transparency

we've been discussing fasting in our community group at church. to be SUPER honest it is a discipline that i have never participated in fully. i've fasted from technology, or a particular food, but i have never gone without food. in celebrating discipline Richard Foster says, "more than any other discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us... we cover up what is inside us with food and other good things, but in fasting these things surface. "

in the past, i have not wanted to fast because i knew that i would be easily irritated upon the first sign of hunger. but since reading this book, i realize that i have never fasted because i'm scared to see my own sin.

the last few weeks i have not been food deprived, but i have been sleep deprived. that isn't fasting...but the results have been similar. my sin has made its way to the surface because i'm tired. the Lord has been trying to show me that HE IS ENOUGH. HE he is bigger than sleep. i can not use my lack of sleep as an excuse for being irritable... instead i have to dig deep and soak up the spirit that empowers me daily. and in so doing... i bring glory to God... for he is good all the time!!!

Little Monster

Jekyll and hyde??

so if you don't know riley well or if you haven't been around him in the last six months, you may not realize that he has two personalities... he is the first kid we've had that can be ooey gooey sweet one minute and the very next minute seem as though he is possessed by satan himself.... SERIOUSLY!

here are two pictures that so adequately detail this fact:

we have officially moved riley to a big boy bed because he was climbing out of his crib 5 to 6 times a day. but if you will notice we put two baby gates up around the bottom of the bunk bed (it looks alot like a cage)! but no worries... he climbs out where the ladder is and refuses to stay in his bed. because i am nursing a newborn, i can't keep putting him back in his bed SO i started locking him in his room (if you have better options let me know PLEASE)! This was what i found yesterday after two hours of what should have been his nap time... shoes and toys EVERYWHERE (i wish the picture got the entire disaster, but i could not zoom out enough) and a child sleeping on the floor for no longer than 10 minutes! oh, joy.

but within moments... a sweet kid that wanted to love on his baby brother and bring him a lovey (the turtle... named tuga for tortuga). he ran to our room to get it and ran back yelling, "here go griffin... here go!"

crib time

as you can imagine...

griffin has many admirers in this house. no place is safe for this little guy.

so we've started laying him in his crib for most of his naps

he still gets admirers, but i think he feels a little more safe! :)

mimi

i thought i might fall apart when my mom left... somehow i happened to keep it together! :) usually when she comes we do fun things and have a few outings. this visit we were doing good to do the day to day. i was able to get to the bank, the grocery store, a doctor's appt, etc. you get the picture!

however, we did attempt two out-of-the-ordinary things...

we planted in the front yard. the kids helped me with the planter box, but also got to fill their very own hanging basket with flowers they picked. they look pretty good!

and on mimi's last day here the kids begged us to go to the science center. we put on our big girl boots and braved it...

here is mimi posing with "two reporters" in the news room

and eating with "a local fire fighter" in the diner. the "waitress" looks familiar too ;)

mimi also helped by holding the MOST gassy baby i have EVER had. if he is awake... he is uncomfortable. we have purchased our weighted in gripe water and mylicon.

thanks for loving on ALL of us mimi... especially me! i was really needing reinforcements and it was refreshing to have you here! love you!

i'm 33-

but i feel elderly... HA!
seriously though, with no sleep and four kids i feel super old. i'm sure that will pass because, 33... i'm just hitting my prime, right? :)

here are some highlights of yesterdays birthday celebration.
it began with an all green breakfast. my husband is getting REALLY good at this!

green apples, green grapes, and kiwi.

green gatorade, aka: SHAMROCK PUNCH

shamrock cinnamon rolls with green cream cheese icing! yum!

and a bouquet of REALLY beautiful flowers!

my mom, the kids, and i went to lowes and grabbed flowers and plants for the front yard and then hit up chickfila for lunch.

then mimi babysat so that lance and i could have a date. we ate at julians and then swung by FRESH by brookshires to enjoy this.... an assortment of six different desserts... so yummy!!!

thanks to all my friends and family for cards, texts, fb messages, and phone calls! i feel truly blessed... even in my exhaustion! love you all!

random...

everyone keeps asking me how things are going... i guess the world wants to know what the day to day looks like with four kids five and under!

so pretty much it is insanity... there is always a need... almost always someone crying... and there hasn't been a day that didn't involve diarrhea or blood! i know you envy my life! :)

this has been a HUGE help! my sling... LOVE IT!

here was my first attempt at getting all our little ducks in one pic. i took ten pictures and this was the least blurry!

then there is the matter of this little guy. SO SWEET. SO GOOD! he is up to 9 pounds, 11 ounces. I get up twice a night with him and i could use about five days of sleep, but this too will pass!

my amazing man has been super great about going with the flow... every time you add a kid, life changes drastically, but lance does a wonderful job making the other kids feel needed and loved.

