Our Sunday started 8 am, I made breakfast, exercised, made kids clean up their rooms, and then around 12 we started driving to San Diego. J Drive was smooth, traffic was excellent.. We arrived at Paradise Point Spa Resort around 1.30. 30 min. before we supposed to show up there.

When We arrived , I was in awe. UNBELIVABLE. ROAD ended where Resort ended. AMAZING. That place was also voted one of the best family vacation destinations J Very peaceful willage.

Then we started look for Gymboree corporate event spot, because our St Jude coordinator was supposed to meet us in Paradise Ball room. J And give us update how things are going, and when is our turn to talk. ( share Regians Story).

I HAD NO IDEA. but we had to talk to 300 Gymboree bosses. AND for my surprise I was not nervous. I WAS, before I stepped to stage, but when I was in stage, and opened my mouth, Everythig just fell into place and I spoke my mind. I also saw quite few people tearing up.

Then around 6 pm we left BEAUTIFUL paradise point resort and started driving home I Left the event with really happy heart because I knew Reginas story will hels Raise more funds for St Jude :) Thanks you St Jude for giving this opportunity to give something back. :)

Kathy... I thought about visiting you, but it was 6PM when we finally got to leave, and kids have school tomorrow...

Few proud moments :0)

FINALLY- my handsome boy learned to bike . TRAINING WHEELS ARE OFF and my Gabriel has crashed into every single front yard in our neighborhood. Soon neighbors will be knocking on my door and asking me to fix their landscapes :D lol He is such a dare devil. And makes me smile. His legs have "black"spots all over from falling, but he is so determined and does not mind getting hurt. I swear, he is something else. BUT, he will cry, when I refuse to give him ice cream or take away his fave toy because he missbehaved... hah

Today in our local YMCA was family fit night. REGINA decided to do something she never tried before - She did some rock wall climbing... WOHOOOO!!!!! We also learned few new dance moves from our Favorite Y director Brian.. he is quite a dancer. :)


ALSO. I would like to take to wish HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all of you whose birthday is in MAY. PALJU ONNE SYNNIPAEVAKS KOIKIDELE MAI SYNNIPAEVA LASTELE :)

Ride for Kids

Today, May 6th,Regina, Nick, Gabriel and I headed to Torrance area where we attended Ride For kids event.
http://www.pbtfus.org/rideforkids/calendar/2007/losangeles07.html

It was amazing experience. Last year, Kathy Invited us to San Diego Area Ride for Kids event.. And she got me hooked. It is unbelievable event, and funds raised go towards Pediatric brain tumor research , and also brain tumor patients who reach college age, will be benefiting from money raised. J

Tide was BEAUTIFUL. Views amazing, weather HOT. And bikers were ON THE ROLL!!! It was huge event and money raised – over 200 000 dollars. WOW. WOW WOW..

Regina had lots of fun, but as happened during San diego ride, it also happened now- SHE and GABRIEL FELL asleep, and missed all the beauty surrounding them…. J
I also post coupe of pics for you J

And here is pediatri

Happy Birthday Madison

Tere kallikesed J

Today was such a fun day J I want to thank you Maire for inviting us to her humble home to celebrate her Daughters Birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADISONJ
Malloy family house is always filled with positive energy and FOOD. LOTS OF FOOD. Maire has lots to be thankful for. Her husband is kitchen remodel dude( American, who can actually fix things. OMG --- AND, and he can cook, ( sorry Maire, You are great cook, but I will not place you before Steve….

Grilled chicken, beef, burgers, hot dogs,,,, cheese dips, ( Maire made the bestestest artichoke tip I have had in a long time, AND her pasta salad was also very tasty. It was so nice to just sit back and relax,, ( which I did not do , because I still had to keep an eye on kids…. ;) But oh my, at least it was not me who had the clean house in the end. ;)

So MADDY, one more time--- HAPPY BIRTHDAY…

LEHMAKOMM.

I am laughing out loud right now. Regina and Gabriel have been asking from me forever to Call Estonia and get some Estonian Cow candy ( YUMMMMM). So today I told them, ok guys. Write grandma letter and let her know that you need some cow candy.
REgina did.

