Merry Christmas!

Our family has so many things to be thankful for as we look back at 2008. We are thankful for our family and friends who continue to be a tremendous support to us. We are greatful for our faith, the power of prayer, miracles, amazing children, employment, and the basic comforts of life. We are thankful for our Savior Jesus Christ, without whom this season of hope would not be possible.
Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!!

'Tis the Season...

to be busy...Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la!
The first weekend in December we went downtown to see the lights. We met Gavin and Ryan's families at the Kimball and it was great to have Grandma Welling and Aunt Debbie join us this year, which was a treat! Taryn was sick so Kenny stayed home with her. As per tradition, we ate dinner at Crown Burger and then walked to Temple Square. The reflection pond was the highlight this year with the Holy Family in the center. What a memorable night!

After we got the tree up and the house all decorated for Christmas (Thanksgiving weekend), I took the girls to Gardner Village to see the elves that are hidden all over the place. We enjoyed window shopping at the fun shops, getting our free fudge sample, and seeing all the lights and great decorations. The weather was perfect, not too cold. It got us even more excited for Christmas.

We kicked off the Christmas Season a few weeks ago at our Ward party. We had a yummy breakfast with Santa, who Taryn calls "Ho Ho". The girls were excited to see Mr and Mrs Claus and get treats, of course! It was lots of fun!

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving 2008 we hosted the Welling family at our home since my parents are on a mission. Megan, Ryan, Gavin, and their families, 19 in all, joined us for lots of food and fun. We had all the traditional favorites (of course we missed mom's pies) but with less stress and work since we served the meal buffet style on paper plates. The kids had a great time playing all day with their cousins. Bright and early the next morning we participated in the black Friday fun and scored some great deals at Walmart, had free breakfast at Sam's and were back in bed at home before the sun came up. It was great having everyone here!

Falling leaves means its Fall Indeed

The kids enjoyed playing in the leaves before Parker efficiently removed them from the front yard. We didn't have enough leaves for the kids to bury each other in a pile of leaves, so they just threw them around. Most of the leaves in our yard come from the neighbor's trees so there isn't too much to clean up. Our cousins, Kamron & Jaxon Welling, were staying with us for the weekend and they had fun playing outside in the beautiful autumn air too!

Collecting Candy

Halloween was lots of fun this year. Kenny and Parker spent the afternoon running lights and setting up the big screen and movie in the garage to make our house look really cool for the Trick or Treaters. We showed the movie "Corpse Bride" on a rear projection screen so that everyone who stopped by for a treat could watch a scary show too. I took the girls Trick or Treating., except for Bridget who went with her friend. Michaela's friend Sarah came with Ainsley, Taryn and I. Taryn had a great time getting candy but was so upset that I wouldn't let her eat it as fast as she collected it! When they got tired we headed home to eat candy and popcorn while we watched the movie. The weather was great too, we didn't even need a jacket!

Happy Halloween!

This year we painted pumpkins because, let's face it, it is a lot quicker and less messy than carving, which makes mom happy! Parker stuck with his favorite theme (Go Utes!). Michaela and Bridget painted their pumpkins by themselves as sort of a self portrait and did a great job! I helped Ainsley and Taryn turn their pumpkins into little blond girls that they think look just like them. Kenny was thrilled that he got to read the newspaper while we painted, he enjoys carving pumpkins even less than I do!

Witch Hunt

We had a great time going to visit the witches at Gardner Village last week. It was a perfect fall afternoon. We window shopped, watched the ducks, sampled yummy fudge, enjoyed looking for hidden witches, and took lots of photos, of course!

More Pink

Congratulations to my sister Megan and her family on their newest family member! They don't have a blog (non conformists) so I'm taking the liberty of posting the details. We got to meet little "Addie" last night and she is absolutely adorable - chubby cheeks w/ dimples, does it get cuter than that? When it comes to children my sisters and I seem to specialize in one gender, Parker being the exception of course! Well, when you're good at something....
Welcome to the family Adelaide!

