A Few New Pictures

Just wanted to post a few new pictures. Sorry there aren't any of Meg in this set-she was at an all-night pool party when I took these! (Reports I heard was that her and her friends were swimming in the Courtyard Marriott hotel's pool until around 4:30 AM- she came home exhausted!). Enjoy!


Teddy and Jeff building a home for "Bob the Builder" with Legos. Jeff had to make sure everything was perfect, and now Teddy won't play Legos with him anymore!



Teddy took everything around him that he could find and made a wall around his Thomas the Train mat from Gumma & Guppa. He then pronounced it "The Island of Sodor" (from Thomas) and forbid Anna to come unto it.



Jeff and Anna looking at her 1st year scrapbook that I made on a retreat last weekend.



Anna showing off the fact that she now has (barely!) enough hair for me to put a scruncci in it!



Too cute not to post!

Long Time Since I Updated...

OK, so certain friends have been gently reminding me that it's been a little while since we updated our blog, so I'm sitting down to add some pictures. We've been super busy here: I took the kids out to NH for a week over Meg's spring break, I'm preparing for a short term missions trip to Peru with WaYFM in June (if you didn't get a support letter and you would like one, please let me know :-).

Meg made it into the talent show at school so she has been very busy preparing for that (it's in May, if anyone wants the details to come watch- her and her friend Sophia will be signing to a Casting Crowns song).

Teddy is about 90% potty trained (Jeff says he's "house trained"- meaning he's great at home, but sometimes gets too involved in playing with friends when he's away from home and forgets to get to the bathroom). But we HAVE had many successful trips to the mall, grocery store, and even both 14 hour trips to and from NH in "big boy undies". His favorite pairs are his Thomas the Train undies from his Nana. He likes to pull down the back of his jeans and show them to his friends :-P .

Antoinette is really starting to talk up a storm and really enjoys reading books and playing with her older siblings. Most days though, I cease to exist in her world as soon as Jeff walks in the door- she is SOOO in love with her daddy!

Jeff is busy at work and still really likes his "new" job over at Alticore. It's great having him closer to home and it gives us several extra hours of time together as a family each day. Softball starts soon for Jeff and I, and Meg has already resumed the soccer season. I will TRY to get our "Spring" family newletter and picture (instead of Christmas letter, b/c that time of year is a bit CRAZY to be writing letters) out sometime before I get to Peru.

Enjoy the pictures,
-Elizabeth

Teddy has almost mastered riding his bike around the cul-de-sac. He just sometimes forgets to hold on and steer.


Busy, happy kids on the drive to NH. I couldn't get a picture of Anna because she was sitting right behind the drivers seat and I took this picture by pointing the camera backwards as I was driving.

About 11 hours into the trip, Teddy slept a lot and Meg was watching a DVD. Anna just slept and looked out the window the whole time- I hardly heard a peep from her!


Meg and Teddy were fascinated with my grandpa's "lift assist" chair that helps him stand up. They liked "flying in the chair"


Little miss pigtails- smiling as always!


My super cute kids in their overalls. We had pictures taken of them earlier in the day, which is why they're all dressed alike.


Both Anna and Teddy cut their teeth at the same time (Anna's canines and Teddy's 2 year molars)- so we've had lots of days of drool covered shirts around here.


Meg getting a perm at my parent's house. She wanted her hair curly and thicker so it would stay in a ponytail for soccer. Unfortunately, her hair is so thin and fine that within a week, the perm was totally gone from her hair!


Margaret wearing her great-grandmother's dressing coat. Geema told us the story of how she bought this in college to wear over her fancy dresses to wear when she was going to dances, etc. Meg thinks it is so fun to wear!


Teddy and Anna in their cute Easter outfits- watching Aunt Barb hide the Easter Eggs and waiting to go out and find them.


Margaret on the hunt for her eggs.


Happy Easter from the Fanco kids!!

Feeling Better

Just wanted to update and let everyone know that Anna is feeling better and everything is back to normal here now :-). Thanks to everyone for all their prayers!

This is Teddy showing off his new Thomas backpack that he got for Valentine's Day from Nana and Grumpa. He INSISTS on wearing it in the mornings when we take Meg to school :-)

Our trip to the Hospital

Hello All,

Sorry it took me so long to get on here and update- it's been a long day and we're PRAYING it's over for now. We got Anna to the ER at the urgent request of her pediatrician around 10:30 this morning. She'd been throwing up since Friday night, sometimes as often as every half hour. By this morning, she'd gone more than 48 hours without a wet diaper and was throwing up in her sleep. She took a turn for the worse on Monday morning in that, when she was awake, she'd just crawl to a corner and curl up on the floor. We went to Spectrum and they got her right into a room. It took almost 40 minutes to get an IV into her little arm- I could only stay for the first 20 minute attempt and then I couldnt take the screaming anymore and had to leave the room. It was such a blessing that Jeff arrived right then, so he stayed with her until they were able to successfully get it in. I think I counted in all, 8 pokes before they finally got one to work in her right forearm. The poor little girl looks like a pin cushion! They also needed a urine sample from her but b/c she was so dehydrated, even with a catheter (sp?) it took quite a bit of work to get a few drops. She was quite the little trooper though (and I could tell she was sick b/c even though she was screaming about stuff being done to her, she wasn't fighting people off).

