Reflections of 2008

As another year comes to a close, I thought it might be nice to take a moment and reflect on 2008 in the Steuer house. Each year seems to pass by faster than the previous, especially since we have had children. There were some big birthdays in 2008 with Matt and I both turning the big 3-0 (me first of course, since I am his old lady!), Jackson turned 4, Mia 2, and the twins rolled through their first birthday of many to come. I started this blog in 2008 (which is my new found addiction) and am glad that I am able to share my family with family and friends. I truly do not have the time to "scrapbook" or keep up with the baby books, but I hope this will suffice for my children. Writing the blog makes me want to do more things with my kids to create memories, take more pictures (especially of everyday things that may not seem so everyday in the future), and helps me remember my priorities in life, after which everything else falls in line-God and my family. Matt and I both changed jobs in 2008. We discovered we were pregnant again followed by an unexpected miscarriage. We traveled to Las Vegas and celebrated many family weddings. We survived several basement floods, installed a new heating/air conditioning system, electrically rewired our house, and purchased a new water heater (2008 was an expensive home owning year!). We watched our babies take their first steps, our first baby go to school, and our daughter make potty training a breeze. It has been a crazy, but beautiful year full of trials and triumphs. As 2009 begins, I can only imagine what will come. All I can say is that we are ready for whatever and wherever life takes us. Happy New Year!

Green Bad Guy

This happened awhile ago, but I haven't had the time to blog about it. The story is too funny (or scary) not to share.

We have an EpiPen at our house since Jackson has a peanut allergy. Each box comes with two EpiPens (syringes with the medicine) and a "trainer" pen which does not contain medicine or have a needle attached. The actual EpiPen is green and the trainer is black. When first prescribed the medication, the doctor showed Jackson and I how to inject himself with the trainer. We had practiced several times with it so Jackson would be familiar and not so scared. The box of pens and trainer sit up on a shelf in our kitchen. One day I was putting Mia down for a nap (twins were already sleeping) and I hear Jackson crying (not unusual). I look out in the hallway to see what Jackson is doing and he has his pants down. I look at his leg and he has a small puncture wound on his thigh. He is crying, "I got an ouchie! That green bad guy got me!" I have no idea what the green bad guy is so I ask him where he was when he got hurt. He says, "In the kitchen!" I totally did not even think about the EpiPen. In the kitchen, on the counter is the EpiPen opened with the needle bent and the medicine expelled. I tried to relax, but I could not believe he had stabbed himself with the pen. Apparently, he saw the EpiPen box while going to get stickers (to put on the calendar for pooping in the potty) and decided that it was a good time to practice with his trainer. Except he didn't have the trainer. Woops. We called the doctor and poison control and 1 hour later Jackson was totally fine. He really had no effects from the "green bad guy" and the funny part is that he injected it in the right spot, just didn't need it at that moment. I felt bad for him because I am sure he was not expecting a needle to poke him in the leg since he thought he had the trainer. Poor kid. I don't think he will be practicing with the trainer anytime soon. He doesn't want anymore unneeded incidents with the "green bad guy."

Christmas Pictures-Part 2

The kids and grandkids

Uncle Charley helping Grant opening his present

Liam opening his gift Grant and Liam playing ball




Uncle Charley and Aunt Kelly

Mamaw and Papaw

Mia loving her new dress

After a crazy trip to 10:30am mass (we really should not attempt church alone), we had a relaxing Christmas day at Matt's parents. The relaxing could have been induced by some delicious whiskey sours, but I'm not entirely sure! We had a great meal and the kids enjoyed their gifts. We played Little Einstein's bingo, Chutes and Ladders, and Disney's Scene It DVD game. It was a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Pictures

Nana, Mia, Liam and Grandma reading books

Grandma Showing Mia her fairy dress up stuff


Nana and Grant

Uncle Chris, Jackson, and Mia jamming

Matt and his new bar sign

Mia and one of her favorite presents, new heels!

Jackson on the sit-n-spin

Mia, Nana and Tinkerbell

We had a great Christmas on Christmas Eve with my brother, mom, and Grandma. Everyone came to our house to open presents and eat. The kids got spoiled and loved it!

Updated Nativity?

What? You don't remember Plex, Muno, Brobee, and Foofa at the birth of Jesus? Mia thought the Yo Gabba Gabba figurines needed to sit next to the nativity scene. I couldn't resist snapping the picture. Now where is DJ Lance Rock and Toodee?

Merry Christmas

God gave the world a treasure of immense and untold worth,

and brought a touch of heaven to our lifetimes here on earth.

For He gave us someone wonderful, a Savior from above,

when He blessed the world with Jesus Christ--

our Peace, our Joy, our Love.

K. Lawrence

Capper Christmas

Angie, Grant, Mia, and Teddy
Unce John, Liam, and Cole

Aunt Colleen and Jackson

Matt, Liam, and the bouncy house

Grandpa Capper and Liam

This past Saturday we went up to the North Pole (well, maybe just Rochester but it looked and felt like the North Pole) to celebrate Christmas with my Dad's side of the family. I did not get the greatest pictures, but here are some to show some of the fun. We all had a great time. The kids loved playing with the dogs and opening presents. They did a scavenger hunt of little presents which took them to the big gift, the indoor/outdoor bouncy house. They are loving it and I am loving it because it burns off some energy, especially now since they cannot get outdoors. All of my Dad's family was there, including my cousins. I was unable to go last year due to work so I hadn't seen the whole family for quite a while. It was great to see everyone and was a nice relaxing day. Thanks Dad and Angie!