Our Favorite New Toy

The kids love the new trampoline they bought with their own money! They earned it "doing pins" for their uncle, of course mom and dad helped too. They are all learning tricks and having a great time with it. Our back yard is finally a fun place to play!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

The Backyard

I wish I had "before" photos of our backyard. Just picture lots of dirt (actually clay), weeds, way too much cement on the west end, and a big tree off the corner of the patio. Oh, and don't forget the swimming pool & deck that we got rid of right after we moved in. It has taken a lot of time, hard work, and lots of green stuff (in the form of cash), but we FINALLY have a backyard for the kids to play in! Parker has a slab of cement to play basketball, they girls have space to run around and Kenny has grass to mow. Our plan is to build a deck next summer and plant a few trees and bushes along the fence. The kids plan is to get "more fun stuff" to do (a trampoline, etc) in the yard. For now we are just enjoying having lawn!

*Editors Note: Hence forth, my plan is to do the majority of posts in the form of digital pages (created so easily with CM Storybook software) from our family album. That way, at the end of the year I will have a completed album I can print for our family to look at and enjoy, pages for the kids scrapbooks, as well as an updated blog to share with the world at large (or at least those of you who care). Yes! I LOVE when one task accomplishes so many things! ~ Michele

Cardiology Visit

Just a quick update on Taryn...

Her Cardiology Visit was this morning and I'm happy to report the trip there was more eventful than the actual visit. (We were running late due to nasty traffic and then she threw up as I was getting her out of her car seat...too much fun before 9 am for me!) It took three of us to hold her down to get x-rays. I talked them into letting me wear the big heavy lead apron thing and stay with her, which helped a little but she HATES being restrained and is quite the fighter so it wasn't easy. After that she gave the carido nurse a run for her money trying to get the rest of the tests and EKG. I had to stand on the scale w/ her and then let her stand across then hall and protest while they weighed me alone so we could get her weight. BTW, if you want to feel better about your size I highly recommend weighing yourself in Kilograms, the numbers are much lower! The good news is that she is great. All the tests look great! Her energy level is of no concern (mine is another story, however) and she won't need to do synagsis (RSV) shots again this winter, yea! I asked Dr Sarrel if the look of her sternum will improve as she grows, it pokes out quite a bit and hurts her when she bumps into things. She said that they all heal differently and, unfortunately it won't likely flatten out as she grows. Oh well, we'll take a few scars and protruding bones in exchange for a fixed heart! We feel very blessed that she is doing amazingly well!

I promise to do an update on the family soon....

Welling Family Reunion

We had a great time at the family reunion 2 weeks ago. We stayed in a beautiful cabin in Mt Plesant, Utah. By way of explanation for the following photos...the "family follies" consisted of an Oreo eating contest, paper airplane making/flying, jumping rope, and a frozen T-shirt contest! We also had a "un-talent" show, got matching T-shirts and ate WAY too much. Gavin brought Grandma Welling, which was great. One good thing about loosing your memory- she couldn't remember that we kept her up late at night with our game playing and visiting! The honorary guests were cardboard cutouts of Mom and Dad, which the kids loved almost as much as Grandma! We sure missed having them there but are so proud of all they are doing "helping other people for Jesus", as Ainsley says. Thanks to LeAnne for all her hard work!

Guess Who's Four?

Ainsley celebrated her 4th birthday on Saturday, July 19th. She was so excited that her birthday had finally arrived!


Our stake had a float in the Days of 47 Children's Parade so I walked in the parade with Michaela, Bridget, and Ainsley. She thought it was pretty cool that she got to be on TV for her birthday and go to a party - they had lots of those blow-up slides, activities, and games at the end of the parade for all the kids who participated. On Friday she got to go to Build-A-Bear Workshop and get her first BAB bear, which she dressed in a pink (of course) princess dress and named Ella. She was excited about her new bike too!

