Happy 7th!

This is a picture from our honeymoon in Jamaica 7 years ago. My how the time flies! Who is this young couple? Happy Anniversary, honey!

One more trip to the ER

So as of today 3 out of the 4 kids have been to the emergency room so far in their life. Liam was the lucky (more like unlucky) winner on Saturday. Jackson was needing some privacy in the potty so he went to shut the bathroom door, but failed to see that little Liam had his hand in the hinge side. He closed the door forcefully and it completely shut---on Liam's hand. Liam begins to cry and I investigate finding Liam immobile; his hand obviously stuck in the door. We release Liam's hand only to see some funky looking fingers (imagine a Tom and Jerry cartoon where Tom's hand looks like stair steps after being slammed in something). He wasn't moving them and because of their appearance, we went right to the ER. Thank the Lord he is still tiny and has little fingers because the X-rays were normal and he has no broken bones. Truthfully by the end of the day, we was acting completely fine. He has a few line marks by his knuckles where the door pinched his skin, but overall his hand is unremarkable.

This one event in our house is such a display of a parent's heartache. I ached for Liam and wanted so badly to take away his pain. I ached for the guilt of wishing I had been in the hallway 30 seconds before to avoid the whole event in the first place. I ached for Jackson whose little heart was crushed knowing he had hurt his brother causing him to have to go to the doctor (one of Jackson's least favorite places). Jackson was so afraid he had broken Liam's bones and kept saying that it was an accident and he was sorry. I ached when Mia told my mother-in-law as we were leaving for the ER, "Mamaw, we should pray the rosary." As crazy as this house gets sometimes (and it most definitely can get crazy), I love my life and my family...so much my heart literally aches.

Compassionate Kids

Our kids can fight with each other, that's for sure, but they totally surprise me with their compassion for each other at times. I caught Mia "babying" Jackson the other day when he had hit his head outside. She was asking him if he was ok, rubbing his head, and then asked him where it hurt and kissed it for him. Had to share the pictures!

Sidewalk Artist

Jackson leaving Nana a little "love note."

Chef Jackson

For Mother's Day this year Jackson's preschool class gave all of the mommy's a recipe book.

Each child selected a recipe of their choice and then told the teacher how to make it. -Both teachers wrote the recipes down word-for-word as instructed by the kids. Some of them were so hilarious! There are many recipes for chocolate chip cookies, chicken nuggets (one child started her recipe with, "First you buy chicken nuggets at Target..."), waffles, etc. Jackson's recipe was for pasta. Thought I would share his recipe with all of you.

PASTA

by Jackson Steuer

You will need:

Pasta

One cup of 5 water

A little cheese

Put just the right amount of pasta, so it won't spill and make a big mess, in a frying pan. Put the frying pan on top of the stove. It needs a cup of 5 water, and then boil it for 31 minutes so it can get warm. Pour it on a bowl. Sprinkle a little cheese on it because that's why it can taste good! Mix the pasta and then we just eat it with a spoon. Serve with salad.

Such a cute idea. You can tell this was exactly what he said because the wording is perfect. When reading it you can hear him telling it to you in his excited voice. I laughed so much when reading all of the recipes with Jackson. He was so proud to give it to me. Definitely something I will cherish for years to come.

Tickle Bugs

Nana and the twins

Nana is having a bad day today. Thought this might cheer her up!

Bracelet thief

Mia stole Jackson's birth bracelet this weekend and wore it around the house and to mass Sunday. I thought this was adorable. She's keeping her brother close at all times.

Brotherly Love

Not a great picture, but thought it was cute that Grant was giving his brother some lovin'.

Where is she going?

This is a picture of the twins taken as I am leaving for work. You can see Jackson and Mia biting their blankets distracted by TV in the background, but they are whining too. This happens every single time I leave the house without the children. Ahhh, it feels good to be loved.

Always cute

No matter how often I see either my own children or others playing with babies, it really squeezes my heart. For them to pretend to feed a baby, hug the baby, put the baby to bed,

or give the baby a kiss says so much about their ability to love and nurture. Let's just not talk about the times they throw the babies on the ground...

Thirty-one balloons

Although this didn't scan the best, I wanted to share my birthday card from Jackson-complete with 31 balloons. Really looks like a lot when they are all together doesn't it?

The benefits of sharing

Liam is definitely enjoying the benefits of his big brother and sister

sharing with him--double drinking!

Somebody loves her Nana

Birthday Bash

Matt's parents had us, his sister, Kelly and her husband, Charley over this past Monday. We celebrated Charley's birthday, which was on the 16th (he is only 23, wow am I starting to feel old!) and my birthday which is next week (I will be 31 for those of you keeping track). Kathy made us a cute cake, we had a delicious meal, and the kids played with our birthday balloons.

Charley and I blowing out the candles
Mia playing with the balloons

You can't really tell in this picture, but we tied the balloon strings onto the twins pants to keep track of them. If you sat down on the couch, all you could see was the blue and red balloons bouncing all over the house. They didn't even notice!

Liam (left) and Grant (right) enjoying the birthday cake

Kathy pointed out that although I think it is getting easier to tell them apart, they still look pretty identical in the bottom picture for sure. So weird still to me that we have twins.

Thanks to my in-laws for a good party!