Spencer's going to Mesa, AZ!!!

Congratulations Elder Richins!!!
He reports to the MTC Feb 18, 2009 and will be speaking English. Everyone is SO excited for him!!
To brush up on your Mesa, AZ knowledge click here.

Elder Richins?!?

My one and only favorite little brother Spener's (prounounced Spee-ner, and spelled without the "C" because that's how he preferred it when he made a big "Keep Out. Spener's Room" poster in 5th grade) mission call should be coming in the mail this week!! We are so excited - it's all I can think about! Where oh where will Heavenly Father send him??

Thanksgiving pics

Early Christmas present from G&G Walbruch; This Big Sister thing is gonna be no prob...


Best view in the house.

Hey! Who let these two monkeys out of their cage?!?


Hannah much preferred watching the Merry-Go-Round to being on it.

Since my sister Jenna thinks blogs are only for old married people, I'll share her news: She got a 4.0 this semester!! AND among her classes was Anatomy&Physiology a.k.a impossible. We're proud of you girl! Keep it up! You'll be an overworked/underpaid nurse in no time :)haha.

I've started a new job in a 6-bed ICU and I think I'm going to love it! Presbyterian Hospital Matthews just received Magnet Status also!! Only 5% of all hospitals nationwide have earned this designation, which recognizes facilities that provide the highest level of nursing care. My job at Mayo in the Cardiac Surgery/Transplant ICU was awesome but it was also highly specialized, preventing me from developing a wide base of experience....I'm excited to develop a broader knowledge base. Happy Christmas Shopping All!!!

Full of thanks!

Yep, you're right...the house fell through. Actually we ended up withdrawing our offer - long story. But thanks for all the encouraging comments. So, back to square one.
We had a terrific Thanksgiving! Nate's parents just left to go back to MN this morning after trudging through a week of our cramped apt/no-TV lifestyle. Nate and I both had the whole week off basically. We had lovely weather and Hannah had so much fun with Grammy and Papa. Thank you so much for driving half way across the country and spoiling us for a week! Highlights and pictures to come...

We hope.....

I am so anxious to get out of our apt that I hesitate to post this just in case i jinx us. We have signed the contract and are just waiting on this foreclosed house in Indian Trail, NC. I will never again take living in a house for granted. We way underestimated what a pain communal living would be with Hannah. Anyway, if I don't post for a long time, it's because we lost this house and I'm in a psych center.




Looking through the front door

Dining room - Go Choteau Bulldogs and Minnesota Golden Gophers!

Front room

Kitchen - okay half the reason I'm so excited is for new appliances!

Back yard - lots of "potential" here


Master bedroom (walk-in closets not pictured)

Master bath

Laundry room - upstairs!

One of two bedrooms

Kids bathroom

There's also a half-bath downstairs and a 2-car garage. PRAY FOR THE WALBRUCHS!!!

Real Birthday, The Park, and Halloween

Hannah the Giraffe (the head was a little hard to keep down). Mom and Dad had their own Trick-or-treating a.k.a. free burritos at Chipotle. Also, Hannah's real birthday in which she feasted on ice cream sandwich and cotton candy. Hannah playing at the park - I still can't believe my "baby" has turned into a little girl now -climbing all over like she owns the place. And some others...I'm tired. Nah-nite.

Whoa!

So when my family sold our house in Morgan, UT almost 13 years ago, we never imagined that it would one day look like this! The house was built by my Great Grandpa Fry (am I right?) in 1896 but a few years after we'd moved, it had careless owners and was unkempt. It was a little hard to go back for visits and see our little home so disheveled-looking. But the last owners have obviously gone above and beyond and made it into an amazing home. In spite of all the adding on, I still recognize my childhood home (I was 14 when we moved), but just barely! Anyway, fun to see and share with any of you had been inside when the Richins' lived there...now anyone with $579,000 just burning a hole in their pockets can snatch it right up!

What's for dinner tonight?

I've actually had some reasonable success with cooking lately and I feel I should share.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
*note: I added a can of black beans and a little cilantro and put it all in the Crockpot. Although it may taste like it needs salt, don't add too much because the chips and cheese make it plenty salty. I also used Tostitos chips with a Hint of Lime.


Easy Pizza Dough
*note: I prefer thin crust so I stretch this recipe into 2 cookie-sheet pizza crusts.
And don't forget to sprinkle with Italian Seasoning/garlic salt before adding toppings. I combined one jar of Walmart Pizza sauce, one can tomato sauce, italian seasoning, garlic salt. My favorite toppings were Canadian Bacon/Pineapple/mozzerella cheese.