Ainsley is so much fun to have around and keeps us all on our toes! Her Grandpa Welling says she's "nuttier than a fruitcake", which she seems to think is the ultimate compliment. We sure love having her in our family!

Getting Back to "Normal"

No news is good news... and things at our house have been so good (and by good I mean BUSY) that I haven't had time to post an update. Well, I actually got one all typed up and ready to post a few weeks ago but then my laptop started having issues, which in turn caused me to have issues and then it crashed! Oh joy! So, now that I have a shiny new one (thanks to a 24-month no interest plan & great deal from Best Buy) I'll give this another go...

Taryn's surgical follow-up appointment went great as did her 12 month check-up with the pediatrician, which she had at 13 months old due to surgery. (Unfortunately I can't find the cute photos I took as they are lost in the abyss that is all the stuff from my old PC in a cute icon on my desktop!) You'll have to trust me that she looks and feels great - you would never know she had heart surgery eight weeks ago! She is sleeping less, has lots more energy, and now turns a lovely shade of red (instead of blue) when she is mad. She will see the cardiologist in about 3 more months. We love that she is running all over the place and getting into everything. We are also enjoying attending church as a family again after six months and feel very blessed that we are able to do that again.

The kids are all enjoying summer break. Parker, Michaela, and Bridget all received special awards to wrap up the school year. We are especially proud of Parker who was recognized for being on the honor roll every quarter this last year! He just returned home from Scout camp where he earned 4 merit badges and is working on earning a few more this summer. Michaela, Bridget, and Ainsley are enjoying swim lessons and will finish up this week.

We have all been busy with projects this last month. I helped Megan (my sister) paint and decorate her bedroom a few weeks ago. I wish I had before & after photos to post because it really turned out great. That got me motivated to finally paint our main bathroom. It looks so much better without the peach/salmon walls. Parker helped me with that project and earned the painting merit badge, making that project a 2-for-1 deal. Our yard has been our biggest project - we had 4 trees and lots of cement removed, top soil brought in and leveled, and Kenny & Parker reworked the sprinkler system to get our backyard ready to be hydro-seeded. We were hoping to have a full lawn by now but we had a lot of rainy days at the beginning of the month, which put the landscaper behind. We are so looking forward to being able to let the kids run wild in the back yard without having to worry about keeping Taryn out of the street. We have also planted 6 new trees, a few flowers and some vegetables and herbs. Whew!

As I reflect on the past year I realize that my testimony of faith has grown so much.

Before Taryn was born I thought faith was a simple concept - if you believe in something enough and add fasting and prayer to that, then you would be granted that blessing you seek. Over the last year I have been privileged to meet families who have also been blessed with children born with heart defects. How difficult and heart breaking it is to see parents with enormous amounts of faith have their children return to Heavenly Father, even after numerous blessings and prayers. I have learned that faith does precede the miracle, but it doesn't guarantee it. I also know that miracles are not granted to those with the most faith or to the most righteous. I don't know why some get to keep their children and raise them here on earth while others yearn for the day when they can hold their angel babies again. (I find myself having "survivors guilt" sometimes.) Faith is more than just believing that your child can be healed, it is accepting the will of the Lord - even though it may be the toughest thing we ever have to do. One thing I do know is that Heavenly Father is mindful of each of His children and He loves us all, even though our trials are not equal...

A few weeks ago, though it was not easy and I tried to resist the urge to go up, I shared these thoughts (and of course my gratitude) when I bore my testimony in sacrament meeting. After the meeting a lady who was visiting our ward came up to me and with tears streaming down her cheeks thanked me for my testimony and said she was certain what I said was meant just for her. She then told me about her son that she lost two years ago who was born with a heart defect. I gave her a big hug and then dug through the diaper bag for more tissues for both of us! What an amazing experience. Since then I have felt the need to share my feelings about faith here as well...

Happy Summer!

Michele

Happy Birthday Parker!

Parker is 13 years old today. He says that makes him an official teenager!
He is such a great helper and a good kid. We don't know what we would do without him to fix things around here. Happy Birthday Parker, we love you!

