She knows my name...

Amelia said my name last night, for the first time, and it was music to my ears...even if it was 12:30 in the morning, and that was the third time she had woken up in the past hour because she was teething and had a fever and diarrhea.

It was still music to my ears. Sweet, sweet music.

She is...1

Amelia turned 1 last Tuesday...unbelievable. This has been the fastest year of my life. She is such a lovely little girl, and the joy of our lives.

The birthday celebrations continued for quite some time...

• Grandma Stephanie came and stayed with us for a week:wagon-rides, mexican food, party.
• My parents came for a Saturday: hiking, bubbles, bbq & party.
• Tuesday, March 13, Amelia's B-day: party.
  
• Amelia's cousins, Emma & Cate, stayed with us for 3 days: more partying.

She is such a party animal. She loved all the attention, and fun! We're so blessed to have such a great, fun family.

Chris and I watched our 2 nieces this week, while their parents went on a little vacation. Here is what we learned while we were the parents to 3 little babes:

• We love our nieces like our daughter. They brought so much happiness into our home.
• We NEVER want to have twin 1-year olds.
• Cheerios, raisins and ice cream do happy babies make.
• Going to the zoo with 3 kids is a lot like taking the zoo to the zoo. I think the monkeys were probably as entertained with Amelia, Cate & Emma's antics as we were of theirs.
• My Little Pony movies do not get better the more you watch them.
• The attention span of a child matches their age.
• Life will be much quieter this week with only 1 baby (and that isn't necessarily a good thing...we'll miss all the noise - but not the diapers).
  
• It will be wonderful to have more children in our home with the time comes (we aren't making any announcements).

In case you want to take a look at our recent photos...here is the link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/wignall

March 3

So, I'm off to a rough start...I already missed a week. I'll try to catch up.

There's been a lot of change in the Wignall household...here's a rundown:

1. Amelia now has 3 teeth...slowly but surely her mouth is filling up. It is a painfully (emphasis on the painfully) slow process.
2. As a family we've consumed at least 24 Girl Scout Samoa Cookies in the past 24 hours(which goes completely against our next change),
3. No sweets, except for Saturday's.
4. I have a new job! Yep, a new job. I am working for a company out of Utah called TodaysMama.com. I am selling national advertising for them. It is a new adventure for me, as I have never done this sort of thing before...wish me luck. Oh, and check out their website...todaysmama.com!
5. Chris is attending his 1st economics conference today at USC. He got new professor-looking clothes, and looked super sharp! He gets to travel with some friends from his department and spend the entire day talking about his 3rd love (I'm first, Amelia's second...). Heaven, he's in heaven.
6. We have a new website, yep our very own! Wignallfamily.net. Check it out!
   
7. My talented mother-in-law has been staying with us this week as she attended a class to become an Accredited Staging Professional. Now we have to call her Stephanie Smith, ASP. I was the first person to take advantage of her skills- thank goodness for the family discount (pronounced free). Wow - my apartment has never looked cuter! Amelia especially loves her new pad. She loves to walk around and just touch everything.
   

Here are some things that haven't changed.

1. Amelia is still pretty sure her name is mommy - if you ask her who mommy is, she points to herself. Watch out Wignall kids - Amelia is going to be bossy-she already thinks she's the mom!
2. Amelia can't say any words - much to the chagrin of her father (who was talking at 9 months). Despite this fact, her parents still think she is a genius. Especially when she takes a DVD out of the DVD player looks at it, puts it back in and shuts the door. Genius, but super annoying if you are watching said DVD.
   
3. Emily is still scrapbooking up a storm, teaching piano, learning how to cook healthier food, and finishing up her glass bead class (which is the highlight of every week).
   
4. Chris is still playing his guitar, reading lots of books, doing lots of crossword puzzles, and working on his website.

Life is good. Stay tuned for more from San Diego.

Sunday, February 18

I was inspired by a friend in the ward to blog each Sunday night about what happened during the week. Blogging makes it so easy to do this, and include extras, like fun pics.

This week was super busy and fun. Amelia has become quite the walker, and loves, loves, loves to be outside roaming around. She likes to play at the park, and especially loves to freak me out by climbing up the stairs to the big slide while I am not watching. She is incredibly fast and can get to the slide and up several stairs in a matter of seconds...I'm not a bad mom...I really am watching her carefully.

