Braska Bear

If you missed part 1 , click here to catch up. And before I get back to the story, there were a couple questions, so I wanted to throw the answers in here, even though I replied by email, in case they're helpful or interesting to others. What was the heart defect that Braska had? She had complete AV canal, sometimes known as AVSD in simple terms. She was diagnosed the day after she was born and had surgery to repair it at 3 months. It was a large hole between the upper chambers and another between the lower chambers, and both actually meet to make one hole. She also had some valve issues since there was nothing for one side of the mitral valve to attach to, so they repaired all that in one surgery… 9 ½ hours. But she’s been peachy ever since! Why so many (appointments)?? We just see her reg ped once a year unless she is sick. Much of what we do on these day-long adventures is preventive medicine. In other words, it's making sure we're not heading toward problems, not so...

I hope you all had a fun day eating yummy food and being thankful for all your blessings! We went to Grammy and Papa's house and the whole bunch of Mommy's family was there. I didn't eat anything, but everyone else said the food was super good! (Aunties Julia and Joy in front. Then Uncle Jody, Auntie Skye, Uncle Ryan, Daddy and me. In the back is Papa and Grammy, Auntie Rachel and Mr. Patrick, and Mommy.)

Tuesday we went to Children's to see most of Braska's specialists in one day. This has been our habit at 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months. It's worked well each time. That's the good news. This post will be interesting to some, confusing to many, and is mostly for my own record keeping. So read along, but don't feel obligated to understand it all! And by the way, please feel free to ask questions at any point about Braska's care or therapies or daily life. I love to hear from those of you who want to know more details about things for whatever reason. So don't hesitate to ask! My mother-in-law was good enough to arrange her schedule this week so that she could join us to be extra hands throughout the day. This was a good thing! We met at Children's at just after 8:30am. We headed upstairs to the 3rd floor to start our day of waiting rooms and exam rooms. ENT/audiology (Ear, nose, and throat, AKA otolaryngology): We see Dr. M every 3 to 6 month...

We've been really busy so I haven't been able to show you my other birthday pictures. Here's a little movie of me playing with the best toys Daddy ever got for me! I still have them on the floor because I like them so much!! Tomorrow I'll be gone to see lots of doctors all day long with Mommy and Grandma C, so I'll try to put up pictures later this week.

I had a pretty good day, even though I started to feel sick a little in the afternoon. My nose is getting all runny. I think I caught Mommy's ickiness from last week. I hope not. I'll put up more pictures later, because we took a whole bunch! But I'm really tired, so it's time for bed. Here's just a couple... My favorite present was from Grandma C and Grandpa J. An Elmo chair!! I sat in it almost the whole night!! I'm gonna love watching Elmo in it tomorrow! And I had SO much fun playing the balloons that Daddy got for me and put all over the floor. They were the best!! I am gonna play with them more tomorrow too, but I have to go to bed now. It was a fun night, and I laughed and played more than I can remember ever!

This morning Mommy and Daddy sang a silly song to me because it's my birthday! They sounded silly since Mommy's still a little sick and Daddy just sings funny all the time. I'm 2! I helped Mommy make the cake for my party tonight. This is the first time I ever got to make a cake, so I had to look over the steps on the box. Then we mixed it all up. Now it's in the oven...and it's smelling yummy!

Two years ago, 11/21/06, 2:27 am. Welcome, Nebraska Larae. Our first family pic, about 15 minutes later...when I met her face to face for the first time. It seems so surreal to look back at that picture. I feel like I should have alot of stuff to say about this birthday thing, but I don't. I could go with the "we've learned so much" and "we're so blessed"--both of which are true--but I should sure hope that you know that by now! So I have no wise, moving, and memorable speech about Braska turning 2. We've enjoyed these two years, and we look forward to this new one and the many to come. In case you haven't heard the REST of the story of Braska's entry into this world, you can click here and here to catch up.

Braska's been just loving her words lately. She's still signing some, mostly when we're in public or around strangers, but she's adding more words all the time. Many of her words are just attempts at the actual word, but that's where we all start, right?!? We're not saying that she'll be giving speeches next month, but we are very proud that she's become such a mimic and that she is loving using so many sounds. We practice often, just running through her words, signs, and tricks. She especially loves to chime in with videos of herself, so I've been working on compiling all her favorites for her to work with. As I was editing this, she was sitting here saying the words over and over. So funny to hear her talking to herself on the screen and loving it. So here's a peek at some clips from our practice session tonight. Some words are more obvious than others. They are all great attempts, though, and we'll celebrate that! Make an on-line ...

I've been trying to help Mommy feel better by playing nice lately. So I haven't been putting up pictures as often. Here's some fun ones that we've taken lately though. Mommy found me sleeping funny again the other morning when she came to check on me. I don't remember how I got this way. I helped Mommy take the pictures off Kinlee's walls. It came off really easy. I was a good helper! Daddy took me and Mommy out to dinner last week for remembering their wedding day 8 years ago. I got all dressed in a warm outfit because it was cold!! Saturday night Amber and Katelyn came to play with us again after we went to dinner with them. They brought me a whole bunch of toys!! Isn't that nice!! I really like them and they help me practice my standing. Thanks!! I gave Kinlee my bed, because Mommy said if I did, she would get me a new one. This week I got my new bed, and it's super cool! It even has neat ways to change when I get to be a big girl. I love...

My friend Kayla is a finalist in a contest of pictures. She is SO pretty! But this picture has her kind of messy and fun! Kayla's blog was one of the first ones I saw when I was a tiny baby, and then I made my own... so Kayla's one of my extra special blog buddies. Her daddy is going away again soon to help our country be safe. If they win, her mommy and daddy get lots of groceries! That will help her mommy alot while her daddy is gone, so go vote ! She's #4. Yay Kayla!!

I found a new fun show this week. There's lots of singing and dancing, and I like to do both those things! It's got a little dog in it named Blue. And he leaves clues for his friends to find. I like to scoot up close to the TV, so Mommy puts me on my little stool that I use for stand and sit practice. That way I stay in one place. Tonight's show was really fun and I got all excited! ( Mommy note: Remember, you can click on the pictures to make them bigger. The look on that little face is worth it! :o)

Today is my Auntie Julia's birthday. She's 13 now!! Getting to be a teenager is a big deal, everyone says. She is Mommy's youngest sister. I looked for some pictures of me and Auntie Julia together, but I couldn't find any! Isn't that weird? But here's some I found. This is her at Mommy and Daddy's wedding. It was her 5th birthday that day. This is from last year when she came to visit right after her birthday. And these are from this summer. Happy Birthday, Auntie Ju! Hope you have a really fun day!

This week has been quiet at our house. Daddy had to work alot and Mommy's not been feeling good again. So we haven't been taking pictures. I did find some from October that we forgot to use, so here's a few from the last weeks. One of our Bears Sundays I got to try out Shay's neat tricycle in Grandma's kitchen. I liked it ALOT!! Shay rode with me a little and then I did it myself. I've been helping to teach Shay how to say Touchdown and she finally got it! Almost every week, I take a nap with Miss Cheryl . We take the good chair and get a snooze in while everyone else is watching the game. I was feeling pretty silly that week and kept climbing up on the arm of the couch to grab stuff that wasn't mine. It got to be a fun game, and Mommy would grab me and I'd giggle and giggle. I also had some yummy stuff that night. One day we went to look for costumes and we tried out some fun chairs. This one was comfortable but I didn't know who that g...