Lots to Celebrate

Taryn had fun celebrating her first birthday!

Her favorite present was being home!

Happy 1st Birthday Taryn!

What a blessed and challenging year we have had since Miss Taryn joined our family just one year ago! We wouldn't trade it, or her, for anything! She is such a special little spirit and we look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with her! Happy Birthday Taryn, we love you!!!
I'll post B-day photos at a later date...

What's Next?

Taryn continues to do well and is gradually eating a little better, though she likes to make fake gagging noises just because she gets such a good reaction. It's really quite funny. She is so happy to home! She goes back for her surgical follow-up appointment on May 14th. Until then we are keeping her home but welcome visitors who are healthy as we need to keep her free of infection until she heals. As far as her heart goes she is considered "repaired". She will have follow-up appointments with her cardiologist every few months for the first while and then just once a year for the rest of her childhood. There is a very slight chance that as she grows there could be a leak around the patch that was placed to repair her heart defect, but otherwise she shouldn't need anymore surgeries. YEA!!! We really couldn't be happier with the outcome and are humbled by the tender mercies that have been been shown our family. Once again, thank all of you for your prayers, love and support!

We're Home!

Can you believe it? Taryn had a really good night last night. She had to have another Echo this morning because her daily x-ray caused a little concern with the Cardiology team during rounds. Everything looked great so they sent us home! Good thing too because she was starting to act like a caged animal in that hospital bed. She threw up what little milk I could get down her this morning but continues to drink only ice water from a straw. They aren't too concerned since she's not likely to eat only water and crackers forever. Bonnie said that Dr Hawkins will be surprised when he gets back on Monday because he thought for sure he would be seeing her then! She is so happy to be home and explore that she is refusing to take a nap, the only sleep she's had all day was in the car on the drive home! She is still on some meds for pain and such, thank goodness, she's going to need them as hard as she has played this afternoon. The kids are so happy to have her home. Bridget asked if we can finally start going to church as a whole family again, which we haven't done since the first week of December. We are looking forward to doing normal family stuff again. We feel so blessed and are grateful for all the fasting and prayers offered on our behalf! Thanks again for all the love and support!!!!

Kenny and Michele

What a Difference a Day Makes

Taryn Yesterday

Taryn had a good night last night and a great day today. She is liking the new pain meds and hasn't thrown up in almost 24 hours. The only thing she had all day yesterday was a few crackers and ice water through a straw. Her appetite is much better today, she's added cookies, Cheerios, and mashed potatoes to her diet. She starts gagging when she sees a bottle or sippy cup so we're still trying to figure out how to get her to eventually drink juice or milk. Het tubes and pacer wires were removed this morning and they gave her Morphine for that since it was pretty painful. She rested for awhile, watched more "Backyardigans" (her favorite) and even enjoyed a wagon ride through the hospital. She seemed to turn a corner a few hours ago and has been almost back to her wild and crazy self since late this afternoon. The biggest challenge now is keeping her in her bed and entertained! They are talking about sending her home sometime this weekend - either tomorrow or the next day! We can hardly believe it! We are so excited that she will be able to celebrate her birthday at home on Monday! Thanks again for all the prayers, help, and support! These things have truly made all the difference!

Taryn Today

Tummy Troubles

We were moved to the Surgical Unit (better know as the floor) yesterday afternoon. Her echo looked great. They moved her to the floor w/ the chest tubes and they continue to drain more than we would like but they aren't too concerned about it yet. Taryn has had a rough 24 hours. She spent most of yesterday throwing up everything, which can't feel very good on her chest. After some trial-and-error we determined that the Loritab was making her sick so they took her off of that. They put her on Zofran to help with nausea. She's also a bit "backed up" (a side-effect of surgery and Morphine) which doesn't help her comfort level either. The only thing we can get her to take is ice water through a straw which is keeping her hydrated. She was on Motrin and Tylenol all last night but that wasn't helping much to relieve her pain. In an effort to comfort her I held her in a chair that reclines slightly and we both got a few hours of restless sleep that way. The doctor is trying her on Oxicodone and we'll see how she tolerates that. She did eat a cracker before we creatively got the meds down her without her gagging and thowing up. Yea! She's resting comfortably now and we are hoping that continues.

