Busy Weekend

First, while Jaxon was in the hospital, my mom turned 50!
WooHoo!
I was so happy for her. My siblings and I found a picture of her in her twenties and on the mat around it we wrote 50 things we love about her. I think she liked it.





On Saturday, Jaxon had a really loose tooth. He wouldn't let Mark pull it out, and when I came home from the store a few mintues later, I noticed it was gone.
He swallowed his first tooth! Poor kid. So, we wrote a note to the tooth fairy. She was very nice and left him a dollar under his pillow. (he calls it green money, to distinguish it from coins)





Here's a pic of me and Fin at my mom's birthday party. We celebrated it at the park by eating Subway and watching Asher let go of the balloons.











Asher and Finley chilling on the couch. Asher's into Cars (Lightening McQueen) and during dinner, I was playing music on my phone and one of the songs from the movie came on. He asked me to play it over and over, signing "more" and saying, "More Keen (for McQueen) It was pretty funny.

"Can we play pond again Daddy? I have plenty of time!"

Today, with the help of antibiotics, Jaxon is feeling better. His grandma stayed with him during the day so Mark and I could rest. When we came to relieve her, Jaxon was playing pool. He played with Mark, game after game and kept making these hilarious comments. People in the room were laughing and asked us where he gets his charisma. Mark answered, "It's because he's in his underwear." I guess Jaxon get's his sense of humor from Mark.
The diagnosis is a port infection and with luck we can get it cleared up with antibiotics. After a 10 day round we'll check for the bacteria again and then see if we need to take the port out surgically. If that were the case we'd have another one put in so that we don't have to do peripheral sticks just yet, as that would be pretty painful and traumatic for Jaxon. So far his hospital stay has been quite hospitable.Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.

Double Whammy

Saturday, the morning of the Salsa Challenge I had a sore throat. After talking all day to volunteers and the public at admissions, my throat really hurt. Sunday morning I woke up with laryngitis. (see post here)
My sweet sister, Tacy, picked Jaxon up from school and took him and Finley back to my mom's for a few hours, so I could get some rest. Then Mark picked up the boys on his way home from work at 4 PM. When Jaxon walked in the house holding an untouched sucker (his favorite candy), I knew something was wrong. He grabbed a 'throw-up bowl' and laid on the couch and promptly went to sleep. Mark said he had been shivering and trying to sleep on the way home. After a great deal of searching I found a thermometer that works and took his temperature under his arm. He didn't even move. 102.9. Uh-oh. He was really sick. And he had been fine at lunch. Weird. Because of his hemophilia treatment, Jaxon has a port-a-cath which is a central line to his heart. With this foreign device in his body, there is always a risk of infection, although we have avoided it for nearly 5 years (knock on wood).
The rule is that if either kid (both Jaxon and Asher have ports) gets a fever above 101.5 we have to take them to the ER in Phoenix as a precaution. So, we call our hemotologist nurse and she says to bring him right in. As we hang up with her, Jaxon sits up and vomits into his bowl. So, now we think he's got the flu (How am I supposed to battle that while I'm fighting this cold? Geez) but the nurse says to bring him in anyway.
Mark takes him and I stay with the little ones. I get a text message that his temp is 103. That's really high for Jaxon, the highest he's ever had. My family usually has ultra-low temps. Anyway, they take some blood samples and decide that he can go home, but they want to wait for a while to see if his temperature drops with Tylenol. Well, it doesn't. Jaxon wakes up to pee and is incoherent, can't answer questions and is just really out of it. So, they tell Mark he's going to have to stay the night. Yeah, so that's no fun. I really hope he's doing okay. It's always so sad to see my kids sick.
Anyway, keep us in your prayers.

Birth through 5 months

Finley will be 6 months on the 29th, so I've been going through pictures to see how he's changed from month to month.
The pics go:
Birth 1 mo
2 mo 3mo
4 mo 5 mo

I'm hoping to find some pics of my other kids that look like Fin and have a guessing game for my next post.

Easy Yummy Recipes

I'd like to post a few of my favorite easy recipes in hopes that some of you will share yours!
I also use mealsmatter.org for menu ideas, meal planning, and shopping list.

1. Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches
Teriyaki marinated grilled chicken breasts, a slice of your favorite cheese, red onion, fresh spinach, and tomato with mayo on a toasted whole wheat bun. I copied this from Rumbi Grill. (The one in the picture is from Hardee's).


2. Swiss Steak
I made this one tonight. Super easy and my kids love it! (that's saying something)

2 lb Round or Chuck Steak
2 cans Tomato Soup

Cook in Crockpot for 4 hr on high (in the summer I plug my crockpot in on my back porch)

Serve with mashed potatoes and use the tomato sauce in crockpot as gravy.


3. Chicken Bryan (copycat from Carrabba's)

Chicken Breasts (one per person)
Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto
Goat Cheese

Coat chicken with olive oil and grill (I use chicken breasts/tenders frozen individually in a bag, and I cook them from frozen). I use a Foreman grill, but any kind will work.
Warm Sundried tomato pesto. Spread room temp goat cheese on grilled chicken, then top with pesto.
Carrabba's serves theirs with Garlic Mashed potatoes, or pasta. Yummy.

