Mama's Big Helper

Today was cleaning day and Branna was such a big help! As soon as she saw me get my vacuum, she got hers out and got busy! I can only hope that her excitement for cleaning continues as she gets older. :)

Cleaning Daddy's Shoe
Counting and Cleaning

Places Branna Shouldn't Be...

A few weeks ago, Branna took an interest in "helping" me get the clothes out of the dryer. I realized that this might be a problem when she started trying to crawl into it a few days later. Trying to prevent it from progressing further, I told Branyon that we needed to make sure that the door was always closed.
However, I forgot one day, and while cooking dinner, Branyon and I noticed that she was gone. After a little bit of searching, we heard some noise from the laundry room. (She's gotten very good at hiding... to the point that she won't respond when you call her name.) The video tells the rest of the story...

Daddy Daughter Date

Last Saturday, while I was at Southwest's Ladies Day, Branna and Daddy had their first outing. Branyon took her to the Austin Children's Museum and it sounds (and looks) like they had a blast! The theme was "Stop and Go", so there were all sorts of vehicles and different representations of "cause-and-effect". Branna also enjoyed fixing up a pretend meal for Daddy in the play kitchen. I think they had a great time!

Future Bus Driver? All-Aboard!

Choo-Choo!

Making Lunch For Daddy

Resting After a Fun-Filled Morning

Hats Off

I'm not really sure which Branna likes better: shoes or hats. From previous posts, you know that Branna loves trying on Daddy's and Mama's shoes. She also daily enjoys trying on shoes from her collection. The same goes for hats.

Impressive... 2 Hats at Once!

She's Been Caught!

I Don't Think She Was Fully Awake

What A Silly Girl!

Who Stole the Cookies From the Cookie Jar?

Branna has figured out that food is kept in the pantry... Even more exciting is that she can now open the boxes and eat her cookies. I think we'll have to move them to the top shelf... :)

Just Plain Cute!

I don't really have a theme for this blog, but I have a smattering of pictures from the last few weeks that I wanted to post. As you can see from these pictures, Branna has LOTS of personality. She's really starting to talk alot, too, and verbalize things.
A few days ago, she was looking at the planets in one of our astronomy books. She came across a picture of Venus and pointed it out to Branyon, who told her what it was. Branna looked at him and said, "No, it's a ball!". We were both quite surprised since she hasn't really strung many words together, yet, but she was going to make sure that Daddy knew what he was actually pointing out!

The Noodle Aftermath
Creating Works of Art
Just Being Silly!

Vesicoureteral Reflux

We got the news that we didn't want to hear... Branna's VCUG came back with a positive result for vesicoureteral reflux. (That's pronounced VESS-ih-koh-yoo-REE-ter-ul.) The degree of the reflux is broken into grades, I being the lowest, V being the worst. Branna's scan showed that she has a grade II, borderline grade III. From my reading about the reflux, 80% of children with lower grades, outgrow it by age 5 or 6. I hope that this is our case.
For now, the doctor has recommended Branna be on a prophylactic (low-dose) antibiotic for 6 months. (The antibiotic will not correct the reflux, but will keep the urine free from infection. This will ensure that her kidneys are not damaged as the reflux happens.) At the end of the 6 months, we'll need to repeat the VCUG to determine if she still has the reflux.
Our prayer will continue to be that Branna will outgrow this soon. We appreciate your thoughts and concerns for us.

Another Zoo Trip

Last week, my brother Jess came for one last visit before starting back to school. On his last full day here, we decided to check out a "zoo" that is fairly close to our house. While it wasn't the typical zoo (rather than plexiglass, the animals were behind chicken wire type material, to name one oddity), they did have a fun collection of animals. My favorite was the herd of guinea pigs . :) Branna enjoyed getting to see pigs and goats close up and well as watching Daddy and Jess feed the camel.

And We're Back...

Boy! I really try hard to keep current on our blog, but it's amazing how quickly life can get in the way. Most of you probably know that Branna recently had a urinary tract infection, and because of that, the last couple of weeks have been crazy. Thankfully, she's over it now and feeling back-to-normal. I'm hoping that I can get the blog updated with new pictures soon.
Yesterday, Branna had her 15 month appointment. (It was a month late because of us switching doctors and scheduling in their office.) Her checkup went fine, although she cried most of the appointment because of her memory from the visit 2 weeks ago. The doctor and nurses were sympathetic and understood, which I was glad for.
Tomorrow, we have to go to a radiolgy clinic to get a voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG). It will help us determine if there will be any further action needed for the urinary tract infection. We're praying that it was just a one time occurence and won't be something that will reoccur.

Miss Priss

I had Branna try on a shirt that I recently bought her, and as you'll see in the video she wasn't very interested in taking it off. She is really perfecting her, "No".