Well, aside from the hurricane updates, I've been very bad about posting. However, there's a good reason - I think you'll forgive me when you hear: We're going to have another baby!! I've been super sick with this one (I was sick with Drew, but this time it's worse) and getting pictures and posting to the blog have been at the bottom of my list. We're about 10 weeks along at this point and hopefully things will take a turn for the better soon! We had our first ultrasound and were able to see Baby Wiggins "dancing" around and a strong heartbeat (188bpm). My due date is April 14, but since we'll be having a scheduled c-section (Drew was an UNscheduled c-section) it will likely be closer to the beginning of April.

Now, onto the pictures I do have...there aren't many, but hopefully they'll tide you over until I can get back to "normal."

Eating bananas with Daddy
Aunt Becca came to visit in August (right before I started getting sick)

Messy face
Yes, he lined up his crackers that way himself
Playing Mario Kart with Daddy (Drew loves cars)


Wearing Daddy's house shoes
Playing his new xylophone

And, in other news, Drew has finally decided that the grass is a fun place to be!! Up until this past week he'd cry whenever he had to go in it for any length of time. Don't know what changed, but now he loves to walk around in the backyard by himself!!!

Video: Sorry it's sideways - I forgot that the camera needs to be turned the other way, but you'll get the idea!

Silly boy playing with his bib after dinner
Mommy and Drew

Post Gustav follow-up

Since Russell took care of the basic update to let you all know that we were fine I've given myself a few extra days to get to this post. After making our decision to stay (we were not under a mandatory evacuation because we live North of I-12) we settled in for what we hoped would not be too much of an adventure. We spent a lot of time watching the Weather Channel and checking the latest computer models (at least until we lost power). Thankfully we were far enough away from the center that we only had tropical storm wind to deal with (less than 75 mph - for us it was probably less than 65 even at its strongest) and some rain. We lost power around 11am on Monday and had it back by 10am on Tuesday. (We're fortunate to live near the local airport and NOAA weather station, so we're some of the first to get power restored.) One of our neighbors had borrowed a generator and let us plug our fridge in, so we were able to keep our perishables cold and have cold drinks (including milk for Drew). We had no damage to our house or neighborhood. Our only problem was a couple of leaking windows (which we already knew about), but we were able to keep towels by them and switch them out when they got too wet so there was no extra water damage. As far as we know most of our friends had very minimal (if any) damage. Now all eyes turn to Hurricane Ike...we'll be watching closely and keep you posted!

Now, because we've already had several posts without Drew - here's a super cute video of him. If you've ever watched the Weather Channel you know that they do their "Local on the 8s" forecast and it has lovely elevator music in the background while the radar and maps are rolling. Drew LOVED when it came on and started "dancing" to it each time - enjoy!!!

Post Gustav Update

I'll let Amber provide a more detailed update, but wanted to let everyone know our status after the recent hurricane. As the previous post said, we stayed at home during the storm and everything went fine. It was really windy (I heard the weather station next to our subdivision recorded a 58 mph gust) and rainy. Thanks for all your thoughts & prayers.

Hurricane Gustav is coming

With Hurricane Gustav in the gulf I'm sure there are several of you wondering where we are and what we're doing. After looking at the models and much thoughtful consideration we have decided to stay at home and ride the storm out. We have plenty of water, food, batteries, gas, etc. and the house is secure. The current models have the eye of the storm coming onshore to the west of the New Orleans area and while we are certain to get plenty of wind and rain we feel confident staying where we are. If, after the storm, we feel we need to move to "safer" ground we will certainly do so. Please keep the entire area in your prayers - we'll keep you posted on any needs that may arise post-storm.

Pictures from last week

Thank you for your patience in waiting for the new pictures to be posted. Last week was a busy and kind of crazy week for me and I'm just now getting to it! Russell was out of town for a good portion of the week doing work stuff and then helping his sister move from Boston, MA to New Haven, CT (where she'll soon be starting at Yale's business school!). So, needless to say, there was a lot of "mommy time," which was great, but certainly makes me appreciate Russell and the little things he does around here even more (I love you).


Drew continues to amaze me with the new things he's learning and the way he's developing. It's so fun to watch! We spent time outside playing in the sandbox, swinging on the swing, drawing with sidewalk chalk, laughing at the dog, "smelling" the flowers, going for walks, playing in puddles and just having a grand old time. We also just bought a climber for Drew (with a door at the back - his favorite!) and a small slide. I put it together this week and he loves it! If he had a little bit longer legs he'd be climbing all over it (and everything else in the house). I'm sure he'll figure it out in no time. It hasn't made it outside yet, it's still in the front hallway. I wanted to give him some time to explore it before we put it in the grass (which he's not so sure about).


Also, he's finally learned how to go DOWN the stairs by himself. I'll try to post a short video at the end of the blog so you can see his technique. I think that's about it for now. We're looking forward to the arrival of my sister (Aunt Becca) on Thursday and will certainly have new pictures and adventures to post about next week.

Building with his new blocks (he's really good at making towers, even some with 5 or 6+ blocks!)
"Smelling" the flowers Playing in the puddles in the driveway after a summer storm
Peek-a-boo

"Come on in"
Drawing with sidewalk chalk (yes, with his left hand)
"There's stuff on my hands - get it off!"
The masterpiece (Yes, he did it all himself. No, he didn't line up the chalk)

Video of Drew going DOWN the stairs (hopefully it works now!)

