Local family in spotlight on 'Funniest Home Videos'

Triplets Troy, Jessica, and Tyler Baden are the children of Jeff and Tina Baden of Whitehouse.

A case of the hiccups cast Whitehouse, Ohio family Jeff and Tina Baden and their triplets, Jessica, Tyler, and Troy, in the spotlight and a featured appearance at 7 p.m. tomorrow on ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" (WTVG-Channel 13).

Back when the Baden's triplets, now age 5, were eight-months-old, mom Tina, a trauma nurse practitioner at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center, began filming her daughter Jessica when she caught a case of the hiccups. What made the video so funny was that brother Troy was leaning on his sister and every time she hiccuped, he couldn't stop giggling. Baby Tyler was most likely sleeping or playing in another room when all the fun was being had by his siblings and is not featured in the prize-winning video, said Mrs. Baden, 34.

"I'm not sure what even caused her to hiccup, but I taped for a long time because I was home and my husband was at work and I wouldn't him to see what they were doing. I zoomed in on their faces, and Troy's big smile was so huge," she recalled.

Encouraged by family, Mrs. Baden submitted the video in February and in early August they received a call that they made the finals, where three home videos would vie for a $10,000 first place award. The triplets, Mrs. Baden and husband Jeff, 34, a mechanical engineer for Faurecia Exhaust Systems, were flown to Los Angeles Aug. 28, the siblings first plane ride, to tape the program that is scheduled to air tomorrow. Due to a contractual agreement, the family, was sworn to secrecy regarding their winnings. Second prize is $3,000 and third is $2,000.