Making a Trip to see the girl tomorrow!

 I am so excited about tomorrow. Want to know why? Liz, Zachary Jr. and I will be driving up to Cape Girardeau MO to watch Sydney sing in a choir tomorrow. I have a special gift that I plan on giving her. You see the last time that she was in town she really enjoyed a gift that Elizabeth made for me called "50 Things I Love About You." It is a mason jar filled with little snippets of things that my wife loves about me. Syd has become quite the reader over the last couple of years, and she enjoyed reading them so much that I decided that we should make her one. Here are the pics. I hope that she enjoys it. She is precious little girl and I can not wait to give it to her. Can you tell I am excited to watch her tomorrow! Below is her gift.
                                                                                                                              

The Front

The Back

          

                                                                         The Top

Thanks!

Adoption.....what it means for the Wiggs' family.

This is a word that had little meaning to me until I turned 18 years old. I knew that I wanted to adopt at a young age. That I wanted to provide a home to a child who didn't have one. Although I knew this way back then, I didn't know what my home would look like or even how I would look to do this. Over the last couple of years my wife and I started talking about what we wanted our family to look like. We knew that we wanted to adopt early on, but didn't see this happening til many years down the road. (More than likely when we were done with the idea of having any more biological  kids of our own) For those of you who don't know me before I met my wife I already have a daughter named Sydney who is now eight. She is our little princess. After her there is a age gap of 7 years. Zachary Jr. came along and has been nothing but a joy! After Zachary arrived we began asking the question what is next for us? What about our next baby? What about adoption? What about now?

As these questions started to rise I felt a huge calling. A calling that began to grow over the next few months after Zachary that adopting was upon us. I never brought this up to Liz. I wanted to wait and make sure that she felt comfortable about making this move and be considerate to her after just having Zachary.  Shorty after this thought my lovely wife called me at work one day and told me that this had been on her heart and that she wanted to see what I thought about it! This is what I call the Lord working. Since this time we have started the process. We have accepted an agency and have formally started the process of adoption. We have selected Ethiopia as the country to adopt from.

I could go into a huge spiel of why we decided to adopt internationally over domestic or why we are even adopting in the first place. I won't bore you now with the why. I will tell you that we feel led and blessed to be able to grow our family this way. I am really excited about seeing this little one and introducing him to our family. I am so happy that I have a wife that is as open to the new chapter of our life as I am. Adoption to the Wiggs' means growth. 360 degrees of growth. My wife has started a blog that is following the process on where we are if you are interested. Here is the site http://wiggsadoptionstory.blogspot.com . We ask that you pray for us. Pray that the process moves in the direction that the Lord wishes for it to. Currently was are getting ready for our home study. We are also following lots of folks who have decided to grow their families this way and this has made us feel so much better about our prayerful decision to move this way. Thanks!
ZW

Population Me......

I heard this song last week and I can not get it out of my head. The song is by a guy named Matthew West and it is called my Own Little World. This song made me think on my own life. How sometimes I can get soooo trapped thinking about me and mine. It is so easy to do this sometimes. We can get so engulfed in our own stuff that we forget how powerful a person each of us can be. This song does it for me. It ask the questions what if? What if I spoke to the man on the side of the road? What if I said hello to my neighbor of 10 years? What if I volunteered for something? What if I helped one person? This song reminds me of a famous quote that Nelson Mandela used in his 1994 inauguration speech. I love this quote so much because it reminds me of low times in my life that all I though I could do is bring someone down. This quote takes that notion and turns it on its head! Powerful stuff.


“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Maryanne Williamson

Enjoy the video!

Bama drops title aspirations loosing to LSU 24-21

Well folks yesterday was not a great day for Alabama football. We dropped our second game of the season to LSU late in the 4th qtr by the score of 24-21. With this loss it all but kicks us out of the SEC Championship game and destroys the Tide's chances of repeating for a National Championship. With all of that being said, I have to tip my hat to the LSU Tigers. They played a wonderful game and had a terrific plan of how to attack our young defense. Great game. We just ended up on the short side of the stick. Hmmmmmm.....big bomber.

