SURPRISE, MONI!!!!

Well, he pulled it off! Billy Graf has been planning a surprise 30th birthday party for his beautiful bride and my fellow quad mom/BFF~ Moni for MONTHS now.

 

Almost all of my Quad Mama buddies and their hubbies were able to make the trip to Kansas this past weekend---and the ones who couldn’t were greatly missed! A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE FRIENDS/FAMILY WHO WATCHED ALL OF OUR CHILDREN SO WE COULD ALL MAKE THE TRIP! And a special thanks to Grammy, Grampy, Ed and Jess for staying with our little guys.

 

It was SO FUN to get our boys together as well…and just like us, they all instantly bonded. Awww

Here we are, waiting to jump out and yell: “SURPRISE!”

 

 

We had one of the best weekends ever…even got to love on those Graf quad cuties! LOVE these girls like sisters and their hubbies are super cool too! We share such an amazing bond, its just difficult to put into words--- easy to see how God had a hand in all of this. I love you girls with all of my heart.

Back row: Jennifer King, Sandra Cochran, Jac Tubre, Moni Graf, Gen McNulty, Kami Lambe, Mari Goerlich

Front row: Heather Cox, Beth Walker, Casey Gerwer, AJ Sathers, Suz Steece, Charity Donovan

 

HAPPY 30TH MONI!!!! LOVE YOU!

Motor Vehicle Accident

2 seconds…



…2 seconds is the amount of time I had to react to a woman who had just pulled out right in front of me…



…on one of the busiest streets in Arlington, while taking the quads to school. YES- all FOUR of my precious children were in the burb with me…



…it could have turned out a lot differently, and for that, I am truly thankful. It only takes seconds…


The other driver was sent to the hospital with shoulder pain. I did not have a chance to check on her before the paramedics arrived. I was too busy checking all 4 of my kids to make sure they were okay. And honestly, I was REALLY upset/angry/shaken. I would not have been able to control my Mama-bear emotions at the time… good thing I stayed in my burb. I just kept thinking:
“I HAVE 4 CHILDREN IN THE CAR!!!!!! HOW COULD YOU NOT SEE ME?!!!! THEY COULD HAVE BEEN INJURED!!!!”

(settle down, Suz…breathe...breathe…accidents happen)

The kids yelled “WHOAAAAAA!!!!” after we were hit…as the burb came to rest inches away from a massive tree. I think it was more of an amusement park ride to them.

I’m guessing I yelled out: “JEEEEEZ!” (my choice of wording when oblivious drivers pull out in front of me)…because Ethan kept repeating:
“baby Jesus!…baby Jesus!”
I was shaking and in shock, but I had to turn around and giggle for a second. I couldn’t understand where Ethan had heard “baby Jesus” being used in “vain”. He ended it with:
“Awwwwww…. baby Jesus is sad.”
(He must have picked up on my “Jeeez” and just finished it out for me)
Hilarious to think about, after the fact.

The kids were fine…Mama was definitely rattled. They enjoyed all the police cars and the ambulance. I took them to school 2-by-2 in Joe’s explorer as he waited for the tow-truck. (We were blocks away from their school. neato.)


The burb is completely un-drivable…so, we will be pimping a rental van/suv/whatever we can fit 4 carseats into…for who knows how long. (and yes, we will be purchasing 4 new carseats as a result of this accident- courtesy of the other driver’s insurance)

Now, I’m all paranoid when I’m driving. Every time someone pulls out along side of me, I slam on my breaks. I’m SOOOOO tense in the car. (Having flashbacks of my last wreck---that ALSO wasn’t my fault).

When will I feel comfortable driving again?!!! Days? Weeks?
Ugh.
But again…perspective. WE’RE ALL OKAY.

A Weekend Sleep Over with Cousin Carter

We had a blast keeping my nephew, Carter, this weekend! It was adorable to watch him chase his older cousins around---he would mimic everything they would do. SO SOOOOO CUTE!

 

And this is one of my favorite pics of all time!

(Andrew, Ethan, Carter, Savannah, Benjamin)

 

 

Mr. Blue Eyes

 

Carter LOOOOOOVES Ben! He follows him around the house and calls out: “Bennnnnnniee… Bennnnnnnieeeeeee”. Ben is SO great with younger children and adores babies. Such a sweet kid.

 

Another favorite! Ethan, Ben, Carter, Sav, Drew

They really do LOVE each other…awwww.

 

We had BEAUTIFUL weather on Saturday and were able to spend the afternoon playing outside!