Christmas at the Zoo

Friday night we went to Christmas at the Zoo with our friends Josh and Jody and their boys, Jake and Logan. It was cold, but fun. I think all the kids enjoyed it. Thanks to an early Christmas present from Mamaw and Papaw, the trip was included in our year admission pass to the Zoo. Not only fun, but cheap fun!

Christmas Program

Here is one little video from Jackson's preschool Christmas program. He is in the front row to the left of the screen. He did a pretty good job-the teacher only had to say his name twice during the program: once to remind him not to ring his jingle bells yet and another time to stand up. Not too bad!

Hitchin' a Ride

Skinny little Grant giving Liam a ride in Mia's baby doll stroller. So cute.

Say Ahhh...

Liam (top), Grant (bottom)
The boys have been totally obsessed with their tongues. Just want to make sure we know they have one I guess. Here are some pictures to prove it.

Bad Hair Day

Cars

Grant and Liam have been using the rocking chair as a race track recently. Here are some pictures of them playing.

Steuer Carol Singers

Jackson and Mia love to sing. My Dad and Angie got some good video of them this weekend singing Christmas songs. Here is the videos I took last week. They like to use the books as their "songbooks."

Steuer rendition of Jingle Bells

Steuer rendition of Winter Wonderland (I like when Jackson doesn't know the words in this one..I think he says "on a van, on a fire" at one point-hilarious!)

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!!

Crayon Trees

We did another craft this week for Christmas. I have been wanting to make our own crayons for some time now. We have so many broken crayons and I saved them for just this activity. We took crayons that were broken and put them into a silicone tree molds. Bake at 250 for 15 minutes (or longer) until the crayons are melted. Put in freezer for 10 minutes and remove from mold. The silicone pan was awesome. Nothing stuck! The kids loved doing this. We put in whatever colors we wanted for the first batch, but then decided to separate the colors for the next. Jackson really loved sorting the crayons into the bowls. Now we have some new crayons to color with. Fun!

Decking the Halls

Just thought I would share a few pictures of the Christmas tree and decorations. The garland is made out of pipe cleaners that Jackson helped me put together. I think it turned out to be pretty cute!

Pukefest 2008

Doesn't the title just urge you to read on?? Sorry if this post offends anyone, but I feel it needs to be told to understand all of the joys involving child raising. We have been battling many illnesses since Halloween. The kids have had pneumonia, colds, coughs, runny noses, sore throats, ear infections, and now the pukes. The last few days have been crazy. For some reason, during the day the kids are mostly fine, but at night it is a whole different story. Last night it came to a head. Grant had puked in his bed the night before so we left the twin's door open to be able to hear the them well. It started with Liam. He decided to puke not only in his bed, but managed to get some on the wall, the rungs of the crib, the floor and the bed skirt. So Matt and I are in the babies room cleaning the mess and Grant wakes up due to the commotion. Not sure if it was the smell that got him or if he just felt ill himself, but while we are cleaning Liam's mess, Grant puked. So we clean both boys, change their PJ's and bedding and put them back to bed. I decide to sleep on the couch to be able to hear any future puking. Not more than 30 minutes later, Jackson is crying and running out to the living room. He stops just short of the living room and pukes on the floor. That was enough for me. I then joined in the Pukefest and hurled myself in the proper location for puking. Jackson eventually goes back to bed and guess who I hear? That's right, it was Amelia. You can imagine what happened. Unfortunately, I am not exaggerating. This is a true story. I hope I never have to type the word "puke" again. I pray there is no Pukefest 2009 or any other year for that matter. I tell you people, motherhood is not for the weak.

Miss Amelia's New Do

Mia got her first haircut this past week. She has such fine hair. We decided to cut it all one length in an attempt to thicken it up. She wasn't huge on the haircut place (my how many tears have been shed at Cookie Cutters), but I think she likes the cut.

Musical Adventure and Visit from Mr. Claus

Jackson and Mia were treated to two musical adventures this past week. Thursday night I took them to see my mom's church Christmas concert rehearsal. Jackson and Mia loved being able to be close to the orchestra and see the instruments in action. Sunday night, Matt's parents took them to a Christmas concert in Greenwood. They had a great time there as well, although I'm not sure the other concert attendees appreciated the kids singing along! Here are some pictures of them at the concert.

Saturday morning, Matt's mom (Mamaw) took Jackson and Mia to Applebee's in Greenwood to have breakfast with Santa. They had a great time and couldn't wait to tell me all about it when they woke up Sunday morning. They each got gift bags, had a great meal, made a craft, and got to meet Santa.

Mia sat on Santa's lap...

...and here is where Jackson hid so he didn't have to sit on Santa's lap.Hope Santa doesn't have any hard feelings, or Jackson may be sad on Christmas morning!