Sooooo BIG...6 Months TODAY!

"For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

they will lift you up in their hands..."

Psalm 91:11-12

Our sweet baby boy is 6 months old today and I can not believe how quickly this last 6 months has passed. Liam is such a sweet, happy, cuddly little guy and he is revealing more and more of his personality to us every day. As far as the doctors are concerned he is doing great! Over the past 6 months we have gone to the cardiologist every 6 to 8 weeks for routine check-ups and during those visits we have received good news on Liam's progress. Since the surgery on November 24th, where the doctors repaired his heart defect, he has remained stable and is not only growing and hitting all of his milestones as he should but he is THRIVING! Liam will have to have more surgeries in the future but that is not something we worry about because we know it is all in God's hands.

Liam is truly a miracle and such a blessing to us each and every day. He is the light of our lives and I feel that I can see God's glory shining through him every time I look into those big, beautiful, blue eyes. We thank God for granting us the honor of being Liam's parents and pray daily for strength, wisdom, peace, and understanding as we travel along this journey.

Since we are celebrating 6 months today, I thought I would give you 6 of my favorite things about Liam right now, although it will be a little difficult to limit myself since I love everything about him!

1. I love your beautiful blue eyes that seem to be getting more and more blue every day.
2. I love the sweet way you hold my hand as you are drifting off to sleep.
3. I love the way you place your little hand on the side of your face when you are getting sleepy.
4. I love that you smile, laugh, and kick with excitement when your daddy walks in the door from work.
5. I love that the first sound you are making is "mama, mama, mama" even though I know you have no idea yet that, that is me!!
6. I love that you love to sit and cuddle with me and with your daddy.

A Day at the Beach....

As you can tell Liam absolutely loved his first trip to the beach! As soon as nice weather hit Hampton Roads (in early April) we headed out for a family trip to the beach one Saturday afternoon. Of course it was a beautiful day when we left our house but by the time we reached the beach it was overcast and cool but we were determined to put our toes in the sand and in the ocean. Liam enjoyed a nice afternoon nap as we walked on the broadwalk but woke up just in time to play in the sand. We are looking forward to our first true family vacation next week and plan to spend lots of time at the beach. Here are some more pictures from the day.

Baby's First Easter

I know this is very belated but I just wanted to post a picture of Liam on his first Easter! He looked so super cute in his outfit from his Aunt Rebecca! The outfit came complete with overalls, a matching onsie, a sweater, socks, shoes, and a hat (that I forgot to put on for the picture)! Rolf was post call on Easter Sunday but Liam and I had a great time going to church together and then enjoyed a quiet day at home while Rolf napped. That evening we were invited over to the Sposato's (Rolf's mentor and friend) house for dinner with their family and some friends. We always enjoy hanging out with their family and felt very blessed to celebrate the holiday with such good friends.

Liam's 1st Easter

Visiting Mimi & Papa in Lumberton

In both February and March Liam, Sadie, and I made several trips down to Lumberton, North Carolina, to visit my parents. Rolf was working a lot during both of these months and it was nice to be able to make the trip down to North Carolina for a couple of long weekend trips. For me these trips were super relaxing because Mimi and Papa were waiting in the driveway when we pulled up, ready to whisk Liam away. They both would quickly take-over changing diapers, finding pacis, holding and soothing, and all I needed to do was be available to nurse. I couldn't quite talk them into getting up during the night with him but he was a great sleeper while we were there and many nights I actually had to wake him up to nurse.

Here are some great photos from our visit:

Annual Graning Family Ski Trip

In February we went on the Annual Graning Family Ski Trip to Snowshoe, West Virginia. This is a vacation that we take with Rolf's immediate family and we excitedly look forward to it every year. It is crazy to see how quickly the Graning family has grown in just the few short years that we have been taking this vacation. This year we actually out grew our house and will be venturing to a new house next year as the Graning Family continues to grow. Here is a slideshow of the trip, as you will see most of the pictures are from an afternoon spent playing in the snow with Caden, our 2.5 year old nephew. We had such a great trip and we really look forward to going again next year.

Welcome to the World Abram Aksel

We are excited to announce the arrival of our new nephew, Abram Aksel Graning born this past Tuesday, April 21st. Mommy & baby are home and from what we hear they are doing great. We are so excited that Liam will have a cousin so close to his age. I know it is going to be a lot of fun watching the boys grow up together. I can't even begin to imagine the trouble they are going to get into. Ben, Jess, & Caden we are so excited for you. You are all in our thoughts and prayers and we can't wait to meet little Abram.

Pure Joy

Pure joy...I think that best describes the smile on this little guys face and the joy it brings me to see his smile every day. I love this smile more than I can say!

This was Liam's first time in his Baby Einstein Activity Jumper and as you can tell from this face, he loved it! It is still a little bit big for him but he had a great time figuring out all of the new toys. His favorite part was looking at himself in the mirror. He really gets a kick out of seeing himself and will just talk and laugh at the baby in the mirror. It is so fun to watch him as he is trying to figure something new out. I feel like I can just see the wheels turning in his head as he trying to do something for the first time. He is at such a fun age and I am enjoying every minute with him. He is growing and changing so fast, I don't want to miss a thing.