Fall Low Down on the Down Low

Wow! These last two months have been so busy. The big thing for October was the Toast for a cure, and I finally got those pictures on, so here is how the rest of October and the start of November have gone down.

This was a benefit we attended for Juliana's daycare (where she gets all her therapy). It was a lot of fun and we had the pleasure of attending with our good friends Julie and Gale (Gale not in picture because she was taking the picture and unfortunately after that there were not too many more pictures.)

The other cool thing about this event is that the Irving Community Television Network (ICTN) was there and doing a story about Our Children's House as well as our very own Juliana Brooks! So here is Roger getting his mic on for the big interview. (show has not aired yet - more to come on that)

We also started back at Spirit Horse. We LOVE this place. Here is Juliana grooming Pocket before her ride.

And yes, This was taken on October 31 and it was HOT! Okay, not like 100 degrees, but way too hot for the black long sleeved shirt I had poor Juliana in. It was her new Halloween shirt and shame on me for thinking it might be chilly.

Here is Risa and Livi. We are so thankful that Risa lives close to the ranch. So when she can, she comes and meets us for the lesson and to keep Livi entertained.

Look at my big girl! And yes, she has to ride with her sunglasses! And how cool is this. I don't know if you can see, but there are actually buttons attached to Pocket that Juliana can push to say "Go Pocket" or "Whoa Pocket"

Here is a video of Juliana riding: (Apologies for the video being sideways. I'm not so tech savvy to know how to flip it)

And here is a video of Livi riding: (Again, apologies. The video starts off the right way and then unfortunately makes its way sideways again)

Here is pocket posing for the camera. He is so sweet.

And after a hard days work, here are the girls giving Pocket a treat for the ride.

So then it was Halloween night. Liv couldn't wait to get out there. This was the first year that we were taking them trick or treating. Here is Livi in her best Minnie Mouse.
Where is Mickey you might be asking. Well apparently Mickey was spent from a day of horseback riding and fighting off a little bug, so Mickey opted out of trick or treating and stayed in for a very long nap. And yes you guessed it, this very long nap interfered with her bed time, so she was up all night!!!!! Whoo Hoo!!!! (sarcasm)
This is Livi knocking on her first door. She had so much fun she didn't want to go home, but then when she got home she had just as much fun handing out candy.
In other news, WE FINALLY GOT APPROVED FOR RESPITE HOURS!!!!!!!!!! For those of you who aren't familiar, respite hours are just hours that we can pay someone to come help us!!!!! And so, without any further ado, I would like to present you with the newest member of our family. . . . . . . . . Claudia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Claudia is a teacher that I work with who has become a great friend. She joined the dream team almost 2 years ago and has been a huge help with all of our events. So we were more than excited when she agreed to come help us. She is amazing with the girls and they love her! So huge shout out to Claudia!!!!

And last, but definitely not least. . . . drum roll please. . . we are making our 1st trip to New York this week to meet Dr. Djukic!!! She runs a Rett Clinic at the Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx and we are very excited to meet her and partner with her for all of Juliana's needs. We have heard and read wonderful things about this clinic and can't wait. More to come about our trip!!!!!

Toast for a Cure October 2010

I know, I know, it's been almost a month already. But we are very proud to present some pictures from a very special night. On October 14 we hosted a Toast for a Cure! Benefiting Rett Syndrome Research in Honor of our beautiful daughter Juliana. It was an awesome night with lots of very special friends and family.

I would like to give a HUGE shout out to our amazing dream team, whom without we would never be able to do any of this. Your ongoing commitment and dedication to finding a cure for Juliana renews our hope and continues to inspire us. A million thank yous!

Happy Halloween!

This is how the Brooks' Kick it for Halloween!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

The Beds Have ARRIVED!!!!!!!!!!!!

