MOAHAHAHAHA!!

It's me, Mark. I've figured how to access the family blog!! Exxxxcccellent! Now, for once, there will be a balanced account of what should be our private family life. Jessica's out with the "girls" tonight. Which, come to think of it, happens more often than not. On Friday she's going on a road trip with a friend of hers. A couple of months ago I took some time off while she flew to Utah to speak at an event and next month, I will be taking off another three days so that she can go to California again. Of course, this is on top of her week long trip to Hawaii she enjoyed last year while I tried to plan a weeks worth of activities for my three boys (in the Arizona summer mind you). Should I be worried? I don't know why I'm expecting a response. I suppose it's more rhetorical. Actually, I do notice who comments on this thing from time to time. Seems like the same people. I could just call you guys and vent.

I suppose its this uneasiness that prompted me to start my P90x program again. For the unintiated, P90x is a hard-core home workout program that, Jaxon says, "when you start you are fat, and after 90 days, you're skinny." So there I was, contemplating my wife's fast-paced lifestyle of rowdy road trips while I stared at myself in the mirror with my shirt off. Yep, fat and out of shape (unless you count "round" as a shape) there's no other way to describe it. I know Mom, you would tell me it's all muscle. Sure, I can move billions of dollars around (not my money, the state's money) but am I useful? What can I do? I don't look good in a tool belt with my shirt off. In fact, I don't know how to fix anything. I have to think that magnifies your unattractiveness in a tool belt by an order of magnitude. A couple of weeks ago I fixed a towel rack that had been broken for like two years. Took me about twenty minutes. I don't want to brag, I was like "Hey towel rack, go make me a sandwhich!" What else? At the least, I eat the leftovers. I'd like to think I add a certain pizazz. More Garfield and less Leno probably. How can I measure THAT? Hmmm, I have a lot of "intangibles". What are those anyway if not completely useless? The reason they are intangible is because there is no material benefit. You're not a contributor. On the other hand, you're not a societal detractor. That's something.

Do I like this position? No idea. Something tells me its good to ask the question. At least it motivated me to action. I completed my first workout tonight, which is part of a twelve-step program to (warning: standard business cliches coming) recalibrate and engage.

Look out Raul the pool boy, if that's even you're REAL name (apologies to anyone reading this whose name is actually Raul)! You're about to face some competition from a round man with a tool belt. Get ready for the future of America in yo' grill. I don't know why I said that last part.

February Laughs

February is all about Jaxon. I don't have a single thing for Asher and Finn and I hardly have any photos. Apparently I've been focused elsewhere these days. But, hopefully this awareness will change my behavior and I will resume documenting childhood minutia like a mommy robot.
Here's last months.

Without further ado:

7th Jaxon to me: "Mom, you look just like my daughter. Like I'm a father and you're my daughter. You look so cute in that shirt!"

8th While on the phone with my friend, Leslie, I hear her explain to her 4 year old how to partake of Fun Dip, "lick the stick, dip in powder, repeat."

10th At the hematologist clinic visit the Social Worker was trying to determine Jaxon's level of excitement to attend Camp HONOR, a summer camp for hemophilia, next year. She asked him, "When you're 8, what special thing do you get to do?" Jaxon said, "When I'm 8, I get baptized. My mom and dad told me it's a choice." Michelle responds, "Ok, what about hemophilia camp?"

11th Jaxon and I were planning to make cookies for his class for Valentine's day. I suggested he invite a friend, "You can have Cali or Melinda over to bake cookies with us." Jaxon pauses and responds, "I'll take Taven." (As if he's placing an order for neighborhood girlfriends.)

17th Jaxon says, "I love Melinda. When I grow up, I'm going to marry her. She's beautiful."

18th Jaxon plays with Melinda and as he's heading home he has a thought he wants to share so her turns around and hollers to her, "Hey Melinda. When I'm ten and you're ten, we're going to go on a DATE!" She looks back and yells, "No!" and rides away.

