Am I a Christmas Decoration?

We hope everyone of you has a wonderful Christmas! We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. Love Chad, April, Trevor, Logan and Kayson!

Who is so cute?

Yeah, I'm Stylin

Dad and Trevor went hiking again yesterday. We stopped here to rest in all the leaves.

Making a leaf angel.

We're all home! Trevor, Logan and Kayson are sitting together. The elephant that Trevor is holding and the blanket around Kayson are presents from his big brothers.

Here is a close-up of Kayson.

Kayson Chad Welch was born yesterday, 10-05-05 at 15:10 (I think he likes the number 5 and its multiples). He is 5 Lbs 14 Oz and 19 inches long. He and Mom are doing pretty good. He was taken to the NICU for observation and is working to breath a little, but we think it will just take a few hours to a couple days to transition and get used to real life. He was breach so Mom had a C-section. Her tummy is sore today, but she is recovering as best she can.

Logan's Home!

Yeah! We weren't expecting to bring him home for another couple of days, but this morning when the doctor came to look at him he said Logan was well enough to go home. He will be on a puree diet for at least two weeks until his next doctor appointment. His stomach is pretty tender, but as long as we hold him without putting our arm near the scar he seems pretty happy. He isn't sure about this puree diet. We had to hide any food sitting on the counter and we can't eat in front of him because he gets jealous and then mad if we don't offer him some. We are greatful that we can all be together in the same house again! Thanks again to everybody for all of your love and support!

Latest on Logan

Logan is still in the hospital recovering from his surgery. He was doing real well. He left the ICU earlier than expected and was handling liquids well. They decided to start him on solid foods last night. However, when he was eating his mac and cheese, he didn't chew good, so the pieces wouldn't go through the narrow opening of his stomach. He kept eating, but all he was doing is filling up his esophogus. When it was full, he of course started choking and couldn't breath. They had to suction him to pull the mac and cheese out. Afterwards they decided to do a broncoscopy to make sure he hadn't aspirated any and make sure they had removed all from his esophagus. They took him back to the PICU to watch him overnight and he's doing good enough this morning that they should be able to move him back to the regular floor. The doctors will have him on a puree diet at least until the swelling in his esophagus goes down. Any ideas on how to convince a 16-month old to chew better? Thanks for all of your support and love.

Update on Logan

Good news this evening. Logan is recovering well. He is still in a lot of pain and it is apparent that it is hard for him to get comfortable, but he was more alert today and even seemed happy a couple of times when he saw Mom and Dad. When the doctor made rounds this morning, she was very impressed with Logan's progress and said he could leave the PICU. We had to wait until this afternoon for a bed to open up, but he is in a regular room now. Besides allowing more space and privacy it is a lot more quiet and easier for Logan to relax. He still isn't allowed to eat or drink, so his mouth and tongue look really dry and sore. They use a sponge with a type of mouthwash on it to clean and moisten, but he really would like something to eat. Hopefully by tomorrow or Sunday his intestines will be working again and he can eat. I've already promised him a Quad-Cheese Ben Burger and a large shake from Burger Bar.

Logan's Surgery

Little Logan had surgery again today. Everything seems to be going well so far. He was originally scheduled for a broncoscopy, Nissen fundoplication and a tracheostomy. However, during the broncoscopy the ENT surgeon decided he may not need the tracheostomy at this time. So he had the Nissen fundoplication which should help with his gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). He also had a small cyst removed from behind his ear. He is now in the PICU and very groggy. He has an epidural so that his stomach won't hurt so bad. After a Nissen it is typical for the intestines to stop functioning properly, so he can't have any food or drink. He will be on an IV until the intestines are functioning properly. Once that occurs he will be released from the PICU. He'll be in a regular room for a few days after that probably. He can have visitors, but the hospital has given us a few guidelines. Only two people are allowed at the bed at a time and at least one must be the parent or grand parent. Give April or I a call if you'd like to visit. I'm sure that once he starts waking up, he'll love to see anyone who isn't wearing scrubs and carrying instruments. We are asked to keep cell phones off in the ICU, so if we don't answer leave a message and we'll call back. Thanks again for all of your prayers and support.