4. Multi-Purpose Shredded Beef/Pork
Got this recipe from a great caterer.

Any size, type roast
2-4 T Montreal Steak Seasoning
NO LIQUID

Cook in crockpot for a long time. Low 10 hrs, High 5-7 hrs. It is done when you put a fork in and twist and the meat falls apart.
Take it out and shred it with a fork. (I should be super easy to shred, if it's not, it's not done)
Stir it in a bowl and it should break apart even more.

Then you can do lots of things: add BBQ sauce (I like Bill Johnson's) for BBQ beef sandwiches, or add green chile sauce (the best is from Trader Joes) for burritos/enchiladas/taquitos. I'm sure there are more, but this is all I've tried. You can freeze the extra and it goes a long way.

My honey has a new blog.
Visit him and welcome him to the blogging world.

It started, or ended perhaps, with a thud. Screaming, I ran down the four stairs to the umbrella stroller, turned upside down on the tile with two fat legs sticking out from the bottom. Big brother had been pushing baby Fin around the house and wanted to take him down stairs, carefully, he said. Only it didn't happen that way. I just prayed that his skull wasn't fractured, and he didn't have bleeding on his brain. But, I reminded myself that this was the child without hemophilia. Whew. There's looking on the bright side.
At five months, our third son has endured more trauma than his older brothers combined. I should have expected as much. But, I did not expect to watch my baby's nose and lip swell to twice their normal size. Within a half hour I took him to the urgent care and he was seen two hours later and diagnosed with a broken nose. It will heal fine on it's own, I was told.
So, I arrive home, exhausted and still sick to my stomach to see my baby in pain and having difficulty breathing. My husband is glad to see us, but still furious at our five year old for pushing the baby down the stairs.
For some reason, I don't harbor the same feelings. When it happened, Jaxon was hysterical with grief. He understood how badly he had hurt his brother and was genuinely sorry for it.
Why, then, is his dad so mad?
Mark says it's because Jaxon was being disobedient during this incident. He was supposed to be eating dinner and had taken the baby for a stroll instead.
To me, letting that happen was the problem, not the disobedience. He's not yet accountable for his own sins. As parents, we're still the ones in charge and therefore responsible for the well-being of all of our children, even when they hurt each other.
Besides the accountability issue, I don't understand the benefit of remaining angry.
No one is better off for Mark's anger at Jaxon.
Not Mark, not Jaxon, not me, and certainly not Finley.

This traumatic event has helped me learn an important lesson, because I'm usually the one who holds grudges, especially against our impulsive 5 year old. Love really is the only way to help us change for the better. Staying angry causes more pain, for everyone.
And a broken nose is painful enough. Really.

Here are our family pics. Jaxon is 5 1/2, Asher is 2, and Finley is 5 months old.

He's so happy, and just starting to sleep through the night!

Asher was grumpy during the photo shoot. This was the best shot we got. Poor guy!

Silly Jaxon, always crazy during pictures, but this one came out pretty well. It's larger than life on our wall, though.

DeepThoughtsByJackHandey.com

I love these Deep Thoughts. Thanks to my friend Emily for showing me how to put them on my blog!

For Easter this year, the boys wore matching ties and Finley wore a cute baby blue outfit. But, I couldn't get them together for a picture, so I have three separate ones instead.
The best part of the day was after church when Mark gave the boys chocolate before he took off their Easter clothes. Yeah, Asher's tie still has chocolate on it.

Today's Photo Shoot.
Finley will be 5 months old on Saturday. I got a little trigger happy with the camera today and took him to my favorite place for photography, my bathtub in the afternoon. I get the best light in there.
We had a few smiles, but mostly he just looked around, and cried when I put him on his tummy, but I got a cute picture out of it anyway.
Having Finley around is like having a little piece of heaven. He reminds me about how wonderful it feels to have someone who is always excited to see me. Also, that giving and sharing love are reasons we're here on earth.
So, this is our little Twinkie. Just like the pastry, only sweeter.

On March 4th, Mark turned 30. His coworkers teased that he was over the hill, to which Mark responded, "That's an awfully small hill, isn't it?" (they're all in their 40s and 50s). In the morning, we brought him a muffin with a candle, and instead of waking him up by singing "Happy Birthday" as is our tradition, we surprised him getting out of the shower, which is why there aren't pictures of that special moment. :)
For lunch, the kids and I drove out to Phoenix and had a picnic at the lake behind Mark's building. His window over looks this area, and he spends all of his time watching the ducks (so tame, they almost ate out of our hands!) swimming around.
We had cake and presents that night. I was especially proud of the book I made for Mark. It's called "Thirty Years of Laughter, a Tribute to Mark Steed." I compiled memories (from many of you, thanks!) and photos of people who have known Mark over the years. If you didn't get a chance to add one, but would like to, feel free to add any memories as comments to this post.
He also scored a watch, cologne, a shirt and pants, a briefcase, and sunglasses (all for under $100). I totally spoiled him, but in a very thrifty way!
We had a great day and later in the week his mom came out to visit, so we had a family party then.
All in all, it was a pretty fun day. Not a bad way to turn 30. (if you ask me, but I guess I'm not 30 yet . . .)

