Another year older!

This year for Breanna's birthday we traveled to Chicago for the Children's Dystonia Symposium. It was a weekend of dinners, dancing, children's entertainment (Jazzy Judy the Clown was a hit!), and many informational seminars for the kids as well as the adults. Friday's dinner was shared with new friends as well as old. It was great talking to everyone and sharing stories. At dessert time everyone (approx 200 people) sang, "Happy Birthday" to Breanna. As you can imagine she was popping out of her chair with excitement. The rest of the evening was spent on the dance floor. What a blast! Saturday was fill with a field trip to the Aquarium for the kids and very informational seminars for the parents. Grandma Loretta and Papa Bill were so awesome and came out to Chicago with us just to keep an eye on Bre and Peyton. Dave and I were able to focus on the seminars they set up for the parents. I think the most exciting thing we learned this weekend was that we don't have to wait till Bre gets older to consider Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). In fact, we are waiting to hear from Dr. Tagliati and Dr. Alterman on a neurology appointment date out in New York, to see if Breanna qualifies for the surgery. We are so excited! Originally, we were told we should wait until she is older and now they are saying, "the younger the better." Please keep Breanna and a successful surgery in your prayers! At about 5:30 we all met up and headed out to the Rainforest Cafe. This was Breanna's pick. It was a treat to have our new friends Austin, his sister Sydney, his mom Jenny, and dad Mike, join us! Believe it or not the night didn't end there. DMRF (Dystonia Medical Research Foundation) set up a pool party for everyone. The turn out was huge! Breanna showed everyone how she can swim under the water. It's amazing how she doesn't get any water in her wide open mouth or up her nose! We are so proud of her and thank her baby sitter, Ashley for teaching her how to do this. She has no fear and it's kind of scary! The weekend ended with few more seminars. We were so sad to say good bye to our friends, but know we will see them in 2 years if not sooner. We are keeping our fingers crossed that Breanna will be totally different physically by then.