Fun at the Zoo!

The weather was absolutely wonderful today, so JP and I (the "stay at home gang") took Gavin, Jada and Evan to the Zoo. Jada was just there about 6 weeks ago, and Evan was in my belly. Because we went in the middle of the day/week, it seemed as if we had the zoo all to ourselves.

The kids had a ton of fun, and we are all exhausted!

Enjoy!

Jada and Gavin on the elephant - they actually got along very well at the zoo


The kids love this guy who they call 'Funny Bird'


Evan Eduardo's first trip to the zoo


Evan and I waiting outside while Gavin, Jada and JP went into the enclosed elephant and giraffe area

Warm Weather Fun!

Woah -- it was record breaking temperatures today: 93 degrees! But, as New England will have it, it will be 50 degrees tonight and then only a high of 60 tomorrow. So, good thing we got some awesome hot weather fun in today!

JP, the stay at home dad, played "tag" with the hose and the kids



Mia going in for the tackle!


Jada having Fun Dip for dessert


Tita Mari tries to get work done while holding Evan and avoiding Gavin and Jada


Jada running from the water hose



Kids Say the Funniest Things Moment:
Liza: "Jorge, I'll make salads for dinner for the next few nights. I really have to lose this weight"
Joli: "No, Mom. You're beautiful so chubby."
Liza: "I'm not so sure that was a compliment Joli...."

Jada: "Mom, let's go to the 99 and get a hot dog."
Liza: "No, Jada, I don't think we can go to the 99 today."
Jada: "Fine (pause), then can we go to the 66?"

Go, Evan! Go, Evan! Go, Jada! Go, Jada!

So Evan and Jada had their doctor's appointments today, and they both did spectacular!

Evan weighs 8.2 LBS!! Isn't that great?? He has gained 2 lbs in 2 weeks! Whew! He is 1 inch longer (going from 20 inches to 21 inches) and he's in great health.

Jada loves going to the doctor's office. She's now 30 lbs and 37 inches. Hurray!

We're bracing for a really hot day here tomorrow, so we'll take lots of pictures doing fun stay-cool-activities! :)

Evan is 1 month old!

It's hard to believe but Evan Eduardo is now 1 month old! Egads! He has a doctor's appointment on Monday, and I'm sure his weight has gone up considerably. The doctor projected Evan would be at roughly at 7.4 lbs - which is still lower than his birth weight at 7.5 lbs (by now, if Evan had not lost all that weight in the first week, he'd be roughly 9 lbs or so). But, I'm confident he has done really well!

Evan is starting to really look at us. He is spending a little bit more time awake and interacting, and he's just an absolutely lovely little guy! He rarely cries -- though, Jorge noticed that Evan has started crying real tears -- but loves to be carried!

Jada is still convinced that we should be celebrating her birthday, and it true Jada fashion - she gets mad when you tell her that her birthday is done. Jorge has spent much of the birthday money buying toys for the backyard, and with the awesome weather we've been having, the kids have put the toys to good use! She loves "Evie" and likes to refer to him as "Mr. Squishy Mushy Mushy Guy"

Joli has been really sick this past week with fevers ranging from 100-103.9 degrees. She's much better now, but it was a rough go for a while! She's finally feeling well enough to hold Evan, and she's really missed being able to snuggle her little brother!

Otherwise, we're all doing very well! Still a bit sleepless, but we're happy for the reasons why!

Enjoy!


Awww! Look at that cute face!!



Evan's measure doll is Big Bird (Joli has Tigger; Jada has Grover). Here he is at 1 month old! (Tita Mari is in the photo holding Evan!)

Happy 3rd Birthday, Jada!!

It's hard to believe, but Jada is 3 years old already! Here are some great pictures from her birthday!

We all know that Jada LOVES to go and eat Pho (a Vietnamese noodle soup). She can eat an adult sized bowl, and she often tries to eat from other people's bowls when she has finished her own.

Getting ready to eat...
Eating her favorite food! It's also a tradition to eat long noodles on your birthday to celebrate a "long life"!

And, it's GONE!


The night before her birthday - Jada is still 2 in this picture!

Taking her final 2 year old picture with Grover!
And let the birthday fiesta begin! Here is Aunt Marie, and 1-year old Nina and Jorge


Lolo with Baby Evan

Lola with Baby Evan (he's much more awake these days, and Jada likes to call him "Mr. Big Eyes!")

Throwin' out the 3 sign! Jada getting ready to blow out the candle on her cake.
Gavin - full after a delicious meal (that I cooked!)


Tita Grace with Evan (left) and Kainoa (KY-NOH-uh)

Jada with her birthday present from Tita....yes, it's a potato. Jada has named it "Dolly Doll". She carried it around with her all night and kept whispering to it, "I love you, Dolly Doll. I will always take care of you."


Baby Nina!

Mia and Lil' eating cake

It's been a fun filled year with Jada! Let's see -- some highlights and memories from this year?

