THE FEBRUARY/MARCH UPDATE 2011

I've been terrible about keeping up over here, but I realize how important it is to keep this all updated! We went back, just before Evan's birthday, to read all the great posts from when he was born, and even at his 1st birthday, that I realized we haven't been telling the stories of our family in so long.

Mastectomy recovery has been just fine. I finally feel 80%, which, I hear, is about right. Not sure how much better it gets from here, but I do feel functional and starting to feel stronger each day. I've been working out a lot, and that's helped with my strength and range of motion.

Jorge has been working on a new project called "Bottled" which he has launched as a M-W-F web story, and people have been loving it! "Bottled" is the story of Olivia Chance (named after one of our favorite students, Olivia, and who has the personality of Joli, too).

Joli, as you can read below, has been liking her school more and more. Seems after the winter break, she felt much more comfortable being at school. It was definitely an adjustment going from small class sizes, knowing everyone, being a leader, etc., to a much larger school, not knowing many kids. But, I happened to arrive a few minutes early to the dance and watched her interacting with her friends. She was in heaven! She was so happy, dancing on stage with her buddies, and introducing me to lots of her friends. I couldn't stop smiling! Joli is an orange belt in karate and has a tournament coming up in a few weeks! She has been taking CCD school on Saturdays and will receive her first communion in May. Joli has been doing great in her gymnastics classes, which have helped her to gain physical confidence, particularly around balance. We were practicing headstands this weekend at home, and at first, she couldn't even balance. Now, she's doing it free style in the middle of the living room after only 24 hours! Yay, Jo!!

Jada continues to amaze us with her reading and writing ability. She has been reading independently since she was 3 1/2 years old, and now she just picks up every book and can read it. She usually chooses to sit on a chair and read, even when her cousins or friends are playing. Jada is so inquisitive and always wants to know what and why. Jada LOVES karate and gymnastics, and we can even see her strength when she dances around the living room, bounces into a handstand or cartwheel, or does push ups during commercial breaks. She also is wildly in love with her brother and sister. It hurts her feels so bad when Joli says something like, "I dont care about you." Jada just crumbles. (and, she just got out of bed and came into the living room crying about it... and is reading what I'm typing....)

Evan just turned 2 years old! He loves Thomas the Train (like obsessively). Can count to 10. Sings the entire Thomas the Train song (did I mention he loves it obsessively). Carry on a conversation. He has very quick temper, though, and will most certainly yell at you if he's upset. Evan is also keen on rolling his eyes at you if he's unhappy!

It's hard to believe how fast time is flying by. I feel like it was just yesterday that Evan was in his bassinette sleeping soundly in the bedroom!


Evan with Pops (February 2011)


Grammy and the kids (look at Evan's face! He's cheesin' pretty hard!)

Miss Jo Jo

Oh, how could we forget about ANNABELLE? See, Annabelle is, well, Jada's ringworm. Yes, her ringworm. Annabelle has been with us since the beginning of Feburary (note: it is now March 25th). My sister Grace even wrote a story about Annabelle. She seems to have become one of the family.....

The party hats for Evan's birthday. Yes, they are Thomas the Tank.

This balloon was so awesome -- the first few times. When you hit it, it sings "Happy Birthday". But, for a balloon, I swear this thing has subwoofers. You can hear it from all the way in the other room!

Golden Gate Bridge -- check!

JOLI'S FIRST DANCE

I'm Joli. I'm in the 2nd grade. I just had my first school dance at my school with a DJ, pizza, juice, and kids from the 2nd and 3rd grade. My first school dance was awesome. When I first walked in, it felt like there were a hundred people or more. I found my friends Jenna, Alexis, Mariah, and Brianna. There were all my best friends. First, the DJ put on "Firework" by Katy Perry. Me and my friends stood on the steps of the stage and we were singing and dancing. I wore a polka dot dress that has a turtle neck.

Before the dance, I felt really nervous because I thought no one would dance with me. But, when I got there, there were all my friends running to me. Then, I just left my Mom in the lobby! I didn't even say goodbye to her because I was so excited!

I bought a candy bar with my own money.

That was my first public school dance.

At first I didn't like my school because I missed my old school and my old friends. Now, I am starting to love it! I think I am going to stay there for 3rd grade because I have so many new friends and everyone tells me I should stay. That makes me feel very happy!

Now I have 18 friends or more!