So most of you know that back in April, Juliana won a SleepSafe Bed through a contest by Girl Power 2 Cure. We were so excited!!!!! This bed does everything, it can raise at the head or at the foot of the bed, had several different positions etc. She officially has the best bed in the house. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond any one's control, the bed took a little longer in getting here (3 months!) So with all the anticipation of Juliana's new bed, we thought it was time to let Olivia out of her cage and into a toddler bed. She has really been into Kai-Lan on Nick Jr. so it seemed the obvious choice of bedding for her. I'm not sure if she just loves the show or if it's because she thinks that Kai-Lan looks like her best friend Marisa (who is not of Asian descent) Who knows, but she was soooooooooo excited to see her new bed!

And now, without any further ado, this is Juliana's new bed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unfortunately she's been sick the last couple of days so we haven't had too much time to really play in the bed and get some good pictures. But here is one her taking her first nap in the bed. And of course, hers had to be a Mickey Mouse bed. The only problem is that neither of these bed sets matched the current paint on the wall. Oh well, I guess that is the next project.

Please Lord, Jesus Christ - Let this bed be the answer to many many many many restful, peaceful nights!

State Fair of Texas 2010

The State Fair of Texas was anything but fair. Why you ask? Because I (the biggest Fair lover in the house) did not get to go this year. Juliana's daycare took a field trip and her dad and sister were able to go. I on the other hand had to work. So pardon me if I don't know all the details of these "fun fair pictures" but I was not there:( Okay, enough moping!

Here is a super cool Juliana on the luxury bus they took to the fair!
Here is Olivia. Do you think she is excited?

Daddy and Juliana.

Livi's ready to go, but I guess the bus ride made Juliana a little sleepy.

Farmer Olivia

Apparently these days there are giraffes at the fair and apparently you are encouraged to feed them.

Check out the kid checking out the kid - ha ha - I couldn't help myself.

Juliana hanging with the ponies.

Not really sure what to call these animals. Looks to me like some sort of llama cut to look like a poodle, but who knows.

Apparently you are encouraged to feed these animals as well.

This is the entrance to see Boris, the 1201 lb Boar!Wow - Olivia looks real impressed by Boris!

Juju catching another cat nap.

This looked cute. Olivia participated in the Pee Wee Stampede.

Watch out cowboys!

Whoo Hoo! She won the Blue Ribbon - okay, so they probably all got Blue Ribbons.

And for her last trick, Olivia made her debut as a circus butterfly!

New England Adventure!

The beginning of this month I had the pleasure of going away for a kid free weekend with my good friend Linda to New England. Thanks to my wonderful husband for holding down the fort while we were gone. Unfortunately we didn't take a great deal of pictures other than the time we spent in Boston. So here goes . . . .

This is the U.S.S. Constitution. One of the oldest fully restored ships. It sits in Boston Harbor.

Nice sunset on the harbor
Linda and I on a harbor tour.

This is the location where the Constitution was first read in public. Forgot the name of the building but still pretty cool.

We couldn't leave without seeing Cheers!

We got on this amazing trolley tour that should have been 45 minutes and turned into 2 hours. He took us to so many places that were not on the tour. One of which was Fenway Park while they are playing the Yankees. Pretty cool!

This is a Holocaust Memorial that sits at the entrance to Faneuil Hall. It consists of this stone at the beginning and a series of glass towers that represents each of the concentration camps. Inscribed on the glass is quotes from people that survived it as well as the numbers of all the people that lost their life there. It was a very moving tribute to the millions of people that lost their life during a horrible time in history.

This was our last day. We decided to go whale watching before catching our flight home. You cannot imagine how cold and how turbulent the water was. We were definitely not ready for that!

This is how cold it was!

Beautiful scene as we headed out to sea

A little town off the Cape

Here is Linda - Queen of the World!

And of course, not to be out done - Me!

A beautiful light house!

So to see the amazing footage we captured click here to see "Linda & Kristy's Excellent Whale Adventure!"

The following pictures were captured that day by a professional photographer on board the ship.

Flower Power!

Hey Guys - So behind on posting this month, but we have so much to share. Until then, here is a fun video of the "Power of the Flower". It was made by dad of a very special Rett Girl named Nora! You might recognize a few of the faces in it:)