19th After his bath Jaxon yells, "My feet are itching! Mom, can you get someone to bite this? (gestures to his feet)."

20th This is how Jaxon plays with his brothers. He says to Finn, "You are such a little cutie, Finn!" Then to Asher he teases, "Do you want my toes? Come and get them!"

25th Jaxon says to Mark while I'm out of town: "Dad, starting now, I don't want you telling any jokes. Sometimes they don't surprise me. You should tell them to your mom."

27th While I was in D.C. Mark told the boys his life story over dinner. During the conversation Jaxon was wide-eyed and eager. When Mark finished, Jaxon blurted out, "Dad, you should tell that story to Mom!"

The Moment I Was Dreading

I knew this day would come, but I didn't know how well I would handle it. I did pretty well, I think, but you can judge for yourself.

I've been learning how to infuse Jaxon peripherally (through his hand and arm veins) over the last few weeks. It's pretty tricky, but Jaxon has been amazing, not complaining and even being exciting about practicing on fake plastic veins. (He wants to practice on me, too. I haven't let him yet, but maybe I should)

So today, Jaxon looks down at his arm in the tourniquet and is probably just beginning to understand that he has to do this three times a week for the rest of his life.

He looks up at me and says, "Mom, I wish I didn't have hemophilia."

In my heart, I cried. I know, Honey, so do I. In this moment, Jaxon articulated what I have been feeling for seven and a half years. Up until now, he's hardly been aware of his bleeding disorder or it's impact on his life. He's a very healthy boy and hemophilia only affects his life 5% of the time. But, here we are in the 5% and it's still something that holds him back, that makes him feel different, that could potentially kill him. I knew there would be a time when he said this to me, but it still broke my heart.

So in my most cheerful voice I said, "Yep. But you have it. That's how things are. I wish I didn't have these dark circles under my eyes. That's why I wear make-up. You have hemophilia and you get this medicine to fix it."

Okay, so it sounds pretty lame now that I've written it out. But, I don't want him to think it's okay to feel sorry for himself.

I can do that well enough for the both of us.

At church yesterday . . .

I found Asher like this when church ended at 4 PM. His teacher said he slept through the entire class.



Want to know the best part? I ate his cookie. :)

Why do I have a sudden craving for chocolate covered gummy bears?

Accidental Time Capsule

As I was cleaning out the garage from our failed garage sale, I came upon this bag. It was from my time as a BYU Freshman Academy Peer Advisor. That was my first job at BYU and I loved it. I had about 120 freshman that I was in charge of: I called them, helped them figure out student life, had lunch with them (courtesy of BYU). It was awesome.

So I guess I never cleaned out this bag and here's what I found a bunch of stuff from my life almost 10 years ago.
Here's what was in my accidental time capsule:

1. Newspaper clipping with Mark holding some kind of Valentine's gift from an article in the Daily Universe. He doesn't remember anything about the clipping. It appears to be from February of 2001.

2. 3 tampons (unsurprising)

3. A pair of socks with kittens on them (I used to love socks with patterns. No solid colors for me)

4. Avon chapstick

5. AA battery (probably for my discman)

6. $0.77, a tissue, and a pair of earrings (so that's what happened to these!)

7. A letter from my cousin, Michelle, who was on a mission.

8. A few cards, including my meal card from Freshman Academy (I wonder if there was any money left?)


All in all, it was pretty amusing to see what I was carting around campus when I was barely 21, married, and a "leader" of college freshmen.

Good times :)

January Laughs

Here's the most recent in this series. Other installments can be found Dec, Nov, Oct, Sept, and Aug.

Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of Asher quotes in this edition. He mostly continued in his wacky ways by spending his days in only his underpants, in a wad of blankets on my bed that he calls his "nest." He loves being at home so much that sometimes when he's distressed, even at home, I hear him say, "I wanna go home." Yeah, honey, you're here already.

1-4 After not getting Cheezits and hot dogs at the grocery store, Jaxon came home very grumpy. He gives me his best I-wish-you-were-dead glare and says authoritatively, "Your behavior at the store was unacceptable."