That's why I like staying at my new school. I have a wonderful teacher. She loves to sing. Her name is Miss MacDonald. She was the nicest teacher. When we have pajama day, she wears pajamas. Today was crazy hair day. She even wore all different kinds of ponytails all over her head! She said my hair looked cute. I had three fishtail braids at the bottom and two flat twists on the top. It was really crazy!

That's why I am a little nervous for 3rd grade. I took a 3rd grade test to get ready for 3rd grade. It was pretty hard. I skipped a few pages. My friend Braden is the smartest kid in my class. I am the second smartest, I think. He knows division, multiplication, and all different kinds of things as a second grader. I asked him, "How did you learn all of those smart things?" He said, "I looked in this book that was a math book. It was for 2nd graders who start math. I learned all about it. I am almost done with it right now."

My friend Bella is my best friend I could ever have. When I give her something, she says, "How many of these do you have?" just to make sure it's not my last one. She always gives it back if I say it's my last one. She is a kind friend.

Alex is my very best friend. He has one shiny earring and he is "parent pick up" like me. We are always best friends. I have many more, but that's it for now!

Bye!

Joli

It's been a long time!

Oops... my last post was in September 2010? I guess that's what happens when there are lots of different places to post and share info!

So, in summary (a 4 month summary, I supposed):

• the school year found Jo attending a new school. Even months later, she's not all that excited about it, but she has made a few good friends and is doing very well in school. She took up soccer, gymnastics and karate this past year and has really taken an interest in art. For Christmas, we bought her a small art box and she spends most of her free time drawing or making up stories.
  
• Jada has become even more sassy. For a while, she was loving her long, long hair and wanted to "grow my hair all the way to my butt!" Then, suddenly in January 2011, she decided to cut it all off. Jada went from long hair to short short hair! And, she loves it! It took a while for us to get used to, but the truth is that Jada looks adorable no matter what!
• Evan has become quite the little boy. Over the course of the past few months, he is completely understandable and speaks in well formed sentences. For Christmas, on a whim, we decided to buy him some toy trains. Now, Evan is never without a train! It's the first thing he thinks about when he wakes up and the last thing he plays with before he goes to bed.
  
• For me, I had my mastectomy, finally. I ran another 1/2 marathon in October (after only planning on running 1 this year) and underwent my surgery on November 18, 2010. Today, it's been about 8 weeks since my surgery, and I am feeling much stronger.
• Jorge transitioned fully to his new job, and he is enjoying the autonomy and opportunity to engage both creatively and administratively in his work.
  
• Post-surgery, we really felt the love of friends and family. So many people supported our family -- through cards, make-a-meals when I was sick, and a huge fundraiser by people at my work. So many of our retinoblastoma friends also came through to give much needed support.

Well, it's hard to wrap things up in just a few bullet points, so here are some of the best photos of the past few months. Enjoy!


We had a blizzard just after Christmas that the California crew got to experience! Approximately a foot and a half fell quickly. Even Norhanna got to go into the snow!
Joli and Jada enjoy turning Evan into "Little Miss Sunshine". He doesn't protest at all!

Just before Christmas, Evan and Jorge had a pretty nasty fall outside one night. Jorge was carrying Evan and they slipped on some ice. Jorge fell backwards and Evan hit his head on the pavement. We immediately called Lolo to come over, but the fear was in the waiting time. Jorge couldn't see well outside in the dark and he said that he just saw blood spurting out of Evan's head. It turns out that Evan had two big gashes that we managed to keep together with some ice and a butterfly bandage. Three weeks later, Evan's cut is now just a faint pink scar, but it was definitely scary!

This is me 4 weeks post-op in a "Jada view" angle.


Norhanna loved being with Joli. Every time Nani saw Jo she ran into her lap!
The big snow storm - Evan's first time out. He thought it was cool for about 5 minutes and then begged to go back inside!

Pedro spent Christmas with us this year, and he even got to sit on Santa's lap!


2010 was a good year for us. My resolution -- to blog more here for 2011!

IT'S FALL!

It's here! The new school year! We've been very, very, very busy with new activities, new adventures, new schools, and new routines. Joli is now attending a public school, Jada is going to school by herself, and Evan is a much more mobile and verbal little guy than a year ago (obviously!). The older they have been getting, the more fun the kids have been getting. Here is a great photo of what's to come with Evan being the baby boy in the family - he's the new "doll" in the house :)


Joli and Jada on the first days of school

Jada's first day of school!

Joli's first day of school
Soccer. Gymnastics. Karate. Dance. School. Homework. Play time. Oh, yes. We are busy!

The Boys

Jenny and I were in the living room when we realized it was awfully quiet in the kitchen. This is what we found.

