Halloween Fun!

We had a fun time trick or treating with the cousins! Even Jada got in on the action! Enjoy little Darth Vadar, Little Flying Unicorn, Senor Vampire, and The Red Hot Chili Peppa!

These are the blankets that our friend Tyra made for the gals.

Happy Halloween!

What's been up!

This past Wednesday, Joli, Mia, Tita Grace and Lola all went to see The Wiggles Live! While there are no pictures, I hear the gals had a great time! I had to work late that night, but Joli woke me up at 4:30am and wanted to tell me all about the concert. It was so cute!

Joli turned 39 months old, and here are her tigger pictures for the month! Check out the HAIR!!! This past Sunday, we went to the clinic for some arts and crafts - that was totally fun! We even saw one of our old roommates (he has leukemia) and he looks awesome! Very healthy! Joli had a great time seeing all the nurses and playing with the other kids. She rocked out with the music therapist, too!

Jada has been kind of sick lately -- just the common cold. So, we waited a few days until she had her REAL FIRST 'BITE' OF FOOD! Hurray, Jada! Here are some cute pics of her eating rice cereal for the first time. She completely was not interested at first, but she eventually was grabbing for the spoon. We also celebrated Jada's 1/2 birthday with our "1/2" birthday cake tradition! Of course, she was asleep through the whole thing!

Jada's first taste of "solid" food - didn't like it at first, but she soon realized how yummy it was!

Jada turns 6 months old -- here is her Grover Picture!
Mari has been doing a little better. She had to stay in the hospital a bit longer than expected due to a high fever, but JP kept her entertained... with all his stories.. and talking...! Good man!

Shout out to Mari!

Hey, Mari! We're all thinking about you today! We love you!

"It'll just be a little shot...."

Trick or Treat at the Zoo!
We had an awesome time at the zoo with the fam and the "downstairs neighbors." Marie told us of this whole trick-or-treating event at the zoo, so we all headed down there -- complete with 2 little "orange pumpkin" babies and 1 Darth Vadar! It was so much fun! Throughout the park, there were "trick or treat" stations. The best part of the day was when "Darth Joli" encountered a little boy dressed as Anakin Skywalker.... and as soon as they saw each other, the little Anakin Skywalker pulled out his lightsaber and Joli drew hers as well! It was hysterical!!

We've been to the park about a dozen times, but this time Jada got to really see it! She went into the backpack for the very first time and stayed awake! She loved it!

Yes, this picture is totally staged....

Darth and Daddy

Darth and Uncle Andy

Joli checking out the crane... and the crane checking out Joli!

What great hair!
It seems like Joli's hair is growing at a breakneck speed! One day, I put her hairband in and realized just how long it had grown! In no time, we'll be back to the old "afro puff"!

Joli also had her first exam without anesthesia today! She did awesome! We had to put her drops in at night and then again in the morning. She was completely asleep when we did her night time drops, so that was fine. But, the morning was a different story. Jorge and I tried everything in our Child Development handbooks -- having her do it to take ownership and not be so scary, bribe her.. (okay, so that's not exactly good child development, but we did try and do a rewards system), praise her, etc. None of those worked. We ended up just having to restrain her. It only took about 5 seconds, but it was a difficult 5 seconds! Joli cried through it, and then got over it. These drops don't sting (unlike the ones she gets in the hospital), so that was good. Joli was amazingly cooperative at the doctor's office and let them look into her eye as much as they wanted. She definately was not into having her prosthesis taken out, so Dr. Mukai said we'll just do that next time.

Oh, and Joli's next visit will be in SIX MONTHS!!!! (not three months!). Hurray!!!!

We also had our last visit with Nurse Pat -- we love her! She visited us 2x a week for 7 months during treatment, and then came 1x a month. She's the best!!

SAY "CHEESE!"

So, we bought Joli a Kid Tough Digital Camera. It's a camera that can take a pounding and it's really simple to use. We all went out to an apple orchard yesterday and here are some pictures "Peter Parker" took with her new cam-- can you figure out who's who?

Hi everyone! We're having lots of fun watching the kids play and laugh! Joli's hair is growing so long and curly, and she loves putting it back in her little hairbands again. Jada is now using "consonants" and saying "babababababa" and doing this crazy grunting noise. Lily just turned 1 and had a fun party with all the family!

Joli is so conversational and has the best memory I've ever seen on a 3 year old. The other day, I offered her a banana, and she said, "Mom. When I was in the hospital, the mask tasted like banana." At first, I was totally confused, but then I realized that she had a "banana flavored anesthesia" a few months ago! Wow! She also talks about all of Tita Grace's friends and her adventures with them. It's so impressive!

Jada, in her crazy way, always laughs when the other kids are crying. I'm not sure why, but she seems to take such pleasure out of hearing other children cry. She thinks it's hilarious

Jada also learned how to roll over completely for the first time on her own!

I left Joli and Jada alone for THREE minutes and look what happened...!

Gavin says, "I think this is next tune is a hit!"

Woo hoo! Check me out on this slide!

Joli and Mia loved the pumpkin painting project at Lily's party

Ah, yes, I've waited all my life for this very moment.... MATCHING OUTFITS! (he hee hee)