1-5 While eating the last of his Christmas candy, Jaxon reads the strip of paper on his Hershey's Kiss, "Kissie, Kissie, Kissie . . . " Throughout the month, he refers to them as "Kissies." I know I should tell him the truth, but it's so cute.

1-10 Finn and Asher play "Keek-a-boo" under the covers in our bed. After that, Finn loves to "Gock-a-bye" in the rocking chair.

1-13 I picked Jaxon up from school early because he was in the nurse's office with a stomach ache. In the car on the way home he explains, "I'll tell ya when I'm gonna be feeling better. When school is over."

1-14 After what must have been a hard day, Jaxon remarks, "I don't like school. I don't like home. I like leftovers."

1-15 Jabbering about his string cheese, Finn gushes, "It's cute. It's cute, Mama."

1-18 After being offered some kind of meat for dinner that he found undesirable, Jaxon tells me he's a vegetarian. So, I offer him some vegetables. "No, I'm the kind of vegetarian that doesn't eat vegetables." Then when I offer him a bean burrito he asks suspiciously, "What's in the beans?"

1-20 Finn drinks his yogurt from a straw.

1-21 Jaxon is trying to use me as a model to demonstrate something. He says, "Mama, come here. I'm gonna pretend like I'm gonna choke ya, but not too hard."

1-22 We're admiring our darling kitty Milo, and Jaxon comments on the swirl in the kitty's side.
I say, "It kinda looks like a cinnamon roll. Maybe we should have named him Cinnakitty."
Jaxon turns to me with a frownsmile and responds, "No. I don't like that name."

1-25 During family home evening, we discuss how much Jesus loves the kids. Jaxon pipes up very knowingly, "Jesus pays for our clothes, bricks, everything (with sweeping gestures)." When I asked for more detail, Jaxon responds, "He uses Spirit money."

1-27 Two of Jaxon's favorite foods are Smash potatoes (mashed potatoes) and Girl cheese sandwiches. He can't figure out why they're called this even though boys can eat them, too.

1-28 Jaxon tells me, "Milo scratching me was not appropriate so he's on the top bunk in timeout. He can come down when he's ready to be nice again."

1-29 After I had buckled Asher and Finn in the car to go to the park, I started driving to find Jaxon 2 houses down in our neighborhood. I lectured him about not leaving the house without telling me, explaining that if I left him alone in the house, he would be scared. He responds, "No, I wouldn't be scared. I'd be fine. There'd be no one to boss me around."

1-30 While preparing dinner, I had music on and was dancing with the kids. Jaxon stops suddenly in the middle of the song and says, "Mom, I need a sister. I have three brothers and no sisters."

1-30 Jaxon hears his brother Asher growl or holler from the playroom and remarks calmly, "Mom, Asher's getting in a rough mood with Finn. You'd better go look."

The kids are feeding Raisin Bran from 06 to the ducks and i'm kinda glad we won't see how it comes out tomorrow.

Asher's 4!

For his fourth birthday, Mark and I got Asher an easel. It's pretty cool and Asher just used it this afternoon for the first time (I couldn't figure out how to put it together).

As I watched him paint, I remembered the book My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. Perhaps I was thinking of it when I bought the easel way back in November.

Advice- always lift the scooter, trike, or bike in one arm and your child in the other because you will surely walk like this many times.

One More December Laugh

I was going to say, "messy."

For Asher's 4th Birthday. . .

Today I sent this email out to some family and friends. I've been delighted at the response we've received both in donations and words of encouragement. The love of our family and friends has brought me to tears. Thank you!

Our little Asher turns 4 on the 16th, the day before the P.F. Chang's half-marathon. Mark and I are running as a team, Stomping Steeds to raise money for the AZ Hemophilia Association.

