A very busy October!!

To say October was busy is an extreme understatement!

At the bottom of the page you'll see that we went and picked out pumpkins. Journey had a blast climbing all over them and picking her own. It was a lot of fun! We also went to a Greek Festival that day. Way cool!!! The food was pretty good and the traditional music was fun to listen to as we wandered through a bunch of the booths.


With the help of 4 Missionary Elders, 2 Missionary Sisters, 2 men from the ward and my parents we got moved into our new home on Saturday the 19th. It went so smoothly!! They had all the really big stuff moved out of the old apartment and into the new house in about 2 hours which, in my mind, is crazy fast. I'm so grateful to everyone who helped out. We could not have gotten done without you!!! A huge thanks to my parents who finished deep cleaning our old apartment!!! We couldn't have gotten everything done without their help.



At about 12:30 on Saturday the 19th (about the time they're loading a bunch of small stuff into the U-Haul) I start timing some pretty strong contractions. They're 1-2 minutes apart. So, after a shower and some water hoping to slow them down, we took off to L&D. It was the weirdest thing. They call it "dysfunctional labor" and it's basically where I was having 3-4 contractions 1 minute apart and then I'd have nothing for 3-4 minutes. With no progression (dilation) and no evening out of the contractions we took the option to go home that afternoon. We really didn't want to stay if I wasn't going to have her soon.

Monday the 21st I woke up sometime right before 5am with intense contractions 10 minutes apart. By 6 I was annoyed, tired, grumpy and decided to take a shower hoping it'd help with the pain. Oh my word... Had I known.. About 4 minutes into the shower the contractions kicked up a few notches and got a lot closer together. I woke Derek up (on accident) trying to breathe through them. Needless to say... I called my parents and we were packed up and out the door by 7:10.

I wont go into full detail with the birth story. Lets just say... Things don't always go as planned. I had "toyed" with the idea of going naturally but, after all the pain leading up to getting to the hospital, I wanted an epidural.

We got into triage & I was dilated to an 8 so I was wheeled right into a L&D room around 7:45ish. I'm still trying to decide if this was a good or bad thing but upon asking for an Epidural my doctor told me I didn't want one because it'd cost me around 6K (way more than we paid for the delivery and about 4.5K more than what the hospital had quoted.. long story) and he didn't think we had time to get it there and for it to be effective (apparently they are supper slow at getting around to people). So, it was decided I was going naturally after all. Luckily I'd toyed with the idea and wasn't completely blind sided. On second thought.... Nothing could have prepared me for that. I'm just glad the idea had already been on my mind.



I now have a new found respect for women who have gone naturally. It is definitely not for people with low pain tolerance. I cannot imagine going through what the pioneers did!!! I'm grateful for a fantastic husband, an amazing doctor and a great nursing staff. Derek was incredible. I would have been lost without him! He was so supportive and helpful during the whole delivery process. It was definitely an experience I'll always remember. To be honest, as painful as it was, I'm not against going natural again. So, it wasn't all bad (Trust me, if it was I'd tell you).

Acelynn Tana Wiggins was born at 8:40 am, weighing 7lbs 8oz and was 20.25 inches long. She is beautiful and we are so happy to have her in our lives!!! Journey and my parents visited quite a few times while we were in the hospital. I was very impressed!! Journey didn't seem to have any issues with Acelynn and even yelled at a nurse "Don't touch sissy!!!" when the nurse came to do her checks on her. Journey is very protective of Acelynn!! Ace & I were in the hospital until Wednesday the 23rd and then allowed to come home.

I was so glad to be home!!! It has been so great to be at home with both my girls and with Derek. I also loved spending time with my parents. I feel like their visit came and went way too quick but I'm grateful for the time we had with them and everything they did while they were here.




We did get to take my parents to Saint George Island while the were here. My mom has a thing for lighthouses so it was a great :) There aren't any pictures of Acelynn on the beach because there was a slight wind and we were worried about taking her out of her car seat/stroller system that did a really good job at protecting her.

