Our 1st Family Movie Night

A few weeks ago we tried out our first ever family movie night and Liam loved it. We ordered pizza, made popcorn, and watched Toy Story 1. Liam has been in love with Buzz Lightyear for months now and we thought it was about time to show him how Buzz Lightyear came to be and well he thought Woody was pretty cool too. I don't know what he thought was more cool watching Buzz Lightyear or sitting in front of the TV to eat dinner and eating popcorn on the couch, both a very special treat in our house! 

Through the Eyes of a Child

Annual Graning Family Ski Weekend

This past weekend we ventured off to Snowshoe, West Virginia, for our annual Graning Family Ski Weekend. We decided that this was our fifth year going on this trip and we plan to keep going as long as we can. Rolf's parent's ever so graciously rented an amazing house on the mountain and we all piled in for a weekend of fun and family. 

Liam had been talking for the entire week prior to leaving about going skiing even though he had no idea what that actually meant. When we stopped to rent Rolf's ski's we decided to try a pair on Liam and sure enough they had his size. He was excited to try on the ski boots and skis and ready to hit the slopes (anything to be like Daddy!) and the ski store through his in free so that helped. We started out on the first day in the driveway to see if he would actually like it and he loved it! Rolf was a great teacher and Liam surprisingly listened to everything Rolf told him to do...not an easy task for a strong-willed two-year-old. The second day he was ready to hit the slopes so we took him to the top of the mountain. He and Rolf would ski down about 75 yards and I would walk behind taking pictures. Once at the bottom, I would carry Liam, ski's and all, back up to the top while Rolf skied back up.  He didn't actually do any runs but had it been earlier in the day and the lifts weren't closed he absolutely could have.  He kept pointing to the ski lift and saying "me do that mommy"! In all honesty I am kind of happy the lifts were closed because I couldn't imagine putting my little guy on a big ski lift but I don't think I am going to have a choice next year as he is ready to go!  

The best part of skiing is the post-skiing hot chocolate!

This is just part of our story....

It was 3 years ago this month that we conceived Liam and our journey as "heart parents" began. Our heart baby is a feisty, strong-willed, witty, smart, funny, tender-hearted, cautious yet very precocious two year old, who will be a big brother in just a few weeks. To us he is absolutely perfect!  Those three little words "congenital heart defect" are part of our story and will be forever. Would I change that? No because that would mean I wouldn't have my miracle baby, my terrible two-year-old, my sweet little snuggle bunny. We all have a story and this is ours. We are choosing to embrace it and to share it. You can click here to read Liam's story. Through hearing Liam's story I would hope to be able to raise awareness about Congenital Heart Defects. 


Congenital Heart Disease is considered to be the most common birth defect, affecting roughly 1 in 100 births or 40,000 newborns annually. CHD is also the leading cause of birth-defect related deaths worldwide. There are 35 defined types of CHD, and in most cases, doctors cannot point to any one genetic or environmental factor that would cause the disease. The Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania defines congenital birth defects as follows:
A congenital heart defect (CHD) is a heart problem which is present at birth, caused by improper development of the heart during fetal development. In the majority of the instances when a baby is born with congenital heart disease, there is no known reason for the heart to have formed improperly. Scientists know that some types of congenital heart defects can be related to an abnormality of an infant's chromosomes (5 to 6 percent), single gene defects (3 to 5 percent), or environmental factors (2 percent). In 85 to 90 percent of cases, there is no identifiable cause for the heart defect, and they are generally considered to be caused by multifactorial inheritance.

Multifactorial inheritance means that "many factors" (multifactorial) are involved in causing a birth defect. The factors are usually both genetic and environmental, where a combination of genes from both parents, in addition to unknown environmental factors, produce the trait or condition.

For more on causes of CHD, visit http://www.chop.edu/healthinfo/factors-contributing-to-congenital-heart-disease.html
Congenital heart defects may be serious or minor; each case is unique. Although CHD is responsible for nearly 20% of all birth defect-related deaths, a diagnosis of CHD is not necessarily a death sentence. It is, however, an ongoing condition, requiring medical attention throughout the patient's life. Many heart defects can be corrected or helped with surgery, medicine, or devices, such as artificial valves and pacemakers. Even facing these trials, it is absolutely possible for a child with CHD to lead a healthy, near-normal life.


Here are some easy ways you can help support CHD Awareness Week:


~ Like the CHD Awareness Week 2011 (Official) page on Facebook.
~ Donate financially.
~ Wear red for CHD Awareness Week and tell others why you are wearing it.
~ Donate blood. 

On Call

One weekend when Rolf was on call, he jokingly told Liam that he could answer all of his pages for the night. Well as you can tell from the pictures, Liam took the job very seriously. Whenever Rolf's pager would go off he would walk over to me and say "phone please mommy... I call doctor back." This little guys has such a sweet and kind heart he would do absolutely anything to help out his daddy. He also pays attention to everything you say and rarely misses a beat. We really do have to watch what we say around him these days.  

Fireside

We absolutely love having a wood burning fireplace in our house. It has been so cold recently that we have been using it every chance we get. Liam is daddy's best helper and loves to do everything Rolf does when it comes to the fire. He loves to help break up all of the small sticks for the kindling, ball up the newspaper, and attempts to help with the firewood. One night Liam asked if we could roast marshmallows in the fire, something that he learned about in a Curious George story and well I was very happy to oblige. 

Yummy, yummy!

Snow Days

During the month of January we had several snowy days. Our first true snow came in early January and was just enough to cover the ground.  A few weeks later it snowed again and this time we got 9 inches.  Both times I was certain Rolf would at least have a delay but not luck given his status as an essential employee according to the federal government.  This means as long as the hospital is open and accepting patients Rolf has to be there.  This is of course very fortunate for his patients and very unfortunate for Liam and I who wanted him home to play.

Waiting...

Pool float by summer, snow sled by winter!!

Snowman #1

Snowman #2

The story of our day....

...the end.