The Way My Girls "Fight"

Jada has discovered the power of her fists lately - yes, I mean hitting. She's a hitting machine and it's making me crazy.

I happened to be sitting across from Jada and Joli this morning, and here is the interaction I caught. Thankfully I had my camera and decided to snap pictures rather than intervene....

This is the girls sitting peacefully watching some early morning television:



Out of no where, Jada turned around, jumped on Joli and threatened to hit her... (I caught her pre-hit). Note the troublesome smile on that girl's face and Joli's anticipation of getting whacked.
Houston, we have contact... Jada, still smiling....
Unprompted by me, Jada then gave her sister a big hug....
Only to have the "hug" turn into a "choke hold"

Gordon decided to just lick his own boogers during the fight. At which point I yelled, "Hey! Girls! Gordon can lick his own boogers!!" and that broke up the fight.

Who said I was raising Princesses????!?!??

Jorge's Commercial

Check out the latest celebrity in his first commercial!

JADA TURNS 2!!

Jada had a fun birthday today! She celebrated for three days - starting it off with a birthday party in Queens, then had a dinner party at our house the next day, and then a fun day on her real birthday!

The first of 3 parties ... this one is after a lot of ice cream in Queens.


Celebrating pre-birthday fun at the Bronx Zoo with Grammy and Pops ... see, I KNEW Jada was a bug!
Love to Grammy! The girls had such a fun time at the zoo (and so did Grams!)
Posing with Pops! (he's rocking a Buffalo Soldier shirt under there!)

Back home -- Jada's birthday crown on April 22nd
Her birthday breakfast from Tita Elma!
After birthday breakfast, we went to the Mystic Aquarium .. I love this picture because it was the first thing they all saw when they walked in . Mystic is awesome because it's really kid friendly with exhibits right at their eye level.

Great photo of Gavin and Jada after spotting a beluga whale!

The Dads and their Gals at Jada's birthday party
The cousins celebrating Jada's 2nd birthday! I love the reflection of the adults in the mirror trying to get the kids to laugh!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JADA! We love you!!

Jada turns 2 tomorrow...

I'm exhausted, the house is quiet, and I'm thinking a lot about Jada and Joli. Jada turns 2 tomorrow.... I remember exactly how I was feeling and what was going on that day 2 years ago. I figured I'd write about it now since tomorrow is going to be packed with fun!

It was a Friday afternoon when I left work, relieved to be taking the next week off as I was getting closer to my due date. The Vega family was in town and was leaving on Saturday. Around 6:00am on Saturday morning, I woke up and just couldn't get back to sleep. I remember tossing and turning and feeling kind of crampy. I got up, made coffee, and felt my belly hurt somewhat regularly. I decided to time it "just for fun" and my belly hardened every 20 minutes or so.

Around 8:00am, after everyone was slowing getting up, I called the doctor to see if I should do anything. She said, "It doesn't sound like you're in pain, so you must be fine." At 8:20am, I called back -- this time, in PAIN. Jorge and I drove to the hospital where they decided that, yes, I was going to give birth that day. At around 12:45pm, I started pushing, and by 1:06pm, Jada Grace joined us in this world.

Today, while driving home from New York, I stared at Jada in the rear view mirror and realized both how small and how big she looked. I also remembered that it was at this age that Joli was diagnosed with cancer. I do know that we've "moved on" in a lot of ways, but there will always be those milestone moments that remind me of our journey with her cancer. While Jada is such a smart, articulate, mature little gal, I am reminded just how little, small, and tiny Joli was when we went through this ordeal.

Tonight, Joli took her eye out to clean it because she had lots of build up around it. When she did, she called Jada over to the bathroom to explain what she was doing. She told Jada that she had a "special eye" and that she had to take it out. She explained to Jada that she, herself, had 2 seeing-eyes. There are key moments when Joli proves how much she has grown - the fact that she could explain this to her baby sister was just so remarkable. Joli then looked at herself in the mirror and said, "Mommy, I think my red eye is pretty, too. I didn't think it was pretty before, but now I think it's really pretty."

I couldn't agree more.....

New York City

We had a fabu time in NYC this weekend! Jorge was at the comic con while Joli, Jada and I stayed at Grammy and Pop's place. We met up with tons of friends from college, grad school, and a few of our former schools - thanks for coming out and supporting, everyone!

Here are some of the fun highlights of the weekend:

Jada took her first of many subway rides. She was super sassy - she kept wanting to stand in the middle and not hold on to anything. The best part was this: (Liza) "Jada, you have to hold on to the pole or you're going to fall. Seriously. Jada. Hold on to the pole!" (Jada) "NO!" (Joli - whispering under her breath) "Well, then, have a nice fall, Jada."

Some special Mommy-time on the ferris wheel at Toys R Us

We completely surprised Jorge at the Comic Con with the girls. We kept telling him it was just Pedro and me coming in and that we could only stay for an hour or so. We worked it out with some of his colleagues and arrived undetected. Unfortunately, Jorge was in the lobby chillin' on the phone. We had to duck behind these crazy poles - Joli was hiding behind a trash bin just so Jorge wouldn't see us. But, thanks to the bright green "VEGA" jacket that Pedro was wearing, he spotted us. Well, at first, he just spotted me and Pedro... then the girls jumped out to surprised him! He was so excited!!

