Just me and my stuff!

If you can’t read the fine print above here’s what it says:

Baby number 4!!!

Really?! Am I ready?! You do remember yesterday when Tayson dumped
an entire bag of cereal all over the floor, or do you remember that Emmie is
still in diapers, or how about the fact that I’m kinda forgetful and scattered with
only 3 kids. . . ?

I’ve asked myself those questions more than once the past 9 weeks. (Yup. . .I’m 9
weeks) And everytime I go there it comes down to this. We’ve prayed, thought hard,
planned and it’s time.

Jeff was ready before I was, I drug my feet for about 6 months after Jeff decided that
it was time. It wasn’t that I hadn’t had the same answer he had, it’s just that I kept
asking myself those questions above. Finally after awhile, I just knew it was
time. Tayson seemed to calm down a bit and I started to feel a little more in control
again.

The kids (especially Tay) have been asking nicely for a baby brother for awhile now.
They’ve been pretty cute. We told them a week ago and they were excited. I think
Tay’s forgotten about it, but Aly keeps asking if it will be cute, and if it will be a boy,
what we’re going to name it and all of those other things that pop into her head.

It’s been hard to keep it a secret from them. We tried to make it easier by coming
up with a code word. The code word was “fun”. So if Jeff has told any of you lately
that I am “fun”. He was just telling you that I was expecting.

Well there it is! We are soon to be a family of 6. We’re excited, nervous and a little
hormonal.

There is just not a whole lot to say when your 4 year old comes down with a shaved eyebrow. I tried asking a question.

“Tay! Did you cut your eyebrow off??!”

To which he responds, “No.”

I’ll let you decide if he was lying or not:

So obviously I had to come post these pictures, because it will give me minute to decide if I should laugh or cry. ( I was going to try to do pictures this weekend for mothers day. . . so something had to happen! )

I’ll probably laugh. . . This morning (when he still had eyebrows) he brought me a dandelion bouquet . . . how could I get mad at this kid!?

Our favorite phrase lately. That’s all we here from Emmie. Whether it’s doing up the buckle on her car seat or cleaning her face, it seems she doesn’t need any help from us. She’s getting to be a total crackup. She knows we think she’s funny so she’ll sit and entertain us. Last night Jeff and I couldn’t eat dinner because she was crackin’ us up. All she did was pull different faces, but she kept up the face pulling for 15 minutes.

She’s learned to get out of her crib, which is putting a major cramp in naptime. Today I saw her open a door for the first time, so pray for us.

Speaking of getting to big for their britches. . . Aly is just amazing us lately. She’s such a smart girl. (Yes I know I’m her mom and so as her mom I’m totally biased.) We’ve been trying to read scriptures with the kids and we let Aly read a few verses on her own and she does great. I have been so impressed with how well she does and how fast she’s picked up on reading.

Tayson is still keeping us running. I think he always will. He’s just all boy. The other day he was watching a liken sing along and Jeff’s sister was trying to get him to sing with her and he said “I can’t sing this song, it’s a girl song!” This from the kid who used to wear Aly’s dress ups and put on my makeup.

March was a fun month for us. We got to go back to disneyland at the first of the month and we had so much fun. We really love that place. I can’t believe we even ran into people we knew down there. I saw a girl a grew up with and have known forever Janae, and I know my cousin was down there even if we didn’t get to see her! (Turn on your cell Melis! Just kiddin’ ) and Jeff saw a guy he knew from school. It was a blast though. We got to play hard while we were there. Last time we went the favorite ride was splash mountain. . . this time we couldn’t get Tay to go on it. Finally we made him and by the time we got off he was crying hard and saying “this ride’s not for me”. When the log pulled up for us to get out the workers were cracking up because he was so funny. Poor kid. We made them go on pirates too. All 3 kids cried through the whole ride. We’re so mean.

Then we went to Capitol Reef with my family. It was COLD!!!!! Holy crud! It was a lot of fun though. The kids did so good. We went on some big hikes and they didn’t get to rest much on those hikes but Aly hiked herself the whole way and Tayson did most of the way. I was so proud of how good they did. They were literally dragged at times up and down mountains. Jeff’s the super-hero. He carried Emmie the whole time and finally had to carry Tay out the last mile of our last hike. (It was not all down hill either.)

Well that’s what we’ve been up to lately. Oh yeah and I finally finished the overhaul on my website. I’m happy with how it came out. Check it out if you’re curious. (The children’s gallery needs updated pictures but I’ll get there. )     www.shupephotography.com/

That’s what I heard from Emmie repeatedly last night after we returned home from the emergency room. Yup you read right, ER. As in: that place that’s so tramatizing and scary that they make entire shows about it. Usually shows with lots of blood and sad story lines. Lucky for me ours wasn’t bloody or sad, just a little scary for a minute.  So here’s what happened:

Last night we had planned to go up to Logan to have dinner with Jeff’s brother and sister in law. It had been a fairly normal day for the most part. Emmie had been a little clingy and ornery but I just assumed she was getting more teeth.