Tide fans lick your wounds and continue to cheer on your team. We are young and are still at the tops in college football. I am still excited about the rest of the season. Get used to competing every year as long as we have coach Saban at the wheel. Congrats again LSU and lets go Crimson Tide. Lets finish this thing out strong.

ZW

So much going on and no post!

Here is an update of everything that has happened over the last few months in pictures and vids! With work kids and other activities going on sometimes it is hard to get around to my blog. Here goes!

We will start with the Alabama Arkansas game. We got a chance to spend some time with the Cordell's  in Zach's home town and we couldn't pass it up! We always have so much  fun with them and it was great  spending time with his family in Fayetteville. The game went pretty well for us too! Bama came back to win in the 4th qtr. Such fun!  

Liz and I at the game. 

Lizzy tailgating. She is so pretty

After the game we stopped at the "Catfish Hole" Right outside of Zach's hometown. This place was amazing! Some of the best catfish I have ever tasted! 

A few weeks later we hosted a game night outside. With the help of a good friend, we set up the Florida-Bama game outside. We ate smores, grilled out, and invited friends from the neighborhood to hang out! So much fun! Oh yea....Bama won! 

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We got a chance to make one more trip to Seacreast Florida. Liz had a wedding there and Jr. and I went as well. We got a chance to spend some time with Aunt Tori and Uncle Lee there. Outside of the 190.00 tickets we both recived on the way there we had a blast. So much fun! 

Pizza by the Sea was simply amazing. Some of the best pizza I have ever tasted. If you are ever in Santa Rosa Beach Fl. please stop in. 

Uncle Lee and Aunt Tori traveled with us. 

Crab legs are a must! This was Lizzy'z bday gift since she was sooo busy with the wedding. 

Gotta have some Whataburger if you are in Florida! 

I got a chance to tutor these kiddos at the Florida-Kansas Elementary School through Jr. Achievement . They were a hoot. Awesome school and great kids. 

Sydney and I got a chance to bring in the fall season at Discovery Playhouse. They had tons of arts and crafts that kept her busy. Fun times! 

Guess who this kiddo is? Halloween was this weekend and for Zachary's first one he was a Memphis Tiger. He loved his costume and he got to spend lots of time in it with his mother taking lots of pics of him in it. Happy Halloween Jr! 

We gone find you!

This was a story that was shot last summer. IT is soooo funny. What is wonderful about it is that the family was able to move out of this neighborhood because of all the fame. Great ending to this story.



Here is the song that was made from the story.



Here is the success from this. I love it!

Game Changer

We are going to the Bama vs Arkansas game this week. I can not wait to see these two teams match up. We are going with some good friends of ours the Cordell's. Zach Cordell is a Razorback fan and is originally from Arkansas. This is going to be either a really fun trip or a sucky one for each of us. The ladies and kiddos will be making the trip as well so it should be fun. Anyways I wanted to send this out so that Mr. Cordell could see what he is up against this weekend. Hey Fayetteville, "A Tide is headed your way!"

Big 5 for this week!

1. Football season has kicked back off. I am a little excited about it. Bama's game is televised and they play Penn State tonight. My friend Justin from up the street will be over to watch the game with me. Can not wait to watch it.

2. I have had some terrible headaches the last few afternoons. Liz asked me to try the neti pot and it was simply amazing! I think that I will live by this from now on. Here is a vid of how it works.

3. Keeping Zachary on the weekends. I keep my son on the weekend's while my wife is out working. We have so much fun together. Granted I don't get much done around the house when it comes to mowing and maintenance but all of that can wait when I have the curly headed kiddo around.

4. We watched a move this week called "The Joneses" this movie is one that if you never watched it is well worth it. Redbox has it for 1.00. Great concept and I love the way it makes fun of consumerism. Its kinda sad though. Go and get it!

5. My new flag. I purchased this flag a week ago and it has caused some ruckus in my neighborhood. I had my next door neighbor put a letter in my mail box that I called him out for today. We had a good laugh about it.

Wish I had one of the guns in this vid. One that makes people dance!

