A very strange Bunny Day
The Easter Bunny came a little bit early this year... while playing outside today (which, for the record, it was warmer here today than it was in Los Angeles!), Jorge and Joli discovered a little nest of baby bunnies underneath Joli's slide. Joli actually heard the little bunnies squeaking when she was on the slide, and she made Jorge go check it out. Unfortunately, Gordon (our dog) also decided to check it out, but Jorge caught him just in time. They discovered about 6 baby bunnies in a little nest. To keep Gordon out, Joli and Jorge constructed a wacky (yet functional) cage out of scrap from our neighbor's yard. Very cute!

While the bunnies may be multiplying, Baby Sister is still sitting tight! That's alright with me because Joli has 3 doctors appointments coming up in the next 2 weeks -- 1 of which she needs to go under anesthesia again. She has a pediatrician visit next week (since we started chemo, her oncologist was considered her "primary care" until we were done), a hearing test at Mass Eye and Ear, and then a bone marrow/spinal tap/anesthesia visit the following week. Hopefully Baby Sis will stay put until Joli's done with those procedures because I'd hate to miss all of that.

Later!

Having Fun with Daddy
Jorge has been on school vacation and hanging out with JoliJo. They ventured out to the New England Aquarium the other day and had an awesome time! Joli's been there before, but he said this was absolutely the most fun they've had because Joli is just so much more interactive! Hurray! ( he also said she was the best behaved kid in the E-N-T-I-R-E place... unbiased opinion, of course).

We're on to week 36 now... and feeling lots and lots of mega Braxton-Hicks contractions. Ouuuch.

Joli loves baby sister....who is still in my belly
I'm measuring 35 weeks now... Joli was born at 35 weeks, 4 days; so we'll see when Baby Sis will arrive! Note the Big Girl underwear on Joli!

32 months old!
Joli is having tons of fun with Grammy here! Grammy has completely transformed our house into something that looks organized! Wow! That was a huge job! Also, here's the general announcement -- please, no more toys. We can't hold anymore toys, and we actually started giving lots of them away. No more toys. Toys have taken over our house.... oh, and so have books. Too many. No room.... wanna get her something? How about a little gift for her savings account..!

Grammy has also gotten all the stuff ready for Baby Sister. She's cleaned the bassinette, pack and play, toys, clothes, etc. We're ready for you Baby Sis!

Joli is also well on her way to potty learning. She pretty much stays dry and uses the potty at least 3-4x a day! Hurray! Our goal was to only have 1 child in diapers at a time!

Enjoy!

Clinic visit
Joli went to the clinic today to see Dr. Grabowski, and she did great! They were pretty amazed at how much she's grown (matured) since they last saw her - which, was only 5 weeks ago, by the way. She was super social and seemed to really have fun there. It was also nice to NOT have to check into the hospital after clinic!

Joli and I battled the horrible stomach bug that was going around. Urgh. That stunk... on many levels. Thank GOD Grammy Vega was (is) here to help -- THANKS GRAMMY! She's been awesome...!!! And, Joli is having tons of fun with her!

Somehow, I think we all convinced ourselves (foolishly) that we were "done" with doctor's appointments, and today was a big old wake up call. Joli has been scheduled to go under anesthesia for an MRI, bone marrow, and spinal tap in 3 weeks. Then, a hearing test 2 weeks later (to see if the carboplatin has affected her hearing). Then, shortly after that, she'll be in to have another eye exam under anesthesia (EUA). We'll probably bring Joli about 2 weeks after Baby Sister is born, because Baby Sister is going to follow a similar check-up schedule (oh.. joy). Her port-a-cath won't come out until September -- in the unlikely event that any further treatment needs to occur. We're going to start up our nurses visits at home again to have her port flushed every 4 weeks. We had the option to drive into Boston, but I told them that would be hard either being super pregnant and/or with a newborn. So, we've arranged to have Nurse Pat (yeah!) come again to see Joli.

Alrighty... more pictures tomorrow when she turns 32 months old!

BECAUSE PEOPLE HAVE ASKED...
Okay, here are the pictures of me at 33 1/2 weeks pregnant. Whew.... Just 1 1/2 weeks shy of Joli's gestation period. But, the doctors keep checking me, and so far, I'm still a while away from delivering. But, we're getting ready in case Baby Sister does decide to make a guest appearance early. We're ready for her!

Joli heads back to the clinic this week to have some tests done and to have her port flushed. Gramma Vega is arriving tomorrow to play with her (and staying for a week) so we'll have lots of pictures to post after a week or so.

quick pics
Hi, everyone! I'm writing this as "Baby Sister" is truly kicking me in the butt. We'll just leave it at that reference and say, "I'm really eager to deliver and get this all done with." Ouch. I'm incredibly uncomfortable at this point.

Physically, Joli's doing great. She and Tita Grace spent an entire day at IKEA in the playroom (which, I didn't realize they had, until Grace said, "Oh, they don't. We just played in the children's furniture section -- for 3 hours." Hmm... Free. Creative. That's usually what we expect when Grace babysits. We actually went back to the Childrens Museum for the first time since Joli was diagnosed. We braved it for the first time in 7 months. Joli was a little hesitant at first, but she seemed to enjoy herself after a warm-up!

Okay, Baby Sister's leg has moved from kicking my butt to kicking my rib cage..... But, she's healthy and growing, which everyday, I am thankful for! It's also cute when Joli talks to Baby Sister. Today, I told her she could not watch Go, Diego, Go for the 3rd time today -- so she said, "Mooomm, but Baby Sister wants to watch it, too!" Right before bed, she also says, "Good night, Mom. Good night, Dad. Good night, Baby Sister." Or she'll randomly pull up my shirt to show my belly and say, "Baby Sister, do you want to play with me?" Oohhh....