Oops... my last post was in September 2010? I guess that's what happens when there are lots of different places to post and share info!
So, in summary (a 4 month summary, I supposed):
- the school year found Jo attending a new school. Even months later, she's not all that excited about it, but she has made a few good friends and is doing very well in school. She took up soccer, gymnastics and karate this past year and has really taken an interest in art. For Christmas, we bought her a small art box and she spends most of her free time drawing or making up stories.
- Jada has become even more sassy. For a while, she was loving her long, long hair and wanted to "grow my hair all the way to my butt!" Then, suddenly in January 2011, she decided to cut it all off. Jada went from long hair to short short hair! And, she loves it! It took a while for us to get used to, but the truth is that Jada looks adorable no matter what!
- Evan has become quite the little boy. Over the course of the past few months, he is completely understandable and speaks in well formed sentences. For Christmas, on a whim, we decided to buy him some toy trains. Now, Evan is never without a train! It's the first thing he thinks about when he wakes up and the last thing he plays with before he goes to bed.
- For me, I had my mastectomy, finally. I ran another 1/2 marathon in October (after only planning on running 1 this year) and underwent my surgery on November 18, 2010. Today, it's been about 8 weeks since my surgery, and I am feeling much stronger.
- Jorge transitioned fully to his new job, and he is enjoying the autonomy and opportunity to engage both creatively and administratively in his work.
- Post-surgery, we really felt the love of friends and family. So many people supported our family -- through cards, make-a-meals when I was sick, and a huge fundraiser by people at my work. So many of our retinoblastoma friends also came through to give much needed support.
We had a blizzard just after Christmas that the California crew got to experience! Approximately a foot and a half fell quickly. Even Norhanna got to go into the snow!
Joli and Jada enjoy turning Evan into "Little Miss Sunshine". He doesn't protest at all!
Just before Christmas, Evan and Jorge had a pretty nasty fall outside one night. Jorge was carrying Evan and they slipped on some ice. Jorge fell backwards and Evan hit his head on the pavement. We immediately called Lolo to come over, but the fear was in the waiting time. Jorge couldn't see well outside in the dark and he said that he just saw blood spurting out of Evan's head. It turns out that Evan had two big gashes that we managed to keep together with some ice and a butterfly bandage. Three weeks later, Evan's cut is now just a faint pink scar, but it was definitely scary!
This is me 4 weeks post-op in a "Jada view" angle.
Norhanna loved being with Joli. Every time Nani saw Jo she ran into her lap!
The big snow storm - Evan's first time out. He thought it was cool for about 5 minutes and then begged to go back inside!
Pedro spent Christmas with us this year, and he even got to sit on Santa's lap!
2010 was a good year for us. My resolution -- to blog more here for 2011!
