OUTING WITH MAMA

Joli and I went to the Boston Children's Museum and had a great time! Unfortunately, our camera died out and we only took a few pictures.
Look! We caught more fish than Andy, Dad and Lolo!

Maybe you'll have better luck fishing for ducks instead!

We tried to take the Boston duck tour, but that was all sold out....

And you thought GORDON was a big dog? Check out Clifford!

Ah, that's more like it... Cleo is just the right size...

It's LUNCH time! You can sit on my lap, Baby!

"Golly, Smithers. I do say, this must be caviar we are eating, is it not?"


Also, today, Joli got her first BIG GIRL ICE CREAM! (which, yes, is a milestone in our family). She ordered her own kiddie cup of chocolate ice cream and sat on the stoop with Mama as we ate, shared, laughed, and smiled!

Picasso Joli...

Whew! We finally found the easel that Aunt Kirsten and Uncle Paulie bought! Thanks you two! Joli loves her new easel and has been busy painting... both on and off the easel, of course!

The Newest Dr. Talusan!
Congratulations, Tita Mari, on earning your PhD!

We had a great time visiting the Vega family this weekend, even though it was short! We got to see Uncle Andy and Aunt Marie (with little Lillian - still in utero for a few more months!). Tons of fun!
Hangin' with Uncle Ped and Dad

Gramma does my braids

Dancin' with the Vega men

Can I have more pancakes?

These pancakes are da bomb!

The Vega men at a special Father's Day blessing (Jorge Vega x 3, and Andy Vega)

Thanks for letting us stay over, Pops and Gramma (and Ped and Ozzie!)! See you in a few weeks!

23 MONTHS OLD!

Woah.... Joli turns 2 years old next month! Wow!

We're heading to Far Rockaway for the weekend, so I'm sure we'll have better pictures after that. Until then, here are the best pictures we could take at 7:30am... before coffee.... before breakfast.... of Joli's 23 months old pics!
Yes, Tita Mari... I will fix her hair....

Her face picture!

It's Summertime... and the livin' is easy!

We've been having a great time with our summer hours! I only work 3 days a week to spend more time with Joli and we have a full schedule ahead! We recently went to the Roger Williams Park Zoo with Tita Ligaya and Mia... oh, the experience of having 2 kids!

It was Jorge's 30th birthday on June 10th, and we had a great little BBQ in our new house. Here's Jorge on his last day of 29 ... (you'd think he'd be happier!)

At the Roger Williams Zoo with the turtles

Mommy and Joli hanging at the zoo

Joli liked seeing "Zob" (from Zobomafu on Nickelodean)


She'll be turning 23 months tomorrow! Woooaaahhh...

Some cool stuff? Well, she loves the Wiggles.. can't get enough of those guys! Also, we heard her singing the alphabet! She got all the way to the letter "X" and stopped-- pretty cool, man! She's super sweet, and is often caught putting her little Spiderman toy to bed and saying, "It's all right, Spiderman. I love you. You'll be okay, Spiderman." The best is when we catch her saying things or doing things when we're "not looking." The other day, Gordon was sitting in the middle of the room, and Joli grabbed him by the jowls and said, "GordieGordieGordieGordieeee... you're a good boyyyyyyyyy." Too cute!

More later!

THE PRIDE OF HOME OWNERSHIP!
Thanks, Jorge, for tackling the lawn! Jorge spent most of the afternoon mowing the lawn and edging ... a far cry from the paved streets of Far Rockaway, NY. He did an awesome job -- and Joli of course slept through it all :)

CONGRATULATIONS UNCLE JP AND TITA MARI!
We had a totally excellent time out in California attending Uncle JP and Tita Mari's wedding! Congratulations! We also got to see Jenny, Jon and Baby Mia, too!

a little basketball

Lookin totally hip

chillin with my cousin Mia

Hey! Aunt Jenny's in a picture, finally!

me and Mama are twins!

dancin' queens!

Please, no more pictures...

The sisters!

OUR NEW HOME!

Welcome home, Talusan Vega family!

WE LOVE SPRING TIME!

Just a little fun on a wonderfully sunny day!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks, including a trip to Rockaway Beach, the aquarium, and from Easton.

Joli in Camel wear


The ladies on Mother's day


Visiting Mia and Keri Crocco at our old apartment



At the Rockaway with Uncle Pedro and SpongeBob


Happy Mother's Day!

