8.30.10 - Happy 11 months Liam!

As we are turning the corner toward Liam turning ONE (I just can't believe it's almost here already!), I am rejoicing that we are where we are today, but also reflecting on the long road it took to get here...It's a crazy set of emotions too, highs and lows flowing in and out of my head...remembering this past year. Probably something every mom does when they find their baby is not so much a baby anymore, but a little more reflective of a tiny person, who is building character and personality exponentially each day. My heart overflows with thanksgiving for all we have been given, and it's true abundance...

As we are celebrating Liam's milestones and life turning one this next month, I did want to take a minute to ask your prayers for some sweet heart moms whose Septembers are also going to be memorable ones. Baby Ewan is due soon, as well as baby Mason, who both will be born with ToF, just like Liam was. Their stories are full of faith and hope, and I hope you'll pray for these tiny little hearts! And, baby Maxson will be going through his repair surgery next month, so I also want to say special prayers for their family as well. Heart families are always in need of prayer! For more heart stories, you can visit "Every Heart has a Story".

I'll leave tonight with some pics from this past weekend. We went to the NICU reunion at Medical City and Liam got to see his old roomie, Tucker. They were adorable together and it was so good to see our good friends Dena and Trent (Tucker's parents) as they have been an encouragement and support for us from day 1.

Every heart has a story....

One of my blogger heart mom friends is hosting a special blog event today, "Every heart has a story". She is bringing the online community together to share our heart stories, read about other's journey's and provide inspiration and hope to those around us. You will find some awesome and extraordinary stories of courage, hope and strength within the posts and links she will be hosting. My hope is that we share our stories to encourage and enlighten, to get awareness out, but also to provide support and love to these incredible families.



Here is our story.

Many of you have been following Liam’s story from the beginning, but for those of you who do not know us, welcome to our journey. I hope you are filled with hope and joy by reading about our little heart hero who changed our lives forever.

Liam was born September 30, 2009. He was diagnosed shortly after birth with a rare congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) with Pulmonary Atresia (PA). His condition went undiagnosed in utero, as I had no complications and his heart defect was not detected on any of the sonograms. In fact, pregnancy was great. We had a little trouble at first with getting the correct gestational age, but after that, it was smooth sailing. We chose not to undergo any genetic testing or fetal tests. I do not regret not knowing in advance of his condition… looking back, I am certain my pregnancy and Liam’s birth went exactly according to God’s plan.

The morning of September 30, I was 36 weeks 6 days. One day shy of full-term. It was Wednesday, and I woke up at my usual 5:00 am for work feeling a little funny contracting sensation. Then I got out of bed….hmmm…feeling the gush of water, I knew this was it. And on my dad’s birthday too, which we had just been teasing my dad that past weekend that Liam would sure enough come that day, just to make it interesting. And sure enough…he was coming!

My labor was pretty quick, the pushing part was not however, and Liam required assistance from the vacuum extractor to finally make his appearance. Because he was one day shy of full term (can anyone say God’s perfect timing??) the NICU team was on stand by to make sure he was ok and didn’t have trouble with breathing (as it is common for white males to have underdeveloped lungs when born premature). They noticed right away he was not getting enough oxygen and had a slight heart murmur….they assured us they dealt with this all the time and thet Liam just needed to be monitored for awhile on oxygen, and he should be fine….About 5 hours later, we got the news that changed our world forever.

A pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Verma, delivered us the news that no parent would ever want to hear…Your child’s heart is broken and he has to have surgery to fix it. My mind went into shock and my memory of the rest of the evening is a little fuzzy. I do remember going to see Liam before the whisked him off in the ambulance to transfer him to Medical City Dallas…I got to hold him while they hooked him up to all the monitors and prepared him for transport. But I was lost, and I didn’t even notice they cutoff our bracelets so they could take him without the alarms going off….(it hit me a couple days later that I no longer had my bracelet that linked me to Liam as his mom…it hit me hard, too). There I was all alone in the hospital, no baby by my side like I had expected. My only comfort, besides that of my wonderful husband and family, was a small, stuffed monkey some friends of ours had picked up for us at the gift shop. Little did they know how “monkey” would help me cope, sleeping skin-to-skin with me in the hospital and at home, as Liam should have been. Monkey has thus been there with us and for us from the beginning….

