Party Fun

Memaw and Jackson
The Girls
Uncle Charley and Liam
Liam
Grant
Nametags so everyone knows who is who!
Cake
Grant using the "no-hands" approach to cake eating
Liam
Grandpas (dressed like twins, on accident!) and the twins

All boy

This video isn't the best, but I thought it was so cute to catch Liam "being a boy" pushing his cars around and making the car noises. Both boys are clapping and waving a bunch even when it is not appropriate, but it is adorable.

We had their 12 month appointment on Thursday, they are both doing well and are still little peanuts--Liam weighs 19 lbs and Grant weighs almost 18 lbs. They are still not big enough for the forward facing car seats. I was kind of bummed, but I guess it saves us almost a few hundred dollars in new car seats for now.

In regards to the background on the video...yes my house always looks like this at the end of the day--welcome to the world of 4 little children!!!

Trip to the Zoo

Memaw and Jackson checking out the Koala bears
Grant enjoying the zoo:)
Daddy, Jackson, and Mia watching the penguins swim
Birthday Boys

Jackson's two left feet

We took the kids to the zoo on Grant and Liam's birthday. I'm not sure that Grant and Liam enjoyed it all that much, but we had fun. Matt's mom (Memaw) was able to come with us as well. Perhaps the funniest part of the day was that Jackson left the house with two left shoes on. He has two pairs of shoes that look the same--one clean and one dirty. He is basically getting himself dressed everyday and none of us checked him before we left. Great parenting at its best!!

Happy Birthday Liam and Grant!!

Morning of their birth (yes I was a total cow!)
The twins with mommy and daddy
Jackson giving me a kiss
Mia being a proud big sister
Grant (left) and Liam (right)

I really cannot believe it has been 1 year since our precious twins were born. Thinking back to that day we were both so nervous and anxious. Everything we had been told about twins being at an increased risk for breathing difficulties, lower birth weight, and increased risk for C-section kept our prayers constant and our nerves high. I remember our nurse (whose name happened to be Amelia--weird, huh?) was Catholic as well and she pinned two St. Gerard medals (Patron St. of Mothers) to my gown to be with us throughout the birth. I remember crying so hard after they were born and were fine (and big--6 lbs 1oz and 5 lbs 12 oz). Even in the delivery room we weren't totally sure of their names. Twin A (first born--now Liam) was supposed to be Grant and twin B (second born--now Grant) we weren't sure about yet (I think we may have even called him Garrett at one point). Once we got to the post-partem room, Matt and I took a good look at them and decided that the smaller twin looked more like a Liam and the other baby was definitely a Grant. Too funny that they have reversed roles now and Liam outweighs Grant by over 1 pound! We were constantly examining them after they were born to see if they were really identical. They were easy to tell apart then and we were very skeptical about their being identical twins (we still have yet to get the expensive test to tell for sure yet, but we are going with the identical thing at this point). I remember crying (again I know, but the hormones!!) seeing how big my baby Jackson's hands were when he was holding one of them the first day we got home. True, the first few weeks after their birth were a whirlwind, but so amazing. Such a blessing from God. Happy Birthday baby boys!! We all love you so very much!

Enjoy the pictures of us 1 year ago today!

Birthday Cake

Here are some photos of the cake for Liam and Grant tomorrow. It is a practice for the cake we will have for their party on Sunday. I am going to put the train cars on a sheet cake with railroad tracks. Hope they like it!!

Two down, two to go

So I heard that potty training girls is easier than boys, but this is ridiculous! On Friday Miss Amelia told me that she wanted to use the potty. I took her in, she went, we celebrated. She has been going in the potty ever since Friday. Granted she has had some accidents here and there, but that is to be expected. Memaw, Nana, and I had all tried to get her to go at some point or another and she is so stubborn (wonder where she gets that from??) she always said no. I don't know what made her have a change of heart last week, but I'm not complaining. Is it too soon to start with Grant and Liam???

Weight Loss

Since the babies are about to turn one and I am not pregnant (I don't think anyway!), I figured it was probably about time to start attempting to lose the baby weight. Better late than never, right? I am starting weight watchers online again and Matt and I are finally serious about trying to lose some weight. We were going to start prior to his sister's wedding, but for some reason that didn't happen. Seeing the photos of ourselves at Kelly's wedding and from our vacation was really eye opening. We have been successful before and have failed many times, but here's to trying again! Maybe telling all of you in the blogging world will make us more accountable--at least that's the idea:).

