Happy Birthday..

Regia adn Gabriel Making Cake for Daddy.:)


Reginas eyelashes and brows are growing back. Wohooo.. Can't wait till her hair starts growing too.

I have been asking this questing lately - Am I sure I am Reginas Mom???

Happy Birthday To you,
Happy Birthday To you
Happy Birthday Dear Nick ,
Happy Birthday to you.

Today is my Husbands ** birthday.I lost count couple of years ago on his 40th birthday....
Regina and Gabriel were super exited this morning. They ran upstairs like crazy and woke Daddy up and sang him Happy birthday. Gabriel was little worried, since I did not get him birthday present..lol He was explaning to me that IT IS NOT REAL BIRTHDAY WITHOUT GIFTS...lol

ONE, two , three , four...

http://www.sunshinekids.org/
Amy , from Sunshine kids Invited Regina among with other Sunshine kids to Burbank, where Kids had a change to learn to dance. It was really fun.
After School , I filled my cars tank with very expensive gasoline, and headed to LA. We went to CHLA , where Amy waited for us. Around 3.30is PM all the kids climbed into limo ( 5 kids in one, and 5 kids in other one) and took a 15 minute ride to Burbank.
Dance instructor Amanda Leise was already waiting for us. First kids did some stretching, and then they learned some very cool dance moves. Regina got little frustrated at first , since routine was tinybit hard, but she stayed in game and danced till the end of class.
After dancing Sunshine kids Crew took us to eat dinner . It was yummy...
Myself I did not ride in limo. I went there with Amy. On our way back from Burbank , Amy managed to drive 10 miles past our exit... weird, I thought I have no brains without navigations system... lol so, we had to take some 4th street exit and drive back, which was kind of mess, since it was rush hour.

But thanks to Sunshine kids Regina had so many firsts- First Ice skating, First dance lesson, first this and first that.... We love Sunshine Kids FOundation.:)

Eggs, eggs, andm ore eggs.

Flowers from My mini Garden.

Eggztravaganza in our howse is ower. I am fuuulll of eggzzzz. ( this is for Kathy)

We had so much fun today. Regina woke up today 6 am- she came to my bed, woke up and told me- MOM I am so exited, today is Easter. I told her HMH, and went back to sleep.
5 minutes later she came back , patted my face and asked- MOM , I wanna watch Tv, Can I???

I told her MHM, pulled blanket over my head and went back to sleep.... Few hours later I woke up and both of my kids were watching TV downstairs... YAWN...

Around3 o'Clock our friends came over and we had filled LOT of plastic eggs with coins, candy and weird toys that only our kids appreciate.. Kids decorated eggs, played with play dough, Gabriel and his "boy" friends played Came cube and had TONS of fun. It was fun Easter.

Myself, I am full, I am so full I can't move. I ate LOTS of eggs, salmon with chantanelle mushrooms and ate M&Ms and Kahlua cupcakes.. Tomorrow morning I HAVE TO HIT THE GYM. 2 hours of workout to get this junk off my trunk.... This was fun Easter.

If you want to see pics please go to.
http://www.caliwitch.smugmug.com

Happy Easter

Happy Easter From Regina and Gabriel :)

Wohooo

REgina received her very first paycheck today. It was 112.04. Not bad, not bad at all. Regina was very exited about it. So after we received her check we had to go to Bank. Our bank is Union Bank Of California. Since Regina is 8 years old, and she had no bank account we had to open her bank account. Now she has Junior Banker account in Union Bank Of California. So if you feel like sending Regina money you can do it on her name now ;) hehe.
She also had her very first withdrawal today. She decided that she wants to withdraw 50 dollars. She can not have ATM card yet, but anytime she wants to withdraw or deposit- she can take her bank book to bank and get a stamp in there. Very cool :)
She decided to use some of her money to buy new Nintendo DS game- Barbie and the Island Princess. And she brought her dinner with her own money - Terriaky chicken.


On sunday we have little Easter egg hunt coming up. We decided that we are going to stay away from crowds and stay home. Our good friends are coming over and we filled whole bunch off plastic eggs with money and candy, and we will spread these eggs all over our tiny backyard. Kids will grab their easter baskets and RUN to get those precious eggs.
After egg hunt we will decorate eggs, make deviled eggs, play with playdough, have egg race and eat lots of candy.:) I hope you guys are having a great weekend :)

Denstist.

SO I took Regina to see dentist today. She had to have "mini "root canal and filling. AGAIN- MOST likely it was what caused her cheek to hurt. She feels much better right now, and she tells me her pain is gone.

