Nothing but Class!!

Some day Mia is going to hate me for this! It was just too great of an opportunity to pass up... While playing outside today with Daddy & the twins, Mia announced she had to go potty, but didn't want to take the time to go inside and use the bathroom. So she dug her old portable potty out of the garage and jokingly asked if she could use it, not expecting Daddy to go along with it. Well, big surprise, Daddy encouraged this behavior! So while her best friend, Easton, was playing next to her, she was using the facilities!! Nothing but class in this family... Strangley, some of the neighbors don't seem to be too fond of us... :)

First T-Ball Practice!

Our little Tom Boy has been obsessing about baseball for the past year! So suffice it to say that she was awfully excited to learn that she could join the local T-Ball league after her 4th birthday... Today was her first practice! She did really well. There are 2 other girls on the team, so sh's got support. She was fielding balls and hitting off the tee really well. That was until she lost interest after about 8 minutes... It's really funny trying to keep all the kids focused at such a young age. The only thing that seems to keep them all moving in the same direction is simply letting them run the bases! We're excited for her first game.

Birthday Princess!

This past Sunday was our annual birthday bash at the Club! Can you believe that Mia is actually already turning 4?!?! Wow, time sure flies... You would think she's turning 24 with her growing independence, ie - attitude! Between the bouncy house, batting cage, train, magician, etc Momma really threw down the gauntlet this year. We had close to 200 people for one hell of a bash! It appeared that the adults had as much fun at the bar as the kids did with all the activities... Daddy whines every year about the ridiculousness of the festivities, but it really is enjoyable to get so many people together and enjoy a beautful sunny afternoon! Plus, the midget is worth it...

Best Friends!

Of course no birthday party would be complete without your best friend! Mia was so excited to have Taylor at her party. Here they are hanging before the big magic show! They are so sweet together...

First Birthday Party!

Since the kid's birthdays are so close together, we decided to join their birthdays into one large birthday celebration! As always, Momma put the twins in cute little outfits for their soiree. Here they are getting ready for their big day of festivities! Aubrey is such a ham that every time she sees a camera she breaks into a huge smile... While boy appears to be sizing it up to see if he can eat it!

The Magical Party!

Mia is so obsessed with magic this year that she announced she wanted a magician at her party! Mommy did a lot of interviewing before she found just the right guy, Jimbo the Magician. He put on a fanastic show that was very interactive with the children, and Mia really loved it. He even made a dove appear, which got loose and flew around the room! The kids all had a blast...

Big Boy Sleeping!

Brandon has fallen in love with our good friend Susan! She watched him for a few hours the other day to help Momma out, and when we got home she was pacing up and down the hallway with Brandon sleeping soundly on her shoulder... He definitely has a way of working women! For some reason he hits her shoulder and goes right to sleep! Here he is doing it again at his birthday party. That boy sure is a sleeper...

Beautiful Girl...

This past week was Chinese New Year! Momma took the midget to a big festival in town honoring the New Year. Mia rode rides, ate candy and generally ran in every direction... Combine that with an 80 degree day and you can see why it was necessary for her to take a knee and spend a few minutes relaxing! Mia still sucks on the two middle fingers of her right hand when she is tired. If she's really tired she adds in her left thumb as well... So cute!

Mr. Mobile!

Brandon is all over the place these days! He's definitely moving quickly toward walking, as evidenced by his contstant use of the walker... Aubrey is definitely progressing quickly and working on her crawling, but nothing like her big brother! It's definitely a challenging age to have two of these crazy little people getting into everything, but loads of fun!

GETTING HEALTHY!!

This title deserved to be in all caps!! It seems like it's been a few months since we've all been healthy & carefree... I'm happy to report that all children and adults in the Lovell household are virus free & happy to be feeling good! Brandon has had so many ear infections that the doctor said his very next infection earns him tubes in his ears. Uggghhhhh! Daddy had tubes when he was young, so we can live with it. Let's all keep our fingers crossed for continued good health!

Dentist Visit!

Life is slowly returning to normal in the Lovell household! Everyone appears to be healthy now except Daddy... Today Momma took the midget for her dental check up. As you can tell by her facial expression, Mia wasn't overly excited about having her teeth x-rayed! She was a big girl, and did fantastic.

The Lovell Battlefield!!

Well, our hopes of a false alarm during our ER visit last Sunday were not to be... Aubrey was admitted to Phoenix Childrens Hospital, perhaps the worst hospital on Earth, and spent the next four nights in the pediatric unit. Turns out the entire family, Daddy included, were hit with the RSV bug. In adults this virus manifests itself as a simple sinus / respiratory infection. In kids, however, things can get quite severe. Aubrey was unable to breath well enough to sufficiently oxygenate her blood. They had to do frequent deep suctions, meaning they shoved a tube down her nose and vaccumed her lungs! Wow, was she miserable... She cried for so many days straight that she actually lost her voice. Poor little girl... Finally, on Thursday we checked her out of the hospital and brought our girls home! As you can imagine, Stacy never left her side for a single moment! We're relieved and happy to have the whole family back together again!!

Long Week...

It sure was a long week for Momma & Aubs... After four long nights in the hospital, they were definitely ready to come home! Aubrey was so miserable at times that the only way she'd calm down was to be wrapped around Momma, as evidenced above! Momma, as always, was such a trooper. In fact, I'm pretty sure Momma didn't eat a single meal or sleep for more than 60 minutes at a time during the enitre hospital stay... Poor girls! We're happy to have them home now!

Wounded Boy!

No child was to be spared by this RSV bug! Brandon, being the tough guy that he is, has struggled through his sickness with frequent doctor visits, but no hospitalization necessary... Instead we have been giving him heavy doses of antibiotics, and frequent breathing treatments, as evidenced above. He's quite the trooper! The poor little guy is struggling to breath, but still smiles and giggles constantly!

The Fallen Soldier...

Big sister Mia, who rarely gets sick, was even struck by this bug! Here she is being examined by the doctor... Thankfully she rebounded in about 24 hours, as she's the toughest child on the planet!

Daddy Time!

While Momma & Aubrey were in the hospital all week, Daddy got some quality time with the midget and Brandon! Thankfully all three of us got some help from Kassy, one of the kid's new baby sitters. She was really helpful in allowing us to hold things together this week. She works at a local restaurant, US Egg, so Mia & Daddy went to visit her on Thursday for lunch, and thank her for all her help! Here is Mia being silly at lunch... Mia bonded so well with Kassy that she has spent the past few days playing 'restaurant', taking everyone's order, and working on her cooking skills! So sweet...