Not much excitement, just regular stuff

So, I don't really have any exciting things to share this time. We've settled back into "normal" life and are enjoying exploring and learning new things. Drew had a bit of a fever last weekend/beginning of last week - so we headed to the doctor's office last Tuesday. Turns out he had some sort of bacterial infection (NOT an ear infection, thank goodness!), so we're on antibiotics again. (Good thing he's had so much practice and doesn't give me too much trouble taking his medicine. In fact, if you fill up the syringe and hand it to him he'll put it in his own mouth and wait for you to squirt it in!!) We'll go back this Friday to make sure that his white blood cell counts are back where they should be (meaning that the infection is cleared up). Here's some pictures that I took over the last few weeks since we've been home. He's growing up so quickly and doing so many new and fun things and I don't want to forget any of them. (Speaking of which, we're officially down to only one afternoon nap - which lasts about 3 hours. We still have some grumpy moments in the mornings every now and then, but it's getting better.) It's such an amazing journey watching him grow and change. I LOVE being Drew's mommy!! Enjoy the pics!

Drew decided that the basket for his Fisher Price ark was the perfect size for him to sit in too. He loves to climb in and thinks he's so funny when he does it (which of course, he is!)

A special pic, just for Auntie Randi
Drew found our old yellow pitcher in the cabinet and has thoroughly enjoyed pushing it all around the house.
He finally has long enough legs to be able to sit on his "lion," now he's just got to figure out how to make it move.
Drew LOVES to eat with a fork (or two), especially macaroni and cheese!!
This week we started letting him eat whole bites off of the banana - no more cutting it up into smaller pieces - he wants nothing to do with small pieces anymore
Train them while they're young! Our new favorite past time is mopping! I even went and bought him his own little mop and he loves to push it all over!!
Daddy is so silly!
Playing in the splash pool in the backyard (he's very good at pouring)
Bubbles (our first real time to try them out). Drew loved putting the wand in and out of the bottle, he didn't really care much about the actual bubbles.

Travel pictures (finally!)

Okay, I've finally found some time to get pictures from our travels uploaded to the computer. Bear with me - there's a lot to cover!! (If you just want to see pictures scroll down.) We started our travels the first weekend of July. We drove to Houston (we're getting very good at that drive!) on Thursday and headed to Gigi and Grandpa Randy's house. We got everything unpacked and settled in for some good visiting. Friday (the 4th) was spent hanging out with family and watching the fireworks (on TV, maybe next year we'll actually make it out to see some in person). Saturday morning we went to visit my Aunt Carole, Uncle Ron, cousin Lisa, and Uncle Scott. We hadn't seen each other since Christmas, so it was great to get a little time to visit. Then Saturday afternoon/evening was spent getting last minute stuff ready to leave for JAMAICA!! Because we would need to leave before Drew got up on Sunday morning, we told him goodbye and left him with Gigi and Grandpa Randy while we went to run some more errands and see a movie (Wall-E which was pretty cute). (I felt better having told him goodbye and having them put him to bed and be there when he woke up, rather than us putting him to bed and then just not being there for several days.) Drew and Gigi and crew had a wonderful time while we were gone. They played at the fountains in The Woodlands, visited friends and family, went swimming in the pool (Drew's first time!), got a haircut, ate guacamole (it's a good thing he visits Gigi - cause Mommy and Daddy would never expose him to that, but supposedly he LOVED it), and lots more fun and exciting things!! I'm sure he barely had time to miss us - but he sure was glad when we were back = big smiles and hugs!!! Then the second weekend was full with more family visits. Friday morning we went to visit my Grandma and Gramps and then Saturday morning Russell's sister, Auntie Randi, got into town after a 3 week trip to India!! We got to spend time with her and their grandparents for most of the day. Sunday was church and then load up the car and make our trek back to Louisiana. We love our visits back to Texas, but it sure is nice to sleep in your own bed again!!

Looking at birds with Papaw Dave

Eating at the table (sitting on books)
3 Wiggins boys Drew watching fireworks
Dancing to the music
Check out the shirt - so appropriate (Thanks Gigi!)
Cool dudes with their sunglasses

Playing with Gramps
Cuties in the pool!!

Now, for the Jamaica story. We had a really nice time and were super appreciative that Gigi and Grandpa were willing to keep Drew while we were gone (we really had to twist their arm, haha!). It's so nice to know that he is completely taken care of and not have to worry about that while we were gone. Jamaica is a wonderful place to visit (if you've never been I highly recommend it). We went to Jamaica for the first time on our honeymoon (6 years ago!). This time we stayed on the opposite side of the island, in Ocho Rios (we were in Negril before). While it was a nice trip, and certainly refreshing, I must admit that I was a little disappointed. Maybe it was my high expectations or the picture in my head, but this time the resort/trip just didn't blow me away. Now, don't get me wrong, we had a good time and were able to reconnect and relax, it just wasn't as great as I had hoped. One of the big things that we missed was watching the sunset over the ocean. With the way this resort was situated we not only couldn't see the sunset (it was on the wrong side), but you couldn't see the sunrise either (if you were up and wanted to). There were much more mountains and landscape to see, but the beach left something to be desired (at least for us). It as nice, but small and a little crowded. Overall this resort seemed to have a much more "Spring Break" feel than our last one. Don't know if it's the brand, the location, or simply that we've gotten a little older. So, all in all, it was a good vacation - but not what I would call amazing. There was one thing that we did that was pretty awesome though (and it was a major factor in us choosing to come to Ocho Rios this time). We were able to hike Dunn's River Falls. It's a huge waterfall that they take groups up and it was awesome - much more physically demanding than I anticipated - but so much fun. We had to wear these special water climbing shoes and made a huge "human chain" to make it up. Our guides were great and took pictures for us at certain points, but those pictures are on our waterproof camera, so I'll have to see if I can scan some of them to post.

The view from our room

The beach and beautiful water
Waterfall in the pool
Russell by the Bob Marley tree stump on the pitch-and-putt golf course
Us at dinner one night (the desserts were wonderful!)
Relaxing at it's finest