Now about dentist. I love my dentists. They are great and whole staff there is amazing . Starting from receptionists and ending with doctors... Anyway, today I had Really hard time with Regina being in pain, and doctor "hurting" her a little with needle. In CHLA I was so used to great pain management team, and premeds to loosen Regina up etc... and giving her laughing gas and all that fun stuff. So there she was sitting on chair, crying, telling to doctor that he is going hurt her and she does not want him to hurt her, and I am trying to calm her down... and then doctor tells me - OK mom, calm down and sit right there , Regina can give attention only for one of us....

Instead of me telling me what really was in my mind I just started crying. I understood what he was saying and I understand that It is hard to work when " moms like me" are distracting but it was very hard for me to accept that he told me to Shut up. So there I was imagining how I stuck a needle of numbing fluid into him... hehe...lol Srry, I am just evil..
He is a great dentist and did great job on Regina and thats only thing that matters

Oh, what a day...

Our day started out Crazy. I decided to keep Regina home since she woke up crying that her mouth herts, her neck hurts, her cheeks hurt. So we stayed home. Around 9 o'clockish I heard huuuge BANG. Poor Regina was sitting on her " pink Princess" chair in front of tv. Chair was in front of table. I think she started "swinging" with chair and chair lost its balance and fell backwards with Regina. Regina hit her head against wooden coffee table. She was screaming like there was no tomorrow. I grabbed her and my bag and hurried to ER. Her bump was HUUGE. It looked like REgina had Nose on backside of her head.
Luckily , cat scan showed that she is ok and there was no injury to her scull.

After that we hurried to ENT doctor ( ear, nose throat -sp?). Regina has been having some major sinus issues and we just want to make sure she is getting better. Ct scan to her sinuses showed that one of her sinuses is still filled with mucous, but is getting better... SO we have to recheck her in 6 weeks.

Now, about Reginas Swollen neck. After few doctors and few different opinions we were told that yes, she looks swollen, but seems like it is not lymph node issue. So for tomorrow I have to take her to Dentist to see if it is dental problem. She does not complain any dental pain, so I am not sure what could be wrong. ER doctors do not see this as big issue, ENT doctor does not think it is something "special". But Regina is in pain.
I HATE , hate , hate , hate going from Doctor to doctor and not getting some kind of answer what might be wrong.. HOpe that tomorrow is better day.


OK. it is 8.24 PM. I thought we are done with drama today.. But oh boy. I was wrong. Is it because it is full moon? Is it because I've done something wrong? Is it bad karma??? Anyway- I was just playing with Gabriel. And I told him- OK, It is time for bed. He stood up, started running towards restroom, but instead of running through door, He ran and hit the door with half of his right side. He stopped breathing for at least 20 seconds.... I was screaming to regina to CALL 911, Call 911--- And then he took one DEEP breath and HE WAS BACK!!! OH. I was crying tears of joy. Minute after this incident he was up and running and things went back to normal. I just hope that his face does not turn into color purple tomorrow.

Anyway... If you think you had a bad day.. think twice...lol

Good Thoughts needed.

Please keep Regina in your thoughts today. Lymphnodes on her neck are huge and swollen and Reginas face looks swollen also. She looks like a little chipmunk.. But she is chipmunk in pain. She started complaining about her neck hurting couple of days ago, but I paid no attention. :(

More lights, more action, more heat.

Regina and Cameron Diaz 03/18/08
( Yes, Cameron is extremely friendly and beautiful person, I am so honored that I got to meet her)

Yes, I am horrible mother.. I made Regina skip school today, I know she already missed lot of school and needs to be IN SCHOOL... BUT if opportunity like this knocks on our door, we just can't say no to it.
Today was actually fun day at My sister's Keeper set. The scene Regina was in was about Girl ( Sofia from Medium) throwing up..

(Paul- REAL cancer patient-- AND SOfia- Actress, she does not have cancer, her make up, hair, everything LOOKS LIKE she has cancer. )

Reginas job was to play with her stage mom, who I LOVED this time. She was sweet and really got Reginas attention big time. They had to do at least 10 takes and repeat same thing over and over again, and not look into camera ,, AND Regina did great job. SHe even managed to "Pretend talk" to her stage mom. When you are background in movie, you are not really allowed to talk, all you have to do is pretend to talk and say out some nonsense words and then the other person moves mouth and then Regina, and then REgina acted like she heard something funny,.. ETC.. She did GREAT...

After she was done with her background part, I asked if it was OK, If I took a stage pic... For my surprise Nice people on My sisters Keeper Set asked If Regina wanted to sit on Cameramans Chair.. Regina hopped right on to chair and started acting like she knew what she was doing. REGINA AND CAMERA



City of Hope Kids and Regina from CHLA.

