UPDATES

Evan is 7 months old (tomorrow!)

It's hard to believe our little baby boy is now a crawling 7-month old with teeth! He had his EUA today and did great (see video).

Joli is looking adorable with the big tooth hole in the middle of her mouth. She's enjoying school and has been on the "speech circuit" lately. She wrote a great speech for a Health Care class at Stonehill, that she delivered all by herself!

Jada is still sassy. LOVING school and is actually reading quite well (at age 3, mind you!).

Been doing much more updating on Facebook, so been a bit slacking on the Blogger site. I'll try to post up more this weekend!




Joli working on her speech - she wrote it all by herself! On the day of the lecture, she also took out her eye to show the students. What a brave girl! I'm so proud of JoJo!

Jada acting like Lola - glasses and all!

A very, very, very abbreviated version of what happens during an exam under anesthesia.

END OF SEPTEMBER FUN!

Here is Joli about to lose her front tooth! She's lost the bottom two teeth, but now the top ones are loose! It'll be so fun to see the milestone "big gap" in her teeth! Can't wait!

Joli is back at school and loving it. She really enjoys her teachers, and I think she actually likes having Jada in school with her, too. She's been such a great helper around the house, too, as she's already my babysitter-in-training!

Week 18 of our 52 Weeks picture project!


Evan is already starting to drink from a sippy cup, and he's already eating solid foods. So far, we've done cereal, apple sauce, sweet potatoes and mashed corn! It's funny ... with Joli, we were SO strict with timing of foods, types of foods, etc. Evan, not so much. I'm pretty sure he was eating a different food at each meal!


Evan at his 6 month visit! Can you believe it already? He's 15 lbs :)

Jada is hilarious. I don't always post all of the photos from each week, but there are definitely some funny "jada faces" ones. She is so expressive! And, no, she's not looking at anything shocking ... she just decided to make those faces!


We've been having lots of fun these past few days. Evan is getting so big and a lot more independent. He's almost crawling! He kind of makes himself into a "tent" and the projectiles forward! But, I'm pretty sure any moment now, he'll be racing down the hallways!

Jada is absolutely loving school! She's having a great time with her little buddies. At "Lola's School", Jada now packs her own lunch and treats it like a "real school."

Let's see? Anything else? Just busy at work for both Jorge and me!

Because babies laughing is just so funny.....

Sorry! Been doing a lot more Facebook updates than Blogger updates.

Some good info:
Evan now has teeth! He has 2 little teeth buds on the bottom. Evan is starting to eat cereal, though nothing very regular. According to Jenny, Evan loves to just scream at her -- high pitched and loud. Though, my sweet little Evie Cakes hasn't done it to me, yet, so I can't quite believe her (haha! kidding!). Evan has been spending a lot of time with Kainoa as we are down a baby sitter. So, Jenny and I have been trying to cover all the babysitting and going to work.

Evan is also up on his knees and getting ready to crawl any moment now! He is so excited to be on all-fours! In the meantime, he rolls.. and rolls .. and rolls around to get where he wants to go.



Joli has been doing fantastic at school. It's back to extreme homework time, again, but Joli seems to be enjoying it. We've told her that we're most likely going to public school next year, and even though we've said NEXT YEAR, she's already talking about going. I think she'll really love riding the bus next year.





Jada has been going to school 3 days a week and just loves it! She loves the interaction with all the kids and especially loves going in uniform!

I've been behind on all the 52 weeks photos on Blogger (you can see them on Facebook). So, here are some to catch up on!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL (official!):

Here are the pictures from the first day of school! Joli is in 1st grade and Jada is in pre-pre-K (also known as "3-year olds school").

The girls had a great day, though Joli already has homework and is not excited about that. Jada had a fun time, and she says that she napped, had snack, and played all day.

The families have decided that, 1 day a week, each Tita/Uncle will take an afternoon and teach the kids a particular talent/craft. For example, today (Tuesday), I did vocal warm ups with the kids. Jenny will do a Sports Afternoon. Mary will do Tagalog lessons. Jorge is going to do theater/dance. And, Grace will do storytelling. After all, we've got a family full of talented people, why would we spend money on something people pay US to do??? Also thrown in somewhere, KARATE! :)

Looking forward to those pictures!

Hurray for School!

Getting ready to go!

