Jeremy and I noticed our little Asher was a strong-willed child pretty early on.  I’m not talking about an occasional “no” when we ask him to do something, or ripping a toy out of our hands because he wants it, I’m talking about a very intense fire and drive that emanates from him in everything he does.  It’s amazing.  It’s incredibly exhausting to parent, but Jeremy and I have always said that God has built him with this character to impact the cf community, and fight this disease full force.

I get these parenting tip emails a couple of times a week, and this one was entitled, “Strong-Willed Kids”.  I had to open it immediately, and I was amazed at how much I could personally identify with this, and how much this is spot on about Asher.  We’re so thankful God has given us a strong-willed Asher, and we pray for His wisdom in showing us how to cultivate and limit this trait all at the same time.

I just had to include the email on his blog so that we can one day look back at this and know that we saw this all unfolding right from the beginning…

“Children who make decisions with intensity tend to be labeled “strong-willed.” At the end of the day, their parents feel as if they’ve been engaged in hand-to-hand combat—and that the child often wins at the parent’s expense! Most parents consider a strong will a negative personality trait because it often creates resistance and frustration in family life. Yet, in reality, it’s the strong-willed kids who are often better equipped to succeed, be creative, and face adversity.

Children with strong wills have the potential to become the next generation of leaders. They have their own ideas and plans. They know what they want. They’re persistent, confident, passionate, and determined to succeed at whatever they choose to do.

Leaders have an agenda, look for ways to incorporate others into their plans, and have a high need for control in life. Balanced with graciousness, leaders become a treasure because they make things happen, create organization out of chaos, and motivate people to action.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to raise a leader. These kids tend to have their own ways of doing things and like to tell other people (including their parents) what to do. A strong will keeps a child moving in a certain direction in spite of obstacles. Often these children need bigger barriers or tighter limits to teach them that those boundaries are firm.

Don’t be discouraged by the effort it takes to teach a strong-willed child which limits not to push. The strong-willed child accomplishes things in life, because the roadblocks that might hold others back are no match for this kid’s determination. Your job is to help him know the difference between obstacles to overcome and limits to live within.

A strong will can be an asset… as long as the heart is in the right place.”

Asher has had some super fun play dates lately!  Here are a few snaps Krista took from the boys’ mini-slumber party.  I just love seeing pictures of Asher when we’re not around.  I’m always curious how he acts, if he remembers his manners, if he’s a good listener, you know all the reasons why Asher probably loves it when he can get out and spread his wings :).  Krista said the boys had a great time, which really wasn’t a surprise, they always do!  Krista sang songs for the boys upon lots of requests, the boys had bath time together which I think is adorable, Asher gawked over baby Hannah (he loves her!), and I guess Asher made some yummy coffee for everyone :).  Thanks so much Dave, Krista, Chase, Carter and Baby Hannah for playing with our boy and taking such great care of him!

Next Asher was on to Ms. Lorraine’s, Mr. Jim’s and Ms. Whitney’s, and holy cow did they pull out all the stops!  Asher’s day started with coffee and donuts, playing with new toys (Lorraine said he would tuck Grandma and Grandpa Olimb into bed and give them kisses), played with their dog Lucky, he rolled right through his nap because no fun can be had when you’re napping, went to Peter Piper’s pizza for lunch and games, and ended with looking for some glasses at Costco for Ms. Whitney.  This little man traveled the city, while Daddy and Mommy got to have a day together…and Mommy smoked Daddy in skee ball (sorry, honey :)).  Thank you so much Ms. Lorraine, Mr. Jim, and Ms. Whitney for taking Asher to new places and giving him new experiences.  He’s still talking about it!

Krista and I took the boys to this little ma and pa place called Family Time.  We weren’t quite sure how it was going to go, but all the boys needed to see was the lava slide, and that pretty much entertained them for about 2 hours.  They’re easy to please :).  I had to post a pic of Krista and I to prove that we’re pretty adventurous mommy’s, because it was not an easy feat getting to the top of the lava slide and the slide itself was actually kind of steep, but we’ll do just about anything for some fun with our boys.  Plus, if you’ll notice, Asher needed a little guidance on how to actually go down the slide!  You can imagine the sound that comes from a bare belly going down a plastic slide, something like, “eert eert eert.”  His first couple of times down were hysterical!  Then the boys did some finger painting, and I just love the picture of Carter and Asher with their little tongues out!  Serious concentration!