Heather's Chicken-Rice Pitas:

1. Cook 1.5 cups rice (Minute Rice is fine) with 4 chicken bouillon cubes
2. Cool and add:
1.5 cups cooked and cut boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 package frozen peas
1 cup celery
1/2 bunch green onions, chopped (I only used maybe 1/2 cup)
Garlic salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Enough Mayo for the right consistency
3. Fill pitas and enjoy!

Also, my mom introduced me to this broom while she was here and I'm hooked - no more scooting across the kitchen 5 times while bent over just trying to get that last little bit of "gunk" of the floor.

Why hadn't I posted this earlier?

DISCLAIMER: All you moms out there know that when it comes to babies, especially newborns, YOU DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU. That being said, here's what I have found most helpful:

My testimony of this book is just about as strong as my testimony of the 4 Standard Works. Kidding but it's definitely worth a try. It's called "On Becoming Baby Wise" by Gary Ezzo. I read it before Hannah was born and we tried really hard to stick to it. Although slightly extreme in some areas (like letting your newborn cry for 45 minutes at a time - um, no), the two principles I tried really hard to stick to from about 2 weeks old were:

1. Breastfeeding Hannah right when she woke up, every 2.5 - 3 hours (never before putting her down) and yes, if it had been 3 hours since she last ate and she was still sound asleep, I WOKE HER UP (completely ludacris in my mom's book)

2. Keeping her awake for at least 30 minutes after she ate (so hard sometimes).

By 4 weeks, she had put herself on the most wonderful schedule: She ate, stayed awake for 30 minutes or so, then was put down while awake - sleepy but not OUT (no feeding, rocking, singing, binkie, swing, no "soothing" of any kind - just laid her down, darkened the room, and shut the door) and slept for 2 hours. Over and over as she slowly prolonged the amount of time that she slept at night (I would not wake her at night, only during the day). By 7 weeks, she knew exactly how to go to sleep and was sleeping 6 hours at night. 1 year later, weaning the bottle is working like a charm, (I believe) much to this book's credit.

Anyway, not a huge fan of routine myself, this book probably saved my family's life. Also, it will def help out when there are two babies in this house. Hopefully it works as well with girly #2 as it did with Hannah. Good luck all of us!

Nannah

It was SO fun to have my mom here for a few days. I feel so terrible - we didn't get a single picture of she and Hannah the whole trip! Between the two of us, we had plenty of camera malfunctions and we kind of gave up. But we did get a few videos. What a sweet little relationship that we all wish were closer. Anyway, not only did she spoil all three of us rotten for a week, she got Hannah to crack up one night - a rare occurrence. Not that Hannah isn't a happy child, but she is very contemplative and observational and is not over-giggly in the least. Thanks for flying across the country Nannah! ENJOY!

You only turn 1 once!

We had a little birthday party for Hannah on Sat (a week early because my mom's in town). We went to the park and it could have been a little warmer weather but the kids had fun.

Hannah's 1 year stats:

height: tba
weight:tba
hair: light brown
eyes: brown
teeth: 8
favorite foods: bananas, watermelon, blueberries. She's a great eater and eats whatever Nate and I are having for dinner.
favorite beverage: fruit smoothies
favorite toy: her baby doll
favorite song: "Give Said the Little Stream"
favorite book: Anything with babies or animals in it
favorite movie: Baby Einstein: "Neighborhood Animals"
favorite game: "I'm gonna getch you"
favorite place: Walmart, library (or any public place)
best friend: Elise Sammis, Courtney and Gracie Mecham
walking: Sept 8, 2007
favorite time: bathtime and when Daddy plays with her after work
naughty deed: threw mom's cell phone in the toilet (Sept 11, 2007 - I should have known this was bad day in history...)
daily schedule: wake up 7:00 a.m., rice cereal/bananas, play and get dressed, 8:00 - drop Daddy off at work and go for walk with mom, 10:00 - nap 12:00 - lunch and shopping or errands, 3:30 - nap, 4:50 - pick up Daddy from work, PLAY 6:00 - dinner and usually a mini walk with Dad, 7:30 bath/bottle/sleeps all night long.
talents: blowing spit bubbles, making monster face.
***Hannah June, we cannot express how much we love you and how happy you make mommy and daddy. You are a perfect little angel. May you experience all the love and happiness life has to offer. Happy Birthday!***