More stuffing, please!

Thanksgiving found the 3 of us abandoned as both of our families left St. George to be with other loved ones.  Luckily, my grandparents, sister McKenzie, aunt KK and her husband, Bryan, were also left all alone this year.  So we outcasts gathered together for a delicious dinner. :-) We had turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, rolls, Grandma's to-die-for sweet potatoes, the oh-so-important green bean casserole, pies, and, Ashton's favorite--stuffing!  Ashton's first food love was stuffing, and he's still kind of obsessed with it...

  

 This is how Ashton plays "peek-a-boo"

 More stuffing, please!

  

After dinner, we hurried home to take a quick walk before Ashton took his I-ate-too-much-and-now-I'm-really-tired nap.  It was beautiful with all of the vibrant colors!

  

Let him eat cake!

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated Ashton's 1st birthday! The weather was perfect, the company was great, and Ashton was happy and, miraculously, smiling for the camera! Thanks so so much to all who came and shared that special milestone with us, and a big thanks to my mom, aunt LaDawn, and friend Emily who helped me put this party together--and to our good family friend, Timber, for taking all of these fabulous pictures! I definitely couldn't have done all of this by myself! (Forgive the millions of pictures...Timber just took too many cute ones and I couldn't choose!)

Happy birthday, Ashton! You are SO loved!!! (And so, so, ridiculously cute!)

Happy, Happy Birthday!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE ONE! This past year has been the best of my life. Wanna know why? Because you're in it! And you are positively the most adorable, sweet, funny, and fun-loving baby (now toddler??) I've ever met. You have an incredible ability to melt the hardest of hearts with one of your heavenly smiles. I know I've said this before, but you really do make everyone happier when you're around, and Daddy and I don't stand a chance when you flash that big grin at us. You can get away with anything! Just don't expect that to work forever, because we'll eventually gain the strength to withstand it! ;)

Your favorite things:
-Climbing on couches
-Playing with your "choo-choo"
-Reading books
-Crawling through the doggy-door at Grandma's
-Riding in the wagon with Grandpa
-Grizzly, Topper, Trixie, & Domino
-Fake crying/pouting
-Bath time (as long as it's with Daddy)
-Toodles (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse)
-Lights!

Words you understand:
-"Dada"
-"Mama" (first word you said!)
-"Grizzly"
-"Light"
-"Flowers"
-"Jesus"
-"Toodles"
-"Mickey"
-"Domino"
-"Choo-choo"
-"Tassle-Monster"
-"Book"
-"Kisses" (my favorite!)

Daddy and I love you so so much! We're so excited for what this next year will bring, and we know you'll keep us smiling and laughing and that even though it doesn't seem possible, our love for you will continue to grow. Happy birthday, Ashton!!

10 Things I Love About You

Dear little Ashton, can you believe you are already 10 months old??  You've reached the big double-digits! I know mommy says this a lot, but I swear you were 6 months old just yesterday!  There are so many things that our daddy and I love about you, but in honor of your new milestone, and since the people reading this don't have ALL day, I'm going to try to condense my long list into 10 things that I love about you.

#1:  I love your smile.  You have the cutest, most adorable smile!  And it's even cuter now that you have 4 perfect little teeth to go along with it!  When you smile, everyone around you can't help but smile back, and that little smile honestly lifts my spirits.  Your smile is the first thing I get to see from you in the morning when I go to get you from your crib, and I love it!  Keep smiling!

 

#2:  I love your kisses.  You are an expert at the slobbery, wet kisses.  All I have to do is ask for "kisses", and you stop whatever you're doing and open your mouth and gently lean towards me.  You're just too cute.

