Happy Birthday, Bro!

My only sibling...Collin, my 4-year-older bro, is celebrating his birthday today! I also like to take time to think about my mom on this day and what she went through to have my bro AGES AGO! haha (funny how becoming a mom will put things in perspective for a gal)

I LOVE you, Collin...I pray that you are blessed beyond your wildest dreams this year!
Ashley and Collin



So...Suz has been extremely sentimental this week...going through video and pictures from a year ago--I just CANNOT BELIEVE it has been ONE YEAR since I gave birth to my little quad angels! Take a walk with me down memory lane...

This was my last belly shot, one week before I gave birth. (And sorry folks, this was my LAST belly shot EVER...I repeat, EVER!!! I promise you, it is NOTHING pretty! Just imagine this striped balloon...DEFLATED! and there you have it)





This pic was one year ago today...on my brother's bday...getting to see Shiloh for the first time while on hospital bedrest. It was the last picture that was taken of me before the little ones came out of that belly.


Video from that same day...my poor brother had to have his birthday party in my hospital room! Awwww...poor guy! (He was showing me how to use our new video camera--just in time for the birth days later! sheesh...close timing!)


YIKES!

Another Weekend on the Road!

We are definitely trying to take advantage of getting out and about before October quarantine! SHEESH! We had a great time this weekend traveling to San Antonio for my cousin, Eric's wedding celebration to Erin! Welcome to the fam, Erin--LOVE you!!! (Always nice to have more girls around--coming from a gal who grew up with primarily boys)

The beastly, hairy men....my bro, Collin, cousin Eric, and cousin Sean


I laughed when my sweet Aunt Joyce asked if we could get a picture of all the quads "sitting in a row"....hee hee hee "SURE! We can try!" (Savannah, Andrew, Ben, and Ethan)


My dear friend Lizzie came along for the weekend! "Mr. HAMbone" is sitting in her lap...(Ben)


Seriously--HAMS it up for photos, no lie. If he even SEES a camera- he immediately gets this HUGE grin on his face...silly Boo.


Aunt Judy luvin' on little Sav, her "Darla"


Uncle Collin, his handle-bar stache, and Ethan


Papa and Drew--with his first big boo boo on his forehead and nose (First of many, I'm sure!)


The quads had been eyeing that cake all afternoon--so we decided to let them practice for this weekend. Judy and Andrew


Auntie Ashley and Ethan


Granna, me, and Savannah



As far as party planning goes: We are having one small, family/close friends party on Saturday and one HUGE celebration on Sunday as a THANKS to all of the Diaper Darlings (church volunteers) who have been such an amazing blessing in our lives. I'm calling that party the "Diaper Darling Appreciation/Quad One Year Celebration"! Should be a blast! Gotta get to work!.....

Chillin' Poolside

Last weekend we enjoyed a little fun in the sun at Grandpa & Grandma Steece's house.

Ben...just playin it cool, bro


Dani with Sav (staring at the pool--can't wait to splash around!)


Molly luvin' on little Ethan (rubbing his fingers across his new 2 top front teeth!)


Jess with Ben (lots of teething going on!)


Grandpa Steece and Uncle Ed


Dan with Ben, Grandma Steece with Drew, Molly with Ethan


Sav, Dani, Me, Dan, Ben


Widdle Drew--my love bug lately...

3 Boys---3 First Haircuts!!!!

We had a wonderful weekend visiting family and friends--I will be doing several posts this week with pics and such. Last Thursday, my dad and I took the boys for their first haircuts with Debbie (a longtime friend of mine) at Waco's: "The Cutting Edge". Although Ben had a kickin' sweet mullet-- we decided it was time.

Starting with the child who would probably behave the best---little Ethan was first.

"Umm...what are you about to do, lady?"

Sweet little Ethan was so still as Deb trimmed away on his baby-locks...




Tah Dah! How cute are those spikes with that face?...not quite a little baby anymore (sniff, sniff)


Next we have Andrew

Nice pick of the little man's uneven do


Drew was good in the chair, he was just extremely curious of what Deb was doing to his head (not a big fan of people messing with his head in any way).


He kept trying to look up/back and grab at the scissors/shears

"What's going on back there?"


My little man...gosh, he looks a LOT like Ethan in this pic!...2 down, 1 more to go...


Then there was Benjamin...we purposely saved Boo Bear for last.

"Don't hate me cuz you're jealous of my rockin' scraggly mullet"


Ben was fine at the beginning--gave him a comb to play with...distracted him for a bit...we thought we were in the clear!


NOPE! Here it comes...


"Help me! Why are you just standing there? Get me outta this chair!"


But it was short lived and as soon as Deb stopped, Ben was happy as a lark!


The little princess is growing her hair out--seeing as how her bros have all had longer hair than Savannah from day one! But she went along for the ride anyway--to lend her sisterly support!


A HUGE thanks to Debbie! I love you, woman! YOU ROCK! I would also like to thank Papa Hoag and Betty Willis for helping us juggle babies in and out of the chair! You are appreciated more than you know!