Our Friday.

On Fridays we usually have lots of fun. This Friday was no different. Fun for us is going to movies, bookstores, stores my kids like, running around like crazy and acting as silly as possible.

All you Dr Seuss fans... Horton hears a WHO... is one great movie..
During first 15 minutes of this movie I almost regretted that I took my kids to see it.. I almost fell asleep.. But then things started moving, and I ended up loving this movie. So did my kids.
After that we went to bookstore- Barnes and Nobel.
Usually regina is the one who looks at the pictures only and never reads in bookstore. But this time she was reading, and reading and reading. She read 30 minutes straight and she actually remembered what she was reading about. I am more and more impressed with her ability to think and act and do things. I was expecting worse, but she just keeps impressing me.

Anyway, after reading few books we went to one of her favorite restaurants- Wahoos. She wanted to eat Spicy fish with rice.. So she got it. SHe has been on some weird fish kick. Salmon, tuna...

We also got back reginas Psychological evaluation from CHLA. Anyway, for my BIG surprise Regina is 3 months smarter than she should be..lol Anyway, she falls right into average range. In some areas high average, some areas low average and some areas-- above average... So I am really impressed with that also.

Something Very interesting..

Dr. Jonathan Finlay- CHLA

It is this time of year that we have received lot of envelopes to start fund raising( sp?). One huge event that we absolutely love and my great friend Kathy introduced us to it is Called "Rides For Kids". If you do not know what it is, please go check out their website. it is worth your attention.
http://www.pbtfus.org/rideforkids/

Rides for kids Police Escorts.

Anyway. In 2007, we were part of Los Angeles Rides for kids. Regina was back then fine and happy 7 year old. back then I had only heard about Dr Finlay, and when he gave a speech on stage I really had no idea that 2 months later i will meet him personally, and he will be very important key person in REginas case. If I think back to that time in May and beginning of june., I remember hearing a lot about CHildrens Hospital of Los Angeles. I got few phonecalls from telemarketers about CHLA, few envelopes asking donations for CHLA, met parents who were CHLA patients. But again, I really did not pay much attention to it, because at that time ST JUDE WAS OUR WORLD...
Who know it will change overnight... I believe that all through out our lives we are presented with clues. It is up to us to pay attention to them or ignore them... I decided I better pay attention to ALL THE weird clues that make no sense to me... And so far, I am glad I am doing so....

I trust no one but my intuition..

My brain is turning into mush.....

OH drama. This time it is all my fault ( I THINK). I called to CHLA to confirm REginas tomorrow appointment. INSTEAD i found out REginas appointment is TODAY, And it is in 2 HOURS. SO I just dropped whatever I was doing , crabbed my kids and SPEED to CHLA. And made it ON TIME.
Reginas Pentamidine treatmend was due today , so after lab draw she did her Antibiotics( to prevent Pneumonia). THis treatment is about 30 minutes long and tastes horrible, but we only have to do it once a months- Instead of twice a day 3 times a week oral pills. . Everybody who is in same room with Regina has to wear masks, because we do not breathe in ANTIBIOTICS WE DO NOT NEED@!!

Arond 4.30 pmis. We finally saw Dr Dhall. Ok , Here's the deal. Sadly Reginas blood counts are not where they suppose to be right now. Her platelets are STILL under 100 000, and to start prevention chemo Platelets have to be over 100 000. BUT we can start with Accutane, - this is not a chemo drug.
So on monday we start this- 2 weeks on it, 2 off,2 on it , 2 off.. Hopefully she will not have any horrible side effect like Depression and suicidal thoughts and headaches, or fluid build up in brain. Anyway... We will recheck her labs in 2 weeks, and hopefully by next month her platelets will be above 100 000.

Oh, and I am not sure what bit Regina... She has been reading books ALL THE TIME. And she was the one that HAted reading.. .now alls he does is Read... Even while she eats her dinner, or does coloring .. good, but weird....

Saturday.

Past few months we spend our Saturday NOON time in Irvine. We do it because my sweet boy Gabriel attends Irvine Art And Music school there. My husband enrolled Gabriel in Chinese class that last 1 1/2 hours every saturday. gabriel is really good at Chinese, BUT HE HATES IT. He told me that I have to tell his teacher that this is HIS LAST TIME to go to this school, since He hates China now a lot. lol.

Few weeks ago we added Piano Lessons to his busy schedule. So now he has piano from 11.30-12 and from 12-1.30 PM he has chinese.

While Gabriel was studying hard, Regina and I usually walk around and visit local stores or eat light lunch.
This time we went to Armstrong Gardens, which sells plants, flowers, bushes, trees.. you name it they have it. And this time of year it is especially colorful.