• Jada learned to use the potty
• When we went to stay at a hotel, Jada loved going to the "hot pool" (aka hot tub)
• We've often referred to her as "sassy" because she always has a witty one-liner to give you when you talk to her.
• Jada is definitely a social and confident kid - if you put her in a room with people, she's often off-and-running and making friends
• She loves to eat in restaurants, and often asks people to take her to Pho, the 99 (where she orders a hot dog and mac/cheese), Friendlies, or Taco Bell - which she swears Tita Mari has taken her.
• On dates with Gavin and Uncle JP, Target is their favorite place to go. Although, Uncle JP has also added "Chuck E. Cheese" (which Jada calls "Chuck E. New Year")
• When Jada is mad, she'll turn to the first person she sees and begins yelling at them. Most recently, Jorge was the target of Jada's anger where she kept screaming, "I do NOT love you, Daddy" ... even though Jorge was about 15 feet away from her and had no idea what was wrong.
• "I am NOT cute" is her favorite reason to get mad at you.
  
• She loves to dance and do dance routines.
• Sometime half way through the year, the older girls finally let Jada play with them, and now she is fully immersed in the doll games the girls play.
• Her favorite things are The Cheetah Girls (she is Chanel and likes to wear her hair down), High School Musical (she says "Sharpay is NOT nice because she is popular"), and Dora
• We call her the iPod addict because it's the first thing she asks for when she wakes up
• She just loves to give hugs -- Jada is the best hugger ever, and when you're feeling down, she knows just how to cheer you up.

Happy Birthday, Jada! We love you!!

Welcome Baby Kainoa Navarro Talusan!

Congrats to Jenny and Jon who had Kainoa today! Everyone is doing well, and we are looking forward to Evan Eduardo and Kainoa to wreck havoc all around town!



The weather has been beautiful this weekend, and the kids have been playing a lot outside. Here is a great photo of Gavin and Jada - eating cheetos on the porch after playing a game of Water Squirters!




Baby Evan had a bath the other day and didn't appreciate me snapping photos of his nakedness....

Little Evan is 2 1/2 weeks old!



Wow! Can't believe Baby Evan is 2 weeks old. He's doing great and gaining weight steadily. He was born at 7.5 lbs, but then lost a lot of weight and went down to 5.15 lbs a few days after leaving the hospital. Two days later, he gained 2 ounces (6.1 lbs) and a week later he was up to 6.7 lbs. We're not sure why he lost so much weight in the beginning (and the doctors were very worried), but he has made a great comeback! Jorge even commented that Evan's clothes are fitting better, too!

Speaking of which, thanks to all our friends who have sent boy clothes to us! Evan is certainly a well dressed little fella!

He's much more awake these days, and it almost seems like he's looking at us and following us with his eyes.

Evan and Jada both had their retinal exams with Dr. Mukai. Evan was such a champ! Neither one of the children cried at all. Jada was amazing at the office visit - she's pretty young for doing an awake exam, and yet she was so brave. This was probably the easiest office visit we've ever had!

So, Evan will go back in 3 months for an exam under anesthesia (urgh!) and Jada is clear for a year. I honestly don't mind the awake/in office exams -- it's the anesthesia ones that I dread! But, I think we're going to ask that Evan only do 1 EUA since Joli's results did come back as non-genetic.

More to come later! Happy Easter!

Quick Update~

Just wanted to post some quick pictures of Evan. He's doing really well. In the beginning, the doctors were concerned because Evan was losing too much weight. He went from 7.5 lbs to 5.15 lbs. The pediatrician was very concerned, and we had to go back every few days for Evan to get weighed. Thankfully, 2 weeks later, Evan is now at 6.7 lbs, which is still way below what he is supposed to be. But, he seems to be on the up-and-up!

Evan is up every 3 hours (which means, so are we!) and is such a good baby. He's pretty quiet when he's not nursing, but he's starting to get more and more alert and awake these last 2 or 3 days.

The girls are just eating Evan up! Jada has been home with me, and she's been a big help. It's nice to get to spend some time with her. Joli is still going to school, and she absolutely misses Evan during the day. She's very helpful in the morning - holding Evan so that I can go and brush my teeth or get breakfast ready for everyone. Jada is great entertaining Evan when he's crying, too!

So, here you go! Some cute pictures of Evan in his swing for the first time. He seems to like it!






Tomorrow, both Jada and Evan have to go to the retina specialist for dilated exams. Jada hasn't been in almost a year, and this will be Evan's first. Hopefully, it'll also be one of the last....

Joli is going to start her appointments with the VHL clinic soon. We're just waiting on some of our blood tests to come back. She'll be the youngest patient in their clinic. I'm sure more to come on that one, later.

Enjoy!

"Evie Cakes"

Yes, Evan is now "Evie Cakes" according to Joli!

The girls are having a ball with their new baby brother. We had a tough go in the beginning - Evan had lost quite a bit of weight and the doctor was really concerned. But, he's steadily gaining weight back and doing much better.

Just realized today that we have NINE doctors appointments in SIX weeks. The retina specialist wants to see Evan at least a few times before clearing him of Rb, and he'll see Jada at the same time. Then, we'll be starting appointments for Joli's VHL, my post-partum visits, and then lots of pre-cancer follow ups that I had put off while pregnant. In the words of Teetah Grace, "Oh, graaayt."

Other than that, Jada has been enjoying time with Jorge who has been home for the past 2 1/2 weeks. They have been spending quality time at the library during story time and running around doing errands. I can see Jorge in Jada's words/actions/etc. She may LOOK like me, but she is exactly like Jorge!

So, here are some of the latest pictures from our family! Enjoy!