6 reasons he is my favorite boy

Zachary Allen Jr has been such a blessing to me. I remember how excited I was when I found out that we had a baby on the way. I remember how over the top I was when I found out he was a boy! I am not a huge emotional person- (not on the outside at least) but I was so joyful to see him when he got here. Now he is getting ready to turn six months old and I thought that a "Top 6 reasons why he is my favorite boy" would be fitting. Here goes,

Number one: Your curls. I love running my hands through them and trying to figure out a way to style it every day.

Number two: Your diaper butt. Nothing looks sweeter than to watch you sleep at night with that little diaper bottom sticking up.

Number three: Your giggles. I love listening to you giggle and I love making you laugh.

Number four: your serious look. You always look as if you are trying to figure out things.

Number five: Your love for Bear and Bryant. I can just tell that you 3 will be great friends.

Number six: Your love for your momma. That my friend we both have in common.

I love you Zach Jr. You have been a huge inspiration to me. I want you to know that if there is ever anything that you need. You can come to me for it first. Happy six months and I love you! -Daddy.

Don't worry....about a thing.

This is so the motto for the place we visited. Jamaica was soooo much fun! There was so much to do and there was not enough time to do it all. Liz and I really wanted to take another trip before we have or start trying for another little one. This trip was it. Being in paradise was quite fun, getting to spend this time alone with the woman I love is priceless. I am going to try to give you our views from the trip and add a video of our pics. Hope you enjoy! Jennifer and Matt thanks again for this referral. It was exactly what we were looking for.

This was our room. OMG are the only words I have.




Here are all the pics.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Trip before the vacation.....

Before Liz and I headed on our vaca to Jamaica, I had to go and see about a girl. That young lady would be my Sydney Carlene! The first thing that I noticed is her new hair doo! It looked so pretty. She is turning into such a lovely little girl.



We have such great times when I make the day trip up to see her. With the weather being so hot out, we had to find some things inside that we could do to enjoy ourselves. I asked Syd where she wanted to go grab lunch when I got there. She said that she wanted something fast. Since I had to stop at Target for our trip, we decided to head over to the food court there to grab lunch. The pretzels there are amazing!

We then went to see what movies were playing. I have never heard of Ramona and Beezus, but Sydney had. We decided to go and watch that movie and it was treat. The movie was great for kids and adults alike. I teared up 3 different times during this movie and that is not like me at all. There is nothing like a large popcorn, coke, and movie with my daughter! After the movie we decided to wrap up the trip at the bookstore which is so like us. We headed right over to the kids section to see if there were books out for Ramona and Beezus. There is a whole slew of books that capture the entire movie. Syd Decided on this book. Another great trip seeing the little girl.

Jamaica

In just a couple of days my wife and I will be landing in Montego Bay for our final big vacation of the year! We are soooo excited! The trip came out of left field. Liz and I have been dreaming up this trip for over a year now. We both said that before things got crazy i.e. more kids etc, that we would look to take a tropical vacation. Liz then began the overwhelming search to find our destination. The search became somewhat difficult with so many beach spots you could visit. After looking for hours she talked to our good friend Jennifer LaJeunesse who just returned from Jamaica and we were hooked. The home of Bob Marley, beautiful oceans, and alone time with the wife. You can not beat it. Jamaica we will be with you soon!

Big Sugar.....

Liz and I were talking about sugar and how much of it I eat on a daily basis. (it's scary!) We decided to research sugar and find out why I am so addicted to it. Turns out that you can possibly be. The product has been tampered with so much from what pure sugar is that scientist think that you can literally be hooked on it. Check this story out. Pretty powerful stuff. There is also a video that I watched. I will tell you its pretty long. Great information and something to think about with children running around tearing into this stuff on a daily basis.

I think that weight is all about consumption. I don't think that I will ever stop loving sugar, although after this I may watch how much and what kinds I eat and allow my kids to eat.

Knowledge is power!

The New "Big 3"

Gosh I could have never imagined this. Lebron, Wade, and Bosh will play on the same team and I think that this is awesome. For three of the best players in the league to all join forces on one team is spectacular to me. Especially when you realize how large egos are and selfishness is in the league these days. They are all joining forces and trying to accomplish something together....greatness. Some have tore them apart saying, that they should try to beat each other and not join forces. That by playing on the same team is selling out to each other, and that by Lebron leaving Cleveland is abandonment.