Both Asher and his big brother Jaxon have severe hemophilia A, which means their blood does not clot at all. Thanks to wonderful health care advances, both boys live normal lives, but they are very much dependent on their expensive tri-weekly medication to be able to run, jump, and play like other boys. The AZ Hemophilia Association is a non-profit that helps families like ours as we navigate the difficulties of raising children with a chronic bleeding disorder. The Association helps us with health insurance reviews, family retreats, and summer camp for our children. As a board member for six years, I know that the AZ Hemophilia Association is dedicated to its mission of enhancing the quality of life of people with bleeding disorders.

So for Asher's 4th birthday, will you give the gift of supporting our team?

Please go to our team page to donate. Any amount will be appreciated. We are 25% to our goal (88% now!) and we know that our friends and family are so supportive that we can reach our goal with only 12 days to go.

Your donation will be rewarded with photos of the race, as Mark and I run/walk/crawl across the finish line.

Thanks and have a happy New Year!

Steed Calendar 2010

You may have seen the cover of this calendar.

The third Steed calendar I've made is finally finished! I get pickier and more perfectionist every year.
That's why I've spent the last 3 weeks working on it. It doesn't look like much, but most of these collages I've redone about 3 times and then it takes me forever to get them uploaded to the Costco website. Then I have to find good photos of each individual family member to put on their birthday and couples for their anniversaries. Also, I use Picasa (Google's free photo editing software)- enough said.

The best part about it is that this is pretty much a good summary of our trip to Michigan in November and since I haven't blogged about that, here it is!
(Please note the months are not in order and one month was not a collage so it's missing.)

Big Boys: Jaxon and his cousins Josh and Cedric. Jaxon LOVES these guys and they have a lot of fun.
We found a rock with graffiti on our walk to the lighthouse. It said, "I love Jessica." Jaxon wanted a photo with it. (Oh, and today he told me he wants to bring me flowers every day. This, not too long after telling me he was very disappointed in my behavior at the store when I didn't buy him hot dogs and Cheezits.)


Day at the beach:
Lake Michigan, to be exact. Fun with football, s'mores, and jumping off dunes.

Walk to the Lighthouse:
Everyone had a good time. Well, almost. And Mark had the best time laughing at Jaxon relieving himself off the side of the platform.

The Zoo:
Grand Rapids has a great zoo for viewing (I just wouldn't want to be an animal there). All the creatures were out and about. Lovely visit and only $3! I must say Finn enjoyed himself the most, chasing turkeys.

Katie and Justin with their kids: Addie and Tysen.
We watched these kids for the week between Christmas and New Years (well, technically until the 2nd, but who's counting?) It was a lot of work, but well worth the time our kids had to play with their cousins.


The Steed Clan
Yes, everyone except Uncle Stan (not really, I just threw that in b/c it rhymed).

Nate and Sandrine with Josh, Cedric, and Taiva.
You'll see fancy dessert, bowling, Meijer Gardens, walks through the leaves, and crafts at the library. We did it all!

This is us!
Fun on the outdoor tramp, playing in the leaves, and Asher with the penguins at the zoo.

The Little Ones: Aren't they darling?


Mark's brother, David left on his mission at the end of our visit. He's in the Provo MTC, awaiting his visa so he can go to Brazil.
Here's the blog we're maintaining for him in the meantime. You'll notice in the most recent letter Dave thanks me for this calendar, which was about half finished when he sent it. Lol.

Here's one of the bloopers pages I made. I didn't use this one, though.

I used this page instead. I'm pretty sure Katie's going to hate me.

December Laughs

Christmas photos to come, here are our kids' funny quotes this month. Check out November's here.

Here's the photo quote from last week:

Do you mean meditating?

12-1-09 For some unknown reason, Jaxon is trying to procure $100. He says he wants to go to Hollywood.
Me: "How are you going to get $100?"
Jaxon: "I don't know . . . maybe if I win something."
Me: "Like what?"
Jaxon: "A singing contest or something."

Upon further discussion, I also discover that Jaxon intends to buy a Junie B Jones book and pay tithing with his $100.