Trevor and Logan are excited to be at Dinosaur Land!

Trevor is demonstrating the dinosaur noises next to a bone at Dinosaur National Monument.

Last weekend we went camping. Here's Mom and Logan enjoying the great weather.

Last weekend we went camping. Here's Trevor and Logan overlooking Flaming Gorge.

Logan's Surgery

This is just a quick update to let you all know that Logan is doing fine. His surgery went as expected. They were able to perform the supraglottoplasty and bronchoscopy. While doing the bronchoscopy they found that it extends further than they were able to go today. They will monitor him to see if he improves and hopefully will not need the other surgery. He has been eating well. We expect him to be released tomorrow before 8:00. Thanks again for all of your prayers in his behalf.

Logan

Thank you to everyone who has shown concern and offered prayers for Logan. For those that don't know, Logan was admitted to the hospital again on Wednesday the 15th. The poor little guy withstood a barrage of tests. We are very glad that most of the tests came back negative. When he was first born he was diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux and laryngomalacia or tracheomalacia. The ear nose and throat doctor said that most infants outgrow the tracheomalacia by the time they are a year old. Logan has not outgrown it. This last hospitalization revealed that he still has reflux as well. We haven't noticed it because he has learned to swallow rather than spit up. He is back on his reflux medicine and will have a supraglottoplasty next Monday. He will likely be kept overnight for observation after the surgery, but since the surgery is done with a laser and there are few nerves, he should recover very quickly. Thanks again for all of your prayers in his behalf. In spite of the trials, we feel very blessed to have such great doctors. Logan has been the beneficiary of several miracles and blessings in his short life. We are very grateful and believe firmly in the tender mercies of our Savior.

Trevor and Chad went hiking last week. You can see how green everything is after all of the recent rain.

Jumping!

Logan's first birthday.

Dad's Birthday. I wonder what it could be!

Two monkeys on the counter.

Chad's sister Crystal is currently serving in the Argentina Neuquen mission. Click on this picture for a larger view. On it you can see Neuquen near the bottom center and a little bit above it is Centenario, where she is now. This satelite image was supposedly taken within the last few days.

Big Announcement

Well, we were going to keep it a secret for another couple of weeks, but you know April and surprises… Several of you already know, so for those of you who don’t. We are going to have a new youngen! His due date is November 3. Yes I said “His.” No, his gender isn’t confirmed, but April wants a girl so bad that I have to give her a hard time.

We spent easter at Grandma's. Now this is my kind of bath!

We spent easter at Grandma's. On the big egg hunt.

We spent easter at Grandma's. Come here cow...

We spent easter at Grandma's. Here is a llama. I finally talked Trevor into getting close enough to pet it.

Look close. There's a cute little boy somewhere in those toys!

Zonked. Last Saturday's warm weather wore Trevor out.

The teacher and the student.

So Happy!

Beginning major road construction.

Just hanging out.

Watching Bob the Builder before bed.

Mmmm. Waffles

Are you awake? Jan 9, 2004

Wake up big brother! Jan 9, 2004

Jayden means business. Christmas 2004

Christmas Day 2004.

Bike ride. Christmas day 2004

Adventure at the bus stop. Mid December 2004.

Decorating the Christmas tree. November 2004.

Zonked. Mid November 2004

Grandpa and Maggie. No more comment needed... November 4, 2004

Four years old. November 4, 2004.

Cow and Dalmation. Halloween 2004

Slimey! Oct 2004

Great-Grandma and Logan. August 2004

August 2004

Monica, Jaydee and family. August 2004

Amy, Greg and family. August 2004

Dad's and babies. August, 1 2004

The three new cousins in blessing outfits. Daxton, Cora, and Logan.

Logan's blessing. July 4, 2004.

The four older cousins, Trevor, Brooke, Jacelynn and Jayden. Late June 2004