8.28.2012

Everybody is ready

I'm ready. Rob is ready. And now, Elijah is ready...well almost ready. As I have now started going to the doctor on a weekly basis, my doctor has also started doing weekly exams to check for any changes. And changes my body has made. I've elected to not share these details on Facebook for all the world to see. So I'm sharing them here, where, unfortunately, not a ton of people migrate - especially not of the male orientation.

As of today, Baby Boy has definitely dropped and I am now 50% effaced. This, of course, says nothing about when Elijah will begin his journey into the world. It is, however, REALLY good news that my body has made this change.

Our next appointment is a week from tomorrow. At this appointment we will get one last sonogram to ensure I am still holding onto enough amniotic fluid and make sure E is doing well and isn't getting too big. It is so crazy to think that this is the last time we'll see our son before we are holding him in our arms. While I'm excited about this sonogram, I'd much rather see him face-to-face and hopefully in about 3 weeks, I will see him face-to-face. What a glorious day that will be!

7.30.2012

Craft Night

Saturday night was Craft Night in the Wiggins' home. There are three crafts that I've been putting off making for Elijah's nursery and Saturday night I completed one of them.

I got this craft idea from a friend who got the idea from Pinterest.




 I got everything from Michael's. To create the chevron lines I used painters tape and to glue the letters I used a dab of E6000 on each letter. I'm giving the glue more time to dry, but once it's dry, I will post pictures of the painting on the wall in his room.

Next projects to come: Prayer mobile and Name canvas (one canvas with Elijah in Hebrew lettering and another with English definition of name).

7.18.2012

Getting Ready for Baby

As we enter this 31st week of pregnancy, Rob and I have gone into overdrive getting things ready for this baby. Over the last 3 weeks, we have acquired a glider, a changing table and changing pad, a bed, and a crib mattress; we have assembled a swing, diaper genie, and travel system. We have had a maternity session with my best friend (can't wait to see the final products) and we have been to our first of three baby-prep classes.


Over the next 6 weeks, we will be decorating the nursery, washing and organizing his clothes, going to our last two baby-prep class (baby care basics and lamaze), finding a baby memory book and his coming home outfit, and of course all the doctor's visits in there (which are now every other week).


With all the craziness of physically getting ready for the arrival of this sweet child, we must not forget about the spiritual readiness that must also occur. 


Last Sunday I was leading worship and we sang the song "Cornerstone" by Hillsong. As we were singing, the Spirit prompted me, as he does so many times during prayer and worship, to place my hand on my tummy and proclaim these words over my unborn son: 
-Verse 1-
My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
but wholly trust in Jesus' name

-Chorus-
Christ alone, Cornerstone
Weak made strong, in the Savior's love
Through the storm
He is Lord, Lord of All

-Verse 2-
When darkness seems to hide His face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil

My anchor holds within the veil

-Verse 3-
Then He shall come with trumpets sound
Oh, may I then in Him be found
Dressed in His righteousness alone
faultless, stand before the throne 

As excited as I am to hold my munchkin in my arms, this time of him being inside of me, fully dependent and always right there with me, has been such a blessing. I have loved being able to pray over this child and dream about all the wonderful things he will do in his life - the sports he'll play, the friends he'll make, eventually the college he'll go to and the woman he'll marry. 
My prayer remains that he will never know a time that he didn't know and love Jesus; that he will grow up with a burning passion to take the Gospel to all nations and peoples; that his hope will be built on nothing less than Jesus Christ, the Cornerstone.

7.13.2012

Thankful for Tuesdays - Friday Edition

Although I had the entire week off last week, I somehow didn't find an ounce of time to blog. Week before last, I'm not sure what my excuse was, but I didn't post then either. Forgive me.

This week, I am thankful for my job.
In October, I started a nanny job with a family of four. I was basically their go-to for everything - taking care of the kids, buying groceries, cooking dinner - anything they needed me to do, I did.
Then I found out that we had a little nugget on the way.
When I took the job, they told me that if I had any children, they didn't want me to bring them with me to work. So once we found out about our little nugget on the way, I knew I'd have to find a new job. There's no way I'm putting my child in childcare when that's what I do all day.
So the hunt began for a new job. I knew I wanted to be a nanny again, because I LOVE it! But I also knew I'd have to find someone who would allow me to bring my sweet babe.

