Moving my blog.

I know that I don't have many followers, but for those of you who do check in every once in a while....I am moving our blog. Our new blog will be located at:

thewigginsarehere.wordpress.com

This all happened very quickly this morning as I was getting increasing frustrated with my inablitly to "beautify" my blog. See, David set my blog up for my as a gift last year, and since I didn't want to seem ungrateful, I didn't mention the fact that I thought it lacked a little umph. So this morning, as I was trying to give the blog some umph, I found myself getting increasingly frustrated (almost to the point of cursing and throwing the computer) I decided I had to make a change to something that was eaiser for me to navigate (sorry blogger).

So check us out at wordpress because I am leaving the blogger behind!!

Ramblings...

So...about 5 months ago I posted a blog about being a mommy of two. At that time I was still adjusting and not getting a full nights sleep. But now that I have had some time to adjust and Jude sleeps A LOT...I have to say I am loving it! When I was pregnant I remember being excited about the day I would see my two kids playing together, but it is even better then I could ever have imagined. It helps that I have two of the sweetest kids in the world, seriously, they make my life so much easier. Lately David and I just find ourselves looking at each other say "they are so stinkin' sweet!!"

They other day I was taking video of the two of them. Jude has been chattering a lot and I wanted to get it on video. Annabel and I watched the video on the computer and she was cracking up whenever Jude was on. She thought he was hilarious...it was so cute. She will just randomly hug him and give him kisses and he breaks out the biggest smile ever!

I really love being a mom. It is easy to assume that since your kids love you so much that all kids love you so much...but the other day as I was holding a baby that wasn't mine, I realized this isn't the case. I can make my kids happy SO easily, but I did all the same things with this other baby and it did NOT work. While it was a little frustrating, it made me realize how special the bond is between me and my children. It is hard and you have to give a lot of yourself, but it is so worth it!

I know this is probably weird, but I am weird so it is okay, but sometimes I think about what a woman who has a hard time getting pregnant would think if she heard me complaining about not getting enough sleep or potty training or something. I can imagine she would think I did not appriciate what God has given me so easily and I guess it keeps me in check. Sometimes when things come easily to us we don't realize how great of a blessing it is. Sometime we take things that come easily to us for granted...I don't. God has blessed me and I know it. I don't EVER want to take my family for granted, because I know in this day and age it is a valuable and rare gift. And as long as God is willing I vow to love being a mom and wife. I know I may not be the best out there, but I am going to give it my best. And in the meantime here is a cute video of my son the Billy Goat!

New Stuff.

I feel so blessed! I had a wonderful 28th birthday last week...David took me on a date and it was a blast. David's parents came in town and they watched the kids when we went out. We had a great visit with Grandma and Pop.

Also, the weather here is amazing! Maybe I am weird, but good weather can put me in such a great mood. A couple days ago the high was like 70...fall is definitely the best time of year here. One thing I am still not getting used to...only like two months of good swimming weather. Our neighborhood pool is already closed. That seems crazy comng from Florida were September is still HOT!

So, two new things in the life of the Wiggins. The first...drum roll....Annabel has started Preschool! Can I get a woot woot...haha. Okay, but seriously...I think I may be more excited then her but she is getting the hang of it. She is actually there right now...so it is kind of nice to be able to blog in a quiet house. Jude still takes a morning nap so I have about 2 hours of quiet on Tues. and Thurs. mornings. It is very nice. Annabel's first day of school I think she was a little nervous...which was hard, but she worked it out and now she loves it.

The second new thing for me is I am working. Okay...only like 7 hours a week, but still it is something. I am working in our church preschool department on wednesdays mornings and evenings. It is interesting because my first day I felt so happy. It has been a long time since I brought a paycheck into our house and I guess I forgot how good it feels to make a little money. I felt like I was actually contributing. Not that I haven't over the past few years, but I have had a job since I was 15 so sometimes I feel a little guilty not having one. I guess I feel like more a part of the real world and it is nice. It is also kind of nice working in childcare (never thought I would say that...hahaha). I haven't really done that since I was a teenager and I have a very different perspective now that I am a parent myself. Having dropped my kids off and picked them up many times it always feels bad when then teacher is looking around like..."uhhh, which one belongs to you again. Oh, yeah okay here she is." I hate it when they give you no information, you almost feel like they didn't even realize your kid was in their class. So, that being said I am really trying to get to know each of my kids and it is my goal to give each parent a feeling of peace when they drop their child off with me. It really is a ministry to that parent...it is such a nice feeling when you feel like someone has invested time in your child and takes a few minutes to let you know how your child did. So that is my goal and it feels nice to be able to do it for other moms.