We’ve been getting a few monsoons here lately, not many that we’ve been able to enjoy, but last week a storm came and dropped the temperature about 20 degrees, which made for a beautiful evening.  Asher and Jeremy were able to play baseball in the backyard, and it was so fun watching Asher whack some balls Jeremy pitched to him.  Jeremy started working on pitching balls to Asher right as Summer was starting to hit, and it was so fun to see how much better he is now after a couple of months of getting big and his little weekly sports class he takes.  This kid can seriously cream it!

One day last week Asher woke up from his nap to pouring rain.  He loves to run and dance in the rain, so of course we had to do that, along with some rainy beeshing.  It was a great afternoon!

So, a few posts ago I talked about our love for this new networking, information rich website for people and caregivers dealing with cystic fibrosis.  Our super fun and crazy friends, Ronnie and Mandi are the masterminds behind this site, and we are so thankful for all they’ve done to create a forum for the cf community to come together.  Ronnie and Mandi asked us if they could use this picture of Asher and Jeremy to make their first promotional flier, and of course we said YES and felt so honored!  Doesn’t it look great :).

Asher had a fun week full of lots of friends and laughs. We took a trip to Miss Lorraine’s house, which is always a blast for both of us!  She had toys out from when her kids were little, and a new sprinkler that Asher loved running around…actually his favorite part was the launch time.  Lorraine and I would say “ready, set, go!” as Asher would prepare for his lap in his sumo stance, it was hysterical!  He also had his sports class which we all look forward to every week, a mini slumber party with his buds Chase and Carter, complete with fresh coffee and bubble baths…pictures to come :), and playing with all the kids at a social we had with our small group peeps.  He was quite the little social butterfly this week!

He got a couple of new toys too – Buzz and Bubbles.  The moment we walked into the Disney store he grabbed this soft, cuddly Buzz, and wouldn’t put it down the entire time we were there.  So, how could I tell him to say goodbye to his friend :).  And then we bought some bubbles at Gymboree.  If you haven’t tried these miracle bubbles, you should!  They are seriously fun.  They hardly pop even when they land on the carpet and furniture (which just make them double fun to stomp on them) and they float forever.

We’ve official begun prepping our home for our number 2’s arrival!  So much purging and organizing and planning when you start to think about bringing another little person into your home, and we love it.  Our first step was getting Asher’s closet setup with more storage, and making it into a closet/dresser for him.  We have to be a little crafty with our small rooms, but it’s going to work perfectly!  These pictures don’t really show how much storage space we truly have, but you get the idea.  It only took Jeremy a few hours to install everything, he did such a great job!  Project number 1 complete!

I just had to make note of Asher’s new favorite thing – “Beeshing”.  We are constantly “beeshing bad guys” around here, and now he can’t leave the house without his “beesher” (gun made out of legos) so he can “beesh bad guys in the car”.  We’re not sure where he got this, but we’re not making much of an effort to correct him because it’s pretty stinkin’ cute listening to his excitement for the sport of beeshing.  Soon we’ll be shooting bad guys with our guns, but for now we’re loving this cute phase.

That was our dilemma.  Jeremy and I have really been in a quandary about this decision for the last month.  Having an amnio would allow us to find out whether or not this new little baby has cf or not.  The major reason why we were considering it is because when Asher was born we weren’t able to get him in to see his cf doctor until he was about 4-5 weeks old, which meant he wasn’t absorbing anything he was eating for a really long time.  Which also meant he was not a happy baby for a really long time because he was literally starving.  It was hellish, and something Jeremy and I didn’t want to go through again.  So we met with a high risk doctor to talk about our options and left there feeling like we should probably have one done so we can be prepared to care for the baby right away if he or she needs meds.

