8.24.12 - Six Months

Liam and Dr. Verma

It has been 6 months since we have seen the cardiologist...A long time in our book.  AND, I am happy to announce it will be 6 MORE months until we see him again!!  YAY!  Liam's check-up today went great - super fast, everything is still the same, no changes.  We are still monitoring his branch PA's (the ones they ballooned back in January), as blood is still flowing quite fast through his conduit because of their small size.  But, Dr. Verma doesn't think it needs intervention right now, so we'll go back in 6 months for another evaluation.  This was music to our ears!  Our life seems so normal right now (at least medically speaking,ha!) and I'd love to continue in that pattern for awhile!

Such a big boy now!

He looks thrilled to take his BP...don't you think?

In other news, we have just been busy bees around here.  We recently had a couple of family weekends full of fun, which I need to post about!  My working from home has also expanded quite a bit, so I am facing new challenges of how to actually get work done from home with a toddler under foot.  I am amazingly blessed in these opportunities and thankfully there is work to be done!  Liam also starts swim lessons next week and we have meet the teacher day for his 1 day per week Mother's Day out program we enrolled him in.  I am really excited about him being involved in both of these. 

More to come soon hopefully!  Thanks for checking in with us!  If you want to check out a great blog event my heart momma friend Stef is putting on right now, hop on over and check out Every Heart has a Story! Liam's link is up along with other amazing heart families!

8.2.12 - Summer Fun and Firsts!

We are having a great summer!  And it is going by quickly!  My last post left off that we were going to take Liam to his first movie - and we did!  We went to see Madagascar 3 and he did great!  About 20 minutes into the movie, he asked to go home so we could watch Mickey Mouse, but I sweetly said we had to finish watching our movie first...that seemed to go over well, but he did keep asking me the same thing about every 20 minutes or so!  But he never got jittery out of his seat or anything - and even laughed a few times, so I think he enjoyed it =) 

Another first we had was this morning.  Liam went to his first swim lesson!  We decided to enroll him for the fall semester so he can start learning how to swim and hold his breath under water.  I felt very comfortable with the place and instructors, and Liam had a blast, he did great!  We are in the very beginners baby class to start, but hopefully once he can learn to go under water he can move up to his age class.  And I wish I had pictures to share, but I was in the pool too!  It was fun getting to enjoy that with him! 

On Tuesday, my mom took Liam to the Science Museum while I was at work.  She caught some cute pictures and said he had a great time.  I am so thankful my parents are so involved with him - we are truly blessed!

And I'll end today's post with another first - first iPod!  It's Dustin's old one he doesn't use, so he loaded a bunch of kids songs on it and  Liam LOVES listening to it!  His favorite song is, you guessed it, Hot Dog Song from Mickey Mouse.  I think I know what his birthday party theme's going to be! ;)

And I am LOVING Instagram...anyone else?? ;)

7.28.12 - We're moved!

We actually moved 2 weeks ago...I know, I know, a little late.  But, the pile of boxes was overwhelming until a few days ago and I think I am just now getting my bearings straight again.  But, that being said, I absolutely LOVE our new space...really.  I thought going into 1/2 the size place we had before would be trying at best, but I am actually finding out I really like not having so much.  And I feel like we have lots of friendly neighbors! LOL

Our old house...one last picture!

Our awesome moving crew (aka BEST FRIENDS EVER!!) We were so thankful our friends offered to help us!

Liam is adjusting pretty well.  He had some regression with potty training the first week we were here, but he is back to normal again.  Bedtime has been rough, but I think that's due mostly to him almost being three, Ha!  He is TESTING us at every turn...and cries basically every night at bedtime over losing said test...poor little guy, I can say he is not a quick study on discipline.  During the day he is pretty well behaved, so night time really kind of comes as a surprise...he just starts acting very defiantly.  

Silliness while packing

This is his "what?" face

Jumping!!

Jumping high!  I never knew this camera trick....was fun to play with!

On another Liam note, we have a free swimming lesson scheduled next Thursday.  I am really excited, although it will be a chunk out of our budget, but I do think it will be well worth the money.  Given his sensitivity to aspiration with his vocal chord, it is really important he learn to swim and learn how to go under water safely.  This has concerned me a few times because I don't think he understands he has to hold his breath and I'm not quite sure how you teach a child that?  Anyways, he is also developing an aversion to the water (and getting face and head wet) and I don't want that to get worse.  We are planning on doing lessons for at least the semester, probably the whole year so it's consistent.  I'm excited and I hope he begins to find the water fun...and I am hoping for peace about him being around the water and not having to worry so much!

The camera trick is getting on the floor and shooting up for the shot....makes it look like you are jumping REALLY high!

too funny!