She also loves the beach. While Amelia doesn't look like me, we do have several things in common, and an affinity towards all things beachy is one commonality. Amelia loves walking in the sand, looking at "stuff" on the sand, putting her feet in the water, watching dogs at the beach, tasting the sand, looking at the birds...she is not, however, a fan of sitting in the sand.

The pictures I posted are from this morning's adventure to Del Mar...no, that is not amelia's newest hairstyle...we all just woke up and decided to take a family walk on the beach. We all had bedhead.

Chris loves Amelia and Amelia loves the beach; however, this is not a case of a=b and b=c so a=c, Chris still doesn't like the beach. But, he is a great daddy and loves to make his baby (& wife) happy, so he goes with us often. He has been busy with school, and is looking forward to teaching in a few months. I think he is going to do such a great job. We talked a lot about his lesson plans on a drive back from his sisters in Bakersfield a few weeks ago. Makes me wish I was an undergrad at UCSD, so I could take Econ 101 from that tall, handsome grad student (he's brilliant too).

I've been busy with being a mom, working, taking a glass-bead class at UCSD, craft projects, teaching piano...etc. I love being at home all day with amelia. I love taking her to the library, beach, zoo, etc. What a life! We have so much fun together. Someday she isn't going to want to hang out with me, so I am trying to get all I can now.

We went yesterday to the Redlands temple, where my cousin Curtis got married. It was just Amelia and I. She did fine till we were almost to the temple, and then she just cried and cried. I was running late, so I just handed her over to my sisters to watch while I was inside. She cried and cried for them. She was happy the rest of the afternoon, eating french fries her Grandma Andersen bought her from In-N-Out (another thing her mom and her have in common). She slept the rest of the ride home and was a happy camper all night. Someday she will realize how cool her aunts, uncles and grandparents are and she will stop freaking out around them.

Life's good, here goes another week.

Amelia's Preferences

Amelia is 7 months old, and has her very own distinctive personality. I wanted to capture some of her likes and dislikes at this stage of her life.

Amelia Likes:
Music: singing, playing the piano & guitar, watching others play the piano and guitar
Drinking out of a cup
Eating anything mom & dad are eating
Soda - because she is Chris Wignall's baby
Sucking on the remote control
Playing on the playground
Walking on the beach with mom & dad
Going for walks in the stroller
Typing on the computer keyboard
Any little kid - they are all great!
Being at home with her mom & dad

Amelia Dislikes:
The song, "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" - it makes her cry
Bananas, Peaches, Carrots
Really long car rides
too many kisses
formula
Dr. Phil - he also makes her cry

Would you have been a Nazi?

Not me!

The Resistance Achtung! You are 38% brainwashworthy, 18% antitolerant, and 47% blindly patriotic

Welcome to the Resistance (Der Widerstand)! You believe in freedom, justice, equality, and your country, and you can't be converted to the the dark side. Breakdown: your Blind Patriotism levels are borderline unhealthy, but you show such a love of people from everywhere and a natural resistance to brainwashing, you would probably focus your energy to fight the Fuehrer with furor, so to speak. Conclusion: born and raised in Germany in the early 1930's, you would have taken up ARMS against the oppressors. Or even your friends' oppressors. Congratulations! Less than 5% of all test takers earn a spot in the Resistance! The Would You Have Been A Nazi? Test - it rules -

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on brainwashworthy You scored higher than 99% on antitolerant You scored higher than 99% on patriotic

Link: The Would You Have Been a Nazi Test written by jason_bateman on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

A New Perspective

I've been thinking a lot about the law of consecration - to give my everything I own, including my time to the Lord and to His Kingdom. I used to think it was a law I would live later in my life; however, in the past few weeks as I have pondered this law, I've gained a new perspective.

Being a mom is living the law of consecration. Everyday I give all that I have to be a good mom, so that I can raise righteous children, and through them build the kingdom of God. I am sure I will be asked to live this law in different forms; however at this time, I feel that I am consecrating myself by being the best mom I can be.

Other notes from this week...Amelia learned to sit! What a milestone. She happily sits up and plays with her toys and her toes and whatever else suits her fancy.

We went and visited Richard, Nathalie, Emma & Cate for the Labor Day weekend. We had so much fun with our sweet family. Everyone was so happy. We went and saw the world's largest tree in Sequoia, we went to church on Sunday and relaxed, and we got the girl's pictures taken on Monday. I am so excited that Nathalie and I had girls so close together. Amelia loved watching her cousins and laughing at Emma's antics.