ALOHA!

We miss you cousin Mia, Uncle Jon and Aunt Jenny! This is the dress you bought Joli when you first went to Hawai'i ... she was just a wee nugget then, but now she wears it with Island Pride (even though it's still only 50 degrees here)! See you in May!

21 months old
She's official... 21 months old!
Here are some great pictures now that the weather is finally warm. Of course, in the Northeast, we always take it day by day with this weather.

body shot


body shot 2


breaking bread with Daddy


funny face Joli


making cookies with Daddy


Who's more scared... Joli or Daddy?

Almost 21 months!

We close on our house in a few weeks, and we've been enjoying all the great sunshine we've been having!

Last weekend, Tita Grace, Tita Liggs, one of Tita Ligg's friends, and Mommy ran a 5K! It's the first kick off to our summer of fitness! Joli got to play on the playground after the big finish!

Not too much going on other than playing outside. We miss Mia Jewell, but we keep up to date on her website at www.miajewell.blogspot.com. Tita Mari's wedding is coming up soon, so we've been busy doing wedding planning. Oh, and in case people didn't know, Joli is getting ready for another cousin (courtesy of Tita Mari and Uncle JP).

Last week, Joli also got to see some of the American Idol contestants! She's been "watching" that show since she was in utero. Thanks to Tammy who told us about it!

Enjoy the pics! (I'm trying something different this time with the pics... give feedback!)

CAN IT REALLY BE SPRING?
Well, we're not hopeful just yet, but the past two days have been a wonderful 60 degrees in the Northeast. We bought this awesome swing set last year (when she was wayy to little to use it) but now she's almost too big for it! Enjoy!
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Joli-brushes-Gordon-April20.jpg

Joli is wearing a jacket!

Around this time last year, I found an old orange jacket that my brother Jonathan wore when he was 2 years old. It's an awesome jacket, so we put it away in a closet because Joli was waaaaaay too little to wear it.

Well, lookie here... she's finally big enough! Big up, Jonathan! Your legend lives on!
jons-jacket.jpg

joli-on-the-bike-20-mos.jpg

CRAZY FUN PICTURES!
Joli has been super duper fun lately! She's hilarious and really does copy just about everything we say (so we have to be careful!). Funny stuff:

FUNNY JOLI STORY #1:
MOM: "Joli, what does the dog say?"
JOLI: "Ruff ruff"
MOM: "Joli, what does the horse say?"
JOLI: "Nayy Nayy"
MOM: "Joli, what does the bird say?"
JOLI: "Tweet tweet"
DAD: "Joli, what does Grammy say?"
JOLI: "PED!!!!"

JOLI STORY #2:
Just after Joli's bath, she lay down on the bed, pulled up toes to her nose and said, "Oooh! Smells good!"... then, she farted... and said, "Uh-oh, I farted."


JOLI STORY #3:
Joli and Mommy were lying in bed. Joli turned away from Mommy and got really quiet. So, Mommy peeked over to see what Joli was doing. To Mommy's surprise (and horror...), Joli had her finger in her nose, looked up at Mommy, and said, "Go Away."

Some of JOLI'S FAVORITE SENTENCES:

"Momma, ice cream, now."
"Gordie, BE QUIET!"
"Daaaaad, dance-dance-dance!"
"C'mon, stop it."
"I'll get it."
"You help me."
"Oh, graaayt" (thanks to Tita Grace)
"C'mon, Lolo, let's dance."
"Lola, popsicle, now."
"Fishies, want orange?" -- (we then noticed there were about a dozen little oranges at the bottom of her fish tank... oh grayyyyt)

Okay, okay, the pictures.. that's what you really wanted anyways....



she-shoots-she-scores.jpg -- taken after a warm day!
Tita-Grace-taught-me-this.jpg
but-don%27t-tell%21.jpg
it-was-sugar-free.jpg -- don't worry... ahh Fudgesicles!
just-too-funny.jpg -- I ran into the store when I saw this! ha ha ha!

She's 20 months old!

Wow! Joli is now 20 months old and is amazing! This week, she's, once again, a finalist in the Babyzone.com photo contest! She was a finalist last month too! Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks:
20-months-old.jpg
20-mos-tigger.jpg
20-mos-want-ice-tigger.jpg
motorcycle-19-mos.jpg
what-did-i-tell-ya.jpg

It's been a while....