In February, I sent an email of interest to a family and got a call back for an interview. They knew I was pregnant and were totally happy for me to bring the baby. When I met for the interview, however, I found out they already had a nanny. She informed me that, while they already had a nanny, they hadn't been totally happy with her - excessive absences. They were going to give her one more chance and if they continued to feel unhappy with her, then they would give me a call.
A week later, they gave me a call.

I had already committed to giving my current family 4 weeks notice, so now I just had to pray that this new family would be flexible and wait on me for 4 weeks. With God's grace, they waited.

I started working with the new family in the middle of March and I have fallen more and more in love with this sweet family every day! I can't wait for them to meet my Elijah. I already know that my precious AB (the newly 1-year-old that I watch) is going to love her new baby "brother" so much.
As a matter of fact, I showed her one of E's 3D ultrasound pictures and she burst into the sweetest smile and started waving saying "Hi" (which is one of her 3 favorite words).
AB's parents love her more than anything else in this world and it is so obvious. I love watching them play with and love on her. They have been such great examples to me of a parent's love for their child and have made me so much more excited for Rob and me to be parents!

Not only is the family I work with amazing, but the schedule I work is also amazing. Beth, the mom, is a family practitioner and her schedule is the best. She works every Wednesday and Thursday and every other Monday. Which means that I work every Wed-Thurs and every other Monday - which means that I never work on Tuesday or Friday and I get two 5 day weekends a month. YES PLEASE!

I love this family so much. I've never once felt like "the help"; I have felt like family from the very beginning. I love that I can be a part of their family and still have time to take care of my own family.

So, this week, I am thankful for my job - that doesn't actually feel like a "job" at all.

6.19.2012

Thankful for Tuesdays - Anniversary Addition

In July 2007, I was finishing up my first college summer as a youth intern at my church. As the summer was coming to a close, I was able to be more involved with the college ministry - or at least what was left of it for the summer. I was also taking a summer class, which caused me to be on campus more often.
While I was one campus one afternoon eating lunch with some church friends, this boy came and sat down with us. I recognized him as a freshmen Bible study leader at church. I remembered always thinking he was such a sweet guy, but I never got a chance to meet him until this day. Conversation was light-hearted and fun; I was really enjoying his company.
That afternoon we became Facebook friends and for the rest of the summer we hung out in a group made up of 5 more friends we already had in common. It was a great summer.
Once the fall started, we settled back into our regular friend groups and didn't see much of each other for a while. That is, until the Spring of 2008.

Every March (two weeks before Spring Break), our college ministry would take a trip to the beach for a weekend, called Spring Retreat. Each year a different speaker would come out and preach a message. It was always a great time to draw closer to the Lord and build stronger friendships with other college students.
During this particular Spring Retreat, the for mentioned boy and I started hanging out a little bit more. We'd seek each other out at the sessions to chit chat and at one point took a picture together and joked that it was our engagement picture.
Our "engagement" picture - March 2008
After Spring Retreat, we each went on separate Spring Break trips with different groups of friends. On his trip were three girls, him, and another guy. After Spring Break, I noticed on Facebook that this boy and one of the girls from the trip had just started a relationship. That was the first time I realized I might have a tad bit of a crush on this boy. But, being the good Christian girl that I am, I congratulated them and kept my jealous thoughts to myself.
Thankfully later I found out that it was a joke. Relief.
By the end of March the boy and I were hanging out on an almost regular basis. One night in particular, my roommate and I were invited by the boy to meet him and some other friends to play a game of Freeze Tag on the quad. On our way to campus, I asked my roommate to watch the boy and see if she thought he liked me. On our way home, she agreed that he acted differently towards me than he did any of the other girls out there.
On March 31st, the boy asked me on our first date.
On April 2nd, we had our first date.

Our first date was the most romantic and thoughtful date I've ever been on. He picked me up from my apartment and we went to his place. When we walked it the apartment was covered in little white tea candles. He had jazz music playing on his TV and he had dinner on the table. On my plate was my favorite dish from my favorite restaurant in town - Chicken Fettucini Alfredo from Cypress Inn. Afterwards we got ice cream and went back to his apartment to watch Enchanted.
At the end of Enchanted, there is a ballroom scene. During that scene, the boy asked me if I wanted to dance. Of course, I said "yes". So we danced. I was hooked.
May 3rd, we became officially "Boyfriend/Girlfriend".

Before we started dating, this boy and I committed to work at two different camps for two different halves of the summer. I would be in Texas for the first part of the summer and he would be in Arkansas for the second part of the summer. We kept in touch through letters throughout the week and phone calls on the weekends.