While I was on phone Regina asked me something,but I was not really listening... What she was asking was- HOW DO YOU WRITE GRANDMA...
But since I was on Phone I thought she asked - HOW DO you write COW CANDY in ESTONIAN... WHich is- LEHMAKOMM.. so this letter is from Regina and Gabriel TO: LEHMAKOMM....
sorry grandma.... lol

st Jude

Memphis as it is..
OR, should I say as It was..
Our trip from OC started out fine.. I printed tickets out in advance, so I did not have to waste time figuring out how those self serving “ ticket” printers are supposed to work…

I LOVE continental. Nice service, bigger seats, more space… LOVE it..
BUT.. our paradise ended there… During take off Regina started crying. At first I thought Gabriel did something to piss her off, But then I started asking questions and I found out that Her HEAD hurts. IT HURTS A LOT, that is what Regina told me. I guess pressure in the cabin got more intense and she started screaming.. I was freaking out, crying with her, not sure what to do. … Finally she calmed down… UNTIL it was time to land…. She started complaining ear pain… and I knew- she has an ear infection ..
So in Houston drama repeated and she was pretty miserable… LLL

On Monday we had Endocrine clinic appointment. I WAS Pissed. I must say. I saw schedule and only thing it had on was ENDOCRINE FOLLOW UP . WHICH means , I spent 550 dollars on Gabe , just to go there to get an YES< Regina grew littlebit… ( she did wohooo)
Now DRAMA… I gave it to them in full force, I asked what is deal about scheduling, blah blah blah blah, me crying and screaming, and HER , getting frustrated with me and telling me- I should discuss my issues with social worker. Ha Yeah, I probably should, I also told them, that WHY I could not see endocrinologist here in OC. AND you know what was her response- YES, YOU COULD. And I was really confused then… and I gave them even more drama.. Because I was told that It is not possible, you can’t , we have to see you here blah blah blah. Anyway, very confusing… But we got everything finally straightened out and now I am starting to look for an endocrinologist here incase we will have “ issues” going there…
(BTW) , Even though we “graduate” yearly appointments only, we have to see endocrinologist there in every 6 months, and if they feel like testing us between, they may fly us over there whenever they feel like ;) .. Not happy about that… ( But, please tell me when I am happy??? )

NOW, back to that follow up thing. I TOLD THEM, that’s all I am here for, FOLLOW up, no labs, no bone age xray???? HUH, You better do all those things because I feel ripped off… I could get YES, REGINA HAS GROWN a LITTLE from her doc… So she disappeared for few seconds and was back and told me- I GOT YOU labs in hospital 9.15, and BONE age xray 9.45. ( sarcastic smile, you know what I am thinking about, I WAS RIGHT).
And we had to see E clinic, because REGINA does have ear infection and I wanted to get some meds before we take our flight back.. She got antibiotics and ear drops, and Tylenol for pain ( I am really happy about it, because all that would have cost m around 70 dollars ( my insurance prescription plan sucks), but at least I got that without any cost ( thank you all of you who are donating to St Jude, JJJ )/

Our next trip to St jude will be around 10th of JULY. LOOOOONG trip this time.
I hope your Easter was fun…

Happy Easter from Regina and Gabriel.

Wishing you peacful Easter ;)

Regina is Recovering from eye infection (s), that started with a bad cold. Yes, she gets sick every time before we go to St Jude. Yep you got it, we are leaving this Sunday ( early morning)… and have only Endocrine appointment on Monday and then we will fly back and enjoy rest of Spring thing.....

:)

GO SEE MEET THE ROBINSONS because WE JUST DID.
You will not regret. One of the best movies out there. And it is on 3D> Very vool :)

Jog-A-Thon.

Regina and Gabriel having fun at jogathon.

MENYY

Pictures

FOUND!!!!!

Horray... Today I found Reginas airpiece. It was kind of accidental finding.. During music lass kids have nametags on, and When Regina took her name tag off, her earpiece got stuck and came off. So today when I was handing all the kids their nametags- THERE it was, screaming for attention- REGINAS AIRPIECE , HOLDING onto yarn with that only curve it had. :) I shred couple of happy tears, because i was extremely happy and relieved that it was found. AND I apologise to all of you who I secretly blamed... ( I FEEL horrible )>:)

AND we are flying to memphis on 8th ( sunday, easter I am guessing) and we fly back on monday. We also have to take Gabriel with us and he will cost us 580 dollars- you better pay back when you grow older and find a job...lol But since it is spring brake , we do not mind having one hectic day long half family vacation. hihi.

