To NY and Back!

We went to NY and back in 24 hours to see Jorge's family and to visit our friends on Long Island. It was so much fun being back there and bringing the girls. Cotton candy and french fries - doesn't get better than that.

The girls had a great morning with Grammy, Pops and Uncle Pedro.

We then went to Long Island and met up with Olivia and Gen (and their mom). It was a spiritual connection from the minute the 4 girls met each other. Olivia, of course, is the creator of the beautiful quilts that she gave the girls over the years.

Jada finally got to meet Tracey - one of Jorge's mentors from high school and both of our good friend. Tracey brought Joli and Jada around to all the little animals and bought the girls hot dogs!

Oops... just tried to upload the pictures from Gen, but because i stole them from her facebook, they didn't come out right. So, I'll post those once I get them from her (ahem ahem, Gen....).

Thanks for hanging out with us everyone! Off to bed....

Some Fall Fun!
Just hanging around and enjoying the warm fall so far! We went apple picking and the girls had such a great time. Jada enjoys bossing everyone around and saying, "Apple. I want apple." I also caught Jada the other day with one of the baby dolls and she kept saying, "Baby? Want apple? Want apple baby?" Too cute!

Jorge and Joli getting their apple picking stance ready


Joli getting ready for another week at school


Jada checking out the animals

This was hilarious......


Okay, so it COULD be that the photo of Jorge is a funny one.. but, after all, I'm the one writing the blog so I get to spin it my way, no???




C'Mon... JADA ONLY LOOKS 6% LIKE ME??

JADA SPEAKS!

Once again, getting a demand from the family about not updating people on Jada's coolness, too. So, here you go!

Jada basically babbles and babbles and bosses people around all day.

Some of the things she loves to say:
"Mommy"
"Daddy"
"Go!" (to Gordon)
"I want apple/milk/that."
"Ay, nako!"
"Elma"
"Cheese!" (in front of the camera)
"Hiii!"
"Musky" (aka her nickname: Muskrat)
"Elmo"
"Hide! Hide!"
"bye, bye!"
"Apple"
"Banana"
"Lolo!" (as of today!)


WORDS SHE UNDERSTANDS:
"Jada, get that"
"No, Jada!"
"Get your shoes"
"Where's Ate Joli/Ate Mia"
"Go to the car"
"Where are your eyes/ears/hair/nose/mouth"

This is Jada's remix version of A-B-C and the Barney Song... ENJOY!

Happy birthday to Tita Mari - she's a whopping 36 years old!

***uh, oh... THANKS TO PAULIE FOR POINTING OUT THAT Mari isn't a "whopping 36-years old" but rather an overwhelming "38 years old..." My gosh....*****




Happy Birthday Tita Mari!!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!


Joli had her first day of school today - complete with bright green and purple backpack! She did a great job playing on the computers and listening to her teachers. The letter of the day was letter "M" and Joli brought home some neat artwork that we'll proudly display in her room! Watch out, pre-schoo1 -- here comes Joli!



Classic "first day of school" picture pose




Miss Jada had fun while Jo was at school - check out her finely manicured nails...

Joli at 49 months (August 2007)

Late night out!! (okay.. more like "8:30pm"...)

Thanks to Elma, all the couples were able to go out to a wedding -- sans children -- the other night. So, this entry is dedicated to the grown ups! Jon and Jenny scooted out early, so we didn't get any pics of them, and of course Mari and JP are in the West Siiiide.

Super rare photo of BOTH Jorge and me!



Just as rare a photo of Grace and Alonso (usually the one taking the pictures!)




Our good friends Ligaya (known her for 26 years) and Chuck



Kirsten and Paul - no kids, so they stayed at the party later -- 9:30pm....

A night out!

JORGE WON! JORGE WON! JORGE WON!

Thank you to everyone who supported Jorge in the Comic Book competition! We are thrilled for him and couldn't imagine this happening to a nicer, more wonderful person! Look for his book coming out in March '08!! Until then, Jorge will be working with his "publicity team" (seriously... he actually has a publicity team now!!) and doing lots of press! :) WE LOVE YOU, JORGE!! Congratulations!!

Just a little something I put together.....

JORGE'S MEDIA BLITZ!

This past week, Jorge has truly discovered just what Public Relations is all about! In the span of 1 week, has has managed to appear in 2 major newspapers and even on the 6 o'clock news tonight in Boston! Way to go Jorge! Please keep voting everyone!

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/entertainment/13952335/detail.html# is the Boston Channel 5 news

http://enterprise.southofboston.com/articles/2007/08/20/news/news/news09.txt to the Brockton Enterprise article

ONLY 1,000 VOTES SEPARATE THE CONTESTANTS!!