In July, I came home from camp. When I got back to Tuscaloosa I immediately rushed to the boy's apartment. When I got there, he had a letter he had written me. In this letter he described all the reasons he loved me. His final reason: "Because I know that even though you haven't told me, I know you love me too". He was right. I did love him. I loved him so much that I could hardly keep from writing it in my letters to him. When I finished the letter, I followed up with the question, "Do you love me like, forever love me?" His answer was "Yes".

Fast forward a year.
We spend yet another summer apart. He spends 3 weeks in India for the first part of the summer and I spend 5 weeks in Romania the second part of the summer.
I'll let this video describe what happened next:
(there are two songs on this video, but youtube won't use them for copyright reasons)

11 months later, we walked down the aisle and became husband and wife. While we stood before friends, family, and God, we made a covenant promise to love one another as Christ commands and to forsake all others as long as we are both living. 


Two years later, we're living in Texas, he is going to Seminary, and I am carrying his first child. 
There are two lessons I have learned in the last two years (at least two main lessons). The first is that love does not always come naturally, sometimes it is a choice that we must make. Love is not always easy, but it's also not always that difficult. 
The second lesson I've learned is that marriage is a covenant bond, rather than a contract. Contracts are broken when someone is unhappy with the finished product. Marriage is not something you break because it's not what you expected. Marriage is a bond between a man and a woman, in the sight of God and under His authority. When God makes a covenant bond with his people, which He did numerous times in the OT, he never breaks it. Even when his people turn to false gods, time after time, He continues to keep his covenant with them. 
Tonight I am thankful to be in a covenant bond with the boy I met at the Ferg at the University of Alabama. He has made me proud to be his wife. I am thankful for his servant's heart and his leadership over our family. I am thankful that Elijah (and all our future children) will have an earthly daddy who will point them to our Heavenly Father. 
I love you, Rob, and I'm excited for what this next year has to offer us! Happy Anniversary, sweet love!

6.12.2012

Thankful for Tuesdays

Here we go, week 2 of my weekly blog. This week I am thankful for the life growing inside of me, or as I prefer to call him, Elijah.
In September of 2011, Rob and I began discussing when we would like to start trying to get pregnant. The timeline changed consistently. You see, I had been juggling my own personal timeline pretty much since we said "I do". It was all left to Rob to get on board.
At first we planned to start trying in September 2012 (which is the month our child is due to be born, isn't that ironic). Then the time to start tying changed to Summer of 2012. Then we decided we would just stop not-trying in December and just see what happened.
I stopped birth control in November 2011.
In December, I got a text from my dad telling me to call my brother as soon as I got a chance. So I did and found out that he and his longtime girlfriend were expecting a baby in the July/August time frame. After receiving that phone call we decided "Hey, what the heck". We started trying at the end of December.
After actively trying for one week we found out early Monday morning (around 2 am), January 16th, that we were in fact going to be having a child in September. And it only took 4 pregnancy tests to convince us!
On February 17th, we got to see our baby for the first time. Hearing his heartbeat was by far the most amazing moment in Rob's and my life. As soon as the sonographer turned on the sound, we both burst into tears. 

On April 5, we found out that this sweet little miracle was going to be a little boy, Elijah Paul. We were able to find out earlier than expected because my sweet boss, who is a family practitioner, allowed us to come to her office and get a free sonogram to find out his gender. 

On May 1st, we got to see our baby boy again. Here he is at 19 wks and 4 days. 

Around the 18 week mark, I began to feel his tiny movements. They were few and far between and when they'd happen they were very light, almost impossible to detect. As the weeks went on, he grew larger and stronger. On Mother's day (21 wks and 2 days), Rob and I were on our 12 hour drive from Alabama to Fort Worth. This was the day that I felt Elijah moving like never before. He wiggled and flipped almost the entire drive home. From that day on, I felt every bump. On May 19, while we watched an episode of How I Met Your Mother, Rob got to feel Elijah kick for the very first time. I was 22 weeks pregnant. 
We have loved watching this sweet boy grow. We've loved watching him move and explore his current home. We have prayed many prayers over this little one and are so excited to watch the Lord work in his life. 
Something we have learned during this entire process is God's hand is in everything. I honestly do not understand how people can walk through the pregnancy journey and still deny that God exists. Down to the very possibility of conception, God is given glory. 
Before we started trying, I read the book What to Expect Before You're Expecting. In one of the chapters, the author explains that every woman has approximately 2-3 days to conceive, and even then, with the hostile environment of the egg, she still might not conceive. How can we take the fact that that tiny little sperm made its way all the way to (and through) the egg and chalk it up to happenstance?
That I will never know. One thing I do know, I asked God to give us a baby Sunday afternoon, January 15th. And at 2 am January 16th, I got three positive pregnancy tests. I realize that I was already 4 weeks pregnant when I took the tests, but it's still pretty amazing that I got my "Ok" the day after I asked. God is good and He seeks only good for His children. 
We are blessed beyond belief. Every day we become more and more anxious and excited to meet our little Mister. All we can do now is take care of our physical bodies and continue to pray that God prepare us to be the kind of parents who show Christ's love in all aspects of our parenting. 

