Merry Christmas!

It's a very merry Christmas here today! The girls slept last night by the Christmas tree trying to, once again, catch Santa in the act! We put out some yummy treats of cupcakes that the girls baked, some carrots for the reindeer, and, of course..... nachos. (the nachos were Jorge's contribution)

At around 5:50am, Joli woke up and yelled "Oh MY GOSH! SANTA CAME! SANTA CAME!" I guess we were foiled again, and the clever man in red came to our house without waking us up!
She then woke up all of us and we started our Christmas presents - all before 6:05am.

Santa brought the girls a lovely doll house with furniture and two families, a new robe for Joli, and a Cheetah Girls poster. Jorge got replacement DVDs from the ones he had lost on the plane, rock band drum sticks (also previously lost), air freshener, a pink shirt (the girls are learning that, yes, boys can wear pink), and sour patch kids. Liza got the bag that she picked out and some chocolates.

We reflected on the fact that this year was a "budget" Christmas, yet it was the most fun one! We only got what we "needed" and didn't go overboard. It was lots of fun!

Last night, Liza sang at Church and the girls and Jorge had a good time. Even Gavin got in on the Baby Jesus photo.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Making cupcakes for Santa!




Gavin, doing the cool pose next to the Nativity outside of our church


Joli wanted to pose with her sister next to Baby Jesus. She got upset when she realized she was blocking him in the photo!


Jada with her Grover pose - she's already 2.8 years old!


Joli with her Tigger -- she's 5.5 years old!




The children were nestled ... all snug in their High School Musical sleeping bags.



Santa's tasty treats -- he ate everything but the jalapenos!



The big hit -- a doll house!



Liza and Jada in a post-present snuggle. Look closely and you'll see that Jada has tucked the baby dolls into my belly waist-band. Apparently, she wants me to have quadruplets....



Jorge playing some post-Christmas Call of Duty on his XBox.

Oh, the Weather Outside...!

So, quick throw back to August 21, 2005 - we just got this picture from Alonso. This was Joli just after getting her stitches out after her enucleation. Oh, how warm it was then!
And, now, 2 years later.... snow. Cold. Here is Jorge taking no mercy on the little children. He bombarded them with snowballs today!
Joli ducking for cover from Jorge's snow ball throwing! (yes, no glasses... we were very careful!)
Jada - she just jumped around the snow pretending to be a bunny!

Here is a picture of the girls in December 2007 - about this time last year when it snowed! They actually don't look all that different (maybe because they're wearing the same exact clothes from last year!)

Joli's Recital

Today was recital day at Joli's school. She has been in music lessons for only a few weeks now, and the girls in her class (all 3 total) put on a show for the rest of the school. Enjoy!

Joli with the girls from school and Ms. Rebecca, their music teacher

Lola and Lolo cancelled patients to attend the 20 minute performance!

Joli did a super job! She even had a few little solos and sang loud and clear. She had so much fun getting dressed up -- out of her typical uniform clothes -- and into her fancy black recital dress. Great job, JoJo!

Here is a link to the YouTube video of it: 

Busy weekend!

This weekend was nuts! We were up until well past midnight all weekend and then packed in our days. On Friday, Joli and I spoke at the Southern New Hampshire University where we were the featured family for Camp Sunshine. It was a such a nice event, and I'm guessing they raised well over $4000 for Camp. We have another fundraising event next week, too.

On Saturday, Joli and Jada went to their friend Melina's birthday party. Her mom, Tammy, took these great pictures!

Don't let Jada's grumpy face fool you.....


... she was just waiting for the part where she could shake her groove thang!

Saturday night, of course, was the Pacquiao fight - go Pinoy! Sunday, I had a busy day with some work related events and then an orchestra concert. Yes, orchestra. I hadn't played since college, but decided to join the school orchestra this semester. So, Jorge and the girls came, sat in the front row, and supported Mama!

Busy weekend -- and I have a feeling they are going to be even more busy for the next few weeks!

Let the Holidays BEGIN!

The holidays have begun in our house - especially with the start of the Christmas tree! The girls did a great job decorating and even got some fancy new ornaments that they picked out themselves. At one point, Joli turned to me and said, "MOMMY! Next year, the baby can help us put up ornaments." Woah.. we'll have 3 kids.

Here is a great picture of what my life is like -- I'm actually not referring to the size of my belly... I'm referring to the little girl who seems to be SuperGlued to my belly! Jada is obsessed. Whenever I'm near her, she needs to run under my shirt and talk to 'baby.' Whenever she can, Jada jabs her fingers into my belly button in an effort to "tickle baby." First thing in the morning, she says, "Good morning, Baby. It's me, Jada!" and last thing at night, she has to hug and kiss baby. Apparently, she has forgotten that I am attached to Baby and will usually just greet my belly and run off. Nice.....


