Braska Bear

Everyone kept talking about leaping today.  That means jumping. KiKi jumps a lot every day.  She just LOVES to jump.  Maybe she did more today than usual.  I just jumped like normal today.  I still don’t know why everyone was leaping today. This morning, we were ready early for school, we even got there before my classroom door opened. Usually we get there after everyone else is already there and playing.  But today we got all done early with breakfast and got dressed and got there in time to wait a few minutes!   Happy jumping day!

Mommy report:  Five years ago today, after 9 hours of surgery, at 11 pounds, this was my little baby girl, at about 6pm on 2/28/2007. Many of you have seen that before, either on this blog, or you’ve seen it yourself, with your little one on that post op bed in the PICU.  If you haven’t, it’s scary. I know.  It’s ok that it’s scary.  But that’s not the end… Seven days later, as I held a little squishy girl (I kinda miss the squish. She’s all bones these days, little skinny minnie!) I knew that she was well. She still had healing to do, but she was fixed and would be better from here forward. Here’s the REST of the story… This is that same little girl, 5 years later, at 7 am on 2/28/2012.  Healthy as she can be.  Tough as nails, and sweet as mini marshmallows. (Unless she is sporting her newly donned attitude.  Diva-licious.) Is open-heart surgery scary?  Of course!  Is it more frightening when it’s your firstborn and ...

She carries two girls in a single lift. One sideways and one clinging for dear life. Both giggling. All 54 pounds handled in a swift swoop up. Bedtime is no match for Mommy the Mighty.

It was so nice today!  Even this morning, when it was a little chilly, it was too sunny to stay inside, so we got our coats on and got ready to go out! We also spent a lot of today playing the piano.  Me and KiKi sang some songs with Mommy. And then I played a while with Daddy while he practiced his learning songs.  KiKi even wrote a song about her edamame.  I like to sit by whoever is playing. After naps today, we got to go on a walk to a surprise.  Mommy and Daddy didn’t tell us where we were going. We just went around the corner and by a few houses. And we went to see The Muppets!  There’s a movie place by our house where we can go to see movies for just $1.  That’s pretty good for a funny movie.  I liked it, and KiKi did, too.  It was a fun surprise!

Today we went to see Auntie Julia play basketball.  That’s her down there shooting for free. Auntie Rach brought a cute hat to the game for us.  Daddy decided he wanted to keep his ears warm when we were leaving the game. The other big thing we did today was to get ready for our new piano!  First, we had to put a piece of carpet in the floor hole that has been there since we first moved in.  There used to be a fireplace here, but it didn’t work, so we had the guys take it out and fix the wall.  We just put a couch on this part, so we never had to fix the carpet. I helped Daddy cut a piece of carpet from downstairs so it would fit in there. Grammy gave us the piano. Thanks, Grammy!!!  We are all excited because Mommy is going to teach us all how to play the piano!

There’s lots of talk about what’s going to happen in a few months when it’s time for me to go to a new school for kindergarten.  Mommy was so busy on the phone and visiting with people today that she forgot to take a picture.  If you’re a mommy or daddy who has done all the kindergarten stuff before, maybe you can give Mommy some tips over here to help her figure it all out. Thanks!  See you tomorrow!

It was really nice today.  We ran around some this morning, stopping at my school (even though I don’t have to go on Thursdays), then we went shopping at a couple places, and we got to go the mall too.  When we got home, it was so nice and sunny that we asked if we could play in the yard for a few minutes. We love being outside… I can’t wait for it to be warm outside more than just a little bit.

KiKi went to our friend's house today while I was at school.  She liked the little chair a lot. Mommy and Miss Julie watched a show with Miss Jen.  It was about Monica and David... I don't know them, but Mommy thought it was a neat show. She said it made her think a lot. Has anyone else seen it? We would like to know what you thought.

It was a busy day again... But we had time to stop after shopping at Costco and eat some yummies.  KiKi likes the churro the best, but she had to eat her salad first.  I thought the dressing was super tasty.

First, just a silly picture of me giggling and not letting Mommy take my picture when she was all excited because I drank 6 oz in about 3 minutes this morning.  I’m doing WAY good on my drinking! We did some decorating today with some things KiKi got for her birthday.  We were going to put them on the walls, but they were too bumpy, so we decided to put them on the door. There were flowers… And a neat picture that says “love” and some others things I don’t know yet.  KiKi told me what it said, though. Here’s the whole door.  The purse on the door keeps my iPod in it, and that bat is one KiKi made at Halloween.  They stay on the door because that’s where we want to keep them. We also put our names on KiKi’s name sign.  She got it for her birthday from Miss Julie, but KiKi wanted it to have both of us on there because she said we both sleep in that room.  It’s nice that she shares. Doesn’t it all go really...

