Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Amazing...and almost healthy!

My sister called the other day mushing and gushing about this recipe someone had given her. I thought nothing could be as yummy as she was saying and really only be 1 point on the weight watchers' point system...so I thought it would be something fun for "Hannah-Mommy Time." I have to say they are really, really good and super simple! And for all you pumpkin haters out there...the muffins come off as a "spice muffin" more than pumpkin...trust me!

a box of carrot cake mix
small can of pure pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie stuff)
1 cup water

mix all of this together, put in muffin pans, bake at 350 for 13-15 minutes

They make 12 muffins--but be careful...at only 1 point each, one can justify eating quite a few of them...not that I speak from experience or anything! :-) Now you know why I don't bake very often!

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Our Little Girl is Growing Up!!!

Hannah's 5th birthday was Monday...it's hard to believe our little girl is 5!!! But then again, she acts like she's 15 most days! She seems so big and grown up compared to Baby Sarah, but then again I know it's all perspective...last night she came down with the stomach flu that's going around and she seemed so little and helpless!

Hannah was so excited about opening her presents! Her favorites were the princess suitcase from Grandpa and Grandma Kelley (she rolls it around the house with her everywhere she goes--she has all her favorite things in it that she has to have with her at all times!) a wallet from Grandma and Grandpa Griffin--complete with her own pretend credit cards (Grandma Griffin saved all the little credit cards that come in the mail as well as used up gift cards and put them in the wallet for Hannah to pretend play with--She loves having her own credit cards--especially the ones that have the mastercard or discover logos on them so she can be just like Mommy and Daddy!) and a red purse from our friend, Jessie Markham, that had some really fun things in it--like Skittles Bubble Gum! (The purse and the wallet made it into the suitcase--that tells you how much she really loves them!)
Hannah helped me make her cake--she begged all day to know when we were going make it...she loved putting on the sprinkles that she picked out, too!
She wanted Mac n cheese and hot dogs for her birthday dinner...we got off easy with Hannah...Daniel wanted steak for his birthday dinner! :-)

Friday, February 16, 2007

What a fun reminder!

This picture has nothing to do with the post, but was so adorable I couldn't resist! Hannah was so excited to crawl into bed with me yesterday and hold Sarah the same way Mommy holds her!
Now the real reason for posting...my friend Marsel reminded me of a man that goes to our church in Chicago. (I know we've been gone for over 2 years now, but it's still "our church"--and always will be!) His name is Mr. Rippberger, and he's everyone's Grandpa. He's the candy man--always giving gummy bears or worms out to all the children after the service. And he teaches the 4-5 year old Sunday School class. And he loves babies! He always used to play with our babies' "pudgey wrists" and tease us by asking us why we put rubber bands around our babies' wrists! How I miss Mr. Rippberger and his wife, Linda, who just have a way of making you smile when you talk with them! Leslie, their daughter, oftens posts comments to our blog...so Leslie, if you read this, please let your folks know we love them and miss everyone at New Hope...and we love you, too, Leslie...she's one of those down to earth people that you can just be yourself around! Sigh...I'm longing for a mall right now...I know, Brent, I agree, too...we're right where the Lord wants us...even though there's no mall! :-)

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

She's changing so fast!


I can't believe how quickly time is flying! Baby Sarah is changing so much each day! Her wrists are getting that baby "pudge," and she's getting that "Griffin Look." I'm not sure exactly what that means, but 2 people now have looked at Sarah and said, "Oh yeah, she's a Griffin, that's for sure!" I hope that's not such a bad thing :-) Daniel and Hannah don't look a thing like each other, but apparently all 3 of our kids have something in common as far as looks go.

Sarah is 4 weeks tomorrow...she's sleeping much better now, which means I am, too! Last night I fed her at 9:30 and was too tired to stay up until her 12:30 feeding. She woke up around 2:30 wanting to eat. She woke up again at 7:30 ready to eat...so I'm getting quite a bit of sleep...which is a good thing! God is so good to give us exactly what we need exactly when we need it...apparently I needed sleep as much as I thought I needed it!

BTW...Hannah said something funny the other day while Grandma Griffin was holding Sarah. Daniel and Hannah love to kiss on Sarah. Hannah had just given Sarah yet another kiss, when Grandma Griffin said, "You're going to wear a hole in Sarah's cheeks !" Hannah looked at Sarah in a funny way, and said, "Look she's starting to crack!" Hannah noticed the tiny little blood vessels that were showing on Sarah's cheek and thought she really was wearing a hole in her cheek from kissing her! Only a four year old would think that way!

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Murphy's Law at it's best!

Just a simple thought to ponder...why is it that a baby will only make "ickies" in a clean diaper?!? Never fails...change a baby's diaper and she is sure to make a mess of it within minutes if not seconds...try it, you'll see!!! The results will be best around 3-4 in the morning. One of those things to make you go, "hmmm..."

Friday, February 09, 2007

Thank You!!!

A special thanks to both sets of grandparents who came and helped us while we were adjusting to life with a newborn! My parents came before we were induced and stayed for a week or so after Sarah Grace was born. Brent's folks came and stayed 10 days with us after my parents left. It was so nice to know that Daniel and Hannah were taken care of while I was figuring out the nursing thing all over again, and that the laundry was being done, and that I could sleep and know that dinner was taken care of for when Brent came home. They made the transition to baby-hood again much more bearable. Thanks Mom and Dad! What would we do without such wonderful parents? But could someone please tell me how to do laundry...it's been so long since I've had to do anything around the house, I think I need more help--when are you guys coming back?!?

Sunday, February 04, 2007

WOW!!! That's Cold!

Windchills could get as cold as -45 tonight and into tomorrow morning!!! The actual this morning when we got up was -16!!! Who knows how cold it got during the wee hours of the morning! Yikes!

Friday, February 02, 2007

Family pictures

We went and had our pictures taken today after Sarah's doctor appointment. The girl gave us a CD of our pics we ordered so we could email them to friends and family. I figured posting them on the blog fell under the same category. (BTW...I checked the copyright on the CD and it said we couldn't print them at a photo studio or kiosk--so legally it seems fine to post them on our blog--one doesn't live with a computer programmer without having to check these things out!) Our family picture was an after thought--we had one more picture available so we had our family shot taken instead of wasting it! Wish I had taken more care getting ready this morning!
Daniel turned 7 in September, Hannah will be 5 on February 19, and Sarah is 15 days old. Where does the time go?!?





Thursday, February 01, 2007

My how quickly they change...Sarah's 2 weeks today and she's changed so much from the wrinkly, cheese head we met for the first time 2 weeks ago! She's slept for 4-5 hours at a time for the last several nights so we're on the downward side of the slope for no sleep! It's amazing what you can do once you get a good night's sleep! And several naps thanks to my parents and Brent's parents who have been helping out a ton with a certain proud brother and sister!

Sarah seems to really be favoring Brent's pictures from when he was a baby. His parents think so as well...but unfortunately, she's got my thighs!!! We're enrolling her in baby aerobics next week!
Sarah's cord finally came off so we were able to give her her first real bath...she wasn't too happy about it to say the least!