2001 January - December
2001
January - December

Here are some great pictures of the boys as they continue to grow. Enjoy!!!

January...

Ryan up on his arms hanging out.

Ryan sitting up looking cute as ever!

Ryan and his buddy Stockie hanging out...

Jake in his new ball pit bus...

Jake sneaking out of his room and falling asleep in the hall!

Ryan hanging out with his Mommy...

Ryan and his Daddy

Jake loves his swingset

We spent the day at Eisenhower Park in Orange...

Hanging out

At Sunnyside School - Jake LOVES to hang!!!

All *3* "boys" playing in Jake's bed...

They kicked Stockie out!

February...

We were invited to the opening of CHOC's new Cardiac ICU on February 10th. It was a wonderful event for all of the heart babies that had "graduated" form CHOC. We saw many familiar faces, including Ryan's favorite doctors, nurses, staff members and even two other heart moms, dads and their babies that shared the ICU with Ryan.

Cathy, Jim, Ryan and Jake

Moms with their special "Heart" Babies...Our babies were all 3 in CHOCs NICU together.
Ryan & Mommy, Baby Dominic & Mom Audrey (also had Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA)), Baby Olivia and Mom Diane

Marcy and Mason... Mason was featured on the CHOC Learning Channel Special when he was also born with TGA a year before Ryan

March...

Ryan went back in the hospital on March 8th for a Cardiac Catheterization. He spent the night recovering in CHOC's PICU.
Ryan with his Daddy in CHOC's admitting, just before the Cardiac Cath...

Ryan just out of the procedure in the Recover Room...

Mommy spent the night with Ryan... at 2am all of the babies in the PICU started crying in unison... Ryan just giggled at them all, not joining in. The nurses all said what a GREAT baby he was - he never cried, just smiled at everyone that came by to see him. He had lots of visits from all of his old nurse pals.

Ryan the next morning, waking up very pudgy in the face but still cute as ever!

Jake cuddling with all of him lambs (that were actually gifts for Ryan, but Jake adopted when Ryan was in the hospital after his birth.)

April...

Jake and Ryan hanging out...

...in the chair

Ryan in the bath

Easter...

Bringing Gramma Harper flowers for Easter

May...

Ryan and his Mommy

Jake playing in his new backyard.

Jake and Ryan...

The boys with Mommy.

What a pair!

Ryan in his high chair munching on cheerios - his favorite!

Ryan showing off how well he stands up!

Jake (2 years 9 mos) & Ryan (9 months)...

Aren't they adorable?

Ryan - 9 months old

June...
Jake and Ryan had a lot of fun over the summer playing in their pools in our backyard.

Ryan in the pool waving at the camera...

Jake having fun!

Jake being goofy...

Ryan playing ball with Stockie...

Ryan playing...

July...

Austin and Jake eating ice cream at Terry's house.

July 14th...
(Jim's brother) David & Rachel's Wedding

Jim, Rachel & David.

Jim & Cathy at the wedding.

Jim holding Jake, Grandma Harden, Cathy holding Ryan

July 29 - August 1st - Camping at Big Bear Lake...
We had a great time camping in Big Bear with our family in late July. Jake and Ryan loved playing in the tent and getting dirty.

Jake in our tent...

Jake & Mommy hangin' out...

Ryan & Jake with their Mom...

Ryan in his flannel shirt...

Jake and his Daddy getting ready to go in Mary & Ron's boat.

Jake with his cool shades on with his Daddy.

August
Jake turned 3 and Ryan turned 1.

August 14th
Jake's 3rd Birthday

We took Jake and Ryan to Disneyland.

Jake and his Daddy with Mickey...

August 19th
Jake's 3rd & Ryan's 1st Birthday Party

Jake chose "Dragon Tails" for the party theme. The party was a blast, complete with bounce house and lots of family and friends.

Dragon Tails cake

Ryan's little personalized cake...

Family photo outside the bounce house...

Terry holding Ryan...

Cristian, Austin & Jake - "best buddies"

The boys' playing basketball...

Jake about to shoot the ball...

Jake playing football, all the other boys playing baseball - lol...

More baseball...

Julie and Ryan...

Ryan with his own cake...

I think he likes it!!!

The day after the party Jake was testing out his new skates from Mom & Dad...

Ryan with his new toys...

Ryan playing baseball already!!! (A gift from Julie & Brandon)

August 23rd
Ryan's 1st Birthday

We took Jake and Ryan to Disneyland's California Adventure to watch the Electrical Parade... they loved it!!!

Family shot... waiting for the parade to start...

Ryan looking adorable...

Ryan and his Mommy

September
The four of us spent the day at the San Diego Zoo... they boys had a blast!!!

Family picture taken just as we arrived...