12-3-09 Jaxon is getting frustrated at our conversation. I've asked him to do too many things and he says, "Take it easy on your son, Mom. You're driving me crazy." (then with big gestures) " I can wreck this whole house up. I can take off the roof!"

12-5-09 Speaking about his pet fish Herman, Jaxon laments, "I just wish he could sleep in my bed! If he was my wife he could."

12-7-09 This is when our new kitty arrives. Perhaps God was worried that the fish would end up in Jaxon's bed.

12-9-09 Upon discovering our egg slicer in the kitchen drawer, Jaxon excitedly asks, "Mom, can we make egg sandwiches today?!?" After a split-second pause wherein he realizes he may be asked to eat the egg sandwiches, he says in a very quiet and fast voice, "None for me, thanks."
That's how Jaxon has a conversation with himself.

12-9-09 I talked to Jaxon's teacher today and she tells me about a band concert that the entire school attended. The first graders were in the front and after the band teacher introduces each section, "Woodwinds, brass, percussion, etc" Jaxon asks her loud enough for the whole school to hear, "What about the French Horn?" The entire school busts up laughing.

12-14-09 After his goodnight hug, Asher complains, "Your fur is tickling me."

12-17-09 Jaxon earned a RED at school today which means he broke the rules many times. We talked about it long and hard and at one point Jaxon says, "I got a red because of white flour!" He quotes from Professor Fizzy who explains that white flour doesn't have any vitamins or other good stuff, that your body uses it up too quickly, it makes you crazy, and then "Bam!" you're hungry again. White flour was the topic of many of this month's funny situations.

12-18-09 Jaxon decides today is Milo's (our new cat) birthday. After singing him a wonderful birthday song I say, "Jaxon you are such a sweet boy." He responds, "I know. I'm really kind to animals. I hope Milo doesn't die."

Me, too Sweetie. I have a bad track record.

12-20-09 Asher pretends to cut my hair, "Just belax, just belax."

After baths, Jaxon tells Mark and I that Asher has a red spot on his bum. He starts to guess its origins, "Maybe it's a mosquito bite or a vampire bite."

The funniest story this month was from December 3rd, the night of Asher's preschool program.
On our way to the show, Jaxon was telling me about his friend Austin's mom who volunteers in his classroom. He says casually, "Actually mom, she's kind of prettier than you. Her hair is blonde."

Then Jaxon tells Mark, "But you're the handsomest daddy of all the kids at my school. Actually, you're the handsomest daddy in the whole world."

To prove his point Jaxon keeps pointing to men who are not as good looking as Mark, indicating that indeed, Daddy is the most handsome man ever.

When we arrive at the church for Asher's program, one of our friends, Brett, is there with his kids and he holds the door open for Jaxon. At this point, Jaxon glances up and looks at Brett and says, "Actually, you're handsomer than my dad."

Ka-pow.

Christmas Letter 2009

This year was a (thankfully) quiet one for our family. We spent the year enjoying time together with family and friends. Here's a little update.

Finn, who is the spitting image of Jaxon at his age, turned two in October. He loves his brothers and imitates them all day. Every morning while still in his pajamas, Finn puts his shoes on, walks Jaxon out to the bus stop, waves as the bus leaves and walks back in the house. But Finn is still our baby and will spend hours rocking in the lap of Mama or Daddy (names he uses interchangeably to describe both parents).

Biggest accomplishment this year: Moving into a big boy bed, the middle bunk of the triple bunks.

Though he's not quite four, Asher looks like a five year old. He's shy around everyone except our little family where he acts more like a lion cub, wrestling with and chasing his brothers. Taking after Jaxon, Asher has inherited his brother's love of trains. We are getting more than our money's worth out of the train table we bought a few years ago. In preschool, Asher is proud of the crafts he brings home and so is Jaxon. As for his lifestlye, Asher is on his way to becoming a Naturist. He spends every moment he's at home in his underwear, even when it's 64 degrees in our house.

Biggest accomplishment this year: Potty training (Our potty training stories will scare your pants off).

