Tonight, I'm raising my manhattan (whiskey and sweet vermouth) glass to my 11 day old baby, Barbara Anne.  Babs got transferred out of the pediatric ICU this afternoon, and is in a regular hospital room with her mom sleeping at her side overnight. Barbara Anne unofficially gave her 24 hours notice [...]

Tonight, the Oscars are being held in Hollywood.  Today, in East Hollywood, at Children's Hospital, the Baby Oscars were handed out.  Here are the winners.LEAD ACTRESSBarbara Anne Riles has had an impressive week.  Some of her most memorable scenes include being born, having heart surgery, beginning to breath on her own, and just yesterday starting [...]

Happy One Week Birthday, Barbara Anne.What a week it has been. Barbara has been the bravest, cutest, and sweetest one week old that I have ever seen.Here are the gifts that Barbara Anne gave us for her one week birthday:She rallied enough to be taken off the ventilator.She hasn’t needed the [...]

 Our baby had heart surgery two days ago…I can’t imagine a scarier event that anybody could experience. One of the doctors said there is nothing more extreme you can do to an infant than heart surgery. It’s been impossible to write about, so I haven’t until now. The recovery road has hit speed [...]

Dear Barbara Anne (Not to be opened until your high school prom night),You look gorgeous tonight, and we are so proud of you.  I'll tell you you've always been beautiful, and we've been proud of you for a long time.  I know you don't remember, but your scariest days came when you [...]

Monday morning Barbara Anne will have heart surgery with Dr. Vaughn Starnes, one of the best in the world. She is being treated at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.Barbara’s aortic valve is a bit too small. She suffers from aortic stenosis, so they need to rebuild her valve. This will be open-heart, bypass [...]