These things just make me laugh. I am so proud that these guys have a desire to be great. A desire to play unselfish and do something like this. Alot of folks say Jordan would have never done this. He never had to. Lets see why:

• Coach in Phil Jackson (Check)


• Players like Rodman, Pippen, Horace Grant, Tony Kukoc, willing to come there (Check)


• Big Market- Which I think had alot to do with Lebron's decision to leave (Check)


• No player on the planet better than he was.(speaking of Jordan here.) (Check) Kobe is the best player in this era not Bron.

All of these things were things that Lebron didn't have in Cleveland. To me its easy to see why he did this. There will never be a player of Jordan's caliber. Some have come close, but they don't have the killer mentality he did. (Kobe is the closest to this) Lebron's whole game as great as it is, is nothing like Jordan. So the whole comparison is ludicrous. Kobe is the only one who can deserve such a comparison. Other players have done what this team is doing. David Robinson and Tim Duncan, Clyde Drexler and Hakeem, Shaq and Kobe, Magic, Worthy, and Kareem The big 3 in Boston. The list goes on and on.

I say all of that to say this: Lebron did what was best for him. He wants to win and he wants to do it now. He moved into a major sports market where he will be marketable, he will get to display his awesome game: (that is more comparable to Magic Johnson's than Jordan's) and he will get to do it on one of the greatest teams to ever assemble. Smart move. Now just win baby win! I understand Cleveland's pain. They lost a great player. I feel bad for them. Why he couldn't get those guys to do this in Cleveland is simple...its Cleveland. Let's see, finish my career in Cleveland where the market is small and there is only so much I can be stretched or play in Miami? Easy decision.

I am for it. Now lets get some championships and make this look like a smart idea in real life. I am ready to see Kobe and Paul vs this Trio!

I am officailly 30!

I turned 30 years old on June 28th 2010 and my wife took it upon herself to make it a memorable one. She decided to surprise me with a downtown hotel stay and Texas de Brazil for dinner! It was a wonderful night to be with my lady. With Zachary, Sydney, two dogs, and a cat at home we don't get much of this anymore. We started the night with the most wonderful b'day cake ever. It was a six layered cake with the coolest colors of any cake I had ever seen. Cream cheese icing covered this rainbow cake and the buttery layers inside were to die for.

After cake we headed over to Texas de Brazil. What was so nice about going to have dinner is that we were able to take the trolley (which my wife was so nice to plan out with our hotel location) to the restaurant.

We had a lovely time there eating some of the best meats in the world. Texas de Brazil is an experience that if you have not experienced it you must! Its simply amazing. *if you go to thier website and enter in your birthdate you will recieve a coupon for buy one get one free for your birhtday! After dinner we ended the night with a nice walk downtown and enjoyed great one on one conversation time.

I am so thankful for my wife. She is so wonderful and knows how to take care of me like no other. She is a gem! Thank you Elizabeth for a great 30th birthday celebration.

2010 Summer Vacation

Vacations are soooo much fun! When you add kids to the mix it can be both fun and challegning in a sense that you want to make sure that eveyone is enjoying themselves. A couple of weeks ago we were able to get the entire family together along with two other couples and head to Santa Rosa Beach Fl. for a week of sun and fun. This was a sentimental trip for me since it was Syd's first time to travel for a full week with us. It was so exciting.

Here are some of the things that I will remember from our trip.

• Sunsets.......
  



• Zachary cried the whole there and back! (I said highlights didn't I!)
  
  
• Our Beach House. It was awesome!
  


• Zachary first time in the ocean.










• Liz and I got to enjoy our traditional crab legs!



• I took Sydney on a date in Seaside





• Sydney tried oysters for the first time! (didn't like it)




• Sydney watched tons of movies on the way there and took care of Zachary during the drive. She's a great big sister.



• Taking lots of pics on the beach.




• We enjoyed the patio night hanging out and with friends



• Watching the dramatic USA win in the 90th min. in the world cup! SCOOOOOOORE!!
  
• Swimming in the largest pool ever!