Then I spoke with Asher’s Pediatrician (have I mentioned how much we love him too!  Would totally recommend him if anyone is looking for a Ped) he basically discouraged us doing an amnio, recommended I call Asher’s doctor to see if there would be any harm done to the baby if we started him/her on enzymes while we awaited the test results, and said he would make a few calls to see how we could expedite the newborn screening process so we wouldn’t have to wait so long as with Asher.  So I called Asher’s nurse (I know I’ve mentioned my love for her!) and she said that Asher was literally the first baby diagnosed with cf through the mandatory screening process and that things have changed significantly since he was born.  She then told me that she is the one who is in direct communication with the state, and receives all of the test results for cf.  She said all we need to do is call her when we have the baby and she will expedite everything for us.  Yeah, that was pretty much all we needed to hear.  Asher’s nurse is so wonderful, and we totally trust she will do whatever it takes for us to get the results asap.

So, I guess that was a really long way of saying we’ve decided we’re not going to find out if this baby has cf or not until about a week after he/she is born.  Which is a total test of patience for me, but I guess this will just give us more time to pray and prepare for this next stage in life.

On a really fun note, we took Asher to his first theatrical experience to see Toy Story 3!  Jeremy and I had been waiting for this movie for such a long time, and were so excited that it was going to be Asher’s first movie in the theater.  We had such a great time!  Asher had his Woody and Buzz toys, and we loaded up on popcorn chicken, and popcorn that was exploding with butter and salt.  Asher did so great just sitting there in his little booster seat chowing down on some great dinner and taking in the entertainment.  We had a little potty break, but besides that he did so great sitting and watching the movie, and even consoled mommy during the scary part.  It was such a memorable night!

Yep. That’s right, we’re pregnant!!!! We’re so grateful to God for blessing us with another baby, and growing our family to a beautiful round number. Our due date is January 6th, so I’m closing in on 15 weeks fat, I mean pregnant, with our little bundle. Of course Jeremy is rooting for a December baby for tax purposes, ha! Asher loves the idea of having a baby brother or sister, and tells the baby to grow big and strong every day. This little baby has already made himself/herself quite known by reeking some major havoc on me…seems like another feisty boy to me, but we’ll soon see!

Deciding to have another baby wasn’t an easy decision for us. Actually, it was a bit agonizing. When Asher was 10 days old we got the call from his Pediatrician telling us that Asher has Cystic Fibrosis. After many google searches and research, we got a pretty good idea of how horrible this disease really is that we were faced with, and pretty much immediately had claimed that Asher was going to be our only child. It was heartbreaking. We definitely had wanted to have more children. But, we felt like, how could we willingly put another child through all of the medications, treatments, hospitalizations, doctor’s appointments, and on top of all the physical stuff the emotional stress in dealing with having a fatal disease, peers, future spouses and Lord willing their own children, just to name a few. Jeremy and I did not know we were carriers of the gene before we had Asher, so this really was completely out of our hands. But, now we know, and we felt like we needed to be responsible.

But then we started to get to know Asher…and oh, did we fall in love. This little boy is really amazing. He’s amazingly fun and exhausting (ha!) all at the same time! He’s like a tornado and a cool, gentle breeze wrapped together! He has the best laugh, and can easily be persuaded to share it with you if you tickle his neck. Whenever he gets frustrated he says, “oh man!” and throws his head into his hand and shakes his head back and forth. He loves to dance to music, especially music with a beat and guitars because he likes to play his air guitar and shake his booty…preferably naked though, naked dancing is his favorite. He’s so curious and reminds us of this about every 30 seconds when he says, “What’s that, or what are you doing.” He loves to build towers and whenever the tower starts getting really high he says, “oh boy, oh boy, oh boy” and backs up holding his hands up in the stop position. He loves to cuddle. He loves to run. He loves to be a big boy and do things himself. He is the protector of the hummingbird feeder, and runs up to the window and bangs on it shouting, “shoo shoo birds!” if he sees anything besides a hummingbird eating. He loves babies, and is constantly saying, “ohhhh, baby so tuuut.” He loves to play hide-n-seek, but only if when it’s your turn you sit in an obvious spot, otherwise he gets scared and starts shouting, “all done, all done!” as he runs through the house in panic mode. He loves cheeseburgers and fries and apple juice. And, he loves to hug and kiss and put bandaids on owies. He’s so beautiful…

….And the decision that Jeremy and I made about only having one child became increasingly harder to cope with. How could we only have one when we have experienced so much joy and love with Asher?