Liam underwent his first open heart surgery, to place a BT Shunt, when he was 5 days old. We were in the NICU for 23 days…released on my original due date, October 22. We have been through a lot since then, mainly feeding issues. Liam went home from his first surgery on an NG tube and 4 months later had to have a g-tube placed because of continuing aspiration issues that stemmed from a paralyzed vocal chord from surgery. We were lucky that he tolerated feedings fairly well, and we were able to keep him on a “normal” feeding schedule. I pumped BM for him the first 5 months, and we then switched to formula about the time he was ok’d to start solid foods. That was a milestone day for us, as we were finally able to start feeding our baby by mouth! He has progressed well, and recently passed his swallow study with flying colors and we can finally give him a bottle, or sippy cup as he prefers. He sees a therapist twice weekly for his eating issues and for upper body strength that he is needing.

His second heart surgery was June 3, 2010. This was our “big” surgery, as it lasted about 8-9 hours and repaired his heart so that in essence, it would function as a “normal” heart. They closed the hole between his left and right ventricles and placed a pulmonary conduit and valve, where he did not have one. They also removed the BT Shunt they placed during his first surgery. Our PICU stay this time was 15 days, as Liam had some issues with extubation. He had two unsuccessful attempts at extubation before the third one was successful. This surgery was hard on all of us, we dealt with a collapsed lung, weaning off narcotic drugs and low oxygenation. It took Liam a little longer to recover from this past surgery, but he is doing great now.

Liam’s status right now is stable from a heart perspective. We know that he will need another surgery between 3-5 years as an estimate, to replace the valve he will outgrow as he gets bigger. They are also monitoring some slight narrowing of his pulmonary artery, to make sure that does not warrant a surgery date sooner than the estimated time frame…but I guess it’s always a possibility. Anything is when you have a heart baby…we have learned to not take life for granted, as we may not be granted another tomorrow.

Liam is a perfect little boy…almost 1 years old and thriving. He is babbling non-stop, happy, healthy and loving life right now. I can honestly say, I wouldn’t wish my life to be any different. Yes, it is hard. Do we struggle – of course. Yes, I have been on the brink of insanity, depression and extreme fatigue. But I wouldn’t change a thing. Knowing the kind of love and miracles we have experienced, Liam has truly brought life to our lives. He brought God closer to me than I ever imagined He could get, and the love of a parent’s heart that only a mother or father could know. Liam's journey with his CHD will never end. He will have to deal with the effects of his condition each and every day of his life. We have found hope and can truly say we are blessed to have been chosen to walk this journey with him as his parents. Liam is our inspiration; his courage and strength amaze us each day - He is our JOY!

It has been a roller coaster of a year for us, but our faith in the Lord has carried us through. We have experienced God on a whole new level, as his miracles, faithfulness and sacrificial love have shown themselves to us each and every day through Liam’s journey, in unbelievably amazing ways. Our blog is a testament to a loving and merciful God. He is the source of our strength, hope and peace...for Jesus has been there before, and has been here with us every step of the way.

Everyone has a story, thank you for letting me share ours.

8.22.10 - Hiccups, status and updates

In 8 days, Liam will officially be 11 months old....That's right....one more month until he turns 1!  I remember one year ago, my August was full of baby showers, getting the nursery ready, no sleep and great anticipation awaiting Liam's arrival, thinking I had two more months of pregnancy to go before I would see his sweet face.  Liam came3 weeks and 1 day early, and on my dad's birthday no less =)  And then our lives changed forever...and that I will leave for another post!