#3:  I love your energy.  I know it may not seem like it all the time, but I really do love your curiosity and excitement for life.  I'm not sure how you fit all that energy into your tiny little body, but my goodness, you just go and go and go!  Daddy and I have had to take lots of books and pictures off of shelves because you climb up on everything and anything, and once you are within reach, nothing is safe from you!  And oh my, how fast you are!  I can't take my eyes off of you for more than 4 seconds, or else you've disappeared, and I will find you in the bathroom pulling all of the toilet paper off the roll, or sliding the laundry room door open (you're just too smart) and making a mess of things, or pulling the safety plugs out of the sockets--the list goes on and on!

             

#4:  I love your personality.  You are very stubborn and independent (wonder where you get that from...?). When you want something, nothing will stand in your way, and you are not happy until you reach your goal. When you were doing physical therapy, the therapist would come over and ask if you had reached a certain milestone yet.  When I would tell her not yet, you would decide to prove us wrong and, literally within hours after she left, you would have mastered the skill.  That's such a good quality to have, and will help you throughout your life!

#5:  I love your eyes.  You have such big, beautiful dark brown almond eyes.  When you're happy, your eyes just light up and they literally sparkle.  And we can usually tell what you're thinking or what mood you're in just by looking at your eyes.

#6:  I love your sounds.  You have the babbling stuff down, my dear!  You really do have full conversations with us, and you LOVE to talk and squeal!  I could listen to your sweet little babbles and high-pitched squeals all day.

#7:  I love how you share.  You just recently learned how to share toys and food with the rest of the world.  I can put my hand out, and you'll give me the toy you're playing with.  Or, my personal favorite, I can open my mouth and you'll stick your cookie in there and won't take it away until I've taken a bite.  You are a really good kid, Ashton.

#8:  I love playing with you.  You and I have two favorite games.  We'll sit across from each other, and throw a ball or a plastic ring to each other, and we'll go back and forth, back and forth, for quite a while! I'm always amazed at how strong your arm is!  We also love to play your little Disney piano and go crazy when it plays the prerecorded songs.  Your favorites are A-Hunting We Will Go, and Following the Leader.  You also LOVE to play the piano!  You especially love to play it with your feet :) We'll have fun when we start lessons in a few years :)

#9:  I love your laugh.  Sadly, you don't let us listen to it that often (we make fools of ourselves trying to get you to laugh), but when we do get to hear it we soak up every precious second.  It's the best thing I've ever listened to.  Hopefully as you grow we'll be able to hear it more!

And,
#10:  I love that you love us, and that you know you're loved.  You make sure that daddy and I know you love us with your kisses, your smiles, your hugs, and showing us that you want and love our attention and affection.  I hope we can continue to make you happy and that you never doubt how much we love you! Our world revolves around you!

We love you so much, Ashton!

Love, Mommy and Daddy

Four Months Old!!

Ahh it's been so long since I've written anything!  Can you believe my baby is four months old?? Time's going by too fast! Not really sure where to start...lots has happened! Well, Ashton said goodbye to his oxygen two weeks after coming home, around the first of November. Then came Thanksgiving! We got his newborn pictures taken (thanks, Denise!) and also got some family pics as well. Ashton was loved on all day by aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and great-grandparents--he is one spoiled baby :) It's pretty much impossible not to be completely obsessed and in love with him...he's seriously the sweetest, cutest, most adorable boy!
                                   

In early December a call came from Dr. Arch, the geneticist who's been working with Ashton since he was born. She had the results back from the last test they had sent to Boston to specifically test for Branchio-Oculo-Facial Syndrome (BOFS). It was positive. I was a bit shocked, because I hadn't expected to hear anything back for a couple more weeks, and I definitely didn't expect to hear that Ashton had the syndrome. Dr. Arch, after telling me the news, then asked to talk to Kirk (she was graciously giving me a chance to go cry by myself haha), and they made an appointment for us to go talk to her about everything. That whole day pretty much sucked. Every time I looked at Ashton I would tear up. I didn't feel differently about him at all--he's still my perfect little boy--but looking at him made me think of all of the possible trials he'll have in his life, and how some of my dreams for him might not come true.