I mentioned that i have been sick past few days. Regina took charge and has made me breakfast past few days. TOday she made me apple and cheese salad:) AND it was surprise for me. She woke up 6am and did it just for me. Yesterday she made me parsley, onion , carrot, apple, salad with Italian dressing. ihi. And it was very good - again.. I did not help her to make it, she came up with her own recipes.

Random Pictures of the day....

Today I took Regina to see Ear Nose Throat specialist. Dr Breadenkamp is his name. He is very busy man and sometimes it takes forever to get appointment to see him. ANd if we get it, then we have to wait couple of hours in Dr. office before we get INTO ROOM.. Today we were pretty lucky. We got in right in. Saw doctor, and found out that she has possible staph infection inside her nose. No wonder her nose looks painful inside. We also mentioned to Dr Bread.. that Regina has been on Zitromax for 5 days and her runny nose is getting much better. Dr Bread. agreed that zitromax was a good choice for Reginas case. Now we have to wait for 4 days and start again next week another 5 days of ZItromax. We have appointment to see Dr Bread on 19th, and then he wants to do CT scan of Reginas sinuses. He also seems to know every single doctor we know. He was familiar with Dr Loudon/Mohanen( spelling). He knew reginas pediatricians, and few other specialist Regina has seen . So that was pretty cool I think.

Also We found out that Reginas labs are pretty ok. I am not happy about her Platelet count. It is still under 100 000. it was 96 000 yesterday . It should be over 100 000 by now.. I guess Regina needs little more time to recover.

Now, Myself I have been sick few days. It sucks to be sick. Body pains, headaches, stuffy nose, more body pains. I have been taking rock salt baths 3 days in a row, and it relieves pains for few hours and relaxes me. I just hope it passes soooon. Regina truly is my hero. She was sick for 7 months with all sorts of things and she never complained. I have been sick for 3 days and here I am bawling like a baby... Shame on me.

My Sister's Keeper.

And guess who we met today. :) Cameron Diaz. She is beautiful and very friendly :) Reginas fave place to hang out was on SNACK ROOM, where was hundred different types of candy. Cameron Asked what she was having and where she got it from- Regina took her to candy room and pointed out witch canister had M&M's in it :) It was cute.

Oh School Days...

We had pretty cool weekend. Our good friend Devin Celebrated his 6ht birthday and we went to jump'n Jammin , where kids jumped and jammed for couple of hours.

Regina was littlebit tired since night before she was in YMCA allnighter ( from 6pm- till 8AM). I guess she went to bed too late and had to wake up to early ( 7.30 AMish). She told me that she woke up 4am there and wanted MOMMY to come and pick her up, but nobody called MOMMY. :(.

Then on Saturday night I noticed at night that something was off with her breathing. She would stop breathing for few seconds and then she was breathing really fast like trying to catch up... Anyway, I was little worried. Then she still has her headaches, she looks little bit pale ( spelling).
I asked Dr Dhall to do some research ( Like he has nothing else to do....lol) and find me a good pediatrician in my area. Couple of hour later he calls me and tells me that he found one.... WOHOOO!!!!

Anyway- we saw Dr Hayashida today. He is super nice and awesome pediatrician. Seriously- I already love him...hihi. He is very good with kids ( DUH), he is smart, I did not have to explain him twice what PNET is, I did not have to explain him WHY regina is taking one or other medication... he just knew what this or that meant. So if you guys need OR looking for a good pediatrician in Laguna niguel/Mission viejo Area then Dr K Hayashida in Mission Viejo is great choice for you.. AND he has great sense of humor -- VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!


Anyway, Regina has pretty serious Sinusitis. REgina ad runny nose for few months now and nothing seemed to take it away. Her immune system is still recovering so I understand, but It is frustrating for her. :(
We also got labs done here today. I Just want to know how she is doing, and I need to see some number to make me feel better...lol I think I will get the results later tomorrow....

OH,,,, and now something exiting. Regina and I are driving to LA tomorrow for a little Hollywood action. Regina will play extra in some hollywood movie. We have to be there by 7.30 AM, witch means ... we have to start driving 5.45 AMto make it on time.... UGH.. I have to wake up E A R L Y . Gabriel is spending a night in friends house- WHICH was very exiting for him....

SO there you go -- that is about it for now. I will let you know later tomorrow how Reginas acting venture went. She was not very exited about it few days ago, but today she told me that SHE Is VERY vERY EXITED AND SHE CAN"T WAIT TO BE ON TV...lol
Talk to you later..

((HUGS)))