This next paragraph may get a little graphic, so if you are eating or are about to eat, you may want to skip ahead =)
We had a few hiccups this weekend.  Let me start by re-sharing the thought that I have always suspected Liam does not tolerate milk normally.  So, the events of this weekend confirmed my suspicion, however yielded an unfortunate result.  From the time he spent in the hospital with the virus and then the past surgery in June, milk caused many problems and we had to switch him to a soy based formula.  The soy was hard on his system, so for the past 8 weeks or so, I have been giving him Alimentum formula (hypoallergenic) and he has been doing GREAT.  No spitting up or vomiting at ALL for at least the past 6 weeks.   My plan was to keep him on this expensive formula until I felt like Liam was completely recovered from the surgery and that his system was running at 100% and then slowly switch him back to the milk-based Goodstart he was on before (but, looking back, I realized he spit-up and occasionally vomited on this even prior to surgery).  The past week I have been mixing 1/4 GS to 3/4 Alimentum....Liam spit up a couple times, but I didn't really think much about it, so for the most part he was doing fine.  Well, Saturday rolled around, so I upped the GS to 1/2.  Poor little Liam did not tolerate it well, as it came out both ends, quickly, for most of the day.  We ended the day on a feeding of Pedialyte.   No fever or acting unusual, so I knew it must have been the milk....Today I started him back on straight Alimentum and no problems so to speak.  His D went away and he has not V'd either. (I think I would rather use abbreviations for those two thing =)).  So, back to square one.  I am not sure to what degree Liam has an intolerance.  I am thinking it's not a total intolerance, but as someone suggested on one of my support boards, he may just not be able to digest the milk protein very easily.  I have plans to call the nutritionist tomorrow to talk to her more about my theory and see what other options are for formula feeding now that turning 1 is right around the corner. 

We also had to change out Liam's button....on our own...on Saturday.  The morning Prevacid clogged his tube.  Thankfully, Dustin saved us a trip to the ER and thought to swap it out with the old one (now our spare) while he unclogged the new one Liam just got put in on Thursday.  It worked very well, and I amazed myself at how painlessly the swapping out was for all parties involved.   Thank God for my husband and the way he thinks.  My brain just goes into panic mode sometimes and all reasonable solutions to problems just go flying out the window.  See, God knows what He is doing...He set me up to marry my voice of reason so I would always have it around =)  Thank you honey! Love you!

Despite our hiccups, we did try to go about a normal weekend.  We went to my parents house Saturday afternoon and had dinner with GiGi before she leaves to go back home - It was so great having her here to love on and for Liam to get to know his great grandma and spend time with her. We will miss you GiGi!!!

Today, we actually went out, to a restaurant, with Liam, for lunch.  We went with Mike and Amber and Lauren and Grace.  Liam did surprisingly well, sitting in the big boy high chair for the first time.  I have found that outings are getting easier....or at least I am being more prepared for them!

Feeding and drinking are going ok.  The sippy cup is going really well, as Liam has been sipping about 1-2 oz. of water a day .  We have been offering it to him freely during the day and letting him take small sips as often as he wants.  Yesterday, he took in about 2 oz. which I thought was great.  He still will cough if he gets too much at once, but overall is doing good with it.  Solid food feeding is going ok, he is still only able to tolerate Stage 2 foods, as anything thicker or chunkier in texture makes him gag and choke.  He also has not been wanting to eat much lately.  He is actually eating better at daycare than he is at home.  We did have his weight checked when he had his button changed out and it seems he has gained 6 oz in about 20 days, which I guess is good.  So it puts Liam right over 20 lbs.  At least it is a gain. 



We don't go back to the cardiologist for another two months.  It feels very strange to not be going this week.  We have gone to see Dr. Verma at least once a month for all of Liam's life so far.  But I am glad he didn't think we needed to go that often!

