If “MacGyver” was my Babysitter

This past Sunday morning, I traveled to Waco for a dear friend’s wedding shower. I took Ethan and Andrew with me. My brother- Collin, Ashley, and Carter were in Waco as well.

 

While the gals were at the shower, Uncle Col was by himself, in charge of watching the 3 kids: Carter, Ethan, and Andrew. (How hard could that be, right?)

 

Well, I realized after we had left- that I had unintentionally grabbed the diaper bag and Collin had no extra undies for my potty-trained boys…you know…just in case of an accident.

 

As we left the shower, I noticed that I had missed:  1) a phone call from my bro (never a good thing when he is babysitting); and  2) this text message (and I quote):

 

 

“Any undies???? We have poo”

Now, you gotta understand something about my brother…like most men, he tends to get easily frazzled around young children…especially if he is by himself. You should hear some of his quad-sitting stories…I seriously laugh so hard that I cannot breathe.

 

I get home to find Ethan like this:

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In a panic, Collin had raided our Dad’s (Papa) underwear drawer and went all “MacGyver” on little Ethan.

Classy side knot, Uncle Col.

When I asked him (through laughter induced tears) why he had used Dad’s undies (who was out of town for the weekend) and not his own, he simply stated:  (said as if it were a dumb question)  “I was GOING to use my undies, but realized that I needed them big enough to be able to tie a knot on the side”.

 

And last but not least…this is what I found when I lifted up the back of E’s shirt:

 

 

Dying…DY-YINGGGG laughing. I let him walk around for several minutes before I put him in age-appropriate undies- while we all got a good laugh out of it.

 

Oh, my dear, sweet brother…(I think I should do a “blog series” entitled: “Adventures in Babysitting with Uncle Col”---for those days that you need an extra laugh…or two…or three)

 

9 Steece Kids

We had a blast this past weekend when Uncle Dan and Aunt Dani came to play with us. Uncle Ed came over to join in the festivities as well!

I LOVE this picture!

(Ed with Ethan, Dan with Ben, Dani with Sav, Joe with Drew)

 

 

Dani and Sav playing dress up. Love that Sav is looking at her Auntie. She LOVES Dani!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ben and his P.I.C (partner in crime)- Uncle Dan. 2 peas in a pod, I tell ya.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet Little Ethan and Uncle Ed- who is always a crowd fav!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love these Steece boys! (Dan, Joe, Drew, Ed) Couldn’t have asked for better brother-in-laws. 

   

 

Saturday morning, we all took the kids to see “Despicable Me” (which was good!) And we didn’t even have to take any mid-show potty breaks! Yaay! (maybe we’re turning the corner?) Drew, Ethan, Me, Sav, Joe, Ben

 

 

Then we met some of our great friends in Dallas for some good food! I told Sav that Veronica was a princess who was growing a baby inside her belly.

 

Savannah was in awe! She turned to me and said, “Mama- you growing a baby inside your belly too?”

No, Sav…Mama is trying to get rid of her 3-year-post-babies-belly-flab, but thanks for noticing! ;)

 

Note to self:   start hitting that gym again.

 

Cars and Dora…

…doesn’t get much more random than that!!! The kids are totally into Disney Cars (Lightening McQueen and Tow-Mater) and Sav adores Dora- so we incorporated both into their 3rd birthday.

 

 

That’s about as much decorating as I do. After that first year of going all out, I don’t plan on doing it again until the kids can actually start remembering their birthdays! Ha—jk….well, kinda.  It was a small family affair this go around.

 

 

The kiddies picking out their birthday cupcakes: Ethan, Drew, Ben, Sav

 

 

Getting to blow out REAL candles for the first time! Ben’s face cracks me up   

 

 

Its CHOW-TIME!

 

 

On to the presents!

 

 

Trying out their new Dora and Diego tricycles from Papa and Granna

 

 

Sav wearing the adorable tutu from Auntie Liz!

 

 

Here are those precious Tarrant twin girls. LOVE THEM! Almost as much as Bennie loves his firetruck…

 

 

Drew- cruisin’ around in the Cozy Coupe. The cars will be staying inside the house until these 107 temps drop! The Texas heat has been absolutely UNBEARABLE!

