Swensen Sentral

I just thought I would let you all know the good news........WE HAVE NO NEWS!!! Yeah that's why I haven't posted in a while. Luckily, we've had no more bumps, bruises, cuts, or trips to the hospital. We are enjoying our unexciting, extremely ordinary life right now. Woohoo! Chase did say something cute today. He told me that he thinks he should get some superheros (you know the figurines to play with?). I told him he should keep that in mind and ask Santa Claus to bring him some for Christmas. Later in the day, we were driving and he was contemplating in the back seat. Then he randomly said to me, "Mom, I was just dreaming about those superheros he's going to bring me when it snows." I thought it was so cute, the "I was just dreaming" part, so abstract for a 3 year old. Ok now that I told something about Chase, I need to add a quick story about Amelie. I caught her playing with her baby doll all by herself, holding her tight on her shoulder...

"You're Fired!" I felt like I was going to hear those words today at church! I don't think parents can get fired, but if you take a look at our kids (physical appearance) you might see how I'd feel this way. Between Chase being in the hospital for this...getting stitches for that....and Amelie thinking she's indestructible, we're a pretty sad lot at the moment. ~Rick

Amelie is constantly jumping off of things and she is addicted to climbing. She's more active than I think Chase was at this age. The only problem with this is........her poor face!!! She is getting bumps and bruises all the time. Today during Sacrament meeting she jumped off Amber's lap and hit her eye on the hymn book holder on the bench in front of us. She came away with a nice black eye. Do you think this would inhibit her enthusiasm for her next brush with death? Of course not! She wanted to climb the stairs right after church and jump some more. So to all who may worry we beat our children, we do love them.....we are trying to keep them out of trouble ....but we can't make any promises as to their physical appearances when they get older at this rate. ~Rick

Yes, so Chase just can't seem to stay away from that hospital. We have now made 5 visits to the ER in the last 5 1/2 months, and 5 overnight stays. Can anyone beat that? I hope not. When they said kids were expensive, we had NO idea. (so tired after a long painful night) So a week ago Friday night, Chase had another episode of Intussusception. For anyone who doesn't remember from the last time he had it, back in May, it is a medical condition in which a part of the small intestine slides into another section of intestine, similar to the way in which a collapsible telescope slides into itself. It blocks passage in the intestine and is very painful. If it is not corrected quickly, the tissue can start to lose blood circulation and eventually die, causing a SERIOUS problem. Anyway, luckily this time we found it early since we've already gone through this once. (watching movies, keeping George close) So went straight to the ER, did the routine X-ray and Ultrasound, go...

On our way back from DC, Rick surprised me with tickets to Phantom of the Opera in New York City! It was a total surprise! While we were getting ready to leave DC, he asked me to look in the trunk for one of his books. When I opened the trunk, right there on top of the luggage lay a perfect red rose with a black ribbon tied around it and this message. I'm embarrassed to say this, but I cried. Seriously. I didn't even cry when he proposed. Can you believe it? It's because I had told him in the past that it was one of my dreams to one day see this musical. Isn't he the sweetest? He's always making my dreams come true. I love you babe. (sorry I didn't get a picture before the rose died)

So Chase got to have his stitches taken out yesterday. He was pretty excited. He was so brave and didn't even cry this time. On the way home from the doctor's office, we had to stop by Gabe's house to show him the "no stitches" Chase (and also pick up Amelie). As I said in my last post, boys will be boys, and Chase certainly didn't let a cut to the head stop him from playing rough. I don't know how he did it, but he bumped his head AGAIN while playing and SPLIT open half of his cut. Aaagggghhhh! I called his doctor immediately who told me to take him back to the ER for possibly more stitches. Aaaaggghhh! I pleaded with him not to make me go back to that dreadful place again and reluctantly, he said to come back to his office. It turns out Rick was home from work by this time and took over since he could see I was losing it. He took Chase back to the doctor who GLUED his wound SHUT! Now we have a "no running, no jumping rule, no anything rough...