We took the girls trunk or treating the day before Halloween. Acelynn was a skeleton and Journey was Tinkerbell. It was pretty fun and Journey was a hoot. She wasn't quite sure about going trunk to trunk and when I didn't let her eat all the candy as she got it she was a little upset! It all worked out and we had a pretty good time.

Halloween at our house was eventful. We carved pumpkins, Journey choked on a piece of chicken and threw up, and we passed out candy. No trick or treating for us!! But Journey did enjoy painting her pumpkin before dinner. We hadn't really planned to go trick or treating anyway because we'd gone trunk or treating the night before but after Journey choked on the chicken... We decided it was best we stay home anyway.





All and all it's been a great month and we're doing great!! Hope you enjoy the pictures. Love and miss you all!!!

Journeyisms...

Here are some of the things Journey has said today,

"MOMMA, MOMMA, MOMMA!!!!"
"What Journey? What?"
Journey gets down on all fours, *hops* and says...
 (imagine the deepest roughest voice a 2 yr old girl could muster) 
"RIBBIT"
Looks at me expectantly (as I'm having a major giggle fit)
and after 1/2 a second says...
"Momma!!! Your turn!!"


"Momma, my nose is broken. I need to blow it."


"Momma mote! Momma Mote!! Blue, blue!!" As she's handing me the controller for the xbox. She wanted to watch Blue's Clues!


Derek had just walked in the door (he'd been at school) and Journey was sitting right next to me. She'd been completely silent watching her show up to this point. She suddenly jumps down and chases Derek down the hall saying "Daddy, I stinky!!! I Stinky!!!" Bahahahaahahahahaha.... FYI she was only wet... but why she waited until daddy got home to say anything is beyond me!!!


I love being a mom :D Kids say the funniest things!!!

We're Moving!!!!! Again....

Just hanging out!

 After many tears, frustration and talks, Derek & I decided it's time to move. This apartment we've been in has... problems. And we're not talking problems that could simply be fixed by maintenance. These are problems that we would have to suck it up and live with and we don't feel it's a good or safe environment for our children. Management was wonderful and understanding. They let us out of our lease without having to pay the almost $1000 that was built into our contract (if we were to break the lease early clause). Definitely the answer to our prayers!!!

We looked for 2 days before finding our new place!!! It's a cute little triplex and our place will be the end unit. No one above us & none of the bedrooms will share the middle units wall!!! It'll be a much, much better situation once we're there. We get keys on the 15th and we'll move all the big stuff on the 19th. We are so excited to be in a place we could see ourselves in for the remainder of Derek's schooling. Hopefully this place is as good as it seems because it's really cute and we like it already.

We are counting down the days until Acelynn gets here!!! I can't believe we'll be at the 37 week mark tomorrow!!! Crazy how fast time flies. If she follows after Journey we only have 15 days until she gets here, 21 if she comes on her actual due date. Crazy talk! I hope she doesn't come any earlier than the 20th but... if she comes earlier it'll be okay. However... I'd definitely like to be moved before she gets here!!

Journey is expanding her vocabulary daily. It is the craziest thing. I love that she can now converse without much trouble!! She grabbed my phone the other day and this is the conversation that followed:

"Journey, that is mamma's phone. Give it back please."
"No! I needs the mamma's phone!"
"Why do you need my phone?"
"I needs to call dadda!!"

I couldn't help but laugh!!! She is so darn cute. Derek should definitely feel loved. I would have let her call him but he was at school and his phone was dead.

Journey has definitely got a stubborn streak in her though... Oh boy.. Getting her to nap has been a nightmare lately. I lay her down, she gets up. I lay her down again, she screams, I cringe outside her door, she goes quiet, I listen, I peak in and she's playing with toys!!! Some days it takes getting after her once.. others it takes 6-7 times before she FINALLY goes to sleep. I'll tell you what... motherhood is making me a MUCH more patient person!!!