Seven year old Jaxon is growing into a responsible big brother. He adores his brothers and talks about "taking care of my boys." Jaxon has a big heart and loves all creatures. This year he had two pet fish and 9 pet mice (which I accidentally killed). December 7th we had a beautiful kitty adopt us. Named Milo, courtesy of Jaxon, he just moved in and the kids are thrilled. As he improves in first grade, Jaxon impresses his teacher by casually using big words most kids don't know. He's great at making friends and has an incredible memory for quoting things he's heard. At the dinner table tonight Jaxon says, "Use what you have to make what you need." Such sage advice from a 7 year old. Recently, Jaxon started karate where he learns discipline.

Biggest accomplishment this year: Learning to read and doing jump kicks in karate.

As for me, I stay busy with my blogs, my friends, and my family. While I love to create things by decorating or photographing, I hate to clean so keeping a tidy house is always a chore (pun intended). I'm still on the board of the AZ Hemophilia Association and love promoting our mission to enhance the quality of life for the bleeding disorder community. At church I was just released from teaching the 14 year old Sunday School class and called as the nursery leader, which I am excited about. The reality of growing older set in this year when I discovered a few gray hairs, and a newlywed couple moved into our ward and I recognized the husband because I used to BABYSIT HIM! I participate in two book groups, am training for a half-marathon in January (donate here!), and have become addicted to yoga.

Biggest accomplishment this year: Hanging Christmas lights on our house for the first time in our marriage (We've never had lights, so this was a first for our house and a first for me).

Mark spends his days working as the Private Equity specialist for the AZ state pension fund. He loves what he does, although he does not love the occasional travel. I love his job too, because he has lots of vacation and no overtime. When Mark gets home he's the primary parent and the kids just adore him. Mark loves to play tennis on the Wii. And though he teases me about blogging, Mark started another blog this year which celebrates his favorite hobby: Cougar football (need I say more?).

Biggest accomplishment this year: Enjoying a trip to Michigan to visit his family (It helps that no one was sick and all the kids sleep through the night).


We wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,
Jessica Steed and her boys: Mark, Jaxon, Asher, and Finn.

Our Blogs:
Marks: Adverse Selection
Mormon Women's Blog: The Exponent

PS, You can probably tell that Asher is very affectionate in our family, since he's hugging everyone in all the photos.

The Making Of . . .

This is the cover.
What do you think?

So You Think You Can Jump?

Check out Spidey here.

The Kitty Who Adopted Us

Yesterday as we waved goodbye to Jaxon on the bus, a little kitty walked by and let us pet him.

Then as we walked back to the house, the kitty scampered in ahead of us and decided to call our house his home.

He loves me and follows me around. He tolerates Finn, with the occasional bite for warning. He likes the other kids and Mark just fine, but he loves sleeping under our Christmas tree and wandering around our house.

I'm not sure how long he'll stay, or if we'll find his owners, or if he was just a stray.

Since some people in the house are allergic to cats (Mark, but he grew up with them), this is a little experiment to see how everyone's allergies react to this creature.

Right now I'm telling the kids that the kitty is vacationing with us. And with my record with pets, that's probably a good thing to tell them.

Curtis Photo Shoot

On Saturday I did a photo shoot with the Curtis family at Mesa Arts Center. It went pretty well. I'm getting better because this time I didn't have trouble with the photos being too dark. When I got home and looked at them on the computer, I realized some of them weren't completely in focus. It was so irritating. I'm going to have to take a class. Or maybe I just need to keep practicing. Anyone want to be my guinea pig?

November Laughs

November just FLEW by, so I don't have a lot of document hilarities, although I know there were more than I wrote down.

Post Halloween amusement:
"Canny!" was the first, middle, and last word out of Finn's mouth all month long. We still have two pieces of Halloween candy and my kids know it. Every time it was too quiet, I knew they had found a way to get into the candy and were shoving in their faces (wrappers and all) before I found them.