And last but not least, a TEAM LIAM update!  We have plans to roll out a TEAM LIAM website in the next few weeks and I am really excited about it!  It will host a number of different things, such as training plans, calendar of events, fundraising updates and a lot more!  I am also hoping to get it up so that our corporate sponsor's can print off forms they need in order to donate to our cause and be recognized on our t-shirts and jerseys. 

I will also be mailing out letters to friends and family explaining a little more in detail what we our purpose is with TEAM LIAM, and for those that do not have access to our blog.  If you know of anyone who you think would like to receive a letter, please email me their address and I will send one out to them!  Corporate letters will be going out soon after that, and I am making plans to visit some local businesses we frequent in the area to try and gain their support as well!  This will be in conjunction with a blog idea I have for September, so stay tuned!

8.16.10 - Making of a soon-to-be one year old...

 
Liam is growing up so fast. He graduated and passed his swallow test, so now we are working on the sippy cup...YES, you heard me right. Liam has been sipping away all weekend on the Soothie sippy cup (my thanks to Julia for the suggestion!). Oh how long I have waited for this moment! Little teeny tiny amounts at a time, but he is making progress. He is still coughing some, when he gets too big of a gulp, but we are monitoring him closely for congestion and listening to his sounds. We are only doing water right now because they said if for some reason he does aspirate it, it most likely would get absorbed back into the lungs and not cause any damage...then they told us if he starts getting sick a lot with respiratory infections, we need to have him re-evaluated. We are praying he moves forward with drinking and progresses without complications!

Liam's first day at school was also today. He did great - A+! It was a little rough for his first feeding, I am glad I was there to be able to soothe him, as he was a LITTLE upset. But he soon fell right to sleep and was awake and happy upon my return an hour later. I took duty for helping with the morning feeding and Grandpa visited in the afternoon to help with the second feeding. I think one more day of shadowing the feeding routine should be enough to get everyone comfortable with his tubey. Honestly, I was way more worried about how Liam would react, and not really about navigating his feedings. Thankfully, Liam only gets two tube feedings a day there, and it is such a blessing the teachers are working with us. We will see how the week progresses. Speaking of tubes, Liam gets a new one installed on Thursday...finally! This one has sprung a leak, and is in dire need of repair! No one told me we should have changed it out months ago...but that's a whole 'nother story!

I'm signing off tonight with pictures from our busy fun-filled weekend. My girlfriends from high school and I all got together with our families to swim on Saturday...It was so much fun. I can't believe we all have "families" now. Seems like just yesterday we were all studying for finals together...Memories!

Missy, Matt, Cooper and Conley, Me and Liam - C and C both share a birthday with Liam!  Missy and I both went into labor on the same day!  VERY cool =) Missy will also be running the FULL marathon for TEAM LIAM...VERY COOL as well!

Liam didn't know what to make of the water....or all the kids.

Mimi's sink makes a great bath for the end of a long day!

I think bath time is more his style...he likes the smaller pools of water!

Love Liam's baby blue eyes!

Liam's nap Sunday afternoon....he slept for two and a half hours.  Don't worry, mommy re-positioned him to a much safer position after she caught some cute pics. 

And yes, Liam still has his helmet.  Mimi's awesome artwork didn't survive the glaze we put over it, so we had to start over.  Back to white....but hopefully awesome again soon!  Long week ahead...Signing off!

Mini-post for GREAT news!!!

We have a busy weekend but I wanted to let everyone know the good news: Liam passed his swallow study yesterday!! We can now start giving him ANY consistency liquids by mouth YAY!!! Long road still dealing with some oral aversions and actually getting him to drink, but Praise God for a huge answered prayer!! More to come later :)

8.12.10 - Laying my burdens down...