Sorry it's been so long since we've updated the site, all! It's been one heck of a crazy month! I'll post some 20 month photos sometime tomorrow.

We are in the process of buying our first house (hence, the lack of correspondence) and have been so busy in that process. Joli now goes to "Lucy's Day Care" 4x a week, and Tita Grace takes her to music class 1x a week. Yes, music class.

Joli's awesome. Totally conversational, very cute, very polite, very kind, very thoughtful. She's totally outgrown her clothes (18 months) and has "caught up" with the rest of the kids her age. When she was born early, the doctors all said she'd catch up physically around this time. She's just about as tall as other kids her age, too! Unfortunately, we need to go buy her new clothes! She's definately into the 2T stage!

THEY'RE BACK!

Hurrah! Joli and Jorge are back! Well, I'm gonna keep this short so I can go and spend time with them, but here are a few highlight photos!

beard.jpg
that one was taken in the jacuzzi in the timeshare where they stayed! Here are a few more from the huge bubble bath: shaving.jpg,
this-is-a-bath.jpg
This is a really cool picture that Grammy Eva took - hmm... is the butterfly real?? for-real.jpg
the-family-in-Florida.jpg
We're eagerly awaiting photos from a very pregnant Aunt Marie and from Pops' camera!
Glad to have them back!!

oh, and a hearty congratulations to Tita Mari and Uncle JP (John Patrick) on their upcoming wedding! Joli's gonna be a flower girl! Mari%20and%20JP.jpg

VALENTINES DAY, 19 Months photo, and a sad mommy!

We're experimenting with new conditioner.. as you can see with Joli's "not so crazy" hair on Valentines Day! 18-mos-valentines-day.jpg

Can you believe she's 19 months old already! She's awesome and SO tall! If you haven't seen her in a while, you'll be surprised just how tall she is (clearly not from the Talusan genes!). 19-mos-face.jpg and 19-mos-tigger.jpg

Congrats to Uncle Jon who made is safely in Hawai'i and who is eagerly waiting for Jenny and Mia to arrive!

Joli and Jorge are going to Florida in the morning, and Mommy is super duper duper sad.... will I make it? Well, the next posts after this will probably be of Miss Joli livin' it up in Florida!

JOLI OR J-LO?

J-Lo's green Grammy dress ain't got nothin' on me....

the newest runway fashions ...


the-runway-photo-1
the-runway-2
Grammy-dress-2005

UPDATES...

Hi, everyone! Sorry we've been so slow with the updates. We've actually been doing a lot more video than pictures, because Joli's just been a hoot of fun verbally! She's pretty awesome ...she talks like crazy and can actually have a conversation with you (that is, if you can understand the occasional "alblablahblauhglahbah" word thrown in there. She also went to her first college basketball game the other night and loved it!
She knows a mess of opposites: on/off, hot/cold, open/close, sad/happy, big/little
Knows her colors: red, blue, yellow, green
Shapes: circle, triangle, square
Can name every single person in the family - including significant others!
Knows every part of the body

blah blah blah.. and so on.. so here's the good stuff .. PICTURES!

our-driveway during the blizzard... oh gosh...
ha-ha-ha.jpg
looking-cute-in-Dora-wear
stop-taking-my-picture-mommy
straw-hat-Joli
tryin-to-tame-her-hair

GO VOTE FOR JOLI!

Hurrah! Joli was selected to be in this week's BabyZone photo contest! Go to www.babyzone.com and click on the photo contest (usually a picture of a baby on the right hand side of the website). She's in the toddler section at the bottom! But, only vote 1x from your computer (per day) otherwise your vote won't be counted! (and, disregard the stupid looking picture of me in the corner). Thanks to Alonso who took the picture last October!

LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF SNOW....

We woke up this morning to already 10 inches of snow, but Lolo and Joli insisted on watching-the-weather report anyways.

Gordon hates the snow. It makes him depressed. But, Joli is quick to cheer him up saying, "at-least-we-have-fruit from the indoor plants."

The snow is piled up so high that it's even bigger than Joli! look-at-all-the-snow !

We are literally trapped.... we can't open any of the doors or the snow will come flooding in. And, even if we could open the doors, we would have to somehow make it over the snow banks!

