*Jada on the stoop -- protecting her zone!




*Joli in the crawl tube - July 20, 2007 (age 4)


*Joli in the crawl tube - April 2005 (age 1 .. almost 2)



*"This here is MY playground... keep on walkin'...."


*Miss Tinkerbell (aka Joli) - thanks Aunt Marie, Uncle Andy and Lil'!

A Big Birthday week!

It's been a few days of birthday celebrations here at our house! Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate Jo's birthday! We can't believe she is FOUR! Egads!

Thanks to Grammy and Pop who also made the trip up to see us. Here's an awesome clip of the "Vega Birthday Song" -- she looks forward to this EVERY year!



This one is called "Only Aunt Jenny can make Jada laugh...."

"Happy Birthday, Miss Joli!!"

Oh yes!! She's officially FOUR YEARS OLD!
Miss Joli started her day with her birthday balloons. We then had custom blueberry pancakes (thanks Tita Elma!) and went to the beach with Mia, Uncle Jon and TeeTah Grace. It was so much fun! We got to feed the seagulls, play in the sand, and jump the waves. Then, Joli went to pick out her own celebration cake -- Elmo cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, and a raspberry layer cake! YUM! Thanks to Lola and Tita Elma who brought over food to our house (with the lovely new windows!).

Let's see -- fun Joli things to remember when we look back on this year:

1. Camp Sunshine - that was a year highlight!

2. Joli loves to ask people, "What was your favorite part?" after doing something fun

3. She makes us say, "Yes your Majesty" a lot.

4. She loves referring to Jada as "the Muskrat"

5. She got her hair done for the first time with Grammy a few months ago - and she loves wearing puffs and a "single puff"

6. She was a flower girl in Aunt Jenny and Uncle Jon's wedding!!

7. With the addition of our laptop, Joli LOVES when we film her and she gets to see herself on the laptop

8. Guitar Hero - her favorite way to bond with Daddy

9. Each morning, Joli races me from the car to Lola's house. At first, she always wanted to win, but now, she wants "everyone to win"

10. Joli was never into stuffed animals, but this year seemed to be the year of the "stuffed animal" needs. She has Sparkle (a whale), Duck (the dog), Ella (the dog), Dusty (the horse), Jessa (another dog), Bunny (the rabbit), Gorts (dog), Hoot (the white owl.. not to be confused with a BARN owl), and many many others

11. "I don't have enough years yet to go to school. I need FIVE YEARS."

12. Joli (and Mia) are absolutely obsessed with "wave to me in the window." If you don't wave, they cry. A lot.

13. Joli still likes to snuggle either me or Jorge before she falls asleep.

14. She's the master at "sneaking" - she always sneaks out of bed and tries to scare us

15. She finally got out of her big clunky car seat and into her booster seat -- and now she can buckle her own seatbelt!! Joli loves to "trick" me and ask me to unbuckle her... but she's already unbuckled! That silly bugger!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MISS JO JO!! We love you!

I stole these from my brother's blog....

cute pics of us at the wedding!

Oh, and COUNTDOWN TO JOLI'S BIRTHDAY!!! HURRAY!!!

Because it freaks out Mari, here is another one of Jada (see... it's for real!)

"My mom and dad say that I can't hold hands with boys, Gavin. So, here's my toes instead."

"Four kids? We're so happy because we get to give TWO of them back to their parents..."

SWIM CLASS AND EARLY VOICE LESSONS....

Okay, the swim class is real - Joli is now taking swimming and Jorge is there to accompany her.


Jada... girl doesn't need no voice lessons - check out this natural talent! (can you name that tune? hint: a big purple dinosaur is her muse)

Per Grammy's request, here are some pictures of Jada from Oregon! Enjoy!




Jada latest:
Jada's newest trick is singing the "Barney Song" - it's hilarious! She called Grammy today and totally rocked it!



We're now trying some much needed discipline on Jada. She is having trouble with her little toddler independence, so now we're having Jorge put Jada to bed each night. Two nights so far of screaming and crying, but eventually she falls asleep. After 15 months of nursing, we are also starting to wean Jada. She's not a big fan of being told "No, Jada" and has instead turned to screaming and hitting... oh great.

Wish us luck! I'm sure she'll get over it quickly!

Jada -- the Mama's girl

It's almost Joli's 4th birthday, and I was feeling a little nostalgic. So, here are Joli's 4 pictures from when she was born, her 1st birthday, her 2nd birthday and her 3rd birthday. Awww..... we've come so far! We love you, Joli!


Joli 2 weeks old. She was only 5 lbs when she was born.


Joli's 1st birthday


Joli's 2nd birthday (just a few weeks before diagnosis)


Joli's 3rd birthday (3 months after finishing chemotherapy)


Joli's 4th birthday... COMING SOON!

HURRAY FOR JENNY, JON AND MIA!

Aunt Katie and Uncle Dusty at the wedding


"The 1 year Newlyweds and the Newlywedded!"


Yes, Joli with a very pointy stick... we were supervising carefully (and she now rocks her glasses quite regularly!)


"Tech Support" just before the great slide show



Jenny, Mia and Jon Talusan


Jada at the rehearsal dinner


Miss Jada "Louie" being reunited with Gavietron


Jenny Talusan, Mia Talusan and Joli Vega

CONGRATULATIONS JON AND JENNY!

We had so much fun in Oregon and are recovering well from jet lag! Congrats to Jenny and Jon who finally tied the knot! the wedding was so beautiful and was a true reflection of the two of them. Joli, Mia and Jada were the flower "fairies" and Gavin was the ring bearer. They were too cute! It was so nice to see Gavin again. He kept pinching Jada's cheeks and saying "Louie.. cute. Louie. Cute." He also loved being able to chase Joli and Mia around the hotel! We also got to finally meet lots of the Matthews side of the family!

