Emergency Room Visit #3

Well, we'd never been to the emergency room before last month and now we've been 3 times! The first was Weston's abdominal pain (turned out to be gas :), the second was Mike being hit by the truck, and yesterday I went to the ER with abdominal pain (not gas). Luckily, my parents had just arrived in town, so my dad was able to take me while my mom stayed with the kids. Mike met me there as soon as he was able (I told him not to leave work, but he didn't listen to me). They did several tests and weren't able to figure out what was wrong, but apparently they were satisfied it wasn't anything serious (it might have been a kidney stone?). They did an ultrasound, which showed everything was normal with Snoopy Peanut. In fact, Snoopy seemed quite happy lounging around sucking his/her thumb :) They were also able to give me something for the pain, but not until I'd been there about 3 hours (the ER was busy and there were only 2 doctors there). After about 6 hours we finally headed home. It seems to be a big mystery! I'm just praying it doesn't come back (I've had a bit of the same pain today) and it's nothing serious.

I'll attach the photo of Snoopy sucking his/her thumb. It's kind of cute. I'm 13 weeks along now, so almost out of the first trimester.

A Few Bloopers!

They were obviously using a stuffed cat to try to make the kids laugh. As you can see above, it didn't work so great with Elsie.

I like this photo because you can see Grace's little overbite teeth slightly sticking out :)

This is a very "Elsie" expression.

The cat worked for Weston and Grace.

Professional Photos 2

This is the best photo we got of all three. I just wish I had taken the girls' sweaters off so their Easter dresses would show.

This one turned out good with my mom and dad. Elsie's look is a little funny, but you can't get perfect with three kids.

This photo's fun because Grace turned "3" the next day.

Obviously this photo's not edited. Weston felt soooo cool on this motorcycle!

Professional Photos

On Feb. 23rd we went to Portrait Innovations here in Gresham and had some professional photos taken of the kids and my parents. As part of our package we got a CD with most of the photos (even ones we didn't buy as prints) and are allowed to use them as we wish. The only rule is that we have to go back to the studio if we want to print any of them. Note: Some of these photos aren't cropped or edited because they weren't ones we bought as prints.

If any of you want a wallet of the kids just let us know, we have plenty!

I'll do a couple of posts with photos, including some bloopers :)

This is a fun photo because we've always called Elsie "Elsie Bear" for a nickname. She growls like a bear sometimes.

Mad Dog

This video is funny!

Grace is Funny!

Grace was on her way upstairs for bed and I asked her if she wanted to bring her baby "Pat" to bed with her. She's been carrying Pat around all day nurturing and loving him/her (we're not sure if it's a boy or a girl) so I was surprised she wanted to leave him behind. I asked her why she never wants to take her babies to bed with her and this was her answer, "betause he might pretend cry and keep me awake".

Wonderful Husband

My husband bought me these flowers today because he loves me. They came on just the right day as I've been fighting tears since the kids woke up from nap. I was feeling pretty sorry for myself for many reasons (none of them very good reasons, but when you're pregnant and emotional it doesn't take much to feel sorry for yourself).
I appreciate what a good husband and father Mike is to us. He frequently puts his own desires aside to help me and play with the kids. He follows Jesus' example in the Bible of putting his own needs and wants aside to serve others (I'm not saying he's perfect, but his love for me is a wonderful picture of how Jesus loves and serves His church (Ephesians 5)). I freely admit I don't deserve him but I sure am thankful I have him!

Found!!!

I had just about given up on ever finding this puzzle piece when Grace ran in screaming that she'd found it this morning. It was hiding in the bottom of the kids' food toy bin (hadn't I searched there?). Now I can let it go and move on...at least until the next time a piece is lost.
I thought I'd give you all an update since I'm sure you were so worried for us :)

Why Do I Torture Myself?

This is a photo of Elsie's birthday present from us. We bought it at Walmart for $5! Yes, we sometimes shop at Walmart, and yes, it most likely has lead in the paint :)
You will notice that the #3 is missing from the puzzle. It's been missing for two weeks now and it's driving me crazy!!! Most women wouldn't give this a second thought. Maybe it's my accounting personality. I've been known to spend 20 minutes searching for why our checkbook is off by 2 cents! I'm really not this uptight about everything, just certain things, one of which happens to be this silly clock puzzle. What drives me crazy is the fact that I know that piece is around here somewhere. The clock has not left the house! I've searched everywhere I can think of; under the couch, in the toy box, under the fridge and stove, in the computer cabinet, etc. I guess I'm just going to have to let it go! Sigh.

More Photos From Birthday

Here's a few more photos I didn't have time to post last week.

John and Shirley stayed in a hotel with a very nice pool. Sunday night we took the kids over for a swim. All the Memaws and Papas conveniently forgot their swimming suits, but John was a good sport and borrowed a pair of shorts from Mike so he could help with the kids.
You can tell Elsie did not want to pose for a photo. Maybe she thought her thighs looked fat!

Here's Grace with her new baby, Selah. Her baby was named after the Chupp's newly adopted baby girl, Selah. They both have pretty brown skin so Grace was excited about the name.

Here's Elsie in the pool. Full of mischief!