We interrupt the latest cuteness of the kids to let you know that YOUR VOTES ARE NEEDED!! Jorge is just 1,000 votes away from the #1 spot in the Platinum Studios Comic Book Challenge! Please, click on the link and vote vote vote for Jorge Vega: Gunplay! He's so close to his dream -- be a part of the reality!

www.attblueroom.com/hollywood

Thanks!!

The Girls meet Great Grand Pops!

We love you, Pops! Before heading back home, we took a trip to Brooklyn to see Great Grand Pops, Grandma Olga, Titi Ruth and Uncle Manny. The girls had a fun time watching men pour concrete into the sidewalk (which ended up trapping us for a few hours in Pops's apartment!). But, we're glad it happened because we spent a few more hours there looking at great family photos! We're looking forward to seeing you all again real soon!

Jorge Vega x 3 (and Joli ... she's counts as 1/2 of a "JO"rge Vega)


Our family with our favorite Great Grand Pops!

AUGUST 2005 - SESAME PLACE - JOLI AGE 2



AUGUST 2006 - SESAME PLACE - JOLI AGE 3


AUGUST 2007 - SESAME PLACE - JOLI AGE 4

TWO YEARS AGO....

This time, two years ago, on August 17, 2005, we were tossing and turning, crying and praying. It was 2 years ago today that we found out Joli had cancer, and that in less than a few hours, we would be wheeling her into surgery to save her life.

We thank God that Joli is here with us today. Each year, we visit Sesame Place -- for us, that is the last "family vacation" before our lives changed forever. As a special treat this year, we arranged to have Joli's life celebrated at Sesame Place - and thankfully, they agreed!

Over the course of 2 days, we took almost 200 pictures of Joli and Jada. Here are some of the highlights! "August 17" is a very humbling day for our family. We are Blessed to have the family and friends that we have in our lives, and everyday we thank God for all of you.

Congratulations, Joli! We love you so much!

Miss Jada - all sassy


We arranged for Joli to have a private meet-n-greet with the Sesame Friends!





Jada kept yelling "Eh-mooo! Eh-mooo!!"



We also arranged for Joli to be a guest of honor at the parade! She got another private meet-n-greet on Day 2 and rode on the coveted Elmo float! Joli rocked it!



Our girl rockin' it out on the parade route!


Joli also got a special treat from Grammy! Grammy took her to a very fancy hair salon to get her hair texturized, cut, and blow-dried! Check out "Your Majesty - JOLI!"





WHO IS THIS GIRL???


Our little sweethearts


The gals with Abby Caddaby

HUH, JADA? what are you saying??

ACTUALLY, JADA REVEALED TO ME WHAT SHE WAS SAYING..

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRAMMY!!" Sorry this birthday wish was late -- it took a while for me to translate "Jada talk." Happy birthday, Grammy! We LOVE YOU!!




FUN WITH COUSIN LILY.. again, I have no idea what they are saying...

WAIT!! Cousin Lily just called me to say, "Aunt Liza, I was trying to say 'Hey, Jada, do you know it's our Grammy's birthday' and Jada was saying 'Yes, let's get down from these high chairs and drive to New York.. I'll get the keys.'" HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRAMMY EVA!!

This weekend was action packed in the friends department for the girls. On Saturday, we met up at Sheep Pasture with my friend from work who has a little girl just 1 month older than Jada. On Sunday, we drove to Mystic Aquarium to see our friends Tina and Scott and their little cuties. Seriously, from the moment Joli and Cady met, the didn't let go of each other's hands for 4 hours. I'm sure Jada and Sophia would have hit it off beautifully if we could let them run around, too! But, they were content in their little strollers.

Hmm... are these future Connecticut College camels, too???


Fun with new friends!

Jorge is back!!!

Seriously.. go and vote at www.attblueroom.com/hollywood and go to the Comic Book Challege!!! VOTE FOR JORGE!

also, hilarious --- so, lots of people think that Jorge resembles Donald Faison. Just 2 months ago, I ran into Donald Faison in NYC Times Square - TWICE! Got his autograph for Jorge. Turns out Donald Faison was also one of the judges at the Comic Book Challenge!

Check out this... tell us if YOU think he looks like D. Faison!

We both "Made the Cut!"

Great news! Jorge made the TOP 10 in the Platinum Studios comic book competition. Be sure to vote for him every day at http://www.attblueroom.com/hollywood

Also, I made the cut -- 13 inches to be exact! All that hair is going to Pantene's Beautiful Length Program which makes wigs for women with cancer... free of charge.

BEFORE....


AFTER...!



:)

*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!!!