KiKi opened her present from Miss J today... And it is princesses and a mermaid with dresses we can put in them. Me and KiKi played for a while. I like the mermaid the best. Thanks Miss J!!

Tonight I watched Kinlee play some Starfall.  She’s good at using the computer, so I like to watch her and tell her where to click for me. Sometimes I just watch her do the matching parts and she reads stuff to me.  It’s fun to get to just hang out on the couch with my sister.

I'm still feeling pretty good.  The red in my eyes is still pretty icky, but it doesn't bother me too much.  I like to put my face in my pillow really hard, and Mommy says she doesn't like that. Guess I'll have to save that kind of silly play for later. I don't like when Mommy and Daddy have to put my gooey medicine in my eyes. It makes things all blurry. But it doesn't hurt. KiKi was real hot today. She didn't feel good. Hopefully I won't get her temperature. That wouldn't be good for me right now.

(Is it too late for a graphic image warning?) My eyes are still trying to get better.  But I feel pretty good.  Today Mommy had to tell me to stop playing so silly and rough a few times.  I am supposed to rest for a few more days to make sure my eyes don't get bumped or dirty or anything. And I'm staying home so I don't get around people who might have germs.  It's hard to be still when its more fun to play with my sister. So don't worry about me, just keep praying that my eyes get better quick!

She is resting well, so far the post anesthesia time has been very calm. So thankful for all the prayers.

All went well, she is one groggy little girl, but Daddy is on cuddle duty.

Here we are again.  I know all these people. They have worked on me lots of times.  They are really nice, so that's the best part. (Mommy says the best part is that they are so good at what they do... But they are nice too!) Soon I will be taking a little nap... Mommy will let u know how it goes. She also puts notes up at www.Twitter.com/mom2braskakiki if you want to see more pictures.

That’s what we are.  Goofy.  Especially when Mommy wants to take cute Valentine’s Day pictures.  Tomorrow is when I go back to the hospital to get my eyes fixed again.  It’s so that I don’t have to look at things sideways, like this. I’m supposed to be there right after lunchtime.  So I’ll let you know how it goes, or maybe Mommy will if I’m not feeling very good.  Sometimes I feel kind of funny for a while after they do this.  It’s not fun.  But Mommy says it will help me, so I’ll try to do my best. And I always make the doctors and nurses smile when I get silly and extra cute just for them.  A little cute never hurts, right?

I ate a bunch of this today. Pieces of strawberry and banana, and even some avocado. Wanna know why that's cool?  Because mommy didn't smush any of it. I mushed it with my big teeth and my tongue. That's new, you know. Big deal around here!

After some very busy days, we got to stay home today.  Well, except for church, but we always do that and we like it, so that’s ok. This afternoon we just got cozy and played with some of the things KiKi got at her party last night.  (It was her birthday party, but that’s still for later.)  One of the things she got from our little cousin Arden was a chef hat and apron.  She wanted one really bad, so she was pretty excited about it. Of course, I had to try it on too.  I like it! Maybe I’ll have to get me one of these too! We’re gonna learn to cook some new stuff soon!

Big day today for KiKi. But she is too tired to talk about it now.  She will tell you about it soon.  She needs beauty sleep, too.  Pssst... It was fun!!!

I like to tell you my stories. But it’s late. And I’m only 5.  So good night.

It’s KiKi’s birthday today.  She’s 3.  And really, she likes to be called Kinlee now most of the time.  I guess it’s a big girl name for her.  We still all call her KiKi sometimes, though. Mommy asked us to do a nice picture, but KiKi was squeezing me really tight and it made us giggle… She had a fun day, and I had fun with her.  She’s a pretty good sister. (Mommy has more pictures and stuff on her page if you want to see it .)

We saw our neighbor Miss S at the store by our house today. She told Mommy she had something cute for us. When we got home, she came over and brought us hats she made!  Aren’t they cute?? We thought they were pretty fun to wear.  They’re gonna keep our heads nice and toasty! Miss S makes the hats for little kids and older people who are very very sick.  It was really nice that she had two for us!

Today I went to school, then we went to let Cami out (She’s our cousin-dog) and saw Daddy for a little while at lunch.  After that, we went to a place that does hair and stuff to faces so girls can be all prettied up. We didn’t go there to get haircuts, but me and KiKi wanted to get haircuts.  Mommy’s been saying we needed them for a while, so we asked and she said we could do it… KiKi was WAY excited, and she wanted to go first…. When she was getting her hair cut, she got all quiet and did so good being still.  Then it was my turn.  My hair was getting really really long and it got tangled sometimes.  I tried to sit still but since I have to tilt my head when I look at things, Mommy had to help hold me straight for the cutting part.  So there aren’t pictures of that… but then I got to have the blow dryer.  I do LOVE that! Mommy told the lady to take 3 inches off mine and 2 off of KiKi’s.  I think we turned out ...