My attempt....I don't think I was even 3 inches off the floor, but it looks like I'm on a trampoline!  Crazy how its a visual trick with the camera!

We also decided to enroll Liam in a one day a week Mother's Day Out program at my parents church.  I am also excited about this for him because I think he's going to have a lot of fun.  He LOVES his church nursery class, so I think a 1 day a week thing will be good for him.

That's about it for now!  We are about to take Liam to his first movie...Madagascar 3!  I'm excited and hope he sits through it well!

7.8.12 - Updates and the big move!

Just wanted to check in LOL!  We've been busy to say the least!  Our fourth of July was great - Liam watched his first official fireworks and LOVED it!  We spent the day with our nieces and had a great time. 

Liam is doing great too.  He seems to be growing like a weed (i.e. tall and skinny!) and finding his own groove as an almost 3 year old.  It's weird to even say he's almost 3!  His next cardio appointment isn't until next month, but he seems to be, on the outside at least, doing really well.  I can't feel too much of a thrill in his chest and his energy is not lacking! So I am hopeful we may get to go a full year without an intervention! 

We move THIS Saturday!  Crazy how it snuck up on us...I think I've been in denial this whole time that we actually sold our house.  But, I am looking forward to our new adventure ahead!  After much prayer, we decided to go ahead and rent an apartment for a year, pay off all our debt and get our finances under control.  We were planning on being in an apartment ministry, but that didn't work out as planned.  However, we think this is still the best way to go and we feel this is where God wants us right now.  So, packing is under way!

Also, for a continued prayer request, Liam's little buddy Corbin I posted about a few weeks ago, was diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing chemo for the next 18 weeks.  They also had to remove his entire kidney.  We have been blessed to walk beside his family through this journey and had the opportunity share Liam's experience as a critically ill child.  Please keep this sweet family in your prayers!

If you don't hear from me for awhile, it's because we are busy setting up house again!  Hope everyone is having an amazing summer!!

6.24.12 - Finally some pictures!

The house is all quiet...ahhh.  Finally time to upload all the pictures that are burning a whole in my laptop!    First off, our recent trip to St. Louis where we visited my family

We started off with 12 hours in the car...luckily between here and there there was plenty of interesting places to stop for potty breaks and snacks...This was one of them...

The McDonald's that was built on a bridge over the highway, somewhere in Oklahoma.  Liam LOVED it! 

He was waving at all the trucks and cars, while mommy was acting like I was making the cars appear all of a sudden from out beneath the bridge...it was too funny - we spent a good 15 minutes here and didn't even get anything to eat!

When we got to St. Louis, it was off to the grocery store to stock up on essentials for the week...like "bunny crackers" that Liam is clinging to.  He and cousin Lukas were a hoot together!  Although, as my cousin and I realized pretty quickly, it is MUCH harder to say no to two toddlers than one...Ha!

Let the silliness begin!

And I had to add here, the DE.LI.CIOUS. meal my cousin made from said groceries...homemade Chinese food, complete with the BEST crab ragoon. Ever.

On to the next day, where we were off to the zoo!  Liam took a little cat nap in the car

Thank goodness for the double stroller...my cousin is expecting and she just got this is the day we arrived.  Thought we'd test it out!  Here the boys are reading the map and deciding where to go first!

Children's area...love that they had sand.  We could have spent the entire day in this one area.

Liam was having a blast!

My cousin and I were flashing forward to when the boys would someday do this in a REAL car!

Just LOVE that sweet face!!....Even in a cutout of an otter...

He looks thrilled to be posing for another picture! Ha!

He's somewhere between a Koala and an Otter...hopefully closer to the latter!

This cracked me up...this little goat was just chilling on the bench!

I made Liam sit next to him...He was not impressed.

Lunchtime sillies!

This was one of my favorite parts...the elephants!

So adorable, we actually got to see the baby elephant!  I always have the impression that you'll never really get to actually see the animals at the zoo...like they are always hiding during the day! Ha!  I was pleasantly surprised here

Mimi (my mom) with the boys!

Waiting patiently for the Carousel

Don't let the look fool you, he was really excited!  Was his first time on one!

Lukas and Lindsey

See?  He was excited!

Last stop was the penguins - too bad the line was SOOO long, it was the end of the day and we were beat - Glad they had some little ones outside to peek at!

Liam's first (and last, if it were up to me, Ha!) Harley ride!

He's got style!

Cousin hugs!

Last day at the splash park!

We had the BEST time!  The drive up and back went better than expected, Liam did great both pottying and eating (which are always top 2 concerns when traveling!).  And the meet-up I posted about here with Maxson and his mom was so wonderful.  Wish we lived closer to everyone up there!!

Thanks for checking in!  (And for looking at a ga-zillion pictures!)