Derek is doing great and still liking school. They've been playing with the laser cutter and he's really enjoying that. It's neat to see and hear about what they are learning about. I can't believe he only has 9 weeks left in this semester. Crazy how fast time is flying!!!

I'm doing good. Life is definitely crazy and moving is the last thing I wanted to be doing at this point but it's for the best and I'm extremely excited. Hopefully everything pans out and it goes as smoothly as possible over the next 3 weeks. I'm so grateful to know that we have an awesome support team behind us. Between our ward, our parents and our new found friends... we will be okay no matter how these big events fall. I'm thankful that my parents will be here when we move. I know helping us move again is probably the last thing they wanted to do on their vacation but I'm grateful that they are willing to and already had flights that happened to put them here the day before we move the big stuff. I'm also grateful that Derek's parents will be coming out shortly after they leave. It'll be nice to have their help with Journey as we adjust to having Acelynn. Not to mention it'll be good to see family!! It's really weird living this far from them!!

Anyway, life is good. Chaotic, but good. Hope everyone else is doing well!!! Love and miss you all!!

Derek's "Solitude" Box

 Ok.. so here we go :)

Derek finished his "Solitude" project and I finally got a picture of the box he made!!! He welded that!!! Anyway, he got great reviews from the professor.

Journey and I made egg-less cookie dough. Haha... She loved helping me measure and dump things into the bowl but I think her favorite part was licking the beater!!! Funny girl.. she was pretty messy by the time she was "done" with it.

We went exploring and found a park near by. This park is HUGE!!! It has a lake, tennis courts, frisbee golf course, racquetball courts, basketball, baseball, soccer, 2 playgrounds, sand volleyball and TONS of other things!!! I mean.. it was HUGE. 

Journey was completely enthralled with pine cones and pine needles at the park. She made cute little stacks of both instead of playing on the playground equipment. Kinda made me laugh. She did make a new friend named Evan. Cute little girl about 7 months younger than Journey. They had a great time together!! Journey also loved swinging. She hasn't loved it quite as much in the past but she seems to like it now!

 We played with play-dough for the first time ever. What a MESS!!! Journey loved picking it apart but we worked on her shapes and colors while playing with it. Totally worth the mess.... I just don't remember it being that messy as a kid. She liked the squishyness but I'm looking forward to getting some of the play-dough toys. We weren't quite sure what to do with it.

On Saturday we went to Tom Brown Park and fed the turtles!!! I honestly thought we wouldn't see any. Evan's grandma (the girl Journey met at the park) told me would could feed them but I wasn't sure if she was kidding with me or not. She also said we could see a small alligator there every once in a while but we didn't see it... this trip anyway :D

Anyway... It was neat to feed the turtles. At one point we could see 8 or 9 at once!! Journey loved throwing them bread and popcorn. Hopefully our video loads and everyone can see. I hope we can take our families when they come to visit. It was pretty neat.

After we got done feeding the turtles we went to the storage unit and dragged out all the infant/baby stuff. Holy smokies Journey had a lot of stuff!!!! It's nice to get everything washed and set up. Acelynn's crib BARELY fit in our room!!! Seriously... we don't even have a 1/2 inch to spare the way we wanted it. I'm glad it fit though. We both prefer to use the crib over the pack n play (even though the pack n play would have been much smaller).

I'm 35 weeks pregnant today!!! I'm still having contractions but I have a doctors appointment in the morning. Hopefully he tells me that they aren't causing problems and that she'll stay put for at least another 2-3 weeks. I would much rather have her after 37 weeks... 38 weeks or later would be fantastic!!!



 Again and again I'm surprised by our new ward. What a fantastic support system they are!!! I have had many women offer to take Journey if I go into early labor. I'm so grateful for such an awesome ward!!! They really make an effort to make sure everyone is included and feels invited. It's great.

Can you see the frog??

Well, all is well here. We're having fun and getting excited for everything that will happen over the next few months. We're still liking Florida and enjoy the opportunity we've been given to live and experience somewhere new. Hope you all are doing well!! Love you all!!!

More bread?!