 

Benny Boo

 

Carter man

 

Widdle E

 

Savi

 

Drew bud

 

Another fav! Ethan, Ben, Drew, Carter, and Sav (I just realized that Ben is in different clothes…we went on a date that morning)

 

Yin and Yang… Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum… A & E

 

Sav & Ben

 

The princess

 

Mr. Sunshine

 

“Weeeeeeeeeee!!!!”

 

Ethan, I might be wrong, but I think it would be a little easier to hold on IF YOU WOULD PUT DOWN THE 5 CARS IN YOUR HANDS. Just sayin’…

 

We had so much fun with the little guy. He is seriously, the easiest kid in the world. Even made us think about having another baby…

 

(but I think we’ll just stick with loving on the nephew…can’t wait to hold and love on Carter’s baby bro or sis in a couple of months!)

 

Oh- and I just HAVE to give a shout out to one of my BFF’s Liz! She came over- BY HERSELF – to babysit all of these kids while we went to a surprise birthday party for another BFF. (We trade off: Joe and I will let all of these dudes spend the night on a Friday night so Chris and Liz, and my bro and sis-in-law can go out on a date and actually sleep in on Saturday! Lord knows that the Steece house will always be wide awake by 6am anyway!)

Liz’s twin girls, my nephew Carter, and my quads…that’s 7 kids under the age of four that she had to put down for the night.

AMAZING.

I LOVE YOU.

THANK YOU, LIZZIE-POO!

This Rollercoaster Known as: “Parenting”…

Not much to report…we are all still here…truckin’ through these winter months…trying desperately to make it to SPRING and some warmer weather! (I know, snicker all you want- Northern peeps! God bless you and your 20 feet of snowfall each day.)

 

The kids (Drew, Ben, Sav, & Ethan) are little angels one minute and crazy little holy terrors the next. They are definitely keeping us on our toes at all times. Does anyone else freak out when you hear that a child’s personality/ sense of right & wrong/ morals/ values, etc. are set in stone by age 3? Anyone?...No?...Just me?…

 

Some days I feel like I am failing miserably as a Mom, and on other days- I am naïve enough to think that there just might be a 1% chance that I’m not screwing them up in some form or another. But that’s when I realize that I’m giving myself waaaay too much credit (I mean really, how many times did I type the word “I” or “I’m” in that last paragraph?)~

so I repeat over and over in my head:

“SUZ! Do NOT underestimate God, by over-estimating yourself.”

 

Put the parenting books down and start praying more.

 

If God is not involved in what the Steeces are doing, all of the self-help/parenting books in the world will not work and will be a complete waste of time.

 

We absolutely LOVE our church family and our preacher~ Doug. He has started an amazing new Sunday morning worship series on “FAMILIES 2011” (parenting, relationships within the family, marriage, etc. ) If you guys could use some re-focusing and direction for yourself and your families in 2011~ you are more than welcome to come to North Davis or check out the series online. Powerful stuff.

Anywhoo---those are just some things that have been on my heart and mind lately.

 

In other news…we’re going to need lots of advice/expertise from my awesome blog buddies for an upcoming cruise with my BFF~Joseeef. The mister and I are not “cruise” people and are a little apprehensive about the whole idea of being on a massive ship out in the middle of nowhere, and yet~ we are still SUPER excited!!!…will post more on that ASAP…

Hugs,

Sav’s Next Surgery~ Feb. 16, 2011

So, we met with Dr. Pinto (Sav’s urologist) to go over her test results from the other day.

 

My little baby girl will be having Ureteral Reimplantation Surgery on her R kidney on Wednesday, Feb. 16. We will spend a couple of days in the hospital with her while she recovers.

 

Sav’s surgical history:

- R kidney had a UPJ obstruction (almost complete blockage), she had surgical intervention: June 26th, 2009

- A couple of months later, Sav had surgery to remove the ureteral stent that they placed during her 1st surgery on her R kidney: August 17th, 2009

- 3 months later- throw in an eye surgery: November 24th, 2009

- Two weeks after that, her L kidney had Grade V vesicoureteral reflux (urine backs up from her bladder into her kidney), she had surgical intervention (A Ureteral Reimplantation) : December 2nd, 2009

- PRESENT DAY: Now her R kidney has Grade V vesicoureteral reflux…and she will have a Ureteral Reimplantation on her R side.

 

 

Dr. Pinto was surprised at her kidney function test results- because it was actually her LEFT kidney that is 10 times the size of her right kidney (after the ultrasound)…but the L is functioning. Doc said that he doesn’t know WHY her L kidney is so huge, but its working…so we DON’T touch it.

