We Heart Juliana'a Doctors!

Today we had a follow up appointment with Juliana's neurologist Dr. Baiyeri. For those of you that didn't know, Juliana had 4 pretty significant seizures two weeks ago. It really caught us off guard and scared the pants off of us. She has had seizures for some time, but they have always been a type of "absence seizure" and we had never actually seen them physically manifest in that way. So, as luck would have it we were clear across town, literally about 50 miles away from home when it happened. We were just about to pull into an emergency room when TX Child Neurology called us back and talked us through what to do. We raised her dosage and thankfully she has been doing very well since then. We had the appointment today and basically, my girl is growing - which is definitely good news! With that of course, we just needed to adjust her medicine to accommodate her growing body.

We are so lucky to have a pediatrician (Dr. Tomecko - you Rock!) and a neurologist that really genuinely care about Juliana and seems so excited to see her. It is truly a blessing to have doctors that you trust and best of all that really love your kid!

You ladies are the best!

Chili's in Irving Rocks!!!!

A HUGE HUGE Thank you to Chili's Bar & Grill in Irving, TX! On April 12th they hosted our very first Chili's Give Back Day where they donated 10% of the sales for the day to Girl Power 2 Cure!

We definitely "Believe in the power to cure Rett Syndrome!"

These were just of few of the wonderful people that came out to support our girl. We have such an awesome community of people - we really appreciate you all so much!

Once again - THANK YOU SO MUCH CHILI'S IN IRVING! Thank you for making a difference in the life of our daughter and all the other girls suffering with Rett Syndrome. When we find a cure, it will be because of all of you! What an incredible group of people you are! Let's do it again soon!

Hey Rett Families, get with your local Chili's to learn more about their Give Back Program! It's incredible, lots of fun, and what a great way to celebrate all that we're trying to do for our girls!

Go Girl Power 2 Cure!

Chili's Give Back Night!

Fiesta Del Rancho!

Hey Gang - Horseback riding is back in session!!!! We went out a few weeks ago for our first ride of the spring season. It's funny because Roger and I are really not country folks. What makes this funny is that part of the philosophy of the ranch is that Juliana do everything - which translates into mom and dad do it until Juliana can do it on her own. Let's just say we have a long way to go (Brooksie put the saddle on backwards!). All joking aside Spirit Horse Ranch is a great place. They offer therapy to kids free of charge!

Here she is with her instructors. And this is her horse - Spirit!

This is Livi's favorite part. The instructors let her ride the last five minutes.

So as a huge thank you to Spirit Horse Ranch I would love to invite you the the 8th Annual Fiesta del Rancho. It's their annual fundraiser event to help raise funds to keep the ranch going. It is May 15th and a really fun event for the whole family. And if you can't go to the fiesta, make a donation to a worthy group of people. Check out their web page at

http://www.spirithorsetherapy.com

On your Mark. . . Get Set. . . GO TO CHILI'S!!!!!!"

The day is here! Don't forget to go to Chili's in Irving on 183 & Beltline on Monday, April 12. You can go anytime, for lunch or dinner and for dine in or take out. Just make sure to print out your flier and give it to your server. If you forget, no sweat. We left extras at the door. Just pick on up and enjoy some great food for a great cause.

10 Year Anniversary!

It's very hard to believe that it has already been 10 years since Roger and I got married. It sounds so cliche to say how "fast the time flies" or that "it seems like only just yesterday" but it's so true. Especially when you stop and think about how much your life has changed and how we have changed (hopefully mostly for the better.)

So Roger is the best Greeting Card Picker outer. I usually go for the funny ones because I hate reading the emotional ones and getting choked up in the aisle at Hallmark. But this year, a card caught my eye and it was so perfect. It talked about how life sometimes seems difficult right now, but years from now we will look back and wonder how we managed so much. And all challenges we face today will be fond memories to come and so on. So I just thought it was so appropriate because we have had a hectic couple of months between Juliana getting sick, then Livi, then Juliana again, then Livi again, then Roger getting sick, then Juliana getting her 2 year molars (still fighting that battle), a garage sale, a golf tournament, several other fundraisers this month and a partridge in a pear tree. And after I read it, I thought, "Yes, all these trial we endure today will be great stories we recount in the future." So I come home so proud of my card and seal it up. I gave it to Roger in the morning of our anniversary and he chose to save it until the evening. So our dear friend Linda had offered to babysit for us and we went out to dinner. When we got home we both got our cards from each other and sat down to open them and to my great surprise - WE BOTH PICKED THE SAME EXACT CARD!!!!!!!!! Can you believe it? Of all the cards, in all the card stores we chose the same card. I guess great minds think alike. Anyway, I got a great chuckle out it and was glad to know that we were on the same page, so to speak.

And then my second surprise was that he finally got our wedding picture framed. I was more surprised about how we looked than the frame itself. Two young little babies with no idea of what was to come. I think we look exactly the same (well, except add in some gray hair/no hair in Roger's case j/k, some wrinkles and some extra pounds) Getting older sucks! But it also has it's perks like our beautiful daughters. And on a plus side, in 10 more years we will look back on our current pictures and say, "Damn, we looked good!" Ha ha.

Happy Anniversary Roger - And MANY MORE TO COME!

Dress Up 2 Cure at OCH!!!!!

Dress up 2 Cure is an annual Girl Power event. The goal is to spread awareness about Rett Syndrome and raise funds for research. The event takes place on April 1st and can take place at schools, offices or really anywhere. And since it happens on April Fool's day there is no limit to how silly or funny you can "dress up".

This year we were very blessed to have the ladies at Our Children's House (Juliana's day care) take the ball with this event and RUN! We were so impressed at their enthusiasm and of course their outfits for this event.

OCH Gang - we can't tell you enough how very blessed we feel to have a safe place where Juliana can go to learn and play, where she is so loved and well taken care of and has really a "home away from home". You guys rock! Thank you for being a part of this journey to FIND A CURE!!!! Together we will make it happen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010 Easter Egg-stravaganza!

Welcome to the Brooks' Easter 2010. What a fun day. It started off with the Easter basket discovery. This is Juliana's basket. She was such a good girl.

And this is Livi's basket. I think the Easter Bunny was extremely generous considering the amount of "Time-Outs" she has acquired lately.

So exciting . . . What did he bring?
Happy Face!

Ahhhh. . . . Sweet Goodness. Nothing like chocolate for breakfast!

Yummy! Gotta love the "wig" she's sportin'

Peeps make an excellent 2nd Course!

Then our friends came over for some "Dirty Burgers". Is that a happy face or what!

Ray & Gale!!!!

Me & Juile!

Daddy & Juliana

The whole gang.

Ray & Julie

Ricardo & Christina

This is the group ready to go out on the hunt!

On your mark, get set . . . . . . . GO!!!!!!!!!!

The hunt is on!!!!!!!!

Juju & Micki Team!

Check out those curls!

So, unfortunately Olivia was not tall enough to crack an egg on anyone, so she decided to crack them on herself. Poor Livi.

Here is the video of Livi cracking the eggs on herself.


Then we felt sorry and and daddy lifted her up to crack one on Nino Ray's head. Too bad she is just not quite strong enough to actually crack the egg. I think poor Nino Ray just ended up with a headache.

At the end of a fun day, telling secrets is always fun!