Progress

Taryn is doing well today, just a few minor problems, but nothing real major. They removed her central line and arterial lines this morning. She has been draining quite a bit out of the small chest tubes (from her lungs) so they are going to leave those in for a least another day or two. They tried her on room air for awhile but she can't seem to keep her oxygen sat levels up so she is back on oxygen, which she likes to remove if left unrestrained. She started vomiting this morning and has done that a couple times so they have taken her off formula and she is having Pedialite until her tummy settles down. She is getting all of her pain med orally now so we need her to try to keep them down. She had an Echo just a little while ago and we are just waiting for the results to come back. Hopefully everything is good and we will still be moving to the floor today. She has been awake and calm most of the morning, which is great.

Again, we really appreciate all the prayers, help and support being sent our way. Thank you to whomever generously donated the cafeteria meal card to help us out with food during our stay. We sure appreciate all we have been blessed with.

Good Morning!

Day of Rest

Taryn had a good day today. They removed the main chest tube early this afternoon and she has slept pretty comfortably since late this morning. I think she was so worn out from crying and protesting for 19 hours that she just gave up and slept all day! Kenny got off work early and spent the afternoon and evening here with her. The kids were all able to come up and see her too. They had a little activity/class with Joy, the Child Life Specialist. They each got their own "Hospital Buddy" (doll) and learned what some of the lines, tubes, monitors, etc are that are helping their baby sister. They were all pretty excited to see Taryn, even if she slept through it. We all went out to dinner during shift change, Kenny and Kim took the kids home and I returned to find a baby who was not only awake but quite pleasant. She opened her eyes and recognized me and when I asked her how she was she spit out her binky and said "blugghh". I told her I understood! She had a bottle then just lay here for a while and bounced her feet up and down but didn't really fuss at all. Yea for Loritab! She is back to sleep now so I'm hoping it will be a quiet night. She needs to get 2 more chest tubes out, her arterial line, her central line and the pacer wires out next and the plan is still to move up to the surgical floor sometime tomorrow.

A new day but still not happy

Well, one of us got a good nights rest.
Dr Birch added a few stitches to her incision last night and that got the bleeding under control. These new stitches are going to make her scar a bit uglier, but what do you do? Every little noise, touch, and light seemed to just agitate her more so I decided to leave just after 10:00 since my presence wasn't doing any good. Her temp & BP were still high when I left. Her night nurse said she moaned and cried in her "sometimes sleep" all night. She wants so badly to sleep on her tummy but obviously that is out of the question so we have to keep her restrained because she keeps trying to roll over! Out of desperation the nurse gave her Pedialite really early this morning and said she liked it so much that she was mad and almost threw the bottle at her when it was gone. She has had a little formula this morning and is tolerating that well. I think the nurse got tired of listening to her and the morphine wasn't cutting it so she gave her Adivan a little bit a go to sedate her. She is sedated pretty good right now and FINALLY sleeping comfortably. Her BP and temp are looking better this morning. They plan to remove her main chest tube sometime today. She also had the cath removed. So, we are cruising right along. The plan is to get her moved up to the floor tomorrow morning, depending on how the rest of the day goes. I can't believe it! We will be giving up our posh bed space here shortly and be moved to the bigger area of the PICU. Things are looking amazingly well so far today. Thanks again for all the prayers and support!