He DID say: “Don’t be surprised if Savannah gets obstructed on that L side and will have to have surgery in about a year or two...” (neato)

 

But her RIGHT kidney (that actually looks normal upon renal ultrasound) is NOT functioning properly. So, that is why I was so confused reading her test results on that last post!

 

ANYWHOO---if you understood ANY of that, cool. If not, sorry to ramble.

We would greatly appreciate your prayers for the little missy. She has been having some painful urination, and has been waking up in the middle of the night- screaming in pain, with a soaked pull-up, etc. and it just kills me.

She’s such a fighter and if any of my kids would be able to come out of all of these surgeries- stronger- it would definitely be Savannah Leigh. God bless her.

Cotton Bowl 2011

(Yes, Joe & I will be in attendance)

Prairie Lights 2010 & Crazy Kids on NYE! (not really)

Ahhh, the Prairie Lights of Grand Prairie, TX…gotta love ‘em. Its an annual Steece tradition. Here are some pics from earlier in December with Papa and cousin Carter. We had a blast! (please note: you are driving less than 1 mph, so yes- the children are allowed to roam around the “cabin”…and BOY did they love it!)

 

 

Ethan getting a head start on that learner’s permit

 

 

Cousin Carter having an interesting conversation with Frosty the Snowman…finished with a sweet little wave.

 

 

Andrew trying to “assist” with the driving of the burb

 

 

Ummm..okay…now we have 3 out of 4 quads IN the DRIVER’S seat. (ha. this is what I feel like on any given day…get it? the KIDS are in the driver’s seat?…nevermind)

 

 

Awwww…. gummy smiles. Me and Drew.

 

 

the “Tweedles” (as Auntie Gen likes to refer to E & A)

 

 

Hmmm..okay, not gonna lie. This one’s a toughie. I’m gonna take a stab at it and say Andrew on the left, Ethan on the right. (yep, I was right—I went back and looked at the other pictures)

 

 

Having SO much fun! Sweet Carter LOVED looking at all of the lights! Especially sitting in Papa’s lap!

 

 

The kid’s favorite light scene: the "Abombidomidabido Snowman” (as we like to call ‘em)

 

 

Utter mayhem.

 

 

Time to get out and ride the free rides! (Yes, this little light tour is pretty dern cool. You DFW peeps should make the trek out to Grand Prairie sometime during December…groovy set up). Joe being a nerd…as usual. God love him. (Ben left, Ethan right)

 

 

Sweet Savi and her rooster?

 

 

Drew havin’ fun!

 

 

Back in the ‘ole burb to finish out the lights. Love Ethan staring at me in the side mirror.

 

 

Savi’s sweet smile

 

 

Cooooold wind in our face…but well worth it.

 

 

Oooooooo….the tunnel of lights!

 

 

 

So, it has kinda become our annual Steece family tradition to do the Grand Prairie Lights again on NYE- as a family. It is a drastic change to how Joe and I used to spend New Years Eve (a short pause for reflection……sigh)---but SO special to enjoy it with our kiddos. (AND because NO ONE, and I mean, NO. ONE. goes to the lights on NYE- so we practically have the place all to ourselves!) We brought Uncle Col, Aunt Ashley, and cousin Carter along for the ride as well!

This picture is from NYE morning. We were getting ready to run errands with the kids and Sav says, “Mama! We match! Let’s take a picture!”…so cute. So we did. Love her.

 

 

Leaving our house to hit the Lights! Drew, Me, Sav (and her triple chin- lol), Ben, Joe, and E-bud.

 

 

Quads taking over the cockpit again! (Ben leading the way)

 

 

Ridin’ the carousel! Woo hoo!!! (in between funnel cake consumption and Holiday Light Shows in the tent)

 

 

Collinsky and Carter-man

 

 

Crazy-A-Joe and his Crazy-A-faces. (I do believe that this picture is almost identical to the previous carousel ride a month prior). NERD.    (love you hunny!)

(In case you were wondering, Joe & I were in bed by 11pm…and barely made it to midnight- while falling asleep to “It’s a Wonderful Life” in the ‘ole DVD player- Joe’s favorite)

 

Ben, Joe, Andrew, Suz, Sav, Ethan, Collin, Carter, and Ashley

Hope you all had a safe, exciting (or relaxing) New Years celebration as well! Here’s hoping for a year filled with love & laughter…and for a fresh start/new beginning to re-focus & re-prioritize the things that are most important in our lives.

 

Blessings for 2011,