So after about 2 years of us constantly talking about this decision, crying over this decision, and begging God for wisdom, we finally decided that we hate Cystic Fibrosis and we hate that Asher has to deal with it, but he is the person he is today because of it and we wouldn’t change who he is. This isn’t stopping us from praying like mad that our newest baby would be born without Cystic Fibrosis though, and we would covet your prayers as well. The numbers are pretty simple. There is a 75% chance of us having a kid that will be perfectly fine and normal…of course, that leaves us with a very real 25% chance of a second kid with CF.

We definitely have peace about the decision, and are so excited to have another baby. But, there is also this part of us that is honestly scared. We know what this disease means and what it requires to manage. Of course, we can’t predict tomorrow but do have countless examples just in the 2.5 years of Asher’s life how God has taken care of us all, and that’s what we need to remember. It is truly amazing to have peace in the midst of scary, unpredictable circumstances. It’s supernatural, and hard to explain. It’s what God has given both Jeremy and me, and we rest in that. God will provide for us, and this baby will be perfect even if he or she has CF. And, God’s plan for our lives is perfect and superior to anything we could dream up. So we have peace, and we trust God’s love for us is so great that He will hold us tight and guide us through whatever may come.

So, come on, join us on the next step of our journey and pray with us while we await the newest Olimb!

Seems like its been awhile since I’ve given an update on cf stuff, and a few things have happened that I wanted to make sure got recorded…

ASHER’S VIDEO – The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation contacted us and asked if they could have the rights to the video that Jeremy made for the first teamASHER Silent Auction to share at some of their major fundraising events.  Um…YES!  We were so blessed and thrilled that they would want to use our video of our sweet boy to create awareness and raise money for the Foundation.  So the first event Asher’s video played at was a huge golf tournament here in town.  After the event the director of special events for the Foundation emailed me and said, “I just wanted to let you know the effects of Asher’s video.  An attendee of the tournament watched your video and he immediately gave a $2,000.00 donation because of it.”  Are you kidding me!!!!  We were beaming with excitement.  That’s just so cool.  The next major event that Asher’s video will be played at is the Breath of Life Gala put on by the CFF in Tuscon.  This Gala honors individuals, families and companies who have given their outstanding support and have brought a breathe of life to the Arizona Community.  What an honor that they would want to thank these people for all their hard work by showing them someone who they are helping…our someone :).

Asher’s nurse (have I mentioned how much I LOVE her!!!!) also uses this video to play for all of the new nurses and doctors, and anyone who is touring the office.  About a month ago she was showing it to a couple of women who are a part of AZ’s FINEST, which is a group of 10 couples who have been selected by a panel for their leadership qualities, active in volunteer roles, and have excelled in the AZ business community.  These people have basically committed to raising thousands and thousands of dollars for the Foundation.  Well, I spoke with one of the ladies a few days after she saw the video and she asked if she could throw a fundraising event for the Foundation and have Asher be the little face or honoree for the event.  Again, um…YES!

BREATHE EASIER NEBULIZER MASK HOLDER – If you didn’t see the post I made promoting this mask holder, and you have a child who has to do breathing treatments, then you need to check this link out!  My super talented friend, Melissa, created this mask holder for Asher awhile back, and lots of people are benefiting from her talent and skill.  I read a lot of other CF mommy blogs, and it has been so fun to see these families start using this mask holder.  Melissa said she is averaging making about 2 a week for families, and that just absolutely excites me to hear that people are benefiting from her invention, because it has really changed our lives by making treatment times sooooo much easier.  Melissa updated her etsy page with some testimonials and a couple of pictures of some other children wearing their mask holder.  LOVE IT!!!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/45103961/breathe-easier-nebulizer-mask-holder

CYSTICLIFE.ORG – This site has been an absolute blessing to our family!  Our crazy fun friends, Ronnie and Mandi, are the masterminds behind this site, and it has been an incredible way to connect with other people with Cystic Fibrosis and/or caregivers for people with Cystic Fibrosis.  It’s kinda like a facebook for the cf community where we can all ask questions and get advice from other people in the know.  If  there’s one thing Jeremy and I have learned about this disease it’s that doctors are great and all, but Jeremy and I are truly the best care givers for Asher.  This disease is so unique for each individual, and we know Asher the best.  We are so thankful to have a forum where we can bounce ideas off of others, and seek some council from people who may have already walked down our path.  There have been a couple of times that Jeremy and I have been stumped in our care for Asher, and Jeremy has literally said, “just post it on CL and see what everyone says.”  We never really wanted to be a part of the cf community, but it is truly a community full of the most loving and caring people and we’re so thankful for them.

