Chaos!

Big Boy may be sweet and gentle, but make no mistake about his level of commitment towards achieving whatever he sets his mind to... Today he decided to clear all of the toys off the top of the storage shelves in the play room and climb on top! While Momma made it clear several dozen times that this is unsafe and unacceptable, he continually climbed right back up with a big happy grin! Nope, he is not to be slowed down... Look at the big ham!

Sweetie Pie!

While Aubrey isn't sharing in the excitement of sleep overs or going to school, she certainly is making her presence known! We like to think she expresses herself in a creative manner... By creative I mean biting, screaming, throwing tantrums, and body slamming her brother!! Sadly, I'm hardly exaggerating... This sweet little angel who we are madly in love with has already made it clear that she isn't going to coast through life with a smile and a laid back nature. Nope, she's going to be our challenge! That's ok, better to be obstinant than passive, right?!?! Come on, humor me.

Mia's First Date!

This past weekend Mia announced, very seriously, that she needed to put on a pretty dress! This sounded quite strange coming from a little girl who shuns dolls, the color pink and any mention of the fact that she is not a boy... So when questioned, she proudly announced that she had her first date with Easton tonight, our neighbor boy, and she needed to look pretty for him!! What?!?! Good god, already? So after playing all day and into the evening, Mia convinced Momma to allow her to have her first sleep over! Surprsigingly, it went very well. They built a fort at the foot of our bed, slept soundly and enjoyed sharing chocolate milk for breakfast! I'd say that was a pretty solid first date...

Zonked!

Big Boy is growing so quickly that he still needs some serious nappng time! His teachers have told us on several occasions of him falling asleep as they were giving him a hug... Here he is about 90 seconds after he got into Mommy's van after his first day of school. Wow, he sure was tired after all the excitement!

Big Boy at School...

Brandon really seemed to enjoy his first day of school. In fact, he has fallen so hard for his new musical teacher that he is thrilled every time he gets to school... Note his tie t-shirt Momma dressed him up in! He's such a happy, sweet little boy, that his teachers have really taken to him. He sure likes to work his magic!

School's Back!

School started this past week! I can't hardly believe it, but this is Mia's 4th year at Chanen Preschool and she's going 5 days a week now... She is officially in Pre-K now, and is very proud to let everyone know. She's also very proud to have her little brother joining her two class rooms down! Brandon started on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but we were forced to keep Aubrey out until she is fully walking. This actually works out good, as it gives Momma some quality one-on-one time to work with Aubrey on her development. It's amazing how much time we had to work with Mia, and how little time we get with the twins for anything other than bathing, feeding, changing and keeping them safe! It's frightening to think that Mia will be in Kindergarten at a real school next year... Brandon has done fantastic! One of this teacher's was formerly the school's music teacher. His name is Aris, and he is from Israel. He carries around his acoustic guitar all day, and sings to the children constantly. Brandon is absolutely smitten! Brandon isn't fully talking, but he clearly understands everything you ask of him, and is gaining words by the day. His favorite word of the moment is "Melmo!". That translates to Elmo... Our angels are sure growing quickly! We love them so much... Note Mia's new 'Cars' backpack that Grammy got her for back to school. She was very proud, as she's obsessed with Cars!

Crazy Girl...

Tell me this picture isn't hilarious! Aubrey & Brandon are both growing hair at a rather remarkable pace... The other morning Daddy woke up to find his little cutie with these big silly piggy tails!! For all her stubborn, whining, driving her parents craziness, she sure is a cutie!!

Chocolate Lover!

This past weekend we took a little trip down to Grammy & Papa's in Tucson! Mia was very exctied to make her very own batch of brownies. Although I think she spent more time taste testing the batter than actually mixing... She sure has grown fond of chocolate! Gotta love the chocolate mustache.

The Obstinant One...

Our little Aubs is finally progressing through her milestones. In March she started crawling, but she still isn't walking at 17 months! Thankfully, we've completed just about every type of test imaginable, including an MRI, and all results lead to one conclusion: the girl is simply stubborn & obstinant! Finally, last week she stood up and took 10 steps. Then she promptly sat back down and hasn't walked again... The doctors say it's no big deal since she was born 3 months early, so really her 'corrected age' is more like 14 months. Either way, it's a relief to see her progressing and to see her little personality developing, which allows us to realize that #3 is simply going to challenge us for many years to come. Life happens the way she wants it to, not based on anyone else's expectations! Great, never seen that from a Lovell before... :)

Angel?!?!

Apparently Big Boy has decided he is an angel, or butterfly or some other strange creature that a little boy should not be impersonating! Truth be told, he really is a sweet little angel. He's growing so quickly these days... He's running to keep up with his big sister, learning his first few words, and has developed a very sweet and happy dispostion. He's our butterfly boy!

Family Vacation!!

We just got home from an absolutely fantastic family vacation in San Diego! Mommy & the kids spent a week with Aunt Caren, Uncle Pat, and Mia's cousins. Then Daddy joined in and we all spent another week along the beach in Carlsbad. It was so fun to get away as a family and enjoy quality beach time and lounging, not to mention escaping the AZ heat... We had BBQ's with friends, made giant bubbles, learned to fly a kite, and found some great restaurants. The kids are at such fun ages and just want to cuddle and play. It was so nice to be able to enjoy non-stop time with them...

Legoland!

During the first leg of our trip we took the kids, along with their cousins, to Legoland! Mia & Hadley had their faces painted, as you can see by this scary picture... The kids really enjoyed all the Lego exhibits, and it's always great to see how much fun Mia has with her cousins!

Beach Time!

We got loads of beach time on our vacation! We learned that Brandon likes to roll around in the sand, and occasionally eat it as well... The kids had loads of fun burying themselves under mounds of sand!

Feeding the Squirrels!

During our vaca we paid a visit to Balboa Park for an afternoon picnic and a ride on the vintage Merry Go Round. Sandy's kids, Tanya, Justin & Sarah, were so sweet playing with Mia and helping care for the twins. Mia found a squirrel family and spent the better part of the afternoon hand feeding them peanuts... It was so sweet!

Sea World!

Anybody recognize these two cute little butts?! During our California trip we paid a visit to Shamu. Brandon & Aubrey love the seals! It sure was a lot of work having the twins at Sea World. Wow, they want in the stroller, out of the stroller, to walk, to be held, to eat... We don't mind though, those little cuties are definitely worth the work. We had a blast, and Mia loved all the sea life!

Aubrey & the Marine!

While in San Diego we spent quite a bit of time with our good friends Frank & Sandy, and their beautiful children. Frank is a Lt. Colonel in the US Marine Corps, and it's apparent that Aubrey was a bit smitten jwith this soldier... She's such a flirt!

Monkey Boom!

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the demise of Mary Bear... After several years of deep love & affections, Mia has supplanted Mary with Monkey Boom! He's quite frisky and, being much smaller, is easier to take along with us wherever we go. Welcome to the family Boom!

Mia the Pirate!

Here's the midget doing her best angry pirate impression! Pretty scary, huh?!