So she woke up from her nap about 3:30 and had a snack after her snack around 4 I noticed she seemed a little warm. Nothing big just a mild fever, again I’m thinking teething. By the time Jeff came home she was acting tired enough and was warm enough that we cancelled our plans to go up to logan. We weren’t able to get a hold of Jerika our babysitter (and Jeff’s little sister) in time to tell her not to come so we just invited her to dinner when she showed up.

While we were having dinner she laid on the couch with her sippy cup and just looked miserable. We kept checking on her often. At one point Jeff walked over to check her and said “She’s shaking”. I went over thinking she just had the chills and then after I saw her I realized she was having a seizure. I went into panicked mommy mode. Tears, yelling to call 911, the whole bit. Thank goodness Jer was there for the other 2 kids. Heavenly Father was definitely looking out for us.

Jeff called 911 and tried to talk me into being more calm. It was the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen. Emmie was straight as a board, her eyes unfocused looking up at the ceiling, mouth hanging open and she just shook. The whole seizure was over in a few minutes, and the paramedics, fire department and police arrived just a minute or 2 after that.

They took her vitals and put her on oxygen all the while firing questions at us. After we had answered their questions they said we needed to go to the hospital, so we got ready and left. Thank goodness Jer was there to calm the kids.

Side note: When the paramedics and other people rushed in Jerika was trying to calm Aly and Tay and she told them how good it was that there were doctors there to help Emmie. To which Tayson responded “I want to be a doctor when I grow up!” To which Aly responded “I want to be a bookmaker when I grow up!”

When we were leaving in the ambulance with Emmie an officer brought Tayson and Aly a couple of stuffed animals and told them that they were taking Emmie to the hospital because she was sick, but not to worry because she would be okay. Tayson seeing how much attention Emmie was getting saw his chance. “I’m sick too!” He told the officer. Aly of course always helpful said “No you’re not Tay!” with lots of attitude. The officer just chuckled and said “well we’ll take your sister to the hospital for now, and if you get worse we’ll come back and get you.”

The ride to the hospital was very uneventful. I was a little freaked out still and Emmie was really quiet and lethargic. I guess that’s normal after having a seizure.  The sweet paramedics explained that these types of seizures aren’t that uncommon in kids and they’re more scary for those who witness them than anything else.

By the time we arrived at the hospital Emmie had perked up a little and was looking around the ambulance, and waving at the cars behind us. They had her in her carseat which was strapped to the gurney and they rolled her inside where the nurses were waiting for us. When we rolled through the doors Emmie looked around and did her parade wave for all who were there. The nurses just cracked up. The ER was actually pretty uneventful. We went in there, they put her in a hospital gown, gave her some motrin to reduce the fever and then left us to talk to the doctor.

Once he had explained that the type of seizure she had wasn’t real dangerous and that it happened in about 5% of kids when they either run a high fever or their fever spikes in a short period of time we all relaxed and Emmie fell asleep. . .until they “swabbed” her nose to check and make sure she didn’t have the flu. I tell ya they use the words “swabbed” and “tickle” loosely around there. The stuck a little q-tip on a wire all the way up her nose and down her throat. That’s what they called “swab” and they told me it would wake her up because it “tickles” a little bit. Whatever!!! That had to hurt!!!! Poor kid.

Once that was over though and she had calmed down we had to hang around for awhile longer. At this point the motrin was kicking in and she was feeling lots better. She was running around, begging for bananas and drinks, jumping on the bed, coloring pictures, pulling faces and yelling “I did it!” In short she was being so stinkin’ cute you’d never guess that just a little while before she was having a seizure. I tell you what. . .Those few minutes of her being absolutely crazy and funny in the ER were so awesome.

We’ll I’ll end it here. She doesn’t have the flu, still just running a fever and we’re “keeping and eye on her”. We’re so lucky to have such a great support system. We had so many people offering to help and checking up on us. We appreciate you all so much!!

Mushy mommy stuff now: I’m so thankful that everything ended so well. I know that not every story ends up with the kid pulling faces at the nurses as she walks out to the car, and I’m so thankful to my Heavenly Father that her’s did.