Over all it was sooooo much fun. It will be a time that I will remember for ever. Looking forward to many more fun trips with the family. here are some more pics.

I love my family!

Sydney's Dance Recital

Elizabeth and I have been some busy folks over the last few weeks. Putting new floors in the house, traveling to Mizzou to see the little one play soccer and perform in a dance recital, and just living life with Zachary in Memphis. With all the "busyness" that goes on sometimes you can get into a mode of feeling like you don't get time to be with each other and just have fun.

Friday night we were able to travel together and watch Syd perform in her dance recital and it was so much fun. Watching her dance was such a thrill for us. She did so great! When the show first began it started out with 3 year old girls dancing. They were so cute. After a few dances Sydney came out and I could not believe how grown up she looked. (the lip stick and make up she got to wear may have had something to do with it!) She is becoming such a big and beautiful girl!!!! It brought tears to my eyes to watch her perform and to see how she is coming along as a young girl. Here are two of her dances below.

Sydney Starts out in the back row here. (second tumbler)

(This was the mob dance finale. Syd is front and center!)

(Sydney with her two cousins Tori and Lexi after the recital)

Her dancing was so fun to watch. To see her in her own little element and being able to watch her perform in it was so great to see. I loved every second of it. Afterwards Liz and I got a chance to spend time together on the way home. We laughed, danced to music, and had great conversation. All and all I had a great Friday night with my two girls! I love you guys so much!

Happenings.

So much going on these days and no time to post about it. Such is life at the Wiggs' house these days. Liz and I got to go to Alabama this last week in order for the folks to get to see the little guy. It was a good trip, but always seems to happen so fast. I love getting home but with the responsibilities that I have back here (Sydney being the largest portion on those) its hard. Glad that everyone was able to see the little guy though.

He didn't have the best time with the travel, but for being three months old and having the look of cutting teeth while we were there I give him an A+ for his efforts. When we got back from Alabama we decided to plan to have some friends come over on Saturday to place laminate floors down! Oh yea and I had to work on Saturday! Crazy stuff. I am still in recovery mode from all of this. It is worth it though the floors look great!
Thanks to all of the guys who helped out. I really enjoyed hanging out with you. Sunday made up for it though. As Zachary and I went into church I needed something to raise my spirits and I got it! Check out Zachary's new gift from Uncle Bryan Ross.

You gotta love it!!!! Zachary will have so much fun on this! Angie and Bryan you will get pics of him on it that is for sure!

How do you change a culture?

I love going back through old blog post looking for things that were once heavy in the hearts of my wife and mine at one time or another. This post comes from my wife's old blog. There was once a writer that shared an article on the "Smart City Memphis" that really caught my wife's eye. She posted this over 2 years ago and I decided to repost it. I love the insight of this post. Even after all this time reading it-its worth looking over again. Not being from Memphis originally this article really spoke to me. Thanks for posting this hun. Good stuff. The link is below.
Take a deep breath and read!

http://smartcitymemphis.blogspot.com/2008/05/changing-reality-starts-with-race.html