Annabel's Art

Finally Annabel is getting better at coloring and drawing pictures. She has had almost no interest up to this point in coloring at all. At church when I pick up her pictures there is usually just one line drawn on it and the rest is blank. I know her well enough to know she drew her one line and ran back to play with her toys. I am always blown away by kids who can sit quietly and color for long periods of time.

Well, the other night we sat together and drew pictures for probably 30 minutes. It was great. Annabel drew pictures of her family. So...here they are.

Her first portrait was of me...

As you can see she has some things to work out.

Next she drew Daddy...



David is looking a little better.

Now for her self-portrait...

And last but not least Jude...

No doubt about it Jude turned out best. It is amazing to me the each picture got a little better. She knew Momma did not turn out right. Well, that is the latest.

Psalms

Okay, so my favorite verse over the last few months has been Psalms 103: 1-6. It gives me so much hope and security in Christ. Here it is:

"Praise the Lord, O my soul, all my inmost being praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-

who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion

who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's

The Lord works rightousness and justice for all the oppressed."

I LOVE this verse. As I have matured as a Christian I realize that a lot of these benefits may not be realized on earth, but we have so long with Christ and I love that as Christ-followers we all are subject to recieve these benefits for our belief! What a blessing to be a follower of Christ. Today I am remembering that the blessings of Christ aren't new cars, big homes or anything that can be purchased here on earth, the blessing of Christ CANNOT be bought. It is such a burden to think that so many people on earth will miss these blessings.

I love the part that God satisfies our desires with good things. We serve a good God, who has our best interest in mind. We have to trust Him through every trial!!

"Praise the Lord, O my soul, all my inmost being, praise his holy name."

Haircuts, Cookbooks and Mommyhood.

Annabel and I got our haircut together for the first time on Friday. She was so cute sitting beside me while the hairstylists did our hair at the same time. Annabel was having conversation with her stylist and it was so adorable. We ended up with very similar styles even though that was not my plan. I figure she will never want the same style as her mom again in her life, so it is probably okay just this once.

David bought me a cookbook magazine and I am going to start my adventure of cooking through it for the next two months. I already have my schedule for dinners figured out for August and I am really excited. I start tonight with a chicken and rice recipe. The funny thing is David surprised me with the cookbook and at first I was a little disappointed because I thought I wanted to pick it out myself. As it turns out it was a great choice because the meals are not too difficult and I don't have to make the decision of which cookbook is best (going back to my indecisiveness). Another good thing about this cookbook they are not grouped into the type of meat...so I can go in order and we get something different each night. I will let you know how it goes. So far I have made a delicious Summer Berry Cheese Pie...yummy!

Jude is getting big. He is sitting up on his own and crawling. He has even pulled himself up to a standing position. He is almost done with nursing and I am having mixed emotions about that. I nursed Annabel for 11 months and Jude is not quite 7 months...but he seems fine with it so that is a relief. It is sad becaue I know he is getting bigger, but good because he is becoming more independent.

Right now I am loving being a mom and wife. I don't know if I say it enough, but being a mom is one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me. I never want to take it for granted. God has truely blessed me with my family.

First Time for Everything.

So...I got my first evil death stare from a mother yesterday at Chick-fil-a. Let me go ahead and define evil death stare so we are all on the same page.

Evil Death Stare- a look from another mother while she holds her crying child that says, "You are a terrible mother. I can't believe you have such a horrible child. Where did they learn such behavior? You must push your children around all day, because I don't see how else they could have learned such a horrific act."

Okay, I may be exaggerating a little...but only a small amount. It was bad. I had no idea what or if my daughter had done anything to her child because they were out of our sight when the terrible behavior occured, but Annabel's demeanor said it all. She had guilt written on her face. I am not writing about this to wave responsibility from my child or myself. Annabel got in trouble and further action is in place. I say this to say to other mom's out there. Give me a break. Do you seriously mean to tell me your child has never done anything they are not supposed to? If your answer to that question is "No" you are in denial.

My child (who is usually very good) sometimes does things that leave me and David looking at each other in wonder. Sometimes she does and says things you have no idea where it came from. And I have a feeling it only gets worse as they get older.

I write this to say...Moms, yes stick up for your kid when they are wronged (that part of you job), but also remember that it is likely you will be on the other side oneday. No one understands better then other moms how you feel about the burdens of raising a child who is a responsible and kind human being. But lets support each other and give each other the benefit of the doubt...and lets save the evil death stares for our husbands. :)