I hope you enjoyed another week of Thankful for Tuesdays. What are you thankful for this week? 

6.05.2012

Thankful for Tuesdays

I've decided to start a weekly themed blog. I've noticed that of my friends who blog the most consistently, most have at least one theme blog a week. Hopefully this will encourage me to blog more often.

For my weekly blog, I've decided to blog about all the things I'm thankful for. It will be called Thankful for Tuesdays. 

This week, I want blog about the things I didn't think to be thankful for before getting pregnant.
TMI ALERT: Some things might not be appropriate for the Male population. Read on at your own risk.

Here we go, in no particular order:

  1. The ability to shave my legs comfortably. 
  2. The ability to maintain my own toe nails (i.e. painting, trimming nails, etc). 
  3. Having a small waistline - better yet, having a waistline in general. 
  4. Not getting winded after walking up a set of stairs. 
  5. Not having joint pains, especially in my feet and knees.
  6. Sleeping with only the pillow(s) under my head.
  7. Sleeping on my stomach.
  8. Sleeping through the night.
  9. TMI alert: Not feeling the need to celebrate a legitimate waste disposal session.
  10. Carrying laundry to and from the laundry room (shoot carrying anything over a few lbs).
  11. Doing housework without taking a break every 5-10 minutes. 
  12. Going longer than 30 minutes without taking a potty break.
  13. Having a consistent body shape and size.
  14. Having the hunger of a normal person (i.e. only needing to eat 3 meals a day with maybe a snack or two)
  15. Wearing heels and not losing feeling in my feet immediately.
  16. Eating sushi, sandwich meat, rare steak etc. without worries for what might, possibly happen to my baby. 
  17. TMI alert: Normal intimate time (oh, c'mon, how'd you think this kid came about?) 
  18. Not sweating like a man every time I step foot outside.
  19. Sitting like a lady... really just general ladylike-ness. 
  20. Feeling normal.
Please understand, I LOVE my son so much already. Being pregnant is certainly not terrible, however, there are certain things you never think to be thankful for until they no longer exist. I truly am loving the experience of being pregnant, feeling my child kick and flip and grow inside of me. It is by far the most amazing thing I've been a part of. I also am beyond excited to meet him, to hold him in my arms and rock him; but all that is for another post, another week. 

I hope you enjoyed. Come back next week for another Thankful for Tuesdays. Thanks for reading! Goodnight. 

5.21.2012

Visits and Showers

Two weeks ago, Rob and I made a (long) trip home to Birmingham, AL for my baby shower and the wedding of two of my oldest and closest friends. We had such a blast getting together with family and friends. We were so blessed to have my mom, mom-in-law, and best friend from high school work on this shower. The theme was "A Little Man Shower" and about 30 people came bringing lots of wonderful things for baby Elijah.
Here are some photos from the shower:
"Little Man" banner
Chocolate Mustaches made by Stacie's mom!
Onesie display

Homemade lemonade my mom made
I'm planning to make a mobile out of the prayers the guests wrote for Elijah
Food Table - Fruit w/ dip, choc fountain with marshmallows, pretzels, fruit, chips and cheese dip, cheese balls and crackers

My sweet Stacie who helped put the shower together
Sweet Em - former bridesmaid, current best friend (and yes, I gave Elijah his first mustache)
My beautiful mom and me
Mustache straws - So glad to see Erin
My granddaddy making fun of my belly
Cousins, Elijah Paul and Holden Louis, due 7 wks apart
Who has the biggest pooch? My brother and me
Nana, Elijah, and me
With the hostesses of the shower. They did a lovely job!
My moms and me
 3 1/2 generations
 My sweet Cathie, another former bridesmaid and (current) best friend
 Best friends!!
Mommy and Daddy

