Lipstick Looks Good on Asher (not so good on my bathroom)

This week has had it's share of ups and downs.
One afternoon, I saw Finn with something brown in his mouth, and I said, "Please, let that be chocolate." Although it was not chocolate (and thankfully not poop), it was the inside of a brown marker. There were spots of marker all over my carpet, again, recently shampooed.

So, as I began the task of finding, spraying, and scrubbing all of those spots.

In my bedroom I heard Asher hollering for me to let him out. Perhaps he's locked himself in my bedroom, I worried, and ran to check on him.
Nope, instead, his hands were so slick from lipstick mixed with liquid soap that he couldn't open the door.

Yes, from one mess to the next, I went that day. Except this time I grabbed my camera to get the details. This is the kind of thing that needs remembering.

Despite protests, I did get Asher to clean off the door, and wipe up his handprints from the floor. I cleaned the rest, but it was a fair trade.

In the video, you can even see the red bottle of Resolve carpet cleaner I put on the counter while lecturing Asher on his mess.

In case you can't translate, he says nonsense words, then he says he's not in trouble.
I also like the look on his face when he sees himself. Yep, he looks like quite the little princess with lipstick everywhere. Geez.

Three: Too Many Today

Three children was too many for me today.

At the zoo with two close friends and our eight combined children, I enjoyed visiting, snacking, walking, and oh, looking at the animals.
Today was the first day of the Sting Ray exhibit at the Phoenix Zoo. We became members for a very reasonable price.
Then, with my arm shoulder-deep in the Sting Ray Bay, Leslie asks me, "Where is Asher?"

Uh, oh. No idea. So I grab Finn and we walk outside the exhibit, calling for Asher. Leslie and Amy start to look around, but in a minute I find him, 100 yards away, near the tree-house we were playing in earlier.

He was a little nervous, but not crying, not really scared, and he probably hadn't seen me in 5+ minutes.

So, perhaps it will surprise you that 15 minutes later I lost him, again. (or, rather, he lost me)
He wasn't far this time, just out of sight, up in the lookout by the giraffes.

Needless to say, I'm going to pull out my leash and strap it on him next time we go to the zoo.
He needs more looking after than the animals, apparently.

Status: Potty Training

One week ago I began potty-training Asher.
I was surprised at how well it went. With Jaxon, I discovered the only way to ensure that he used the potty was to let him run around naked for a few days.

So, last Thursday was Asher's first naked day. He didn't have any pee accidents, and only one poo accident, but the next day the poo and pee all made it into the potty.

Here's a great pic of Ash on his first day, with a game box on his head. It makes a great hat.

It's been 8 days, and Asher is still doing fine peeing on the potty. However, with a few exceptions, the first 2 days, he hasn't pooped on the potty. In fact, he's hardly pooped at all.
My veggie loving, always regular child has constipated himself for fear of the toilet.
About 4 times a day, he'll yell "poo poo!" grab his bum, and run to the potty. But then nothing happens.

He has pooped in his diaper, but those were very traumatic events for him.
So, I've been giving him prune juice and more than his fair share of fruits and veggies, hoping that he'll get through this uncomfortable part of potty-training.

So, Mark's suggestion is that we put him back into diapers (oh, he won't wear big boy underwear, or Pull-Ups, so diapers is what he wears for sleeping and outings) for a while.

But, I'm torn. Will it undo a weeks worth of training?
Or, is this constipation a sign that he really isn't ready?


Oh, and the last two pictures are when Asher got into my make-up.
He's pretty cute, isn't he?

Singing, Singing and Crawling

Alisa, this one's for you!




After we recorded this, Asher wanted a turn, so here's his 6 second version.
(Tell me if you can hear, "Don't Eat Jelly Bean")




And of course, here's our first video of Finn crawling. Asher and I got a bit of footage, too. (Note the "Champ" bib that Finn is sporting, very appropriate)

Hip, Hip, Hooray!

Today was a good day: here's the scoop.