Anyway, they put a double dose of fluids into her to help with the dehydration. She slept through most of that. Then, the ER doctors sent us home mid- afternoon with instructions to return if she started vomiting again. My pediatrician was NOT happy when I called her- she wanted Anna admitted. Well, about 5 minutes after we left the hospital, she started vomiting again. We got Meg and Teddy and came home and called the Dr. again. She said that the initial feeling of having that much fluid in her was probably contributing to the nausea (picture as an adult how you would feel if in one sitting, you drank 2 liters of fluid- she got 1 liter which is a lot for a little person).

Soooo, the long and short of it is that we have to watch her tonight for any further signs of vomiting. She puked right before bed at around 9. If she continues to vomit during the night, we'll head back to Spectrum and they'll admit her and run more tests (her blood work came back inconclusive, so they don't know what is causing this).

Thank you all for your prayers. Hopefully the worst of this has past and we'll all sleep peacefully tonight!

God Bless,

-Elizabeth

PS- Below are a few pictures from the day. You might ask why I brought my camera to the ER with me, and I'd like to thank my friend Amy Barry for inspiring it. She was in the ER less than a week ago with her son, getting stitches, and I thought it was so funny that she brought her camera and posted pictures on her blog. However, running out the door this morning, I happened to see mine and grabbed it. I'm glad I have these pictures though, for that "first hospital visit" page in her scrapbook!

Quietly reading a book at the hospital, waiting for a doctor to come check her out.

One MAD little pumpkin after they finally got the IV into her arm. If looks could kill...!

Sleeping peacefully once the fluids started flowing. It was a huge blessing that they were unsuccessful in getting the IV into her left arm, because it allowed her to have her thumb for comfort.

Playtime!

With Meg home from school because of the holiday, my 3 children decided to turn our living room into a daycare. Meg and Anna each had dolls, and Teddy had his stuffed Grover. They used all of the doll-sized stuff that Meg had when she was little (high chairs, swings, strollers, etc) and spent about 2 hours playing together. It was so cute!

Grover and one of the "babies" waiting to be fed


Note the position Anna put her doll in- Thumb in mouth and other hand in hair. This is the position Anna is in MOST of the day!


YUM- Grover likes pretend applesauce. Everytime he gave him a bite, Teddy would say "eat it silly, it's Yummy!"


Anna opened her mouth everytime she fed the "baby" a bite, much like we parents do when we're trying to get our little ones to eat!


Meg and Teddy putting a "baby" down for a nap after a long ride in the stroller. Teddy is a big fan of driving the little strollers DOWN the stairs and then dragging them back up. A bumpy ride for any doll!

All the doll equipment in the middle of my living room!

A few pictures of the Kids

Margaret showing off a dress that her Nana bought her. She likes it because she thinks she looks like the Samantha American Girl Doll :-)


It doesn't get much cuter than this happy little guy!


Little Miss Pigtails :-P



Anna likes to empty out the things from under the TV and hide in the cabinet.



ALWAYS has a smile on her face!

Happy Valentines Day from the Fanco Kids!

 

Christmas time

"I'd like to thank you all for joining us tonight for Christmas Eve dinner..."


Teddy is apparently a big fan of sparkling cider. He drank several glasses of it during the Christmas Eve dinner at Nana & Grumpa's



Margaret looking very Christmasy in her new dress.


HAS to be the center of attention... Antoinette runs everywhere with a smile on her face!


The stockings weren't hung by the chimney with care, 1) because we don't have a chimney, and 2) because they were too heavy to even stay on the wall!


Margaret reading us the Christmas story on the morning of the 25th before we opened presents. We want to make sure that the main emphasis for our children is the TRUE meaning of Christmas!


Antoinette not really understanding why she was woken up so early (though it really wasn't too early, it was around 8:00 AM)


"Oooh, what's this??"


Teddy looking a bit still sleepy as he opens his stocking.


Anna discovering one of her new toys



Margaret thrilled about her main present- a scrapbooking bag stocked with all the supplies she will need :-)



Teddy proudly showing off his new bike. He was SOOO excited!


Spending time with Aunt Kim & Uncle Brian while on our trip to NH


Time with Uncle Brent. The kids only get to see him once a year, since he lives in Texas


YUM! Scrambled eggs made by Guppa are the BEST!