Transition

We are in the process right now of transitioning Liam from two naps a day to one nap a day. I love his morning naptime and I am by no means pushing him to give it up but some days he just won't go down so we go with one nap. I am trying to follow his ques because we are both much happier that way. That brings us to today, he decided to skip his morning nap but by about 11:15 he was very ready to go down. We made him a little lunch before putting him down for his afternoon nap and here is what happened....

Isn't he just so sweet you could eat him up?

PS: We only video taped him for a few minutes and then put this tired little guy down for a much needed nap!

Graning Family Ski Trip

President's Day Weekend, we took our annual Graning Family Ski Vacation to Snowshoe Mountain, West Virginia. As "the Graning family" (Rolf's immediate family) has grown, we have unfortunately outgrown our ski-in/ski-out townhouse and had to upgrade to an 8 bedroom house! Yep, 8 bedrooms and we filled up everyone of them. We had an awesome time skiing, sleddding, sleeping, cooking, eating, watching movies and the Olympics, playing games, reading, resting, relaxing and celebrating Valentine's Day and Charlie's birthday!

We had such an awesome time! My mother-in-law, Mary Anne was sweet enough to share skiis with me and I got to ski with my sweet hubby, my sister-in-law Jess, and my brother-in-law Ben two different afternoons. Jess and I had a great time taking a break from the little ones (thanks Aga and Nonni) and really had fun skiing. Thanks to our crazy husbands we even got to experience a little backcountry skiing which included hiking through snow above our knees, skiing through and over 6 foot snowdrifts, following deer tracks through the woods, and skiing under the lift (a major no-no in my book). Luckily we lived to tell about it!

Can't wait for next year!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday, Sadie Dog!!

Our first baby, our Sadie Dog turned 3 on February 7th! We celebrated by giving her some special birthday treats but she did remind me just the other day that we haven't made our annual trip to PetSmart yet to pick out her special birthday toy (hopefully one Liam doesn't like). Although she drives me absolutely crazy almost all of the time I couldn't picture my life without her! We love you Sadie Dog!! 

Super "Birthday" Bowl

The Super Bowl just happened to fall on my friend Amy's birthday this year which was quite exciting for her, given that she was born and raised in New Orleans and is a die-hard Saints fan!

Super cute Saints birthday cake made by yours truly!

Amy blowing out her birthday candles

Something from the Heart

On July 15, 2008, our lives were changed forever when we found out that our sweet baby boy would be born with a congenital heart defect. Before that day, I had never really thought about congenital heart defects but now I think about them every day. Liam is truly a miracle and every day I praise God for giving me my heart baby. He is perfect in every way and I would not trade him for anything.

As a heart mom to my beautiful CHD baby, I want to do more to help increase awareness about America's #1 birth defect, Congenital Heart Defects. Here are some CHD Statistics:

~Sometimes during early pregnancy, a babies heart fails to form properly, resulting in structural abnormalities known as congenital heart defects. Although some defects are genetic, in many cases the causes is unknown.

~Every 15 minutes a baby is born with a CHD.

~Congenital heart defects are America's #1 birth defect. CHD effects 1% of children born every year, that is 1 in 100 babies.

~Congenital heart defects are the #1 leading cause of birth-defect related deaths. 1 in 3 children who die from a birth defect have a congenital heart defect.

~This year almost 40,000 babies will be born with a congenital heart defect.

~Although some babies will be diagnosed at prenatally or at birth, newborns are not routinely screened for CHD. The consequences of a late diagnosis can have serious, lifelong complications, so it is important for the public to be aware of the signs and symptoms in newborns and children.

~From 1993 to 2003 death rates for congenital heart defects have declined by 31% due to advances made through research.

~There is not yet a preventive cure for any type of congenital heart defect.

~Of every dollar the government spends on medical research only a fraction of a penny is directed toward congenital heart defect research.

Here are some ways you can include yourself in CHD Awareness Week:

~Donate blood (Liam received a blood transfusion during his surgery)
~Talk to your friends and neighbors about your experience with CHD.
~Donate financially.
~Buy a CHD awareness pin & wear it.
~Wear red for CHD week and tell others why you are wearing it.
~Become friends with CHD Awareness Week 2010 (Official) on Facebook.

My CHD miracle baby!

Recipe of the Week

With all of the cold weather we have been having I thought we were in need of some good old comfort food.  This is not exactly a new recipe but definitely not something I make very often. It is really yummy especially when served along side garlic mashed potatoes.  

Winter Wonderland

Last Saturday we got about 8 inches of snow here. Absolutely everything was covered and it was beautiful. This was the first snow we have had since living here and the first snow that Sadie has ever seen.  She loved it! Liam didn't quite know what to think of it but he had a fun time rolling around and eating the snow. 

"Hey Mom can you stop taking pictures and help me?!"

Hi Ho, Hi Ho...

it's off to work he goes! Last Saturday just as it was really starting to snow Rolf had to head into work for an overnight call.