Jake & the giraffes

Ryan and his Daddy

Late September

Ryan and his Mommy went to the cemetery to bring Gramma Harper flowers and to show gramma that Ryan learned to walk. =)

Family picture taken at the Fashion Island's Home Aid Play-house Auction that Jill was working at... Jake had a ball going in all of the play houses

Ryan "walking" to the next house with his Mom...

Jake & his Daddy on the porch of one of the play houses...

October… Halloween

We had a little Halloween party at our house this year.... Jim made homemade chili and Cheryl (Jim's mom) made cornbread to go with it. We also had hot dogs for the kids and I made breadsticks in the shape of bones... We had a great time watching Jake, Ryan and our nephew, Jonah all dressed up in their costumes. Jake was a fireman, Ryan was a fireman's dog - a Dalmatian, and Jonah was Santa Claus - Jonah's Mom, Amy looked just as cute as the boys, as an elf. Jake and Jonah went trick or treating but tired quickly. Here are a few pictures... enjoy!

Jake - the fireman!

As you can see, he is a GARDEN GROVE Fire Man - that reflective tape really reflects!

Ryan - the Dalmatian!

Both the boys...

Jake, Ryan and Jonah - Ryan has one of the "bone" breadsticks in his hand, lol...

Jake and his best buddy Austin (Bob the Builder)

Daycare buddies: RJ (fireman), Austin (Bob the Builder), Jake (fireman) and Cristian (Bob the Builder)

November...

Daycare fun! The kids LOVE Terry, going to her house every day and playing with their friends.

Jake & Austin playing hockey.

Jake playing baseball...

Ryan's FIRST Haircut... poor guy was not a happy camper!

The before shot...

...and during

December... Christmas Time!

Christmas was wonderful this year. Ryan just loved taking the decorations OFF of the tree and helpful Jake hung them back up when Ryan wasn't looking. They were both very excited for Santa to come. Jake even center out cookies and eggnog for him and made sure not to have a fire going in the fireplace on Christmas Eve...

Ryan and Jessica posing in front of the snowman at Terry's.

The Family picture with Santa.... we all look so happy - lol...

Jake with Terry, I mean, "Mrs. Claus"

Christmas Morning....

Jake pulling Ryan in their lego wagon.

Christmas Letter

Happy Holidays!

As another holiday season approaches we reflect back and appreciate all there is to be thankful for. This past year has been one of tremendous change and growth for our family.

On March 8th Ryan was admitted back into CHOC for a cardiac catheterization and angioplasty. He developed Pulmonary Stenosis, which we knew was a possible complication of the Arterial Switch Operation he underwent at birth. Unfortunately, the procedure did not correct Ryan’s P.S. (P.S. is a narrowing of the pulmonary artery causing decreased flow of oxygenated blood to the lungs.)

The morning of March 9th my mom lost her battle with breast cancer. It’s been a very difficult adjustment for our family, but we continue to grow stronger and more at peace knowing that mom is an angel watching over us now. We have created a memorial website for her at: http://www.ryansheart.com/donnaharper

Jim started a new job with Medical Action Industries early in the year. He is very happy with the company and loves his new job. We moved into a larger house, just a few miles from our old house. The kids love to play in the large, park-like backyard and we are enjoying more space ourselves. Although we loved our old house, it just wasn’t big enough for our growing family… which keeps growing! We found out in late July that we are expecting baby #3 around April 4th, 2002. Although the news came as a shock to us, we are very excited about our newest little miracle. Recently, we had extensive testing done on the fetus, which ruled out any heart defect and showed us that we are having a healthy baby BOY!

In August, Jake turned 3 and Ryan turned 1. The boys have a wonderful relationship, playing together nicely. Jake is very much a sports fanatic like his daddy. He loves all sports and seems to have a natural ability to play them. Ryan follows Jake all over our backyard “basketball court” and tries to shoot hoops like his big brother. They are a joy to watch.

In October Ryan needed to undergo another open-heart surgery to repair his Pulmonary Stenosis. He was admitted for a pre-op cardiac cath. and coiling of collateral vessels on October 11th and on October 23rd had his second open-heart surgery. The surgery, which was expected to take up to 6 hours, took less than 3. Ryan only had to spend a miraculous 4 days in the PICU this time. His successful surgery and quick recovery amazed his doctors and was called a “surgical slam-dunk”. We know my mom was watching over Ryan and guiding everyone involved.

Ryan is doing very well now. He is a happy little boy, full of smiles, hugs and joyful giggles. He loves Barney, Bob the Builder, Elephants, Gold Fish Crackers and his big brother Jake. Jake is developing into a very smart and talented little boy. He loves sports, playing with cars and helping out with his little brother. He is also looking forward to having another baby brother soon. Our webpage has been updated with recent photos and family updates. Please feel free to visit and sign our guest book at: http://www.ryansheart.com

The year was filled with change bringing new growth to us all. Jim and I are grateful everyday for our family and friends. We wish you all a very happy holiday season.

Jim, Cathy, Jake, Ryan & Baby-Boy Smith