1. It's Michelle's birthday! Hooray :)
Right now she is in first class on her international flight to Beunos Aires, Argentina. I hope she has a wonderful time and I'm just a teensy (well, maybe a bit more than teensy) bit jealous that I can't be there with her and D'Arcy.

2. Jaxon got a green stamp today, which means he had zero discipline problems!

3. We organized a Mommy School for Asher and his friends. I think it will be a lot of fun. (not as much fun as eating daisies, though)

4. Tonight at my mom's house, Finley learned to crawl! He's been so close for about a week, but now he can get about halfway across a room, we're pretty excited.

5. I cleaned my house. Well, a little bit of it, the kitchen and bathrooms. Still, that's a lot for me. Many thanks to Brittany for our scheduled playdate which encouraged the cleaning in the first place.

6. Katie is having a boy! Exactly what she and Justin hoped for. It's great news for them.

Wow, I didn't realize how many good things happened today until I wrote them down. Sweet.

Slimey Fingers Car Game

On our way back from Meghan and Brandon's house last night (thanks again for letting us help you eat your 15 lb baby bassinet shaped cake!) we found Asher and Finley playing their first little "game".
Asher would reach out to Finley's carseat and say, "Touch my fingers, baby." Then Fin would reach his slimey little fingers out to grab Asher's hand and Asher would squeal in delight and pull his hand away as fast as he could. Instantly, Finley would cackle his staccato giggle and the fun would start all over again.
It was pretty adorable, and I don't want to forget it.

Blazing Steeds on the Hemophilia 5K Walk-a-thon

Mark and I have started a team for the Hemophilia 5K Walk-a-thon (held Sunday Sept 28, in Phoenix).
We're recruiting people to join our team, get a t-shirt, and support the cause.

If you're interested, go to the Blazing Steeds fundraising page (isn't that a great name? I came up with it myself :)

I haven't written about our hemophilia story, but I thought this would be a good place for those who've never heard it (or as a refresher for those who have).

Jaxon and Asher have severe hemophilia A. They are missing the genetic code that makes a protein essential for clotting blood. (It's called Factor 8 because it's the 8th in a clotting cascade. Without every domino, the process fails). So, their bodies don't make this protein at all, so their blood doesn't clot.
At all.
So in 2002, our first baby boy, Jaxon was circumcised, and it didn't stop bleeding for 24 hours. Diagnosis was one thing, but understanding the treatment was another.

Everyone reassured us that our baby would be fine. But, they said, he could have spontaneous bleeding (not from trauma) in his joints, organs, or muscles. Even in his brain. And, since he was a baby, we'd never know. So, of course Jaxon had colic, and when he would cry for long bouts, we would wonder if he was bleeding. We were never confident.

Jaxon had a lot of bruises, but not all of the problems other parents of children with hemophilia had. He didn't have bleeds in his forearms from banging his arms on the high chair tray. He didn't bleed while teething, and we never got reported to CPS for a child with too much bruising.

After he started walking he stopped abruptly and cried in pain. After a few hours, we suspected a bleed in his left hip. We treated him with the very expensive, but very safe and effective medication called factor (it's a synthetic factor 8 protein) and his symptoms disappeared.

After this first bleed, our hematologist medical team recommended a port-a-cath as a way to access deliver the factor into Jaxon's blood without having to find a vein every time. Jaxon then began prophylaxis, or preventative treatment.

The port-a-cath required surgery, and it was difficult to let them put my baby under the knife at 13 months old. But, we have been so glad that we did. Now age 6, Jaxon still has his port and gets his infusions 3 times a week. He has only had a handful of bleeds ever since.

After his diagnosis, we did genetic testing and determined that I am a carrier for hemophilia and that my mother was not, which means that it was a genetic mutation that occurred when I was created. So, since one of my X's is affected, I have a 1 in 4 chance of having a son that has hemophilia (and the same chances for having a girl that is a carrier).