my mommy has been here the last three days and (next to the LORD) she has been my saving grace! funny how when you're YOUNG... your parents seem soo stupid until you become a parent and then they are the most brilliant people EVER! :) if you haven't found that to be true... you haven't been parenting long enough! :) i'll try to snap pics of mimi with the kids, but so far... there hasn't been time! HA!

family picture

i already put this pic on the sidebar, but forgot to include it in the last post.
our first pic as a family of six...

one week...

has it truly been a week already? seven days ago we were in the hospital waiting to see our little griffin and only six days ago, we brought him home! Lots has happened since our 8:30pm departure last wednesday...

the biggest being that it was pine cove's leadership weekend. baby or no baby, we were going to have about 14 extra WONDERFUL college students in our house for the weekend. it was fun to share the experience of a newborn with them and the weekend went well!

in between pine cove fun, mommy and the kids got use to baby griffin. or maybe i should say that he was getting use to us! HA!

i feel like he looks different every time i look at him... his hair color and face shape seem to have already changed more than once

caught a cute pic of him sleeping the other day... precious child... we are SO BLESSED!

recent stats:
last time we weighed him he was 8lbs, 14oz (the doc says no worries...the bigger the kid, the harder they fall)

AND last night he ate at 11, 3, and 7... only up once in the night... woohoo! Thanks griffin!

Going Home

We just found out from the doctor that we will probably be leaving the hospital tonight. It looks like Griffin has a "Genesis 17:11" scheduled for around 4:30 and if everything goes well, we will be getting out of here shortly after that.

With that said we're great w/ visitors up to that time, but afterward we will probably be scrambling a bit and not very fun to visit.

Feel free to text us if you want to arrange a time tonight to come visit at the house. Prepare to be flexible because we really don't know a whole lot right now.

Visitors

griffin is sporting a new look! "The Sisters" of Trinity Mother Francis made him a beanie and he's loving it!

we've had friends asking about visits and we are ALL ABOUT IT! Come by anytime today. He's feeding times are 11, 2, 5, and 8, but other than that we are here and excited to see everybody!!

Family Pics

The kids got to come up and meet Griffin tonight for the first time. We decided to do it one at a time to keep them from completely destroying the room. They did awesome and everyone of them were so proud to have a new brother. As their father, it was really cool to see.

Allie & Griffin

Caleb & Griffin

Riley & Griffin

Mom, Dad & Griffin

He's Here

Griffin Allan Sisco
9 lbs 7 oz
21 3/4"
born @ 3:33pm

Quick pic of mom and the round faced baby boy.

The Weigh In.

Mama couldn't believe how much he weighed!

Thanks for praying for us. We will try to post more pics sometime this evening once we get settled in the new room.

so much for twiddling...

Nurse just came in to measure and she's fully dilated which means she will start pushing soon. The next post will be after the birth! see you on the other side.

twiddling our thumbs

Since the last update we've both had naps, but nothing really to report. We're literally just sitting here waiting and y'all aren't missing anything. I'm reading the book, "Humility," by Andrew Murray. I'll leave you with a quote I've been kicking around as I wait.

"Brother! nothing can cure you of the desire of receiving glory from men, or of the sensitiveness and pain and anger which come when it is not given, but giving yourself to seek only the glory that comes from God. Let the glory of the All-glorious God be everything to you. You will be freed from the glory of men and of self, and be content and glad to be nothing."

1, 2, 3, 4...

Again, so proud of my wife. She's amazing.

Goodbye Toes!

Well the epidural has arrived and Mandy's toes are tingling. Mandy faced the needle and came away a more peaceful woman. Although her direct quote was, "I fear this part more than the delivery." We should have another measurement here soon, so i'll try to update. She's doing an incredible job. I'm so proud of my wife and can't wait to meet this little guy.

**SPECIAL NOTE**
This is not an actual picture of Mandy...we do not know this person or the anesthesiologist.

making progress

Dr. Fanning just stopped in and Mandy is almost a 4. He broke her water so things should start to escalate. For those of you new to the world of labor & delivery. 10 is the magic number.

A Pretty Special Day

It looks like Griffin is going to share this day with some pretty special people...

Mark-Paul Gosselaar, best known for his role as Zack Morris on TV's "Saved By the Bell"

Booker T, the professional wrestler who created the spin-a-roony

Alan Thicke, the Canadian actor best known for playing Jason Seaver, on TV's "Growing Pains"

Harry Caray, Baseball broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs. Famous for the phrase, "Holy Cow!"

Justin Bieber, yet another Canadian. Best known for having Mike Gundy's I'm a Man I'm 40 rant for his ring tone. Oh and he sings with Usher sometimes too.