Michele

Not happy

Babies are usually "in and out" after surgery while the anesthesia wears off...not this little spit-fire! She has been "in" ever since they took her off the ventilator, which was more than three hours ago. She is so tired but refuses to relax and let the pain meds and sedation take effect. She is dang mad and she wants everyone to know it! We have been unsuccessful at all attempts to comfort her, which is why I have given up and am sitting here in silence because any little noise or touch sets her off. Earlier this afternoon the nurse was so desperate to calm her down that she had me sit in the rocker and hold her - which was quite the process as she has 3 chest tubes and countless lines. She calmed down for about 10 minutes until she realized that mom holding her didn't make it all better! Her temp and BP are down a little bit but not much...rest and calm would help those numbers. Her incision site has been bleeding quite a bit since this afternoon. They thought it was just a skin bleed and the NP applied a pressure bandage, and then another, but it isn't getting any better so Dr Birch (Dr Hawkin's right-hand-man) is on his way to check it most likely put in another stitch or two. I'm hoping she'll be so exhausted from the procedure that she'll finally sleep. Fun times!

Recovery

Taryn looks good...at least she did until she woke up. She is not happy about her current state. They are trialing her off the vent right now and hoping to extibate her soon - in an effort to make her happier. She is running a high fever (102.5) and they can't seem to get that to go down. Her blood pressure is also really high. They have her really dropped up on Versed and Morphine but she is refusing to relax and keeps holding her breath and turning lovely shades of blue & purple! I'm not real excited about hearing her scream, she may be mad right now but its just the beeping of the monitors she sets off that we are listening to now. Once they extibate her the peace in the PICU will cease! They have her tied down so that she doesn't rip any lines out while she is throwing these silent fits. Wish me luck, it could prove to be a long night...

#5 - All Done!

She is did great!! We just met with Dr Hawkins and he said everything went well, no real problems. He had to enlarge the VSD and created a patch to route the blood flow to the aorta. The band popped right off her pulmonary artery easily and there is great flow through there. He said her heart is pumping very well and he doesn't think she will need a pace maker unless we have complications in recovery. The swelling wasn't bad so they were even able to close her chest. As long as she does well through recovery she shouldn't need any additional surgeries! Yea! She will be critical for the next 24-48 hours but things look great so far. They are moving her to the PICU and once she is stable we will be able to go and see her, in about an hour.

We are so thankful for all who have checked in on us and prayed for Taryn and our family! We have at peace all day and know it is because of the faith and prayers of so many. THANK YOU!!!

#4

They just finished. Linda said things went well. We will meet with Dr Hawkins in about 45 minutes to get the details. Thanks to everyone for all your prayers and support.

Michele

#3

We just spoke to Linda, the Cardio Nurse Practitioner. She was just in the OR and said things are going really well. He is almost done with the repair and then it will take a while to get her body temp back up and off of by pass. We should see her in another hour...

#2

They just made the incision and have officially started. We should hear from the NP with an update in an hour. The dreaded OR waiting room is surprisingly quiet this morning - thank heavens - I'm hoping is stays that way.

Update #1

Everything went smoothly this morning. We just kissed her good-bye about 30 minutes ago and she was so loopy from the Virsed that she didn't seem to mind at all. Dr Hawkins was shocked when he saw how big Taryn is (23+ lbs.) and he was very optimistic about the surgery, much more so than the last time we talked to him. He is concerned about having to make the VSD larger in order to create a good path, the length of time the band has been on her pulmonary artery, and possible valve damage. Because of her size the patch should grow with her heart, which would mean no more surgeries if this one is successful. We feel much better after meeting with him. They expect the surgery to last until around 1:30 or 2:00. They are just running lines and all that fun prep stuff right now. We will keep you posted as we get updates...

Here she is in her cute hospital PJ's and a bit drugged.

Surgery Tomorrow

I tried to get this information posted all last week but there has just been so much to do and take care of. Sorry for waiting until the last minute...



Taryn is healthy and has been cleared for her surgery, which will be tomorrow (April 28th) at 7:30 am. We check in at 6:00 am and will meet with her surgeon, Dr Hawkins, at that time and he will give us the details on how he is planning to repair her unique Double Outlet Right Ventricle (DORV) and Ventricle Septal Defect (VSD) . I just returned from getting her pre-op stuff done and everything went well except that they weren't able to get a urine sample so I get to do that at home tonight, which should prove to be fun since we all know how skilled babies are at peeing on demand!