Jada.. the Feminist.. with her new quilt (she's standing on it)


"JADA! Stop stepping on the quilts, you little muskrat!!"


Joli treasuring her awesome quilt!

Thanks, Olivia!!

Our former student, Olivia, made Joli her very first quilt before Joli was even born. Well, Jada completely took over Joli's quilt, so Olivia made Joli a new one and even a brand new one for Jada! Liv also is getting Joli started on quilt making -- she included her make-your-own-quilt set in the package! Thanks Olivia!! The girls LOVE their quilts!

Camp Sunshine was a blast! here is Joli practicing her balance!



The camp has a great little walk down to the waterfront. Here is the bridge we have to cross to get there. They have fake animals in the woods that Joli could "spy" on her walk to the waterfront.


During the day, Jo was with her counselors (and a large group of children). She loved putting on a puppet show for them!

Joli chillin' on her bunk bed at Camp Sunshine


Camp Sunshine is for the entire family -- so even Jada got in on some action the first few days. Here she is with Mike Wachowski from Monsters, Inc!


Jada sportin' her Camp Sunshine duds!



Our little buddy Canyon! He's one of Jo's best friends!


A picture of just the Retinoblastoma kids at camp


Where to even begin?

We just got home from the most incredible time at Camp Sunshine in Maine. Camp Sunshine is a place where kids with cancer and their families can go and enjoy life! And, that is exactly what we did! All the kids this week were diagnosed with Retinoblastoma -- some had 1 eye; some had no eyes. Some had chemo. Some had radiation. Many had both. I wish I could truly put all of this down poetically, but the best way to see the result of Camp Sunshine is to see the confidence in Joli's eyes and hear the wonderful stories in our own voices (maybe I can get Grace to put this all in better words for me!).

Some quick anectodal stories:
Usually when Joli meets a little kid (supermarket, park, party, etc) she says, "Hi, I'm Joli! Do you have a special eye?" To which some kid usually looks at her like she's crazy or they just run away. Well, imagine, we roll up into Camp Sunshine, Joli sees a group of little kids and she says, "Hi, I'm Joli! Do you have a special eye?" and every single kid says, "YES! I have a special eye...which one is your special eye... I wear glasses... I like your glasses...." and the conversations just go on and on like that.

Joli met a few kids and adults who were completely blind - lost both eyes to retinoblastoma. She met one little gal who came up to her and began feeling her face. Joli looked a little nervous at first, then said to the girl, "Are you blind? You can't see, right?" and the little girl said "Yeah, I'm blind. What's your name....?" From then on, that little girl was one of Joli's best friends (they even went swimming together!)

Joli met a few kids in the hospital when we were in treatment, and she saw those kids at Camp Sunshine! One night, she turned to me (as she was sleeping in one of the bunk beds) and said, "Mommy. Canyon is my friend. He visited me in the hospital. I love my friends. Good night, Mom." And that was that.

One of the hardest things to do was to leave Camp. Camp Sunshine was a powerful experience for our entire family. While the kiddies (including Jada!) were watched by volunteers, the parents also got to have some play time! IT was like WE were campers, too! We did some fun games like ropes courses and challenges and also had serious discussion groups. Some of the groups were educational (latest research in retinoblastoma) and some where emotional. All were life changing.

As we were leaving, Joli put her little hand in mine and said, "Mama. My heart feels sad." "Why, Joli?" "I don't want to leave my friends. They are just like me."

I'm guessing no one from Camp Sunshine is actually reading our blog, but we are forever grateful for the gift you gave us this week. Thank you to all the volunteers, to the 13 year old gal who raised the money for us to GO TO CAMP!, and to Joli's special counselors - Rachel and Melissa. We will never forget this!

Rock on Joli. Rock on.

Hey! Hey! hey! Someone is 32 today....
Happy Birthday, Jorge! Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us. It's been party weekend over here!

We started with a band face off in the living room.....

Awesome cake and ice cream
Rocked it birthday style with Spidey and friends

Congratulations, Lily! Lily's baptism was today and we all got together from some high quality family fun! Jada spent most of the day screeching whenever anyone came near her, but she seemed fine once we got into church! So, here are some great pictures of Jada NOT on my hip, but rather hangin' with the fabulous Titi Minnie and Grammy!

Jada with Titi Minnie

Grammy with Jada

Joli in the awesome playroom at the church

Here is a great picture of Mia and Joli at Scooperbowl last week, too!

Whew! We've been so busy lately!
We're just recovering from a great week in NYC and a wonderful reunion event at Conn! We loved it! Here is an adorable picture of the girls walking the same walkway that Jorge and I walked down, oh, TEN years ago!

We're totally off schedule with the whole "monthly" pictures, but here is a great picture of Joli with her 1970's skater girl hairdo and her famous Tigger doll. Jada, on the other hand, was not interested in holding her Grover -- oh well.


Here is a cute pic of the girls just randomly playing. They are the best!
So, on the car ride home today, Joli was making me quiz her on Spanish colors. She got every single one right! WOW! The other day, I found some random flashcards of pictures and alphabet and just showed them to Joli "for the heck of it." Well, Little Miss Jo takes the cards and starts flipping through them saying "A is for Apple; B is for Ball..." and she proceeds to go through all 26 letters! Again, getting them all right.. woah.

Thanks to Cousin Mia, Jada has now added the word "bum bum" to her vocabulary. Fantastic. Jada is an eating machine. She easily eats at least 2x more than Joli at any given meal. And, then she yells for more...

Bossy girls. I love them.

Thanks for a fun time in New York, Grammy, Pops and Ped!! Can't wait to see you again!