The Fountains of the Bellagio

If you have been to Vegas, you may think I am silly. Truthfully my favorite part of both trips to Vegas has been the fountains at the Bellagio. I am always blown away by the fountains and the way they are set in time to the selected music. If it wasn't over 105 degrees while we were there and each show wasn't 30 minutes apart, I would seriously stand in front of that hotel and watch each show. This video is the length of one song and it isn't the greatest angle, but if you have never seen it before it will give you a little taste of the awesome view of this "can't miss" Las Vegas show. Jackson and Mia liked it anyway...:)

Inquiring minds want to know

Jackson is now at the age where he is really starting to change. As parents, Matt and I are both excited to see him grow up and sad that our first born baby is becoming a little boy. His questions of us have changed from what objects are to more meaningful questions. "What does experiment mean?" "What is a degree?" "What does it mean to be a natural at something?" "What is exhausted?" These may seem like simple questions, but when you really have to answer them so that an almost 4 year old can understand them it is tougher than you think. Although the questions are frequent, they really make me smile and warm my heart that he is really starting to think about the world around him. I know everyone says that life goes by fast, but each day since his birth has raced past us. Hopefully we have been able to slow down enough at times and enjoy our children each step of the way.

Viva Las Vegas

Hoover Dam
Freemont Street Experience

Gondola rides inside our hotel
Picture of shops/restaurants inside our hotel
Temperature inside car (in the shade) on our first day--yes it says 114!!
Matt and I at the Grand Canyon
Amazing shot of Grand Canyon

Las Vegas was amazing!! We were there just 2 and 1/2 short days, but we managed to do almost everything. We visted the Grand Canyon and walked on the glass skywalk there, visited the Hoover Dam, saw two comedy shows, toured most of the hotels on the strip, gambled, ate, drank, and had a wonderful time. It was great to be together just the two of us. We did not win big (what a bummer!), but really enjoyed every part of the trip. Thanks again to my wonderful mother-in-law. She survived and kept our house spotless, laundry done, and took great care of the kids. We really cannot thank you enough!!

Pan-tastic

I recently purchased a "Pancake Puff" pan (www.pancakepuff.com). Jackson and Mia kept seeing the commercial on TV and were begging for the pancake puffs and brownie puffs. So far we have only made the pancake puffs and it did take some practice (next time I will practice alone instead of having a 3 year old underfoot asking "Are they ready? Are they ready, mom? I want pancake puffs!") Just a simple pancake batter and some patience and even you can have pancake puffs at home. Don't you want to try?? They are a definite hit at the Steuer home.

Please no comments about the dirty stove. Oh, when Matt sees this picture...sorry honey:(

A visit from Uncle Chris

Post Flood

Cilantro from our garden
Peppers from our garden
Basement post flood
Dark part of fireplace is how high water was in basement

Here are some pictures of our garden that survived the flood and some basement photos. As I type this the sky is turning dark and thunder and lightening is starting. Here we go again...

Crazy, Happy Weekend

Matt and Liam at the wedding reception
Nana and Jackson (our very handsome little man).
Mia and her snacks (our little princess flower girl)
Aunt Kelly and Jackson sharing a pickle:)
The bride and groom--Kelly and Charley

Bizarre orange sky

Kelly and Charley at the rehearsal dinner

Well, the weekend started out great and ended great in the end:). I had the whole weekend off as we were standing up in Matt's sister Kelly's wedding. The rehearsal was wonderful--Jackson and Mia were the ring bearer and flower girl and actually walked down the aisle (which I definitely was not sure if they would do). We had a wonderful dinner at Buca Di Beppo's.

On the way home from the rehearsal dinner, Matt and I saw this crazy orange colored sky with the all kinds of lightening. We both thought it was so weird and didn't "seem right" especially since it was 9:30pm.

We wake up early Saturday morning to rain as I am sure lots of you. Long story short, a creek by the one street from our house out of the neighborhood flooded the road off and on throughout the day. I was finally able to leave for the wedding with Jackson and Mia, but Matt left 10 minutes later and wasn't able to cross (although he tried many, many times). Unfortunately, he missed Kelly's wedding. A friend was able later to get to Matt, my mom, and the babies in a truck and bring them to the reception.

Kelly looked beautiful and the wedding was lovely. The reception flew by and I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I would have liked. The kids had fun as did we. Jackson loved dancing. Mia warmed up after the cake was served (this is definitely my child!) and started dancing too.

Oh...did I mention our basement flooded again (3rd time's the charm, right?) So now we are drying out the basement and waiting to put it back together again. How many days to Vegas?????

Havin' a party

I just finished the invitations for Grant and Liam's birthday party (can anyone guess the theme?). I really enjoy crafting the kids' party invitations. It is sort of therapeutic for me in a way. Not sure if you can really tell in this picture, but the boys are looking more and more alike everyday. We still are not 100% if they are identical and hope someday to know for sure, but they definitely look it to me. When they are dressed alike it can be difficult to tell at a quick glance. There is a 1 pound weight difference, a slight difference in their ears, and personality differences, but it is getting more difficult to tell. I can only imagine the kind of trouble they could cause when they get older. Matt and I still cannot believe we were blessed with twins. Truly a miracle!