So, how's the weather in California, Mari? What about you Jon/Jen/Mia ..? How's the weather in Hawai'i?? Bet you are all soooo sad you're not still here visiting!

MORE PICS OF JOLI ON COUSIN MIA'S SITE!


Well, we're stranded under 2 1/2 feet of snow (and still falling).... Blizzard of 2005....

Surf on over to Joli's cousin's site to see some awesome pics of when Mia, Jenny and Jon visited last week. Their site is www.miajewell.blogspot.com.

Stay warm!

I'm 18 months old!

Well, my cousin Mia went home to Oregon the other day. I had lots of fun with her! I'm now 18 months old and a terror on wheels (says my mom!). Actually, I'm a really good kid, and I love running around in my light-up sneakers, talking up a storm, and singing at every chance I get! I can name every single person in my family, tell the dog to "stop it" and hold a decent conversation with adults. I also get along really well with strange children and like to entertain them at restaurants.

Here are some pics! enjoy!

Joli-18-months
Joli-and-Tiggs-18-months
little-teapot

MY COUSIN MIA IS HERE!! (oh, and so are Jenny and Jon....)

Yay! The grandkids are here! Joli is adjusting to having Mia around because now she has to share the love (there is plenty to go around.. don't worry!). It's awesome having Jenny and Jon here, too! Oh, Tita Mari.... we mittthhh you!!!




lazy-day-in-bed
get-this-baby-off-of-me
cousins-hanging-out
Lola, Liza, Mia and Joli

A FEW MORE FOR THE REAL FANS!


"what-do-monkeys-eat , Joli?" She says, "bananas."

awfully-comfortable right before dinner time

who-has-more-fun on Joli's scooter??

Only a few more days until Jon, Jenny and Cousin Mia arrive! Hurrah!

ps.. we went to see Joli's new friend, Melina Menghi -- we had tons of fun (and great food from Tammy and Ed!) Hopefully pictures of the two girls coming soon!

A FUN FEW WEEKS!

Here are just a few pics to catch you up on all the Joli goodness!

Christmas-scooter.jpg
Dom-Perignon.jpg - we had this at Christmas dinner
our-neighbors-from-New-York.jpg -- we visited them after Christmas
piano-lessons.jpg -- watch out Alicia Keys!
tufts-race.jpg -- taken in Oct after Grace and I ran the Tufts 10K for Women
yoga-class.jpg -- I just couldn't resist....

Joli is awesome! We don't track her words anymore because she's on to sentences and just saying absolutely everything!

CRAZY AMOUNTS OF FUN AT ROCKAWAY!

We're here in Rockaway Beach having Christmas Eve at the Vegas, and Joli is having one heck of a great time. She gets everything here! Elmo toys, baby dolls, little houses, beans and rice, magnetic letters, a dry erase board, and lots and lots and lots of attention. (the Talusan family has called at least 4 times in 2 days saying "We miss Joli!!"). She also gets away with everything here -- including crayons to tag her name as "graffiti Joli". We got here on Christmas Eve, and Joli jumped right into opening presents. It certainly was the "Joli Vega Christmas 2004". We even got a rare opportunity for a family picture (unfortunately without Andy and Marie) at the church. Note the great fireplace .. Pops really wanted the picture there! We even got a picture of Joli at FGT .

Cool stuff: Joli is honestly the smartest 1 1/2 year old I know. She totally talks (especially to Ozzie, the minature Doberman) and is completely understandable. She know shapes, "big vs little", parts of the body, glasses, how to use utensils, how to treat animals "nice", how to hug and kiss, and how to clean up. She is so darn smart.....

Back to MA tomorrow!

17 Months Old!

Joli turned 17 months old on December 17th. She's really active and has been using a few complete sentences these days! Too cute! Mari and JP are here visiting from Los Angeles, and Joli has a fun time confusing "JP" with "Paul!"

Here are a few of her cute pictures! Enjoy! Happy Holidays to everyone!
17-mos-photo
17-mos-photo-#2
the-next-Dr.-Talusan

When Lolo babysits....

Lolo is very helpful when watching Joli. He makes sure she always stays hydrated with a nutritious drink, helps to answer the phones while taking messages, learns how to use the potty in order to avoid a traditional diaper change , practices for her days as a big sister by taking care of the baby, and helping to prepare dinner. (note that all of these did, in fact, happen in the same day... and in the same few hours).

Trouble.. trouble ... trouble....