Been a while!

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been so long, but hopefully that birthing video carried you all through until now!

We went on our annual Stonehill trick or treat event which was a blast! This year, Gavin and Mia came with us, along with Uncle JP and Tita Elma!

Some mid-October cake decorating with the girls

Gavin's first Stonehill Halloween -- it's so much fun because we basically just go door-to-door and get lots of candy without having to walk very far!


Our 2nd annual Office Kids picture! It got a lot bigger this year!Pre-departure picture!


These days, Baby #3 is doing well. I have an doctor's appointment and then an ultrasound in the next few weeks - at which time we will NOT be finding out the sex of the baby. Although, given the number of boy dreams I've been having, we're expecting a boy to pop out!

Jada is getting ready to be a great big sister. She LOVES Baby and hugs my belly at every chance she can get. When she wakes up in the morning, even before she says anything to Jorge/Joli/Me, she says, "Good morning, Baby! It's me... Ate Jada. I'm your sister!"

Joli is doing great at school. We're shocked by how much she can read and spell! The small class size and Montessori style teaching have been wonderful for her, and we love that she has homework! I can't believe we're actually at the age where we are sitting down and doing real homework with our kid -- where did the time go??

Recently, the kids' favorite thing to do is to TELL JOKES (hmmm.. can we say, "JORGE'S KIDS??"). The jokes are pretty terrible, but they make them funny nonetheless. Here is a video of our family during "Joke Night." For the non-Tagalog speakers, the word Jada is saying in the video is "Ugg-ugg", which to us, means "boogies." So, that gives you some context for her joke.....!

ENJOY!

I think we watch too many baby shows as a family.... I caught the girls doing this. Thank God I had the camera handy!!





On other just funny awesome notes, we went to Dim Sum today and Joli was a true rock star. Typically, as many know, she only likes to eat 3 things: har gao, shu mai, and "sweet tofu". She never eats the rice. Never eats the noodles.

BUT, today, we went with a bunch of international students from school and guess what Joli ate ... SHE ATE SNAILS!! Yes, snails! Okay, periwinkles, as they are called. But, she almost ate an entire bowl (and didn't share!). SERIOUSLY! It was so trippy I wasn't even sure that was Joli sitting next to me! She just picked one up, took out the hard thingy that covers the snail, and then sucked the snail right out!! Woah.... I think she ate about a dozen of them..... GO JOLI!

Lots of new pictures!

Wow, it's been a while since we posted any of the girls with their Tigger and Grover dolls (okay, I confess... we lost the Grover one for a while, but found him buried in a pile of toys in the playroom!).

Recognize this little gal? This is Joli at 3 months old with Tigger!

Here is Joli at 63 months old!!
Miss Jada Jada at 6 months with Grover
And, now Miss Jada (aka Cheetah Girl) with Grover at 30 months old!

Each year, we go to the NRT Fair in Easton. When we were growing up, Grace and I (Mari wouldn't be caught dead there.. and still won't!) went a lot, so it's nice to be able to bring the girls. We went with all the Talusan cousins this year!

Last year, Jada was too little to ride the pony, but here she is now! Our big girl!!


Of course, all the cousins rode horses that day. Joli was psyched! and, check out Mia and Gavin in the background on their horses!
The girls were so funny -- when we came in, they found this cute little princess booth that had beaded crowns and wands. We told them we'd "come back to get them on our way out" (sneaky trick), but alas, the girls did remember. And, we even played a game of "okay, if you can find the booth again, we'll buy the crowns" hoping they wouldn't be able to find the tiny table amidst the dozens of booths. Nope. They found it. So, Jorge shelled out for crowns and wands (of which, are now sitting in a toy box forgotten somewhere... this is why we don't buy toys anymore!)

A few weeks ago, we decided to get Joli's blood tested for the Rb gene. Ideally, the tumor is the thing to test as it can tell you right away if it's genetic or sporadic. Because her tumor wasn't viable, we had to go the blood route, which, unfortunately, is only about 90% effective. We were hoping to spare Baby #3 all of the exams under anesthesia if Joli's gene turns out to be sporadic, but the geneticist says he would recommend still doing screening since the tests aren't 100%. Urgh.... oh, well. We'll find out in a few months about the results, but it seems it won't really matter anyway in terms of a screening for the new baby :(

This is Joli looking thrilled to be at the hospital..... not.
So, I've been told that with each pregnancy, the uterus and belly "remember" faster and therefore expand faster. I believe it! Here is me at 3 1/2 months pregnant. And, yes, that's a hard belly and not just jiggly-wiggly. And, no, it's not twins!!

Thanks for checking in!

I love this picture I just found of Jada from Camp... notice the "supermodel" pucker on her face!



JoJo had a busy day today. We were at Children's Hospital for the start of her genetic testing to find out if she has hereditary or sporadic Rb. Joli knew what she was going in for -- and she cried at school, cried in the car, cried in the parking garage, cried when we got upstairs, cried when we talked to the genetics counselor and the doctor, cried as we walked down the hall to the lab, and cried when she sat down to get her blood drawn.

Then what?

Then, she asked if she could watch the lady put the needle in, said it "didn't hurt at all" and even cracked a smile a bit.

I asked her, "So, did it hurt?" And she said, "No."

So brave, Jo. So brave!

We'll find out in a few months, even though it won't be a definitive reading (blood vs tumor is not as reliable). So, regardless of the test results, we still may have to have Baby#3 tested -- urgh!

But, for now, we're just so proud of JoJo for being so brave today! Blood draw with no numbing cream at all!