Dollywood & Children's Hospital

In July, our friends kindly gave us free tickets to Dollywood. We had never been there before, but we had always wanted to check it out. Nick and I had fun watching Tori and Aiden having fun. =) They still like to talk about it. Thank you Frey Family!

...Taking some pics while Nick was filling up the tank...

Uncle John and Aiden

Tori running around in the water-splash-play-place =)

Tori says her favorite ride was the elephant ride, and Aiden "loves" the "horsey" ride.

Here's an artist making amazing sand sculptures. There were many interesting displays of crafts and music.


A week or two after the trip to Dollywood, Joseph was in the hospital again. He had pneumonia, and the doctors officially diagnosed him with asthma. It was sad how tired and weak he was again. But he recovered quickly with a steroid treatment, and we were allowed to go home after the weekend. We also had an allergy test on him to check what could possibly be causing his eczema. It turned out he was allergic to milk, eggs, peanuts, almonds, and white beans. We're relieved to see his skin clearing up since eliminating all those things from his diet.

Here he is unhappy to be hooked up to the monitors and IV.

He was so unhappy with it that by the last day, he had ripped the IV out of his arm! Here he is in a little hospital gown, looking out the window as cars drive by.

Here are our healthy children giving bear hugs. =)

Update

Okay, it has been awhile, but here are some pictures of the last few busy months.


Joseph is growing TOO fast! He is such a laid back sweetie, and he loves his "mumum (me! or food... we're pretty much synonomous)." =)
His new accomplishments consist of clapping, pulling up, saying "mumum," and learning the big "N" word - NO. In just a couple of months he will be ONE! aww.


Aiden is my same hyperactive sweetheart. He just says full sentences now. His favorite color is blue which somehow causes him to believe that anything blue is rightfully his. His favorite activity now is climbing - on everything - (Mom, he would give you a heartattack!). And out of all three of my kids, he loves my piano most. Nick and I will sometimes watch him play while he isn't noticing. He is adorable, swaying back and forth or bopping his head to his little tunes.
By the way, my Love secretly saved up to give me this lovely keyboard for my birthday. =) I haven't played piano in years, but it's coming back to me.


Tori is my big helper. She is so good about helping me take care of her brothers. She likes being the oldest (she thinks she is in charge). She loves being in the kitchen helping me cook. She is good about cleaning her room. She even tries to change Joseph's diaper, when we are not watching. We call her our "backseat driver." This kid knows her way around Knoxville! She'll say where we will need to turn to "shop for gwocewies" or "this is not the way to the pway awea." Usually, it's cute... Sometimes, not so much... like today when I took a wrong turn from the pediatric hospital, and she kept saying "I think you're wost, mommy. This is not the way daddy goes. You're wost. We're wost!"

Well, last month we went to Frieda and Micheal Yoo's wedding in Alabama. Nick was one of the groomsmen. Doesn't he look good? =)



Tori and Aiden hanging out in the reception area before the wedding.
It was such a beautiful ceremony! Frieda even surprised Michael by saying her wedding vows in Korean. She did so well, and I know he was touched.

Here are my babies in the nursery. See Joseph's pants? He crawled right out of them.


Here is a pic of Angie with her little princess, Ava. They are both so sweet. =)

Since we were in Alabama, we stopped by the Waggoner's house after the wedding. We ended up having a slumber party (haha), and visiting their church in the morning. We had such a great time with them. Here is a pic of Niki and Kylie adoring Ava's tiny feet.


Here is a funny one. This is how he eats.

This is Joseph after an allergic reaction (to eggs, we think). He was miserable, but he still gave a sweet smile for the camera. We went to the doctors today to have an allergy test for his eczema and this breakout. It will be great once we can find out what is causing all this trauma on his little body. It is a good thing he is patient .


Aww, cheek-pinchin' cuties!

Sitting up

Our little man is officially sitting up now. I did put the chair behind him just because he gets so excited about getting his picture taken that he'll fall back laughing (yeah, it happened in a shot before this one). Look at that smile.

Outings

Our boys have been taking turns getting sick this whole year. I can't remember a week in this year that we have all been well! Now they are sick together. Yipee, right? They both have chronic respiratory problems. They don't seem or act sick, but throughout the day they get coughing fits that go on and on. Aiden has had the most trouble because he hasn't been able to keep much food down when he starts his coughing. Right now, we've been told all we can do is manage symptoms. They have made great friends with the nebulizer. They were getting better for a few days, and we took that opportunity to go out! (We were cooped up in the house for too long!) We went to the Aquarium, which they loved, and a Smokies baseball game. Now with allergy season starting up they have relapsed worse then before with more coughing and wheezing. We'll need to take them back to the doctor. If you think of them, please pray for us. I can't wait for my little men to get better so we can all enjoy the beautiful weather together!

Here are some pictures of our outings ~

"Hi, fishy! I'm Tori...He likes me, Mommy. See? He likes me!"

Aiden was too scared to get close to the glass at first. He didn't trust the glass to keep the fish from "gettin" him.

I love this picture.

I can see and feel the wonder and awe of God's magnificent designs through their eyes.

This is Tori's new silly pose.

And here it is again.

I'm not sure how much the kids liked the game, but they sure did love the popcorn Nick bought them. They also liked the songs that the crowd clapped to.

Here is "baby boy" as Tori calls him. He had an eczema flare up, but he is still my cutie! =)

Bowling & Baby Shower

Spring is here. We took Joseph to the doctors for his bronchitis. When we left, it was windy and raining. The wind was blowing petals all over the parking lot. It looked like it was snowing pink. I wish our camera captured the beauty of it.

USCellular held a bowling for charity event that day. Nicholas signed us up. It was the first time the babies ever bowled. At first, Tori cried because of the loud atmosphere, but once she settled down, she had SO much fun. Tori and Aiden were begging to stay after the hour was over. We got bumpers and a ramp for them. They hardly used the bumpers because the ramps kept their ball straight. They both picked up strikes and a few spares. We all had a great time together.

Angie had her baby shower last night. Heidi hosted at her lovely home. Mrs. Tharpe shared words of wisdom. I helped with the food and games. It turned out to be very sweet. Here are a few pics of the happy mama.

Aww, she is glowing...

Isn't the cupcake stand cute? I'm very pleased with that purchase. =)

Happy Birthday Aiden!

Aiden turned 2 on March 14th!

Happy Birthday, Little Man! He got a Bruster's Ice Cream Pie instead of a cake. No complaints there. ;-)

We all laughed at how excited he was about opening his gifts. He was actually trembling! Every gift opened was followed with a big "WOW!" He is still singing Happy Birthday to himself. =)

Here are some random pics from this month ~

Aiden was quietly hiding here for awhile before we found him. Cutie!

I thought I would ask Tori and Aiden what they would like to be when they grow up. Tori said, "A farm girl!" Which makes sense - she loves animals and "gardening (playing in dirt)." Then after asking Aiden what he wants to be, he answered , "A Cow!" That's right. Aim high, boy! Well, I guess Tori has a good start on livestock. lol.

Joseph, happy to be with Grandma JoAnn.