly illustrate to the boys the point I'm making when I say, "You HAVE to watch everything you say around your little sister."

As an aside, the picture above was actually taken last month when we were at Sean's sister's house in Florida, and has nothing to do with this post other than the fact that it just LOOKS like the face of a little girl who would say "ok fiiiine," doesn't it??

first lake day

The other day I let Sean talk me into going out on the boat for the day.  He billed it as "relaxing" and that sounded good to this ever-tired prego.  It was our first time in the boat for the year, and I forgot to remember how much work that would entail.  (I'm forgetting to remember a lot of things these days - I think the term "pregnesia" is appropriate.)  Anyway, after 2 full hours of bleaching, mopping and hosing all the vinyl and decks, we set off.  

Is it just me, or is this little girl getting huge?

She loved helping her daddy drive the boat.

And she LOVED being in the water.

Wyatt had a blast jumping off the side of the boat.

Kellen did too.

Once again, Wyatt cracks me up.  What kinda face is this??  And that hair!

Kellen, on the other hand, is sporting his GQ smile.

Everybody in the water!

Elliott's not the only one getting big. Kellen drove the boat almost the whole way back to the dock.  By HIMSELF.

Now would be the part when I start shuddering thinking about him driving an actual car.  Ay yi.

curiosity cat

Back in April, Kellen had the privilege of helping Children's Theatre of Knoxville premiere Chris Grabenstein's new play, Curiosity Cat.  Chris, a UT alum who resides in NYC and authors the famous Ceepak mystery series, penned Curiosity Cat just for CTK.  Everyone who saw it, not just us biased parents, thought the show was incredible.  During the run of the show, we learned that Samuel French has agreed to publish the play and the best part, according to Kellen, is that all publications will list the original cast members by name.  So now everytime someone performs this amazing show, they'll note that Kellen Gifford played the first ever "Charlie."*

Here are a few pics from the show.  On opening night there was a reception which Chris attended - I loved this cake.

These are Zack Allen, CTK's Executive Director, Jenny Ballard, the show's director, and author Chris Grabenstein.

The cast poster:

Kellen and Tubbs the Cat:

Kellen with Caroline, who played Charlie's sister "Claire," and whose mother took all these pictures:

Kellen and Caroline with Kellen's BFF and sometimes-twin, Alex, who played the title character, Curiosity Cat:

Kellen chillin at rehearsal:

This was such a fun show.  Kellen can't wait to do another one with his CTK buds.

*Clearly I picked the wrong name for Kellen at birth.  This is his 3rd time to play a "Charlie" - first in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, then in Canterville Ghost, and now in Curiosity Cat. 

the name game...

As many of you know, my sister-in-law Allison is expecting her 3rd little baby boy.  His brothers are named Gavin and Nolen, so they thought they'd pick a name ending in "n" for this fella, too.  And here's the fun part:  you can vote to help them pick one!  For those of you who don't know them, vote anyway - it's superfun that randomly connected people can help you name your next child!  I love technology.

Just click here:

Vote now!

playing catch up... Easter!

I realize it's been a couple months since the Easter bunny hippity-hopped our way, but I promised to fill in some of my blogging blanks, and I have to post a few pics from Easter - mostly because I think I have about the cutest kids in the world.  You don't have to agree with me, but I'm right.  Here's proof:

This kid cracks me up.  Constantly.  

Mamaw and Papaw are nothing if not fair, so Elliott hunted Easter eggs in the back of the house where the pickings were easy:

While Kellen and Wyatt had to duke it out in the front yard with their cousins:

Speaking of their cousins, this whole bunch is cute, don't you think?

One of Elliott's cousins in particular is a big fan of hers.  Nolen was so sweet to pick a flower for her - and give her some sugar!

I'm Baaaaack!

Two months?  Two months!  That's how long it's been since I've posted.  Sorry, to the 3 of you who read this blog.  ;-)  I have a good excuse for my absence... in that time I discovered I'm carrying baby Gifford #4. 

 (not an actual photograph of #4)*

In that time, we also made a trip to Mississippi to visit my brand new niece Addison.  And I have zero pictures of the trip.  Apparently the energy necessary to lift my camera to eye height is too much to expect of my pregnant self.  We also made a trip to Florida to visit Sean's sister Sara and her family.  Again - no pictures.  Again - too lazy to take them.  But take my word for it:  Addison is adorable and we had a blast beaching and swimming in Florida.

I'm gonna refrain from posting pics of my pregnant belly, because, of course, that would require me to take pictures.  But trust me when I tell you it's poking out there already.  Right now I'm eating about every 30 minutes (I'm barely exaggerating on that), which is only slightly more frequently than I'm throwing up (WISH I was exaggerating on that).  I detest peanuts and the smell of them - I know, peanuts? - and I love greasy food.  Long John Silver's hush puppies and Chick-Fil-A chicken biscuits are staples.  I should probably invest in Crestor now - for me and my unborn. 

I have some blog catching up to do - posts about some cool stuff the little giffords have been up to - and I'll get around to it soon.  Promise.  For those of you to whom I owe emails, phone calls, money from a bet, etc.:  be patient with me.  A few more weeks and I should hit that 2nd trimester energy burst.

*Why does the lawyer in me feel the need to put a disclaimer on everything?

A little TOO plugged in...

I took these pictures a few weeks back while we were in the car and meant to post them then, but forgot.  We were on our way to take Kellen to rehearsal, a mere 15 minute drive from our house.  Apparently that's WAY too long a drive to just look out the window and enjoy the scenery...

Elliott is watching a movie (undoubtedly Barney).

Kellen is texting a friend and listenting to his iPod.

Wyatt is listening to his iPod and watching Elliott's movie.

Don't worry, I took these pictures while stopped at a red light.  It just struck me as funny, and more than a little sad, that they're all so "wired."  It reminded me of Wall-E.  The saddest part is I really didn't notice it - to me it was welcome peace and quiet (a nice change of pace compared to most car rides) until we stopped at a light and I turned to check on them.  They'd all retreated into their little worlds, and we were missing valuable time to actually talk to each other!  Lesson  learned...