Ryan and Candace Burr know a thing or two about miracles. When their baby Brielle turned six months old, they threw a party to celebrate because doctors told them their little girl wasn't going to live to see her first birthday.
But four years later, Brielle has done much better than her first birthday and her Christian parents tell People.com they are optimistic she will 'continue beating the odds.'
It really is a miracle Brielle has gotten this far. She was born with Beare Stevenson syndrome, an extremely rare and life-threatening condition characterized by the fusion of skull bones and an abnormal face shape.
On the day she was born, the Burrs were given the news that she would be lucky to live more than a few months. She needs a lot of care, including round-the-clock monitoring, oxygen and a ventilator to breathe, and nourishment through a feeding tube.
But she's alive. Despite all the predictions of doctors, Brielle just keeps going and her devoted parents believe it is her 'feistiness and spirit' that have gotten her this far.
'Her positive attitude helps everyone who meets her to realize that they have nothing to be negative about,' they told People.com.
Candace, who is mom to two other children, 7-year-old Kaya and 6 months old Brooks, tries to strike a balance between optimism and reality.
At first she was cautious, but later she decided to fully embrace every moment of Brielle's life and not worry about the future anymore.
'I never bought Christmas presents too early and I didn't plan a Halloween costume for Brielle too soon,' she says, 'because it was difficult to think of her not being there for those things. But now, I've finally decided that's just no way to live, so we absolutely plan the future with Brielle in it. She's a fighter and we're not going to give up on her.'
Most parents would be overwhelmed by the diagnosis and in the beginning they admit they were, but because Brielle 'obviously wanted to continue to be here with us,' they've fought every step of the way with her.
And life is all about celebrating the every day, 'little' moments. For her fourth birthday, the family celebrated with a fun fiesta-themed birthday party with the slogan 'let's fiesta like there's no mañana.'
And over Easter, the family gave thanks to their resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ, and for the opportunity to live one day away from the hospital.
'#becauseofhim we get to be with our family forever, no matter how little our time here on Earth may be and what that REALLY MEANS to us is EVERYTHING!' they wrote on their Facebook page.