When I was pregnant with Asher, I had an amnio and learned that he, too, would have hemophilia. It was a difficult time, but we have been so blessed with Jaxon's health that we weren't as scared as we were when Jaxon was born.

Everything went well with Asher until he got a big goose-egg on his head. Although it wasn't a brain bleed, it was on his head, so it was a concern. After we treated it, we decided to place a port in his little 8 month old body. That was so scary. But, he did great, just like his brother.


He's 2 1/2 now and hasn't had any joint or muscle bleeds that we know of. He has had some trauma (like when he sliced his head open on the minivan) and we've treated for those incidents.

So, we have been very blessed, or very lucky, but still wonder what the future of hemophilia holds for our children. Some possibilities are inhibitors, where the body attacks the factor 8 protein as a foreign object.
At best, hemophilia is inconvenient. At worst, it is deadly. Both boys wear medicalert bracelets on their ankles as a safeguard. We have to discuss these issues with teachers, babysitters, friends and family to make them aware of our children's special needs.

So far, our children's lives have been nearly normal, and that may or may not continue. They can play most sports, provided they infuse beforehand. (with the exceptions of football, boxing, and hockey) They will not be able to go away from home without parents until they can learn to self-infuse, which will probably be around age 9 or 10. Their ports will come out eventually (they usually only last for a year or 2 in cancer patients) and they will begin to infuse peripherally, through their veins.

We anticipate the future with much hope and continue to look forward to a cure, which is really not that far out of reach.
We just need a little luck and a lot of support.

All About Asher

Here's segment two in the series of things I don't want to forget about my children.

The Best Spin
Asher loves to ask for things in his baby talk, then when I guess what he wants, he nods and smiles, and says, "Okay!" like "Great idea mom, I'd love some chocolate milk!."
When I ask him is he has a poopy diaper, he says, "not yet." Without realizing it, he puts a positive spin on everything.

My Vegetarian
Asher loves fruit and veggies. If I keep the fruit bowl too close, he'll eat the entire thing by the end of the day.
When he wants to be held he says, "Hold you!" and reaches his arms up.
He has no idea how big he is, he acts like a baby but is the size of a 3 year old.

Little Lover
Ash is full of sweet kisses and snuggles. Yesterday we were reading books on my bed and he kept touching his forehead to mine, then he'd give me butterfly kisses, then eskimo kisses and then a little kiss on the lips. He did this over and over. At the end, he gave me a juicy kiss right on my forehead. And I cried. It's such a blessing to have this sweet wonderful boy, so full of love and caring.

The Fan Club
At church, if Asher's not there, people will stop us and ask about him. As he walks through the halls at church, most people greet him with smiles and high fives. He's really the favorite of our family, almost everyone we know would rather spend time with him than with anyone else.

A Peacemaker
When Jaxon occasionally hurts Asher, I will get angry at Jaxon, raise my voice, etc. Then Asher will quietly walk over to Jaxon, put his arm around him and give him a hug.
My heart melts every time.

Fraidy-Cat
It's a good thing he learned the sign for frightened really early, because Asher uses that sign a lot. Whether he hears the vacuum, is stranded on a bar stool, or sees a stranger, Asher is a little fraidy-cat. It's really very endearing, and he always wants lots of hugs when he gets scared.

Loves his Daddy
For a while, Asher would cry when he saw Mark putting on his work clothes. He knew that meant Daddy was going to work. Even during the day when we hear a noise that sounds like a car door shutting, Asher jumps up with bright eyes, "Daddy home!"

Summertime Fun
My very very favorite memory of Asher is during the summer. He's wearing a swim diaper at my parents house, and although he is having so much fun swimming in the "warm pool" he climbs out because my mom has just delivered a bowlful of watermelon. Asher runs to the bowl, gets two big handfuls of watermelon and shoves the delicious fruit into his mouth as fast as he can.
I just watch in delighted awe as he smiles while chewing, the red sticky juice running down his belly.
The summer is just not complete without watermelon juice running down Asher's little tummy.