Hanging out at the Platinum Studios booth

Jorge helped out our former student, Luis, with a documentary project on artists of color.
Pedro and Jorge representing the Buffalo Soldier shirts
In Toys R Us, I actually "lost" Jada for about 10 seconds... I turned the corner and found her dancing on the Dance Dance Revolution game. Hilarious! Oh, and see that shark in her hand, I was going to let her buy it, until she smacked me in the face with it when I tried to get her to LEAVE that game.... no, Jada. No.
Hey! Jada's as big as New York City!
First subway ride for Jada - thanks to Uncle Ped who helped me wrangle the girls to the city!

We had a great time at Leo and Lucky's birthday party! Check out the beautiful Mermaid Fairy and little Kitty!




I woke up this morning and couldn't find Joli. When I called for her, she said she was in the bathroom. I figured she was actually going to the bathroom.... alas. No. Rather, Joli was hiding in there -- CUTTING HER HAIR. OH great.

It's sleepover time again...!

We took this opportunity to do our "monthly photos" with Mia added in (and Jorge).

Our girl Jada at 23 1/2 months! Hurray!!

Joli at 57 months!
Mia at 33 months
watching a movie and eating snack before bath time!
Jorge felt left out... Go Obama!

Welcome to the family, Nina Vega!

Nina was born on Monday, April 7th. I'm happy to say that I was the only family member there when Marie and Andy went to the hospital.... :) Yes, I will steal that thunder and remind that baby of it every single time. I WILL be the favorite Aunt....!!

Hurray! Another Vega girl!!

Me, Grammy and baby Nina just 1 day old!

Relay For Life

We had a great time at Relay for Life! The girls invited their friend, Julia, also an Rb survivor and camp friend, to the event. It's a bit jarring to see your little child in a sea of older women (and a 21 year old survivor). I actually think that when we got there, people thought that I was the one with cancer, and that I couldn't get a babysitter or something. I overheard a woman - when Joli and Julia got in line to do the survivor lap - say, "Oh my god. It's the kids who had cancer...."

Joli and Julia doing the Survivor Lap. Blurry on purpose because I'm not sure who wants to be identified in this group.

Our family, Julia and her mom Donna

amazing....

I don't often mix business with family, but I wanted to give information out to people about a great group I am involved with about race and conversations. Check out Anti-Racist Parent at www.antiracistparent.com which is a fabulous blog with a number of great contributors (myself included!). The most recent one by Paula is just absolutely on the money.

Also, Joli taught a class at the college I work at the other day. she was a big hit! Together, we did a presentation on Rb, and the college kids asked her great questions. She was a bit shy but they loved her just the same and were really supportive. I then was asked to teach another class on it for a different section. Hurray for raising Rb awareness!!

Happy Easter!

Oodles and oodles of kid cuteness here, people! We had a great Easter weekend in NY with Grammy, Pops and Uncle Pedro. The girls wore matching (of course, c'mon) Easter dresses, had their hair done by Grammy, and got the rare chance to go up to the alter with Pops.

Rare Family Photo: Easter 2008

Jada gettin' her hair done by Grammy
Chillin' with the favorite Uncle living in New York

Hee hee.... Jada scared at a point in the movie. Too precious!

GUNPLAY PREMIERE IN LA!



Okay, this was super amazing. Jorge's book "Gunplay" launched in Los Angeles today and it was such an incredible event! The pictures pretty much sum it up, but the highlights include:

• Jorge being mistaken by an Australian guy who said, "I came all the way from Australia and may never get the chance to meet you again.... I love your show." (Jorge getting mistaken for Donald Faison... poor dude).

• A woman coming up to Donald Faison and saying, "No offense, but I really only want Jorge to sign my book."

• Getting to be an a press room (of only about a dozen people) with Alyssa Milano, Milo Ventigmelia, Donald Faison.. and of course, Jorge and the crew

• Seeing a line for Jorge's booth snake nearly 1/2 way down the convention room floor (and having someone say, "Daaaammm, this line is longer than The HULK's LINE!")

• Hearing a 20-something year old guy walk away from the Gunplay table and say to his friend, "This is the BEST day of my life!"

• Walking around the Con and seeing total strangers wearing Buffalo Soldier shirts

• Walking into the Con and having someone at the door hand me a "Gunplay" postcard and say, "Jorge Vega will be signing autographs later if you want to meet him!" (hee hee hee!)

• Hearing Donald Faison get interviewed and saying to the reporter, "Nah, man, the REAL news isn't me... it's this guy, Jorge Vega -- go interview HIM!"

CONGRATULATIONS JORGE!! WE'RE SO PROUD OF YOU!!

Jorge getting interviewed

Group shot in the press room just before the CBC Ceremony
Jorge and Donald signing books. Here's how cool Jorge (and the rest) is: "Gunplay" normally sells for $1. But, to get a copy signed by Donald, Jorge, Nei and Dominic, they cost $5 and the $4 would benefit Camp Sunshine. How cool are they?

Liza and Jorge in the press room for Wizard's World.

Signing autographs ... the line for these guys snaked 1/2 way across the convention room floor! It was huge! And, I hear someone say, "WOW! This line is longer than the one for The Hulk (Lou Ferrigno!)"
Next stop: NY Comic Con!

Geesh.. it's been a busy week!

Lots of things going on this week. Jorge is getting ready for his big debut this weekend, I've been at a conference all week, and the girls have been extra busy .. well, being girls!

This is Mary - working on the midterm that she should have written weeks ago...

Jada and Lolo -- some moments she loves him, some moments she's screaming at him. This picture looks like she's not sure...!

This is a result of Mary having done so much extensive research on the Muslim communities in the Philippines and making us watch hours and hours of video footage of her research. I guess the kids learned more than we thought...!

Jada refused to remove her scarf and insisted it be wrapped this way.


We brought the kids to Filipino school where Mary was teaching kulingtan.