One last note. . .I was so proud of Aly last night. When we got home Jer told us that she told Tayson and Jer that they needed to fast for Emmie. She said it would help her. I’m so proud of her that she had so much faith and remembered what she’s been taught about fasting. She’s a good kid. Her faith stregthens me, and we’re lucky to have a daughter who loves her Heavenly Father and has faith in his power to bless, protect and love us.

Emmie in the ER after the motrin kicked in!!

Today I took a little me time. Just for a few minutes. I’ve been wanting to scrapbook for so long so I finally did. I found this picture of Emmie from so long ago when my friend Amy came to visit. She took this and I just love it.

I have to say that usually church with the kids is. . .well, less than spiritual. I was so proud of them today though. They were so good. There were no mad dashes to the stand. No WWF wrestling in the pew. No coloring in the hymn books. Just 3 kids sitting and being good in church. Too bad I couldn’t get it on video. . .

Here’s that layout:

Credits: Everything by Amanda Heimann at the digi chick except the flower, buttons and sprinkle border by Kristen Cronin-Barrow at the Sweet Shoppe.

Every day my little Aly writes me love notes. They’re usually full of I love you’s and pictures. Last night Tayson wrote me one. The letters he put on there are actually adnb but he told me it says “Don’t tell Tayson to go to bed”.

After getting lots of grief at family parties I thought I better update the blog. I didn’t realize that it was September last time. . .  So I’m blowing the dust off my keyboard and trying to remember what we’ve been up to.  FYI-If you didn’t get a Christmas card from us this year don’t feel bad. . . Nobody did!!! My busy season was even more hectic than usual this year. (I’m not complaining, It’s a good thing but keeps me running.) I did finish part of my card so I might still send it out. . .really late.

I can’t believe how big Emmie is getting. She’ll be 2 in April and she’s hilarious. Her personality is really coming through now. She’s a total show off. She loved Christmas. . . She got a ton of attention from everyone.  She’s starting to talk a bit more now. . . finally! She likes to say prayers. It’s so dang cute when she prays. She is also the picky-est eater ever!!! The only things she likes are bananas, breads, bananas, applesauce oh yeah and did I mention bananas!!!?? We did finally find one veggie she would eat last night though. I couldn’t believe it, she ate broccoli!!! If anyone has any suggestions on how to handle her pickiness let me know! I’m all ears!!!!

Well I need to go and hide all the sissors in the house. Tay has a new hobby. . .hair cutting.  Later!!

Especially my babes! I had to post a super quick one with the funny things that Tay’s  been coming up with lately.

Yesterday I was combing Taysons hair for church and he took the comb away and said I want my hair “Fency”. Yup he’s inventing words. I asked him if he meant fancy but no he didn’t he said “Fency”. He was trying to make it spike so maybe he was thinking of a picket fence??? Then we were trying to get him ready to go somewhere and he was getting frustrated with me and told me to “Chuck Out”. Not sure what that means. . . Then just a few minutes ago he totally cracked me up when I asked him if he wanted to be Mama’a big helper. He reponded with: “No sanks! I’m good!” It was hilarious. I had to leave so I could laugh.

I never did post those Disneyland pictures I promised but I will do it now! I already want to go back to Disneyland! We had so much fun. I told Jeff I think they sprinkle happy dust throught the air conditioning there because you just can’t be ornery! The kids were seriously adorable. They loved it. I think the consensus around here is that Splash mountain was the favorite followed closely by Buzz lightyear ride. . . and well. . .space mountain got a giant thumbs down from Aly. (We all liked it though.)

The last week has been crazy as usual. We had back to school night last monday for Aly and we went and met her teacher and found where she’ll hang her backpack and where she’ll sit and all that fun stuff. She’s so excited. I’m not sure how I feel about it. I can’t believe how big she’s getting. She’s such a good kid, she’s an awesome helper. (As long as we’re not asking her to help clean her room anyway. . .)

Tayson also started preschool last week and he loved it. I think it’ll be good for him to be in a class room setting a bit. Maybe it will help with his attention span. . .Poor Miss Helen! Before we left he was so dang excited. I gave him a haircut and as soon as he got done he ran and looked in the mirror and giggled and said: I look like a daddy now! LOL! How cute is that!? It totally cracked me up. He really did look more grown up though without his helmet head hair. After that we got him ready then took him out to the front porch and took a couple of pictures of him. (He pulled faces for them) Then it was off to preschool. When I picked him up I was asking him about what they did and the first thing he said was I watched a movie!! (Miss Helen lets them watch an educational video for the last 5 minutes while she take all the kids out their cars and buckles them in for you. It’s so nice I don’t even have to get out of the car!) I thought it was hilarious that he was so excited about that. I kept asking him what else did you do and the second thing he came back with was: “We had snacks!” LOL So you can see where Tay’s priorities lie.