SUMMER FUN

Well, summer is officially over now. Work has picked up, vacations are over, and the school year is just around the corner. Joli spent the week with Grammy and Pops and had a wonderful time at Camp! She got to go tubing, swimming and spent time with some really great friends! Thanks for an awesome week, Grammy and Pops!

Here is Lolo with the boys chilling on the boat.


Lola with (almost) all the grandkids!

Gavin and Nona visited for a few weeks. When the little ones were first born, we called them the Cousin Triplets. Unfortunately, Nona was bossed around by the boys. I caught Evan in the action (don't worry, he got time out for hitting Baby Nona!)


Evan has learned a lot from Daddy. Including how to play the game system!


The next posts will probably be about back to school! Oh boy!

Summer FUN!
It's hard to believe that summer is coming to an end. In just a week or so, I'll be back into the swing of the school year. The girls have been enjoying new summer adventures like karate, horseback riding, and going on different outings.

We spent an afternoon at Canobie Lake Park (just the 2 big girls) and then had some fun time in Maine with the extended family. Here are some pictures of the vacation in the remote woods of Maine!

Gavin and Jada at the salt water tide pool. They kept saying "let's get seaweed for Lola Minda!"


Relaxing with Jada, Norhanna and Lola

Lolo taking over with Norhanna and Evan

Lolo outside with Evan

Pretty much, this is what Mary did all vacation -- eat and type. eat and type.

Teetah Grace, Joli and Norhanna

Jorge was mad at Evan for some reason (probably Evan's constant whining!) and decided to chase him down the slide. Go, Evan! Go!

We had a great time in Maine!

These days, Jada has been reading a lot - especially since she got her glasses. Joli is getting more and more confident each day and is getting excited about school. Evan has been talking up a storm (again, when not whining). He basically mimics everything he hears. Big news -- Evan is finally moving into his BIG BOY BED! Jorge spent an entire night putting together new bunk beds for the girls and getting Evan's big boy bed ready. We'll see how this goes!

Just some more fun pictures from our July 4th weekend! I haven't been blogging as much, so I figured I'd post some twice for fun!


The lobster was as big as Evan!

Lola by the big feast table - steaks, lobsters, quinoa (not Kainoa), corn, punch bowl, fruit, Berryline, rice.. you name it!

Oh, she may look like me, but Jada acts just like her Dad. This is what happened when I told them to both "smile and look nice for the camera." Jada is hiding behind a transparent blueberry container, and Jorge is giving his wacky "I'm not really looking" face.


My rule abiding Joli did smile for the camera!


In the meantime, sweet, sweet Evan was quietly sleeping.


The "Cousin Twins" - Kai and Evan. Shirtless. Eating someone else's food.

Evan hears the phone and says, "Hello? Hi there!"

Mia with her fancy new haircut and HOOP earrings!


Jenny and Kainoa after a long day of eating!

Lolo feeding Evan. My dad always says, "Liza. Come feed your son." But, I found that if I just pretend I didn't hear him, he'll keep feeding Evan. (hahaha!)

The lobsters were so big that Dad had to use a meat cleaver just to get through them. Our 99 cent lobster cracker thingy just wasn't gonna cut it this time around!


Happy 4th weekend! Thanks for an awesome lunch (AND dinner, as my Dad likes to remind me) today, Lola and Lolo! Thanks for the Berryline, Teetah, and the quinoa Jon and Jenny!

Summer Fun

Yes, it's been a while. We've been having a fun summer now that school is out.

I spent the last weekend at a conference to learn more about my genetic predisposition to cancer, and that has been followed up by another achievement -- running a 10k! So, in the past 4 months, I've run a 5k (3.1 miles), a 10k (6.2 miles) and a 1/2 marathon! Hurray!

The kids have been having a great time in Lolo and Lola's pool. It's fun now that Evan is a bit bigger and can run around and play. We missed the cousins because they've been off visiting the Oregon family.

Certainly more adventures to come!

Jada telling Evan to "get out of the car" -- I have a feeling I'm in for this kind of behavior for the next, oh, decade or so....

Evan crawled into this swing all by himself!


Jada on her bike with her brand new glasses -- yes, she has now joined the glasses wearing squad
JoJo on her scooter


Evan an Elma

Teetah has been trying to teach the girls how to properly do a headstand


Just after my 10k race. The last one I did was in 2004! Finished in 1 hour and 24 minutes. Slow, but I finished! :)

Lolo surrounded by the rowdy children
Jada squished herself into this car with Evan despite his protests