I had a relatively safe blog post planned for tonight. But this week, and especially tonight, I seem to have a heavy spirit...thoughts I've long ignored and feelings I've managed to push to the side have been creeping around me this week, and I happened to take notice. This seems to be a habit of mine - I go and go and go, rarely stopping to address issues and feelings that need to be aired out, but instead I quickly hide them away. It's very similar to how I sometimes "clean" my house. Everything goes into the closet and into junk drawers to hide the clutter, time and time again, until those drawers and closets finally burst at the seams and overflow onto the floor. I am overflowing...and I am overwhelmed.

I know I am supposed to lay my burdens down, but these are tricky. I want to look at them, observe them, feel them and let myself remember. When I go to clean my closets, I often will be sidetracked by seeing things I haven't seen in awhile, trying on that old coat I'd forgotten about or looking at old photos stuffed away in a box...It all brings back a past I chose to hide away, full of memories. I noticed myself lately beginning to do that with old thoughts and old feelings...of Liam's birth and surgeries, of our life just shy of one year ago and how it changed forever...I don't want to let go because I want to remember. I want to wear it because now, it has become familiar.

I think all this has been surfacing lately because of a couple of important things happening right now. First, Liam is starting daycare on Monday. This afternoon, I went up there with Dustin, my dad and Liam in order to go over his medical notebook and be sure (again) that the teachers were comfortable dealing with everything and with all his "accessories". While showing them how to use the feeding pump, flashbacks of my first time learning the ropes in the NICU kept popping up in my head. Those same feelings of inadequacy and fear took hold of me, as I realized the magnitude of what I was asking of these kind women, who have offered to care for my son, to do. The flashbacks then jumped to being home with Liam for the first few months. Living on pure adrenaline, just trying to keep my head above water...constantly fighting off worry and doubt, prayer after prayer after prayer going up.

The other important event happening is his swallow study tomorrow morning. This has always been a source of anxiety and stress for me. This will be our 4th one, and I am really hoping it is our last, but always preparing for a possible repeat in the future. My heart's desire is for Liam to be a normal child in this area of his issues...for him to have juice, water or a bottle whenever his little tummy desires, and not just routinely every 4 hours during the day. I remember my feelings of hope and certainty that first time, knowing that surely he had healed and could get that tube out. But that hope quickly faded and doubt took its place....will he ever get better? How long? What next??

I've realized while it's good to remember, maybe even try it on again, I don't want to get stuck there, living amongst my past. I know that our life can change again at any moment...and I know someday it can change and WILL change, and I know my God and I know it's all for His glory. God's got a lot of work in me....lots of clutter, lots of burdens...for it's a heavy road, the heart mom trails. Different paths lead us through different battles, but they all bring us to the same conclusion - we will get through it and we never walk alone. For the lover of my soul walks beside me, carries me and takes up my cross with His if I'll let Him. Come walk with me...

8.8.10 - Lots of topics for this post...rabbit trail day!

Liam is very close to having what most babies have several of by now...TEETH! We noticed yesterday that his lower two teeth are moving into place! They haven't surfaced yet, but surely they will pop up soon. Makes sense with how Liam has been acting lately too - more cranky during the day and not wanting to eat solids for anything. Although, he has still been sleeping well and taking some pretty good naps...one which I shared with him this afternoon, and was mush needed! So I can't really complain that teething has been too difficult for him, or...not for now at least....

The upcoming week is busy as usual, but I am excited that Liam's Gigi will be in town! Oh, how I have missed her and boy how Liam has grown since her last visit at Christmas!! They are going to have so much fun...I'm jealous that I have to work all week! Liam also gets a short visit with his Great UJ as well...Loving some family time!

We got together again with our nieces yesterday afternoon - they are just too fun and I know Liam just adores them! They keep him WELL entertained! We went to my sister-in-laws house this time. Dustin took Liam over early while I got to get my hair done =) Here is a cute pic of the girls with Liam I had to share...


Liam also has been standing up with our help...He is really getting the hang of it and LOVES when when pull him up!