Oh, such polite children!

While not an official 52 weeks photo, here is a cute one - check out Jada's crossed legs (haha)

The First Day of School!

Okay, technically, it's the Eve of the First Day of School, but we knew we might not have enough time tomorrow to take pictures. Enjoy the photos of the girls in their uniforms!

Joli is going into 1st grade this year -- kind of hard to believe! Jada is starting Nursery school, though, only for a few days a week. We are hoping we can let her stay at Dovecrest this year, though she might join Gavin back at "Lola's School House". We've promised her she can still wear her uniform, though, if she goes to Lola's.

I'm sure we'll have fun stories later!

Norhanna Talusan Lacanlale!!

born 8/29/09 @ 6:52pm, 5 lbs 15oz, 20 inches!

Congratulations, Mary, JP, and Gavin!!

We've already nicknamed her Nor-honey :)

Baby Norhanna Liza coming??

Mary is 40 weeks pregnant now and getting induced tomorrow. Will baby Norhanna Liza come tomorrow? (now, officially, no one has said that her name is Norhanna Liza, but I'm putting it to add pressure to get Mary and JP to name her that name!)

Here is Evan (aka "Cakie Boy") at 5 months. He's such a cutie guy! He's Mr. Happy Boy (well, that is, if you carry him... a lot.). He is rolling, rolling, rolling around and we've even bought our first box of cereal for Evan to start at 6 months.

Joli and Jada are wrapping up at Camp, and school starts in 2 weeks. Eeek! I can't wait to take pictures of them in their new school uniforms!

So, funny - Jada just found a giant ant on the carpet and yelled, "MOM! My friend, Ant, is here! He came all the way from Lola's house! Wow. That must have been a long drive for him!" - cutie pie!

Not much else happening, so I'll let you enjoy the pictures!

My sleeping baby boy!
Evan - 5 months old


Evan at 5 months
Mary and Gavin (and Norhanna Liza....)

It's HOT here!

It's been a hot, hot, hot few days around here, and we've been trying our best to keep cool! Evan is doing an awesome job rolling all around and he loves staying on his tummy. Will he crawl soon?? He's getting so much bigger now, too! We're trying to hold on to our bassinette, but we're pretty sure he's going to outgrow it any day now!


Here is our Week 14 photo! Yes, KO'D made it back in again!

Evan Boy with his new quilt, made by Olivia Dreizen!


Happy Birthday, Grammy! Grammy celebrated her birthday on August 8, and we were all there to celebrate with her! Jorge and the girls made this yummy cake for her!

A rare smiling opportunity for Pedro!

Evan hanging out while the girls are in the wading pool.

The girls enjoying a lovely moment in the wading pool!

At this point, we're just waiting for Baby Norhanna to arrive... Norhanna LIZA, that is! :)

Diagnosis Day

It's Joli's diagnosis anniversary, and we are celebrating the day she was diagnosed with cancer. Today was the day when we thought we were going into Boston for a "fun family day" and instead ended up hearing she had cancer. It's both a tough day for our family and also a wonderful celebration of life! For, had she not been diagnosed at this time, we can't even think of what would have happened. So, while it's a reflective day, it's also a day of celebration.

We celebrated life with a very fun filled weekend! Unfortunately, there aren't many pictures since our camera was busted (urgh!), but we have some great videos! We started Saturday with Jorge skydiving again -- this time, he didn't pass out! Go Jorge!

Saturday night was an amazing event -- Joli gave her very first speech. Wait, no, let me back up ... Joli actually WROTE and delivered her very first speech. I was all ready to give my usual "How cancer changed our lives" speech at the Lyrics for Life event, when Joli said, "Mommy, I'd like to do the speech this year." So, while everyone was napping, Joli grabbed the hotel pad of paper and sat on the edge of the bed. I fell asleep, and woke up to ask Joli how it was going. I admit, I expected jibberish.

Then, Joli started reading...

"Hello. My name is Joli and I am 6 years old.... when I was 2, I had cancer."

Oh. My. Gosh. Joli wrote 12 pages of her speech and actually got up on stage and delivered her speech. I was so surprised! She usually hides behind my back or grabs on to my legs while I'm up there speaking. But, this time she went up there with a lot of confidence! She was so thrilled!