For those of you who don't know what BOFS is (don't worry, most people don't), it's a very rare genetic disorder, that is pretty new (in terms of research). In fact, since 2004, there have literally only been a handful of reported cases--and so you can imagine the amount of information available for parents (or anyone). It's a little overwhelming and frustrating at times because there really are no answers as to how he will develop, what his challenges may be, etc. But we're just taking it one day at a time and not worrying too much about the future. Basically, we will just have to watch him and see how he grows and develops, and then address any problems we find along the way. But as of right now, it looks like most of his problems are just physical and can easily be fixed within a few years. Another thing about BOFS is that it's caused by a mutated gene, and that gene is the one in charge of neck, ear, and eye development--and it's almost always inherited from the father. So Kirk is going to be tested for the syndrome, and if it comes back positive, then Dr. Arch suggested using PGD (pre-implantation genetic diagnosis) and In-vitro for future kids. Basically they locate the mutated gene and take it out before implanting, so it eliminates the possibility of the syndrome. Ashton, though his symptoms are *technically* "severe", really does have mild problems. People with BOFS are often born with extra fingers, ears, etc., and so Kirk and I feel that there's no need to make a child suffer through that when we can prevent it from happening.

Now I'll go back to happy words :) Christmas was a lot of fun. We were able to spend time with both Kirk's family and mine, and Ashton got to babble a bit to KC (Kirk's brother who is serving a mission), who's never met him. Ashton was pretty spoiled...he got a lot of presents! Only downside was the poor thing had a cold, and he'd had his nose suctioned out twice.

grandma esplin thought it would be funny to give ashton some coke ;)
don't worry, he didn't drink any :)

yes we made gingerbread houses :) and kirk insisted he make his from scratch--the rest of us just used cardboard haha
check out ashton's super cute outfit! the hat is from aunt kenzie and the clothes from aunt denise :)

I'll just give a quick update on his current medical, um, stuff. He will soon be seeing a pediatric ophthalmologist for his goopy eyes, and, oh, surprise! He does have mixed hearing loss, but it's mild. And he will hopefully be getting a BAHA (bone-anchored hearing aid)soon. The good news is that most of his hearing loss is conductive, which means that the sound is just not able to reach his inner ear, and that could be caused from his ear canals being too small, or fluid in the ears, or a part of his middle ear could be a little deformed. Whatever the problem is, it can probably be fixed. And that just leaves him with a little sensorineural hearing loss, which can't be fixed because the nerves are damaged. More good news...he can hear a lot of sounds even with the loss he has right now. He just can't hear sounds like "s", "f", "sh", "th", "h"--pretty much anything that's soft or that you can't say any louder ("s" only really has one volume). He probably won't be able to get the conductive loss fixed until he is a little older (probably four or five years max, but most likely a lot sooner), since they need to wait until his canals get a little bigger to even take a look inside his ears. So until then, he'll need to wear the hearing aid since language development at this age is crucial, and the aid can prevent him from having problems with speaking/hearing in the future. So don't think we're trying to create a gender identity crisis if you see Ashton wearing a headband :) The BAHA isn't a traditional hearing aid--it has to be worn on the head.

Somewhere between Christmas and now (I swear it happened overnight), Ashton turned into a different baby. Not a bad different...he's just growing up and entering the playful/interactive stage :) So fun!! He is constantly babbling, smiling (a huge, adorable, toothless grin), and making the funniest faces. He also talks in his sleep (just like his daddy). Ashton is a very happy baby (unless he's teething--he started a couple weeks ago), and always has me laughing at his cute baby sounds and funny faces. His eyes are starting to turn a beautiful brown/green, and he's getting pretty chubby :) Ashton loves to be held, absolutely loves to look around at everything except whoever's holding him (little punk), and he loves getting dressed after his baths. That's seriously when he's happiest and the most active.

                             
                            

Ashton is a special little boy, and he just makes everyone so happy when they're around him. I am SO lucky and blessed to be his mom, and my life is infinitely better because he's in it. I love my family! :)