Check out my post on Exponent II, called "How God Gets Through to Me: Lessons from my Children"

I Catch Spit-up for a Living
This is what I live with.
Spit-up. It's everywhere. All the time. It's pretty yucky, but I don't notice the warm wetness dripping down my arm until I hear the "splat" on the tile near my foot. My mom burped him over a cup and collected (not kidding) 2.5 ounces of spit-up. I have no idea how much milk I produce, and I know the spit-up has saliva mixed in, but gee, doesn't he need that stuff? I'm going to be rich and famous for inventing a shoulder protector that is much, much better than the standard burp cloth. It will have a fancy ridge for the spit-up can cascade down and pockets where and pockets to serve as a resevoir.

Ah, the day-dreams of motherhood.

Of course I have more pictures of my kids.
I love pictures.
I love my kids.
That's pretty much it.
:)

Here are a few pictures I really like.

1. Me holding baby Fin's feet, when he was a few weeks old, early November.
2. One of my newborn shots of baby Fin, I used a black and white
effect with a focus point of color
3. Fin at 2 months in black and white. (they grow so fast!)
4. Here's Jaxon, age 5. He never sits still long enough for a good
picture. I was actually trying to get a shot of a big gash on the side
of his head, but he looked right at me with this crazy grin.
5 Is a picture I took of my husband and two older sons, looking out
over Lake Havasu during Thanksgiving. I made it black and white with a
color focus on the right side.
6 and 7 are of my 2 yo, Asher, at his birthday party. We gave him a
bubble machine and he loved chasing the bubbles.
8. Is a multiple exposure of 6 and 7. (I didn't know if the image
comes across very well, so I included the others separately)

Our journey to the North Pole on the Polar Express was exciting and filled with snow and hot chocolate. Even Mark admitted that it was worth the drive in the snow to have a chance to see Santa, read the story, and get a magic bell.
With the crazy holidays finally behind us, we anticipate great things for the new year. Wishing you the best in 2008!
 
 

 
 
 
 

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Welcoming Finley Cannon Steed!

Finley came into this world in quite an adventure. On the way to the hospital, Mark's Camry began making popcorn sounds, and suddenly died as we turned into a parking stall. It was leaking fluid and showed no sign of revival. (I commented how odd that the car's water had broken, but not mine!) The serendipity of the moment was not lost on us, and we both laughed that at least we weren't going anywhere in the next few days. A few days and a grand later, the car is all better. :)
In the hospital, they put me on oxytocin at 11 PM and my contractions, which were 7 minutes apart when I arrived, became closer together and stronger. By 2 AM I had an epidural for pain, so I was able to rest better. Near 6 the doctor broke my water, I was fully dilated, but waiting for the baby to descend the birth canal. At 7, the nurse had me push a few times, then brought the doctor in. I pushed twice for him and then the baby was born! My mom said he came out riding a wave like a surfer (Mark caught it on video, so I'll verify). They put him on a blanket on my chest right away and I fell in love instantly. It was amazing to see him for the first time. He was smaller than I expected, but exactly what Mark predicted, 8 lb 2 oz. and 21 inches long. Because he wasn't in the birth canal for very long, his nose remained unflattened, and quite noticeable.
It took us a few days to settle on a name, but it helped that Jaxon came to visit at the hospital yesterday morning and announced, "I named the baby Finley." (Although he can't remember it now, he calls the baby "our newborn baby" I like Finley better than "baby what's his name" which I'd been using lately.
I stayed in the hospital till today (Halloween), and we came home at 11:30 to balloons, banners, and brothers who were so excited to see our new family member.
Here's our webalbum

Jaxon Kindergarten Pics

Baby by Monday! (or your money back)

I'm scheduled to be induced on Sunday night, so I'll hopefully have a new baby by Monday morning. Lately I've been so big and uncomfortable, so I'm ready to be done being pregnant. Yes, the picture is to reinforce that image, I probably should have been grimacing instead of smiling. I really think this is the biggest I've ever been.
So, we've narrowed the list of names to about 12. You're welcome to leave your input, or suggest a new name, but of course don't be offended if we don't pick the one you liked the best.

Finley
Charlie
Calvin
Callen
Tallon/Tallyn/Tallen
Avery
Danner
Milo
Maximo
Oakley
Brahm
Cannon

Touch Me Not!

Jaxon and his uncle David (age 13) continually torment and pester each other. Tonight David was slapping Jaxon with a measuring tape or pencil while my dad was hanging a picture. After asking David repeatedly to stop, Jaxon stands and proclaims, "Touch me not, or God will smite you!" Whether he got this from Abinadi or Nephi, I'm not sure, but I am sure it's from the Living Scripture Videos.
This story could end with a sweet discussion of scriptures, prophets, and respecting others' bodies, but it did not.
After quoting the Book of Mormon prophet, Jaxon promptly kicked Uncle David in the crotch.
Nice one, Jaxon.