Here is my view of Jada at all times -- 1/2 of her face. The other half is hidden under my belly. (yes, that is my belly at the bottom of the photo)


I finally got the girls to pose for a Christmas tree photo!

I know.. I know... we live in Red Sox land. Jada was born in Red Sox land. But, we're Yankees folks at heart! Sorry, Uncle Paul!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

We had a great 2-day Thanksgiving feast! We were supposed to go to NY, but with my aching back problems, it just wasn't going to be possible -- sorry Vega family :( I'm sure we'll see you soon!!

Here are some pictures from a few days in November. Enjoy!

Mari and Gavin during hot cocoa festival after turkey.



Joli and Mia enjoying hot cocoa like "little ladies" (they called themselves that).
Jorge with his first turkey ever! It was so yummy! He also made beans and rice AND a pumpkin pie! Good job, Jorge!!
More posing with the turkey!
Joli and Jada getting their pictures taken in their matching dresses. This is hilarious because it is a classic Jada look...!
Still annoyed that Mommy is taking their pictures.


Ultrasound in the beginning of November - at about 5 months. Everything looks good!


Funny, funny Jada... we found her like this one day and had to grab the camera!

I Won an Award!

So, I usually post about the cool things everyone in the family is doing, and thought I'd take this one for me!

This past week, my colleague Kristen nominated me for a prestigious award through our professional organization. It's a regional award with potential for national recognition in March 2009. It was a pretty surreal experience as it was completely kept a surprise by everyone in my office (including an elaborate scheme to get me to the ceremony when I was actually planning on going home that evening!).

Kristen organized this whole thing, nominated me, got others to write letters of support and I was given the award in a very surprising ceremony on Tuesday night. The speech was written by my boss, Fr John, and was filled with very humbling quotes from people about the impact I've had on their lives. It was nuts. I actually didn't hear much of the speech because I was too busy wanting to crawl under the table!

Here is a picture of Kristen and me just after I was given the award. It's a recognition award for Educational Equity and Ethnic Diversity.

So very amazing!

Post-Election Fun!

No surprise, we are thrilled about President Elect Obama! Here is a great picture of Joli and her best friends leaving the voting booth! I hope we can take a similar one in 13 (well years when they are 18 and voting for themselves!).



This is the latest giant belly photo also taken around November 4th. Thought we could record this for baby-to-be on this special day! Yes, those are stretch marks... already.




As the news broke on CNN, Jorge was ready for his close up!

We've felt the baby move a little bit, and everything seems to be going well. I have an ultrasound coming up, but likely, we'll still not find out what sex the baby is. Jada is obsessed with Baby; Joli doesn't seem to really care. But, I think Joli has been surrounded by all the cousins and babies that she's like, 'Uh,huh. Big deal. Another thing that'll cry and interrupt my pony-playing."

Some cool kid things:

1. Joli can read. It's crazy.

2. She can name all 50 states -- even I can't do that without really thinking about it.

3. Jada's favorite thing to say these days is "Jammboooo!" which is a warning that she's about to jump on you.

4. Jada says, "If the baby's a boy, I'm going to name it Diego. If it's a girl, I'm going to name it Dora."

5. When we do nighttime prayers and get to the "God Bless Mommy, Daddy...etc" section, Joli goes through the whole family. When it's Jada's turn, she says, "God Bless my armpits. God Bless my feet. God Bless M&Ms. The end."

6. Joli is rocking out her dance moves. She LOVES to dance and make up her own songs these days. She's also finally taking music lessons in school, and I hope she really gets into some sort of instrument at some point!

That's all for now! Have a great day!!

Like Father (and Mother)... Like Daughter

I picked up Joli early from school today so that she could come with me to the voting polls. I made a point to bring Joli to the polls today for so many reasons:

1. Wanted her to know the power of the individual and the importance of voting
2. Wanted her to see the process of our rights
3. Wanted her to know that voting is an expectation!
4. Wanted her to be a part of history -- a moment in time when she can look back and know she was a part of a very big day!
5. Wanted her to know that her Mom (and Dad) care about her future and the future of our country
6. She's been hearing us talk about Obama a whole lot, and we wanted her to see it to the end!

I took this picture in the voting booth of Joli after we colored in the circle for Obama. Hopefully she can look back on this day and know that we were a part of history.

After I came home and uploaded the photo, I saw that Jorge uploaded his, too! Like father, like daughter. Off to go watch the news!!

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!