jojo update.... the light at the end of the tunnel!

just an email that i had sent to friends and family... (from last friday, April 9th)

hi all!
well, today i took jojo back to UCLA medical center to be re-admitted for her LAST hospital stay!!! (so, we're told...) she was re-admitted last friday for the 4th round of chemo, then discharged on tuesday of this week. her counts were very low when they discharged her, but she was allowed 3 days of freedom before coming back for the neutropenic stage. anyhow, she's feeling pretty good right now. she said that this last round of chemo was the sickest she's been, so we're glad that's behind her! she should be "free" in about 14 days. following this, she'll probably continue to do some maintenance blood-work at ucla and then proceed to a local lab at her own dr.'s office close to her own home. (NOT IN LA IN TRAFFIC!!!!)

all in all, her doctors are amazed at how well she's doing, how good she looks and how wonderfully she's responding. :) it's hard to believe that this craziness that started on december 11th is winding down! yahooooooo!!!

here are some pix in her new AND last hospital room from today.....

wow! it's quite a busy month!!!

wow! seriously, where has the time gone?!? 

let me try to catch up!

gav's "workout" after 3 rounds around the lake!

cookie time! this was sooooooo entertaining!

all aboard!

at the spectrum... 

a choo choo ride after being such a

good kiddo while i drooled over shoes at nordies!

our lil' nature hike last weekend. 

had fun blazing new trails, throwing rocks in the creek, 

looking at lotsa bugs and enjoying a beautiful day!

lately in our little world...

here's what's been goin' on....

at the hospital visiting grandma jojo the other day...

kickin' back in grandma's bed and many kisses goodbye....

20 weeks: the "it's-a-girl-confirmation"... 

but i'll believe it when i see it....

for now, we call her baby chocolate chip / baby betty...

last weekend...

checking out bunk beds at the good ole' swap meet, 

then all the critters at the fair grounds AND last but not least, ice cream at ikea...

 the master at work....

loving one of our starbucks breakfast dates...

ummmm yes...
again with the rain boots and
fleece vest on a beautiful sunny day.
(after taking off his converse and informing me that he would wear the boots today.)

obviously my singing in the car is quite amusing...

rainy day weekend...

what else do you do when it's blustery out?

build forts...

and play some tunes...

shy baby...

well, apparently this baby is very modest. 

here are some pix from my 16 and 18-week ultra-sounds. 

still no confirmation on gender!!!!!

18 weeks: shy baby bell pepper

but... the doctor has her suspicions. 

we'll see in 2 weeks!

16 weeks: shy baby avocado

meanwhile, gav's choices for names are :

baby chocolate chip

lil' sweetie

baby ernie (good ole' sesame street!)

aspen (after our friend brian's doggie)

baby buddy (dinosaur train)

now where did february go?

such good times!!!

my lil' sunshine...

hanging out with grandma jojo in the hospital

(she got to be released for almost 2 weeks right after this visit!)

snow day!

we ventured up to wrightwood for gav's first trip to the snow.

absolute BLAST!

snowball fight!

at the office with daddy...

special times at home...

on grandma jojo's little vacation from

the hospital in between her treatments.

watching the "scary part" (t-rex in the land before time)

with the comfort only a grandma can give!

shhh, don't tell.

we eavesdropped on gav reading stories to karson.

what a good aunt kenchie!

she showed gav the snakes at petsmart 

because his mommy WOULD NOT.

...and there went january!

picking flowers in the back yard. 

(just one though!)

these pix crack me up...

he looks totally concerned here, 

when in fact he was so happy to have Mac in the car with us!

(erika had karson and roxi (jojo's doggie) in her car.

(usually we all go in mark's truck, much more room!)

just a couple of dog-park shots from yesterday...

so good to see his friends kian and declan!

(they met us at the dog park with their doggie, oso.)