I have learned recently that some have received inaccurate information concerning Taryn's and our current situation so I am going to take this opportunity to answer some of the questions you either didn't know you had or don't dare ask me...

* The survival rate for Taryn's particular heart surgery is 70%. There is a 30% chance she won't make it. Her first surgery was 90%/10%.

* This is open heart surgery, which means they will stop her heart to work on it and she will be placed on heart & lung by-pass. Most likely they will not close her chest after surgery due to swelling and so that if something goes wrong they will have quick access to her heart.

* Babies very rarely die during OH surgery because they are on by-pass. If they are unable to successfully get them off by-pass then they come out of surgery on life support. It's generally the first 24 to 48 hours following surgery that complications arise they loose them. So, unfortunately once we hear she has made it through surgery we won't be able to have that "deep sigh of relief", just a shallow one.

* She will spend the first few days recovering in the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit). I will be sleeping at my Aunt Grace and Uncle Jim's house, which is 5 minutes from PCMC. (Thanks Grace & Jim!)

* We won't know until recovery whether or not Taryn will need a pacemaker. Once they close the VSD (hole between the lower two chambers of the heart) there is a strong possibility that her heart will not be able to "keep pace" on it's own. She will have an external pacemaker place post surgery and we won't know how her heart is going to do until they remove it. If she does need a pacemaker they will wait until she recovers from OH surgery before they put it in (most likely in her stomach).

* We just don't know how long she will be in the hospital. It all depends on how recovery goes. I'll let you know what Dr. Hawkins thinks. I'm planning on three weeks and hoping for less.

* The rest of the kids will be well cared for this week. Kim Welling, my sister-in-law, arrived yesterday and will be running the house and kids for the week. Kara Welling, another sis-in-law, is coming to relieve her on Friday. (Thanks Kim & Kara!)

* Taryn is healthier than she has been in 8 weeks and is now walking all over the place. She's got a fighting spirit and a little "spit fire" if she doesn't get her way.

* I AM OK. I did have to switch to water-proof mascara this week but I'm not a "basket case" by any means. As a distraction I attempted to do a weeks worth of Spring cleaning in two days, something I don't recommend. I went a bit overboard but kept thinking that every closet, base board and corner needed to be clean just in case things don't go well and someone tries to clean my house for me or looks in a closet...If you have OCD tendencies like I do you get where I'm going with this! I am not looking forward to tomorrow and the days ahead but know that Taryn needs this surgery if she is going to live a long, happy life, which is what I want more than anything for her! I'm praying that I will have strength to handle whatever the Lord has planned for Taryn and our family, no matter the outcome. I have faith that her heart can be repaired but struggle with the reality that other parents with faith greater than mine have lost their babies to odds that were better than ours.

I will post updates throughout the day tomorrow. I'm not sure how long surgery will be but expect it to be 6 to 8 hours, we'll get a better estimate in the morning. Kenny has the day off and will be with me. Thank you for all of the thoughts, prayers, fasting, and offers to help! We certainly couldn't do this alone and are grateful we don't have to!

Michele

Happy Birthday Michaela!

Michaela truned 10 years old yesterday...she is getting so grown up! She was excited to get an MP3 player and cute new clothes. We love you Michaela!

Easter Photos

The Kingsford Kids

Taryn is walking...well sort of. I did some fun editing with this photo but yesterday she took four steps all by herself. She gets so excited that she looses her balance...too cute! She still has a junky cough but seems to be getting over her ear infection. Of course she's teething now and I'm hoping that's the source of the runny nose and restlessness at bed time. Her color is looking more blue this week so we are still praying that she will be well enough for surgery in a few weeks. Thanks for keeping Taryn in your thoughts and prayers.