April Laughs

Jaxon says to me, "I need to be green, Mom." What? I continue to ask about what part of him needs to be green, his hair? His skin?
"Not the color of my skin, mom, I need to turn out the lights and not waste water." Oh, be GREEN. So smart.

I tell Jaxon that pink used to be his favorite color. He responds, "Well things change. I have different priorities now. (Priorities means jobs)."

"Mom, do we have any waterproof underwear?" Jaxon asks before his field day of watersports at school.

Finn grabs Milo's paws and claps them together while saying, "Clap, clap!" Then he pulls the cat close to his face and says, "Kitty kissed me!"

When my cousins Allina and Michelle were heading home after a weekend trip, Finn wanted to go with them. He asked, "I go with you?" I told him to ask if he could go in Allina's suitcase. He asked, "You suitcase?" She laughed and said, "You want to go with me to Seattle?" He asked with excitement and confusion, "Sea turtle?"

Speaking of turtles, when I mistakenly called Asher by his brother's nickname, he corrected me, "I not Twinkie, I Turtle."

March Laughs

March and April are usually busy months for us, so it's no surprise that this installment of our "Laughs" series is late and pretty sparse. I hope you enjoy it anyway!

3-05 Finn struggles with very powerful emotions (especially when he's tired). If I do something that makes him mad, he cries, stomps, screams, hits me and yells at me, "GoWay!" In his next breath, he puts his thumb in his mouth, grabs his little baby bear and looks up through his tears, "Rockabye?"

3-10 Asher plays with Milo's ears, pulling them straight up. "Look!" he giggles, "He's a bunny!"

3-13 I ask Finn, "Twinkie (that's his nickname) have I told you how cute you are?" He looks at me and says, "No!"

3-15 Mark was telling Jaxon that he met an inventor who had learned how to make electricity out of garbage. Jaxon laments to Mark, "I haven't figured out how to make electricity go through wood."

3-17 During a movie trailer for Chipmunks, "The Squekuel" they sing, "Shake what your mama gave you." I ask Jaxon what that means and he says, "My clothes. My mom gives me my clothes."

3-18 Mark is singing to himself while cleaning up dinner and Jaxon interrupts with, "Dad, if you like singing so much, why don't you sing all your words?" Then he demonstrates (much like Dori singing to the whale on Finding Nemo). "Jaaaaxoooon, puuut yooour clooooooothes oooonnnnn."

3-20 Jaxon must have picked up on relationship language at school when he says to me, "Mom, I like you but I don't like like you." However, I realize he doesn't really understand the meaning when later that day he says about Milo, "I like like him."

Trip to DC

At the end of February, I went to Washington DC as a representative of the Hemophilia community. The National Hemophilia Foundation has an annual event where it's members go to Capitol Hill and talk to our Congressmen and Senators about issues relating to the bleeding disorders community.

This year's Washington Day happened to be on the same day that President Obama did his Health Care Summit. Talking to the Legislative Assistants was really awesome since they were already in the mindset of healthcare. What had been a hard sell in years past (eliminating lifetime caps, getting rid of pre-existing condition clauses, etc) was a much easier discussion this year.

During the trip, I had some time to go touring. Here are my photos.

I got to see some old friends (Hi Kathleen! Hey Ben!) and make some new ones (Yeah Sus!) I even ran into a friend from our old BYU ward (Maddy, do you remember the Sandra and Justin?). Unfortunately, they didn't recognize me. I'm not sure if I'm just much better looking, or really old looking (or both?).

I had a great time in Baltimore visiting an old HS friend, Ben Brinton and his gorgeous and brilliant wife, Susan Christiansen. They have a beautiful brick home in Baltimore and were so gracious to put up with me for a day (including two drives to DC and back). It was such a wonderful trip all around.

I shouldn't be blogging this right now, I'm on my way to Cali tomorrow for a Mormon Feminist retreat (the second annual Sophia Gathering). I've planned it both years and I'm still not sure why I've taken on that responsibility. I don't need the extra stress. But, I'm really excited, it should be a lot of fun.

As far as March Laughs (for all of you followers out there) I will do them when I return. I'm so behind on the calendar, it's not funny. Jaxon has stopped asking me to change it. He's given up.

Babysitting: Best Deal in Town!

I just found out that my gym, Mountainside Fitness does a Lunch Bunch childcare service.

On Mondays and Wednesdays (In SE Gilbert, by the San Tan mall) and on Wednesdays in Mesa, they offer childcare from 11-2. It's $10 for the first child and $5 for each additional child. The fee includes lunch!

I did it today for the first time (I even took my niece Ella), and it worked wonderfully. For any of you who are looking for childcare in the middle of the day, it's hard to find if you don't want to bug your friends too much.

Also, I asked the staff at Mountainside and they said Lunch Bunch is open to people who aren't members of the gym as well. The childcare is pretty cool, they have a computer/gaming area, a bouncer, a movie theater, and a general play area.

Let me know if you want to go shopping with me sometime!

Hiking in the Superstitions

Two weekends ago, Mark and I took our little family hiking in the desert. We went to Usery Park which is about 20 min from our house. It was a cool spring day and we had a great time hiking up a little mountain then back down again. There was a playground at the end of the trail and we had a picnic lunch.

Here are some photos from our hike.

We'd love to do it again soon, so if you want to join us, let me know!

Easter Photos for a Friend

I saw my friend Kate at church today. Her children were all matching and very adorable. I asked her if they had taken any photos and she said no.

So, after church we spent about 30 min taking some pics down at the grassy field in our neighborhood.

It was awesome because Kate's kids are SO well-behaved and pleasant. It helped that I brought a stuffed dragon that Kate pretended was eating my head. The kids liked that a lot.

Check out the photos here.

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.