I spent most of the morning Saturday compiling our medical notebook. Sounds fun, huh? Something I literally have had on my to-do list since....hmmm, last October??! Anyways, Liam is starting daycare in a week and I want to be sure all his info is in a nice binder for them....as it should be. I'm making two so we will have one here at the house also for an emergency. There is a great resource for creating one yourself that I found has nice forms you can type your info in print out for your notebook and then save to your computer so you can make changes easily. For anyone who is interested, here is the link http://www.medicalhomeinfo.org/for_families/care_notebook/care_notebook.aspx. I found this website to be very helpful. Although some of the forms are pretty general, for the most part they have sheets that cover all the basic medical info needed for others in case of an emergency. I am thinking about modifying some of the forms specifically for heart families and posting them to my blog for download.....which is another area I have been thinking a lot about lately....

In compiling my notebook yesterday and just in day to day life with Liam in general, I have had a feeling of frustration working through the medical world of his condition. It just seems the lack of guidance and counseling is hard to come by and not available like it should be. I always feel like I'm floundering through, trying to navigate his issues without a road map. We, the parents, are left to make connections and piece together our child's care. We must know what questions to ask or risk not receiving vital information. I am terrified of not getting it right....of missing some big important step, either because I wasn't told or failed to ask the right questions...

I guess what I am trying to say is, I am really seeing the value of becoming actively involved in my support groups, both online and locally. This is the one arena that is open 24/7 for advice, game plans, road maps and encouragement. I also think that as CHD support groups grow, awareness will as well. And with more awareness, comes more resources...and that benefits everyone. I really feel for the first time moms who are navigating this journey. I have been there...I'm still there, but in a much better place because of other's like myself who have come together to offer each other a piece of the puzzle. But if you are reading this blog and looking for a support group for anything related to your child, BabyCenter.com is a great resource for online support groups, for numerous specific topics. Yahoo groups also has some great support groups as well. And thank you for our Amazing Little Hearts support group for always working hard to provide support and fun family activities for us local CHD families. We have not been a big part of ALH yet, due to the limitations we have had with Liam, but we are hoping to be more actively involved! And last but not least, thank you to all my CHD blogging friends...you all are priceless to me and I am glad we get to share our journeys with each other!

8.4.10 - It's always something 'round here!

This week has been a little bit of a challenge for us. First off, Liam got his bright white shiny new helmet on Monday! He surprised me, I must say. He has tolerated it so well! At the doctor's office, he got all excited when they put it on him...and didn't seem to be bothered by it at all. That is an answered prayer for sure! I was worried because he already hasn't been sleeping great and I just figured there would be a major adjustment in getting used to this for him. So that all equals no sleep for me. But lo and behold, he slept in it the very first night better than he has in a LONG time...And that brings us to our second part of the week...As Liam also slept through our A/C going out in the middle of the night....bring on the rain to our parade...

Yes, at about 11:00 pm Monday night, I noticed our A/C unit sounded VERY loud outside. Dustin went to check on it and agreed it didn't sound right and that it was probably the fan going out. Let me just preface real quick to for those of you who don't know that we live in Texas...and the heat this week has been, well normal for us, but HOT to say the least. SO, in a matter of about 30 minutes, I noticed on Liam's monitor, the temperature slowly creeping up from 76 to 77 then 78...then 79....then stopped at 80. Of course to us, it didn't feel too hot and since by then it was midnight, we decided to sleep with fans on, hoping it stayed cool enough til Tuesday morning. Thankfully it did stay bearable til morning, but I did get up a frequently to check on Liam and feel to make sure he wasn't getting too hot. The next morning, my dad came over as usual and took Liam to my parents house and I ended up staying the night last night with them too. Dustin stayed behind to meet with A/C people, a good husband he is....and then had to tell me the bad news that the compressor was going out and that our outside unit PLUS the inside attic coils had to be replaced....All I saw were evil dollar signs dancing in my head. It's ALWAYS something round here....but, it's what keeps my faith up, right? For our kind of life, you always have to be prepared for the unexpected...Into the Lord's hands this goes too...as this, too, shall pass.