All in all, they did VERY well and no longer look like widdle babies! I cannot BULEEEEEV they are about to be one. This year has completely flown by (and yes, I know...the years go faster and faster from here on out) These are my only babies!- so every milestone is extremely bittersweet for me!

Oh, and be sure to visit Baby Blog Addict:



She is doing a Quad-a-thon on the Steeces, Goerlichs, McNultys, and Murrays! VERY COOL! Check out her blog and you can enter for prizes as well!

Please Don't Feed the Animals

Folks, its a ZOO around here lately! (I LOVE it when my babies are crawling all over me--one of the best feelings in the world!)

The quads and I headed out for a nice friendly drive to Waco this morning to spend some quality time with Granna & Papa. Friday we will be driving to Austin for some Grandma & Grandpa Steece luvin' as well. WOO HOO!!!

Now that we have EXTREMELY mobile quads, it is imperative that we travel with this nifty contraption. It is hard enough keeping ONE child safe...let alone FOUR!



If any of you are looking for a high quality, durable, safe, sturdy superyard...I would definitely suggest this Metal 3-in-1 Superyard! We bought two of them to create a bigger space for the little quaddies and couldn't be happier with this product.

Not MY Idea of a Fun Saturday...

Our good friends Katie and Adam, gave us their freezer (we're talking old school, the size of a refrigerator freezer! It rocks! MUCHOS GRACIAS!) My brother and Joe went to pick it up Saturday morning. During the unloading of the freezer to our garage, Joe somehow managed to slice his arm open from his wrist to the top of his forearm.

I am upstairs feeding the babies, when Joe walks in and says, "Suz, I MAY need stitches..." As I go downstairs, I see Joe in the kitchen with blood from his wrist to his bicep...several lacerations about an inch WIDE and deep enough for me to see pearly white tendon. (HOLY COW! I am thinking in my head) "YES Joe, you most definitely need stitches. Go to the ER immediately!" (in a calm, but firm voice)

At this point, Joe is packed full of adrenaline and is not really feeling the effects of his sliced open arm. In my head I am thinking, "OMG! I saw tendon! That is a deep cut! Will he have function in his fingers? Will he have nerve damage? It is his RIGHT arm! Oh NO!" I am trying not to freak Joe out, so I pull my brother aside and say, "COLLIN! GET HIM TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM PRONTO! He is going to start feeling the pain any second now!"

Thank the LORD Collin was there and took him to the ER while I finished feeding, diapering and putting the quads down to nap. I made some calls and had friends come to watch the babies so I could be with Joe in the ER. (THANK you Linda and Joyce!)

Joe wouldn't let me take a pic of the doc sewing him up :( but it was awesome! This was Joe...going on hour 5.5 and getting a bit delirious...


So...after it was all said and done, Joe had managed to miss every tendon and nerve by the grace of God. He was 1/2" away from severing his radial artery (which was the first thing I thought of when I saw the cut on his wrist!) He got a tetanus shot, 12 sutures (not including the subcutaneous stitching beneath the skin--it was DEEP!) and bandaged up....ALL WITHIN A WHOPPING 7 HOURS! jeeeeeeeez. Well, at least we got to spend some one-on-one time in the waiting room! Hee Hee...and managed to get back in time for all of our friends coming over that night for a BBQ! Yep, Joe would have to be in a coma before he would cancel a get-together with friends! Good times...

Joe modeling his gimp arm the day after...(can't pick up the babies for a while)


I told the ER staff that I'm sure we would be visiting quite often with 3 boys! (4, including their father)...

Its not ALWAYS sunny...

...in the Steece House!

I just wanted to make sure you guys know that we DO have our "bad days". I am trying to get some action on video for you. Here is a small taste of what some days are like:

As soon as the quads see me pull their bottles out of the refrigerator, they will immediately start crying! (Even if they have been totally fine before) I usually try to hide them as I place them in the crock pot to warm. This morning, they saw me...



I LOVED watching Ben stare up at the bottles...so sad! And absolutely melted with Drew's widdle puppy dog face at the very end!

No less than one minute later, we have happy quads again!




Oh yes, here is the new bow site I promised you:

Sweet Daisy Bowtique (Great bows that are SUPER comfy for Sav's little head made by GREAT gals! She was modeling one of her new bows in the July 4th pic below)

Happy Belated Independence Day!!!!

Hope you all had WONDERFUL holidays! We have definitely been busy over here in the Steece house--trying to get ready for the 1st birthday! (nothing crazy huge, just a nice little party for close friends and fam--more later).



I cannot believe how big my babies are getting! They are so much more alert now and have grown so much--both physically and developmentally. It is the best feeling to watch them interacting with each other--such an incredible thing to see!



Thanks to the Harris Quads for the adorable outfits! They were perfect! Here is little miss "Bow Head" (btw- have a GREAT new bow site and will give you the details soon! Miss Priss is modeling one in this pic!)