Since Rob and I were staying for a whole week and we hadn't gotten to see my sweet nephew, Taylor, since June of 2011, we decided to keep him with us all week. Here are some photo of our visit with him:







The following weekend, Rob and I went to my friends', Jimmi Lynn and Josh, wedding. I was so honored to be asked to sing in their wedding. To give you all a little background on this sweet couple, I went to high school with both Jimmi and Josh. I first met Josh in 8th grade and Jimmi in 10th grade. The two of them started dating in 10th grade. They dated off and on until getting engaged in the fall of 2011. I am so thankful to still have these two in my life. Here are some photos from their wedding: 




All in all we had a wonderful trip home. It was so great to see everyone. This was a monumental trip in the fact that it was our last trip home without a baby. Next time we go to Alabama, we will have the little mister with us. Just four more months until his due date. It's so hard to believe, but we are beyond excited to meet him. 

4.08.2012

It's a......

BOY!!!

I will admit, I was quite shocked to see his little winky; I really thought he was a she. Rob was not surprised. Over the last few weeks he's been feeling like we were having a boy. And although, I was surprised, I couldn't be happier to know that I'm having a son. We are thrilled to finally be able to call him by name: Elijah Paul Wiggins
We picked these names for very special reasons. For one Elijah was one of the great prophets in the old testament and Paul was the most influential (and one of the first) missionaries of the Gospel of Christ. The names also have great meanings. Elijah in Hebrew means "My God is Yahweh". Paul in Greek means "Humble, small". These are our prayers for our son, that he would serve no other god but Yahweh and that he would stop at nothing to take the Good News of the Salvation of Jesus to all people. 
Needless to say, we are excited to meet our little guy and speak truth into his life. I'll be honest, I can't wait to dress him super cute with his baby polos and button ups. 
Oh and by the way, Happy Easter!! 
Thanks for reading. 
With Love, 
The Wiggins Duo, soon to be Trio

4.03.2012

Updates, 6 months in the making

I know I said in my previous post that was the longest I'd gone without blogging. Well, folks, I have now broken that record. It has been just over 6 MONTHS since my last post, and boy! do we have some updates.

Let me first start with our most exciting update. A little over a month ago, we moved into a new apartment. We decided we might be needing a little more space soon, because we are having a baby! Baby Wiggins is due to make his/her grand entrance around September 21st. We are hoping to find out boy or girl on Thursday afternoon. We had decided in November that once we got approved for insurance that we would start not, not trying. By December, we were approved for insurance and decided we would start actually trying. By the end of December, I was pregnant. I guess when it's right, it's right.
We are so excited about this new adventure and can't wait to meet our little one. We're also really excited to be able to call this baby by name. I'm also really excited about our trip to AL in May for a baby shower (and later that week, a wedding. two of my high school best friends are getting married).

Next announcement: Rob has a new job. He doesn't start until the second week of May, but this is preferable with finals coming up. He'll be putting in his two week notice tomorrow. I'm so excited for him. He'll be (at least semi-) using his engineering skills/knowledge. He'll also be getting paid double what he's getting now at the school, so that's definitely a plus.

In the last 8 months we have gotten more and more involved at our church. Rob and I have started helping with kids ministry every other weekend. On the weekends that I am not helping, I am singing with the worship band. We are really loving our church and really glad to be so involved.

We have also, reached our 4 year anniversary to when we started dating. I can't believe that he and I have been together for 4 years. It is totally obvious that we've been together so long. We're starting to turn into one person. Today, for example, Rob and I turned to the exact same passage (simultaneously) in chapel. Later I came home and went for a snack. The first snack I picked up was a can of creamed corn. I put it back and decided to go for some cheese and crackers. About an hour later, Rob came home and went for a snack. He first picked up a can of creamed corn, put it back and, instead, went for some cheese and crackers. What the what?! How crazy is that?
No matter how much alike we're becoming, I am more in love with him than I've ever been. He is such an amazing husband and I can't wait to see him in the role of daddy. He's going to do such a great job leading his children to the throne of Christ.

Well, so far, those are all the updates I've got to offer you. I am going to do my very best to keep this blog better updated. Thanks for still following and not giving up on me. I hope you all are doing well.

With love,
The Wiggins Duo, soon to be Trio