So now I am sitting at home in air conditioning once again, full of thanks for the blessings we have and the people around us always there supporting us. I know the Lord has timing and purpose in everything that happens to us, so I have faith that this too is working for our good, because we love and trust in Him.

TEAM LIAM UPDATE!
So LOTS still to do....this week has thrown me off a bit, including my training, but this weekend I'm planning on doing some catch up! The team logo is in the works, so I'm hoping to get that finished so I can start getting out official sponsor letters and t-shirts and jerseys designed. I also still need to contact the Children's Heart Foundation and let them know about our event so they can post it to their website.

I'm hoping to get the TEAM LIAM website up and running soon. I still have to get a design template and then we should be good to go!

FUNDRAISING UPDATE - We have already collected $1,300 towards our goal of $10,000! Thanks to Missy and Turner Construction Company for being our first corporate sponsor! Thanks also goes to our Nanny S. for the very generous donation as well! We are off to a GREAT start! Be sure to keep checking our fundraising progress and spread the word with our giving page at FirstGiving.com!

8.1.10 - Weekend fun!

This weekend was so much fun!  We had another family weekend with Dustin's sister, Amber, Uncle Mike and our nieces and Dustin's younger sister, Katie was in town as well.  It was so great to get everyone together - I just LOVE family weekends!!

The weekend started off with a birthday celebration for all the kids, since we can't all seem to get together on all their actual birthdays, we thought it would be fun to just have a celebration once a year during the summer, since we have started making it a tradition to keep our nieces, Tori, Lauren and Grace and Dustin's younger sister Katie for the weekend. 

Happy birthday everyone!!  This was Liam's first look at a birthday cake.  I am SO praying hard he can take a bite of some for his real birthday coming up soon =)

We had some more fun playing the Wii and just hanging out all afternoon.

Dustin took the girls shopping that evening to get a little birthday present for each of them.  He also came back with a new toy for Liam...

 Liam's first walker!

I didn't even know they still made these until a few weeks ago...Guess they are quite popular again!  Liam wasn't quite sure what to do, he just played in it like he does his exersaucer.  Hopefully this will help his agility a little more....not sure.  Just thought it'd be fun to try it out.

It's time for bed, but why not play some more?  It is still SUMMER!!

Sunday was the big day.  Hawaiian Falls day!!  Our first outing to any kind of water activity...or park for that matter.  Here the kids are bright and shining first thing this morning ready to go...

 

After several trips to CVS for swim diapers and more snacks, we finally made it!  I was really praying for this adventure for Liam -that he wouldn't get sunburned or dehydrated or some kind of weird infection from the water and that he would have fun!  We did get in the water a little.  Liam and I went and sat in the shallow water of the wave pool for a while, then went over to the kids area, where he splashed around sitting in the shallow water for a little while.  It was tough planning though.  His nap time was going to fall smack dab in the middle of our trip, but luckily our house is just minutes from the park.  After about 45 minutes of playing, he was tired, so I brought him back to the shade where he did this for the next HOUR...

Naptime in the sun!

 Noise?  What noise?  I'm sleepin!

Dad wants me to wake up to go have some fun!

Unfortunately these were the only pics I got of Liam at the park.  We did go back out and played for another 30 minutes after his nap, but then had to go back home so I could give him his feeding... Liam and I then both napped for a good two hours!  We had planned on going back to the park after his feeding and nap, and I really wanted to go back so I could take some more pics, but we decided to stay in.  I think he had enough of the sun and fun for one day! Thankfully, we did escape without a sunburn or dehydration, and hopefully no weird infection either!

We had such a great time this weekend, it was nice being together as a family and sharing a piece of normal family life for a change.  I am glad Liam is so easy going and really is a good sport about a lot of our "trying out" things we do with him!  God bless him!