11/12 As we drive by a cemetery in Michigan, Jaxon comments , "Cemeteries are where they plant dead people."

11/15 When his 4 year old cousin was throwing a fit about the music in the car Jaxon chastises her, "Taiva, the earth is for everybody, not just you."

11/18 After we got settled on our flight home from Michigan Jaxon recites a poem to me,
"We saw great sights, we made great friends. Now we're heading home to our journey's end."
Then he says, "Say it with me, Mom."

Throughout the month Asher continues to shed his clothes whenever we're home. When we come back from the gym, store, church, etc. I turn around and he's standing in his underwear. I help him get dressed ALL. DAY. LONG.

Asher has also begun a little ritual of creating a nest on my bed. He piles and fluffs our down comforter into a little circle and sits in the middle. When I ask him what he's doing he smiles and says, "This my nest!" Then he asks me to snuggle with him.

In the last few days Asher (nearly 4) has taken on the task of disciplining two year old Finn (I'm just glad somebody is). So when Finn hits him, Asher says, "Time Out!" and tries to pick him up and haul him over to the chair. Today the chair was misplaced, so when Asher tried this he looked very confused then gave up and said, "No chair."

Finn is mostly funny because he confuses Mommy and Daddy all day long. He doesn't seem to really care which one he uses, and since he's two I assume he really does understand who's who. Right now, as I type, Finn is hollering, "Daddy" when he knows I'm the only parent home. Sheesh.

Speaking of who's who, Jaxon decided recently that Dad is the boss because Dad is taller and bigger than Mommy. Said Jaxon, "When you stand next to Daddy, you can rest your head on his shoulder. That means he's in charge."
Only after some negotiations was I able to convince Mark to encourage Jaxon to see Mom and Dad as a team.

11-19 I'm trying to determine which shoes fit Jaxon so I can get him out the door to school. He is apparently impatient with me and apparently distracted by his cousin as he shouts, "It doesn't matter [how the shoes fit]. All I care about is Ella because she's so beautiful!"

11-22 Jaxon tells Mark, "You know why I have trouble saying words? Because my head is shaped like a cone!" (He is half right. He had a cone-shaped head as a baby and remembers that story well).

11-29 The whole family is snuggling/wrestling in our bed and I rest my head on Jaxon's knobby little shoulder.
Me: "Jaxon, your shoulder feels like a pool ball."
Jaxon: (huge smile) "Wow! Thanks, Mom!"

(added) 11-30 We're setting up the Christmas tree and Asher keeps using everything as a pretend phone. In his baby voice he's talking fast and repeating the same phrases. After a few times we can just make out this dialogue: "Hello? I just walked in the door. Look out your window." and some other garbled things. It sounds like a movie quote so I ask Jaxon if he can figure out what Asher is saying. Jaxon looks at me bored and says, "It's from Curious George, Mom." Whoa. Jaxon, are you the library of movie quotes, or what?

12-1 Jaxon comes home complaining that he got hurt when a kid kicked him at school.

"Mom, I've got a huge owie on my BLADE."

What?
Yep, his shoulder blade.

The funniest scene in November is our family traveling to Michigan for 11 days with only CARRY ON LUGGAGE (we were too cheap to pay $35 a bag when the flight was only $39 each way!)


We packed 5 carry-on suitcases and had 4 other bags/backpacks/purses. We also had a car seat, stroller, and three small children. I wish someone had videotaped it because we would be a hit on YouTube.

As we were deplaning in Mesa, I had a problem of having suitcases ahead of where I needed to be (to get more suitcases) and people right behind me. So, I sent Jaxon ahead.

He was carrying his backpack with my purse stuffed inside. He was pulling not one, but two full size carry-on suitcases strapped together. They kept bumping into the seats so he went very slow, and he had to go down a really steep external ramp (the kind that lands you on the tarmac). Through what must have been divine intervention, Jaxon does this all by himself until the very last few feet when a man helps him pull the suitcases.

And that is why I'm glad that as children grow up they become more useful!