Well here’s some pictures from disneyland. These aren’t a full scrapbook page, they’re just tiny little pages I made to put in a matchbook size/style album for Stephen for his birthday so they’re nothing fancy but it shows off some of the pictures. The album all together is darling but the individual layouts are a little boring as far as the scrapbooking is concerned.

Okay so I think most of you know that we’re in Disneyland this week. We left yesterday at 4am and drove 12 hours to get here. The kids were seriously sooooooo good. I was so proud of them. After we left we’d been on the road for only like 10 min. and Aly’s like “Hey! I see the gate! Is that Disneyland!?” She asked 3 other times after that too. . . All before we even got to Salt Lake! She was so excited! When we stopped in Layton to meet up with Stephen and Chelese (My Bro. and his wife) We all got out to say a prayer and Tayson was so tired he got his pillow out of the car and he layed down in the parking lot of Davis North hospital. It was funny.

By the time we got in and settled and went to dinner the kids had had it. Emmie just spit everything out we fed her (Except aunt Kimi’s dinner.) and the other two were just restless and tired. It was a relief to go back to the hotel and put them all to bed. The best laid plans. . . . Emmie wouldn’t sleep. She screamed (Not cried, screamed) for about an hour and a half until she finally fell asleep. Unfortunately she didn’t stay asleep for long. Jeff was a sweetheart and he stayed up almost all night with her and let me catch up on sleep. (I only got 2 hours the night before because I was trying to get ready.) Anway considering all that it’s amazing that we’re all as happy as we are today. Disney land really must be the happiest place on earth!

The kids were adorable. Their eyes were huge, they just couldn’t take it all in fast enough. The first ride we rode was Buzz lightyear. They LOVED it! Then we went over to space mountain, Tayson loved it, Aly wasn’t so sure and Emmie didn’t even go. Then was Star tours. Aly was really nervous about this one. She didn’t really like space mountain and it looked pretty similar to her. So we’re in the ride and she’s gripping the arm rests with both hands and her face is dead serious and her eyes were huge!!! Just a little way into it Aly leaned over and asked Kimi ” Are we still in Disneyland?” She was pretty concerned. Once Karilynn Explained it was just a movie playing and we were still in disneyland she decided she liked that pretty well. After that we went on over to Pirates, (Emmie cried until Kimi gave her her cell phone then she was fine for the rest of the ride.) Aly was scared and crying and Tay just sat there. . . We also went on the merry-go-round, the winnie the pooh ride and Splash mountain. Aly didn’t want to do splash mountain at first and we kinda made her. By the time she got off though she was laughing and she loved it. She sat in front of Stephen and he was holding on to her and he said she was holding onto his arms so tight it was cutting off circulation.  They said after the first little hill she said “that was fun! But don’t let go k?” Both her and Tay LOVED that ride.  I think it’s the favorite so far. 

Tayson’s really been funny all morning, he’s been pretty stone faced. He say’s he like stuff but he just sits there with hardly any reaction. It’s hilarious. I’m worried it’s because he’s not feeling very good. Right before we went on Star Tours I gave him a Pepto Bismal Tablet, after we got off pirates we noticed that he hadn’t talked or opened his mouth and he was puffing out his cheeks so we made him open his mouth and he still had that pepto tablet in there. I guess he didn’t like the taste of it!  He’s starting to perk up now.

Tonight when we go back should be fun. I’ll post some disneyland pictures later!!

Ok, Ok so I’ve been a very bad blogger! This last week has just been crazy. I’m hoping once we get past the summer time things will slow down a bit. I don’t know though. I’m already booked into October. I don’t know when the next time will be that I have a saturday free.  Tons of fun family sessions booked. Fall is definitely family season. I have a couple of new locations I’m planning on trying out so it should be a ton of fun.

Well for those of you that read my blog you should know that Aly took another 4 days to clean her room. . .again. I’m really excited to be done with this stubborn stage! She’s cute though. She’s in her room right now playing with her Polly pocket (Aly says she is a rock star.) and she’s singing her version of a pop song. It’s cracking me up. I think she heard me laughing though because she just shut the door.

Emmie is NUTS. Seriously she’s a basket case. She’s been crying so much today. We were at Grandmas house until 11:30 last night so she’s just had it. Poor kid. She’s spent most of the day getting mad at different members of the family.

Tay’s just Tay. Running around being loud. I don’t think he knows how to whisper. We should work on that . . .

Here’s a few of session I did of my cousin’s sweet baby girl. She’s adoralbe. I love how beautifully her skin reflected the light and those boys were so sweet with her.  They’re good big brothers. 

Well I promise to post more later but for now. I have to go to bed!