May we present to you....


The newest member of the naked neck club.


Ok so you might not be able to tell now b/c she came out with a lot more tubes than she went in with...but these are temporary.





Everything went well- although the real test will be when she is breathing on her own.



The good news is she did it. :)



Thank you again for the tremendous show of support.

We love you all!!

More tomorrow!
Jen & CO

My wonderful friend Tina just texted this pic of her beautiful family. (Thanks guys!)

We have never felt so supported before. We just wanted to send a huge thank you to everyone who has texted, called, e-mail, commented, and have said prayers for our little girl today.

We are blown away by your support.


Faith has been in surgery for the past 3 hours and we were just told we have a "few more" to go.

I will definitely post a picture tonight.

Keep the Faith!!!
Jen & CO.

All Systems Go

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Surgery is at 1pm and is estimated to be 4 hours. We will update as soon as we can.

Thanks!
Jen :)

Mysterious (Dino) Ways...

Lately Faith has been into dinosaurs. She loves to watch them on TV and play with tiny plastic dino figurines, but most of all she likes to read about them in books.

When she was a resident of TCH she received the book, How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon? Which, of course she loves. So when her LTR surgery was approaching we decided to peruse the internet for more books from the same series so she had something to look forward to post surgery.

The titles we found couldn't have been more perfect:

How do Dinosaurs Go To School? (click, click)

How do Dinosaurs Play With Their Friends?
(Faith's favorite word is "friends." Whenever she sees a child she signs "friends.")(click, click)

How Do Dinosaurs Play With Their Dogs? (click, click)

How Do Dinosaurs Play With Their Cats? (very enthusiastic click- Faith is also very into cats at the moment).

Before I knew it my online shopping cart had reached Free Shipping mode. (Always a sign you have purchased too much- it's how they get ya!)

Nevertheless we gave in as wanted nothing but the best for Faith as she recovered. Just when I was about the check out I glanced at a blurb for the up and coming How Do Dinosaurs Book:

How Do Dinosaurs Laugh Out Loud?

OMG! Heaven couldn't have come up with a better title.

(CLICK, CLICK) This was going to be perfect.

To my disappointment this set of double clicks did not result in the book being deposited into my shopping cart.

"Book Not Yet Available- Pre-Order Today for September 1st Publication"

Of course I took this as a sign. I even wrote another post about it, that of course did make my blogger publication when her surgery was canceled. I promised myself I would not purchase it until we learned how Faith could laugh out loud and lamented about how unfair it was that the world would now how dinosaurs laugh before my daughter does (melodramatic, I know).


I was wrong.

(CLICK, CLICK).

As it turns out we will find out how Dinosaurs and Faith laugh out loud.

Monday, August 23rd.

After receiving the information that we would have to wait another year we received another call that there is a new opening- and after this date there would be no "third chances."

The timing couldn't be worse. August 23rd is the first day of school for Brian (the for third me).

But God's timing is perfect and we have full FAITH that HE ordained this special date for Faith. While we will never fully understand the plan for the flip flop we know there is a PURPOSE, because HIS timing is so perfect He knew it was time for Faith to laugh with the dinosaurs.

Jen & CO.

Best Laid Plans

If we were here:









We wouldn't be able to be here...

And we certainly wouldn't be able to do this...



And this would be out of the question...


Exploring new places....?


Meeting new faces?



Forgetaboutit!







But while the whole situation still rubs us the wrong way..



Least we forget that we still have this..




So we pledge to do less of this...


And a lot more of this...



So it's time to put on our big girl/boy panties hats and see where this new detour takes us.



Thanks for all of your words of encouragement. They mean the world to us.

Promises to update more often,
Jen & CO.

PS: Faith finally turned a corner today. She is now walking (for those of us who know her spunk it's hard to imagine that she wouldn't walk for 9 days) and our diaper quota is back to normal.

Last week I had written a post I had intended to publish titled, "What we are looking forward to most..." It was not hard to come up with a very long list of what this surgery would mean to our family...and most importantly to Faith.


The number was being able to hear her laugh.

Three years ago we met a family who had a daughter who had been trached. I'll never forget when the mother told me that hearing her daughter laugh after decannulation was her number #1.

"That day will come for you Jen," she encouraged "someday you will hear Faith laugh and it will be the sweetest sound you have ever heard."

Today, we learned that that day will not be Monday, August 2nd.


Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. -Matthew 7:7-8

We have asked, sought, and knocked so hard our fists are sore.

And yes, we received.

We received the answer we did not want to hear.

But perhaps the answer isn't "no" just "not now."

Someday there will be a now...but it doesn't take away from the hurt that after getting so close...being able to hear our daughter's laughter remains a "someday..."

:'(

Jen & CO

The Numbers

2 - Very tired parents who just want one night of uninterrupted sleep.

1 - Night booked for two at Della Terra Mountain Chateau for Monday, July 26th.

177 - Days since Faith's last visit to the children's emergency department

2 - Overnight visits to the er in the last 36 hours, the first being on Monday, July 26th.

5 - The number of days Faith has been lethargic, not wanting to walk or even sit up.

10 - The average amount of diapers changed per hour due to this nasty, nasty stomach bug.

5 - Days until Faith undergoes major surgery to reconstruct her airway.

4-10 - The number of days the docs at childrens have seen this G.I. bug wipe kids out.

24 hours - Faith has to turn a corner before the surgery is canceled (their words, not mine).

1 year - The time we'd have to wait for the opportunity for this surgery again (it is only done in summer and the OR is booked solid for the next month).

2 - Very, very tired and sick parents who just want to catch a break.