"It takes time to reverse the momentum that has dragged Memphis in the wrong direction for years. That negative momentum has been fueled and driven by oppression of one culture by another. Although it's not nearly as measurable or tangible as in years past, its aftershocks will be felt for years.There are two cultures here that don't mix very well. One culture needs to seek forgiveness and provide tangible evidence of providing a way out for the culture it oppressed. This same culture says to the other, “Move beyond your past and seize the opportunities.” Sure, just tell the lion at the zoo to not let that barrier keep him from realizing his true capacity to roam. There are a lot of socio-economic barriers that have been raised as a result of the residual cultural infrastructure that exists here. You don’t see it if you visit Memphis, but you do if you move here.It's this rift between two cultures that is absolutely revolting to the outsiders coming to Memphis. And nowhere is it more obvious then when an outsider family goes to a public school and is suddenly transported back to the segregated pre-Civil Rights era. You can talk about all the great ways that people claim race relations have improved, but the public school system is the reality check. It tells the whole story to a family coming to move to Memphis. There is the change that people desire and preach and then there is their action to back it up. Let’s face it- it’s completely socially acceptable within the churched culture here to segregate your kids. How’s that for a selling point for our city?THIS IS NOT NORMAL!Memphis is plagued by hypocrisy - a putrid stench to the prospective working professional and to the Memphian that has smelled it their whole life and is aching to get out of it. This hypocrisy is the running joke with one of my Australian colleagues.A culture that preaches forgiveness and tolerance and yet continues to promote segregation by placing its children into private schools. How do our children learn racial tolerance and harmony if they don't grow up together? Most of the parents that I have met who do place their kids in Memphis City Schools are non-religious folks. What does that say about what people believe? Does God only live in private schools? Why is it that the “non-Christians” are more Christian in their convictions (or at least actions) than the “true Christians.”Yes we need more high tech jobs, low tech jobs and such. But for people to sink their roots down and commit to a community we need racial harmony and congruity. The church here needs to live out the principles and actions and align their beliefs with their actions.On the brighter side, times are changing. As more outsiders move in, the melting pot is starting to stir again especially in the Midtown areas but it's slow and even slower within the native culture. But it’s happening and I have met Memphians that are equally disturbed with this incongruity. But wait! MCS are terrible and not safe. Right? Not true. That's a smokescreen or code word for the MCS being mostly populated by blacks. There are some great MCS schools out there!!As you see racial reconciliation continue to unfold, this city will become a beautiful vibrant place - inside and out. It already is a beautiful little city but it's the culture, the tension and the manifestations of this rift that start to wear on those of us who are new to Memphis.Let’s start with a Forgiveness Garden perhaps on the grounds of Auction and Main.This is the area visible from the trolley route where slaves were traded and the property has been for sale for along time. H-m-m. Why not get churches to donate money to jointly buy, run and maintain the site? Why not host inter-racial worship services on Mud Island on Sunday nights?People will stay and not leave as the day-to-day gritty realities around us begin to fade. And they will fade as harmony is restored between the cultures belief system and it’s actions."

Things that have been going on lately

Gosh there have been alot of happenings going on since the last time I posted. I want to try and catch you up on some of them. First things first the little girl. Over the last few weeks Syd had to go into surgery to have a swollen lymph node checked out.

We were shocked to hear the news that it would have to be surgically removed. She was a champ during the whole process. After is was all said and done, she is back to normal and the doctors chalked it all up to an infection and nothing more. Praise the Lord for this!

We have now purchased our deep freezer and totally changed the way we are eating around the house. We are doing more cooking from scratch, purchasing wheat flour instead of white, and staying away from many processed foods. I have never eaten like this before and I think that it is so fun! The change has really not been as hard as I thought it would be. Using the Internet has been the key to recipes and a way to connect with other folks who have changed eating habits as well.

The fitness part of my life has really kicked back in. I think that this is the time of the season its nice to be outside. I am currently getting ready to run in a 5k the first weekend in May. I have not really trained for it at all so we will see how that goes!

Our little guy has turned two months old! I am still getting used to the fact that my little man is here. After having a girl for 7yrs now, it has been an adjustment and the changing table has been just the beginning. If you have ever been in our home and seen Syd's room you would know that there is a huge difference. She is the epitome of a girl.

Zachary's room is quite the opposite. I wonder if it will fit his personality as much as Syd room does her. We'll see!

"Fat Tire"

I have totally found a new beer to drink. A buddy of mine at work spoke this beer into my life about 3 weeks ago. For the next 2 weeks I tried to find this beer and finally ran into it at the shopping center at Kroger a few days ago. GREAT STUFF! If you are a beer drinker, you should try it out. It has a great taste for an American Beer.

Bama Football is back! You folks know how we love our Bama Football. Last weekend was A-Day in Tuscaloosa Al. This is the day were only in Alabama 92,000 people get together to watch Alabama scrimmage each other! I didn't get to see the game due to work, but you better believe I will be trying to catch the replay very soon. I can smell the season in the air. Can not wait!

Lastly we are getting ready to place the house back on the market.....again! This time we will be doing it with updates. We are redoing our floors, gardening, and several other items. I am so pumped about what the future holds in our moving plans. Updates will began May 15th any help will be welcomed!

Exciting times!