 

 

And as if the party couldn’t be any more fun---our dear cousins from Georgia came to spend the night with us (to finish off the last leg of their Texas tour). Ben, Doreen, Andrew, Ethan, Candice, and Sav.

These beautiful ladies get to love on my triplet cousins all the time! (Their son/brother: Jackson- and his wife, Jill, were blessed with trips about a year and a half ago! We are dying to get the kids together!)

 

Loved your visit and made me miss you guys even more than I thought was possible! Georgia/Texas family reunion 2011- lets make it happen! LOVE YOU! xoxoxoxoxoxo

 

In this picture, the time was about 8:30pm and the kids were enjoying a tasty popsicle to round out their birth-day. They did not go down to sleep until 9:30pm or so---and that was with NO afternoon nap! I couldn’t believe it. Bed time was madness and mayhem with raging fits-o-fury and intense sugar crashes.

 

All-in-all, it was a wonderful weekend with family and friends! We look forward to continuing the celebration with the Steeces soon. Thanks again for all of the birthday wishes!

3rd Birthdays and 34th Birthdays…its all the same, right?

We celebrated last Friday night in honor of Uncle Col’s Bday!!! We had such a good time, dining out and hanging with great friends and family. I love this guy so much and couldn’t be happier to have the best sis-in-law in the world.

The beast and beauty

 

A huge thanks to Papa, Granna, and Auntie JuJu for watching all 5 of our kids! We had a blast! Is little Carter not the absolute cutest kid you’ve ever seen?!

 

 

‘Lil Monkey Man spent the night with us Friday night, so the birthday boy could sleep in on Saturday. Seriously, Carter is THE BEST, most EASIEST, SWEETEST little kid EVER! I threw him in with this cousins for a group bath (ewww…but that’s how you roll when you have multiples---assembly line style).

PRECIOUS pic! (Ethan in the back, Drew up front)

 

Poor Benny and his daily breathing treatments x 4. The pedi thinks he is well on his way to developing asthma. :( boooo!  (I just threw this random pic in there b/c it was from the bday weekend)

 

Now ON TO THE BIRTHDAY FESTIVITIES!

Mama and the little Birthday Princess getting ready

 

 

Ethan, Andrew, Savannah, and Benjamin- ready for church with their “Birthday Boy/Girl” buttons and smiles. We were SO excited for them to be able to go to Kid’s Crossing for the 1st time! (Fun songs, activities, Bible stories for kids ages 3-5 during the church sermon). GETTING BIG!!!!

  

 

We treated the kids to one of our favorite restaurants: BJ’s! Granna, Carter, Auntie JuJu and Andrew

By the way, the lady twins took the identical twin boys (Ethan and Andrew) to Target to run some errands on Friday morning…can you imagine the looks on people’s faces? Its not every day that you see a pair of identical twin ladies with identical twin boys!

 

Aunt Ashley with Drew and Ethan

 

Good eats with good peeps!

 

Thank God for my Dad and his camera or I wouldn’t have any pictures from this weekend! I just LOOOOOVED this one that he snapped of Carter at the very end of the table.

 

My little 18 year old stuck in a 3 year old’s body. Sav has been SOOOO excited about her birthday for WEEKS. Its all she has been talking about. In fact, she’s been asking every person that walks through our door: “Are you going to eat Dora cake wish me” (no, that’s not a typo- she pronounces the word “with” with a “-sh” ending…its adorable)

 

….and this is how far I’ve gotten on the ‘ole 3rd Birthday post! It has been sitting here, untouched, since Monday, so I thought I would chop it in half and post the rest of the birthday festivities as soon as I can.

Work, Kids, Birthday---I’m worn out and still recovering. ;)

Thanks for all of the sweet Birthday Wishes!!!!!! You guys rock.

Haaaappy Birthday Quaddies!!!!

3 Years Old!!!!

Can you believe it?!!

We are having a small family party today and just celebrating all day long! I will post pics as soon as I can! You guys have a WONDERFUL day!

 

Blessings,

Joe, Ethan, Andrew, Benjamin, and Savannah