Happy 5th Birthday Mia!

It's hard to believe that our little angel is already turning 5 years old!! In honor of her big day, Momma created basically a week long celebration of everything Mia... Here we are hosting a birthday / Chinese New Year celebration for her class. It was so fun to watch her proudly wearing her birthday hat and being the center of attention at school! We're so lucky to be a part of her childhood. She truly is a special child...

Animal Themed Party!

Mia has finally reached an age where she wanted to plan her own party, from event venue to theme. She chose a local indoor amusement park and insisted on an animal theme. Of course Momma was all too happy to oblige and the party was a blast! Then, just to top things off, on the actual day of Mia's birthday Momma had an ice cream truck show up at the house and invited all the neighborhood kids over for some fun!

Favorite Gift!

As always, Mia got loads of amazing gifts from overly generous friends & family. However, her favorite gift of all was her new 4-wheeler from Mommy & Daddy! (Emphasis on Daddy...) She couldn't wait to go pick up her friend Easton and cruise up and down the street. The best part was watching how excited Aubrey got jumping up & down going on rides... So sweet!

Sick Kids!

Brandon kicked off a week of sick children in the Lovell household... On Monday night he projectile vomited all over the house, many times! It was so sad how sick he was, and how horrible he felt! Then, by Wednesday, Mia was vomiting repeatedly and Mommy wasn't feeling so hot. Thankfully Aubs didn't succumb to the nasty bug. Happily there were all heathly by the weekend, just in time for Mia's birthday celebration!!

Tough Day at School...

Big Boy's sleeping habits have become a running joke with his teachers! They have even emailed us videos of him passing out on the table in the middle of lunch, while the other kids poke & mimic him... Here he was taking a mid-morning nap. The other kids were happily playing while he crawled over to this bench and thought he'd grab a few zzzz's!! He's my boy...

Shalom Shabbat!

On Friday morning Mommy & Daddy went to the kid's school to participate in their Friday morning Shabbat celebration. After reading books to Mia's class, lighting the candles and sharing some Challah bread, we ventured down to the twins room. It was really something else to watch the teachers trying to herd a class of 2 year olds into some assemblance of an organized Shabbat. Of course Aubrey was all too happy to eat her and Brandon's Challah... Here's a moment with my sweetie! She's likely to try and bite my nose off momentarily!

Big Lovers!

For all the craziness & chaos between these two, there are some really sweet tender moments as well... We generally get to witness the hair pulling and knock downs. However, their teachers have told us that on the playground they both focus on finding each other immediately! Big Boy just loves to give kisses, and is clearly the more tender of the two... Tubby time is an exceptionally fun time for them, as witnessed by this little display of affection!

No picture this time, just thoughts... It gets tougher & tougher to keep up with the blog because we're now just playing defense all the time! It's an absolute blast, and we had no idea that raising children could be so fun & rewarding, but we also had no idea it could be so tiring. In fact, I'm fairly certain Stacy is going to change her middle name to 'laundry'!

The kids keep things pretty consistent. It’s pretty much feed them, work to be able to keep feeding them, and then put them to bed! It is crazy to see how quickly they are growing though. Mia won’t even kiss us on the lips anymore, and she hasn’t even turned 5 yet! We thought we’d be dealing with this stuff when she was like 10 or 12. It really is amazing to watch her growing into such a strong, beautiful little girl. She’s amazing. The twins, on the other hand, are still just as freaking crazy as always. They are so sweet & loving, but destructive and chaotic. They all have developed their own crazy little personalities with very specific wants & needs. What's amazing is that their little actions & gestures as such a young age already give signs of who & how they'll be in another 10, 20, 30 + years!

Mia is turning 5 this weekend and it is beyond crazy how tall, mature and sweet she is. We want her to be our little baby forever, but like all parents, we're torn with the joy of watching her grow into such an amazing person, yet wishing she would stay tiny & cuddly forever...

Brandon & Aubrey are the opposite of what we expected early on. Aubrey is so sweet & sensitive, yet she's also very aggressive & fearless. We expected Brandon's rambuncious nature to manifest itself into boyhood aggression, but he's actually very docile. If there are new kids or a big slide or swings present, Aubrey dives in head first, while Brandon runs to Mommy or Daddy and buries his face. All kidding aside, he really is an amazingly sweet & loving little boy. He's very considerate of his sister, while she is just as happy to snatch a toy out of his hand or trip him! Poor little B...

This birthday season we're heading into is interesting as we've finally reached an age where Mia knows exactly what she wasnts. In fact, she's pretty much planned her next 4 or 5 birthday parties at this point... More details to come as we proceed through the next few weeks of birthdays! One thing is for sure, these kids won't be wanting for love or gifts. They are surrounded by an ever expanding group of family & friends who lavish them with love & attention. Our challenge, like all parents, is to provide balance & structure. We're trying...

Sick Kids!

The twins are going through some serious growth spurts. They've got teeth tearing through their gums in every which direction, are getting taller by the day, and boy is it wreaking havoc! Their sleep schedule gets screwed up because they get so cranky they don't nap well some days, and then the fatigue lowers their immune system and they get sick. Wow, it's really a fun cycle to partake in! Here is Aubrey passed out cold around dinner time after refusing to nap... For all their crazy, chaotic phases, they are so sweet & such amazingly cuddly little lovers! It helps that they've got a great Momma who sacrifices her own health to make sure they are fed, nurtured & deeply loved.

Happy Birthday Monkey Boom!

Mia woke up the other morning and announced that it was her monkey's birthday! So what was a good Momma to do but arrange for a party... By the time I got home from work, I found that Momma had gotten cupcakes and candles, and arranged a party for the whole family!! Mia was beside herself with excitement and went to bed happy and cuddling her monkey, aka Monkey Boom! Lucky little girl...

Quality Time!

Life with our expanded family is so crazy & chaotic. It used to be such a joy to sit down every day or two and post to the blog. Now, it's something we have to remind each other to accomplish as we're so tired by the time the kids are down... It seems equally difficult for Mommy to get quality time alone with Mia. So over the long holiday weekend Mommy & Daddy got a sitter for the twins and we spent the day with Mia. It was like old times! We had a long picnic in the partk, smelled roses, fed the ducks and played on the swings. We absolutely love the twins, but it sure is nice to get quality alone time with our little Chinese angel!! A wonderful day...

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year from all the Lovell midgets! This was the first year that Mia was old enough to actually understand and celebrate the holiday with us. We stayed home and invited a few families over. The house was absolute chaos with children screaming and running in every direction... And that's exactly what made it so enjoyable! Big Boy donned the requisite party hat and blew his horn to bring in the new year. Albeit a few hours early!

First Cocktail

Mia got to enjoy her very first cocktail on New Years Eve! A delicious sparkling apple cider... All of the older kids toasted the new year, and then promptly passed out!