RED FOR CONNER – Little Conner got an absolute hold on my heart from the moment I started reading his mommy’s blog about his life.  Conner was a remarkable 7 year old boy with Cystic Fibrosis, who lost his battle to the disease a couple of weeks ago.  I’ve cried so much for this little boy and his family, I’ve gotten mad-furious at this stupid disease, I’ve squeezed and kissed Asher more reading about the heartache this family has been through, and I have this new fuel for creating awareness and raising money for research for cf.  Little Conner has officially changed my life, and I’m so thankful for blogs and the chance I’ve had to know him and his family.  If you’d like to read about Conner’s life, his mommy has beautifully recorded his life and the raw emotions she has been going through in loosing her son.

http://notsobrightandshiny.blogspot.com/

GERM GUARDIAN – This is our new piece of equipment, and I’m so in love!  Again, thanks to Cystic Life and people recommending it.  It’s been another great way for us to care for Asher’s breathing equipment.  Every night we boil all of Asher’s nebulizers and then put them in the Germ Guardian to be steam dried.  We also use it after Asher’s morning treatment so no moisture is sitting on the nebs and they are completely dry for the evening round.  Plus, it’s called a Germ Guardian for pete’s sake, it’s my new favorite thing :).

TOBI – So so so so so so happy to announce that Asher has had enough negative cultures for Pseudomonas that we get to TAKE A BREAK!!!!  Oh beautiful day!  We all hate those Tobi rounds, and to now have a break from the constant 28 days on, 28 days off nightmare cycle is AMAZING!!!!  WAHOOO!  Asher will continually be doing throat cultures to see if it has started growing again or not, but for now, we’re going to enjoy at least one month of not thinking about the horrid TOBI!  Thank you, Lord!

Whew.  That was long.  But, I guess there has been a lot of cf stuff going on!

Asher had to get all dressed up to make these announcements!  Actually, it was just a boring night around the house because Jeremy was gone, and I was dying to try this little suit on Asher.  Jeremy’s mom made it for Jeremy when he was 5 years old, and Asher was so proud to wear it and model for me.  This little suit is so special, and will probably be the only handmade thing Asher will ever wear…unless Grandma wants to break out the sewing machine again :).

We had the wonderful privilege in joining our friends, Aaron, Ashley, Paisley, George and Jamie in celebrating the 4th in Heber!  It was so beautiful!  The weather was perfect, and we spent as much time as we could enjoying it.  The accommodations were perfect, there was definitely no “roughin’ it” in this “cabin”.  And the friends were perfect of course, and now Asher and Paisley keep asking about each other since their separation which is so cute :).

Classy…

We took a couple of trips into Heber and Bison Ranch to check out the 4th of July happenin’s.  A couple of firsts for the A-man, he rode a horse all by himself, and he got to go to a petting zoo.  I really sort of hate petting zoos…well, most animals in general, but this petting zoo was about as clean as they come and totally cute.

And for our 4th of July celebrations we had a monstrous meal and pretty flag cake cooked by Jamie, and the kids enjoyed some patriotic paraphernalia and painted their own “flag” shirts.  It was a really fun weekend!

Our Trip According to Asher…I think posting some pictures that Asher takes is probably going to become a common addition to the blog because this boy loves to take pictures with my camera.  I guess it is his blog, so if the boy wants pictures for himself to keep, well who am I to argue :).  He LOVES to take pictures of everyone with “wide eyes” too, that Duck on a Bike book is going to be a pain in our side forever, ha!  He did get pictures of both Ashley and I making the eyes, but those didn’t make the cut…I do have some say :).