Later, Ken Block of Sister Hazel came up and talked about Joli - her strength and her courage. It was awesome! Seeing Joli grow into this amazing little girl (and, doing something most adults are afraid to do -- public speaking!) was the thrill of my life!

On Sunday, we celebrated by driving up to Storyland and spending the day there. The girls went on the same 2 roller coasters all day! It was such a blast!

In our hotel room taking a nap


Joli after watching Daddy sky dive! It was h-o-t that day!

Jada - she disappeared, ordered her own ice cream, licked it, and said to me, "Mama, that lady forgot my sprinkles. I'm going to go back and tell her!" Jada, ever the assertive one...

Post-sky dive
Getting ready for the jump!


So, today is Diagnosis day. Tomorrow is her "Life Day!" Yes, there will be cake.. ;p




Of course, Jada wanted to do one too....

New York Weekend

We had a wonderful time in New York this weekend! Drove down on Friday, no traffic! Had a beautiful day at the beach for Grammy Eva's birthday - the girls spent the day at the beach, went to sleep at 4pm (skipped dinner!) and woke up the next morning! They had such a blast! Then, on Sunday, we had Evan's dedication ceremony at Full Gospel Tabernacle. What a handsome boy! Evan is starting to cut 2 bottom teeth, so he's been a bit grumpy. But, he's started to roll-roll-roll around this past week and entertains himself that way!

Our Week 13 photo taken at Full Gospel


Family photo!
Evan's dedication. It's so cute how he's looking at Pops!


Evan's first time in the Atlantic! What a perfect beach day!
Happy birthday, Grammy Eva!


Evie at the beach!

Evan's First EUA

Evan had his first exam under anesthesia yesterday and did great! He got the all-clear from Dr. Mukai. It was tough trying to get him to have his last drink at 2am, and he was fully starving by the time he had to go under anesthesia at 7:30am. As expected, he charmed the heck out of all the nurses with his big old smile an big eyes!

What I didn't expect was for me to experience anxiety this time around. Usually, we do our EUA's on the "surgery center waiting room" - it's a room the size of my kitchen, very informal, very friendly. The recovery room is tiny, and it's very easy to go in-and-out to each part of the operating room/recovery/waiting room. That is the "S" floor.

Well, that morning, I went to the "S" floor to check in -- like I've done all of the dozen or so times -- and was told that I had to take Evan to the "10th floor." Really? I've never been to the 10th floor. Why would we need to go there?

I went into the elevator, pushed "10" and waited, expecting a new adventure. The doors

opened, and I nearly passed out..... this was the floor where we brought Joli to have her enucleation. And, I had not been back to that floor since August 18, 2005.

I waited by the front desk as other patients were checking in. I saw the same woman -- who had a prosthetic eye -- take insurance cards and check ID's. I looked to my left and saw the room that my entire family waited in while Joli was in surgery. I had to tell myself to 'breathe.'

Once I checked in, I walked the long hallway - to the room where Grace, Alonzo, Jorge, and I ate bagels and drank coffee. I stood in the corner of the hallway where I called friends in Long Island, whispering the words, "Joli has cancer. She is in surgery now."

I've dealt with Joli's journey through speaking engagements, fundraising, and class lectures, yet I never realized how the emotions would come flooding back when I entered the 10th floor.

Evan's name was called to go to the OR, and I carried him - like I carried Joli - down the elevator. The same elevator closed behind me, the same doors that closed when Jorge fainted and fell into his father's arms.

I went downstairs to the operating room, sat in the same chair I rocked Joli in just after he enucleation.

Thankfully, it didn't last long. Evan and I were at the hospital by 6:00am and out by 9:15am. I think it was good to go down that road again, since being on that floor was such a blur on August 18, 2005. But, I'd be just fine not going back there again...!

52 Weeks -- week 12

Enjoy!

HOW CUTE AM I???

Mr. Evan Eduardo just celebrated his "4 month" birthday! He's such an awesome little guy - very happy, easy going, and just loves to stand up! I'm back at work, and he seems to be doing a little bit better with his bottle.

Here's Evan with his Big Bird picture! July 24, 2009




"Look at me! I rolled over all by myself today!!" July 28, 2009
".. and I am SOOO HAPPY about it!"

Body photo with his Big Bird toy



Off to the zoo on one of my final days off from work!