Don't read if you are not ready for major anger....

I am little upset today L
As some of you know, Regina is wearing FM hearing aid in school now. ( teacher speaks to microphone, regina has ear piece in her ear, and Regina hears what teacher is actually saying. Well, today hug UUPSI happened…. While in music class Reginas ear piece fell out and DISSAPEARED. It is just unbelievable to me to hear that no one could find it. I am 100% sure that one of those kids took it. I know it is not right to blame others, but I know those kids and there are 2-3 kids who are JELOUS of what is going on. And I think that they should have strip searched all the kids. ( I have been in first grade, ad I REMEMBER we had few “good” thieves in there who smiled at teachers and lied to their faces while hiding stolen lunch money….


I just hope that teachers find Reginas ear piece…. I feel little guilty for her loosing it. I should have thought her better to check in every few seconds that if it is still in her ear L It costs her school a lot of money and they did everything to get that ear piece. L


And now about something else. About St Jude. I am pissed , truly am. I hate dealing with endocrine clinic. WAwA WAWAEA. They suck. We have to go ther in april. Well, we had to be there on 15th of February ( I had no Idea) I thought I cancelled our appointments, at least that is what Valerie told me. SO I get a call from Endo clinic- WHERE THE FUCK are you guys. You supposed to be here RIGHT NOW, we NEED TO GET YOU IN ASAP. I had my HUH moment? What you mean as soon as possible. Is Regina is some kind of danger…????

Well, seems like Reginas BONES have to be measured at first in ever 3 months and if it is little longer , I guess her bones just don’t measure right ( just kidding, some dark humor you know). After few phone calls with e clinic and endo clinic ( WHO btw, told it CANT wait, and E clinic told us IT CAN WAIT), I just gave up and told them FCUK YOU. We’ll go there in april. You morons. I really was pissed. I have life, regina has life, Gabriel has life, and now we have to waste 3 days for that one crappy appointment. L Not happy. Not happy at all… I am sure they will tell me – Reginas BONES measure 6 ½ years, and her growth hormone has to be increased. ( Then I tell them, if you are going to pay 300 dollars per months for it, then do so. HUH.) I am sick and tired of insurance comp. who is just raising prices out of the blue with one exp. It’s new year and new prices, it’s new day and new prices… etc..


OK. Now on a happier note. We all are doing great. Regina learns to play chess. I enrolled both of my kids in music to grow on lessons and abrakadoodle art classes ( I CAN not stand competitive sports, or any sports on that matter, and thanks gawd my kids are not into “real “ sports. They both love dancing and singing and acting silly )

Boohooo

Winter sucks... Winter S U C K S>.. I love Ca winter ( Just Like Kathy) , but my kids seem not to take it that well... Regia has Ear infection - again.. She did not have ear infections for over 4 years and now they are back... right before her diagnosis time... She aso is coughing er lungs out. I took her to see her doc and sure enough she has few things.... Now she is n antibiotics...

Gabriel- Cough, strep throat(sp), low grade fever, moodyness, total mommas boy- OMG, what did I do to deserve this....lol

Myself- my ears bother me 3'd month in a row... No cure so far... Nasanex is not working, musinex is not working, nothing is working. I still feel bubbles popping in my ear, and I have b alance problems. I swear, I am allergic to OC. I need to move back to new jearsey.... And My kids are also.... hihi..

But other than that, they both are doing great. :) Regina loves school and so does Gabriel, they just have hard time giving me same kind of love....lol

Boohooo

Winter sucks... Winter S U C K S>.. I love Ca winter ( Just Like Kathy) , but my kids seem not to take it that well... Regia has Ear infection - again.. She did not have ear infections for over 4 years and now they are back... right before her diagnosis time... She aso is coughing er lungs out. I took her to see her doc and sure enough she has few things.... Now she is n antibiotics...

Gabriel- Cough, strep throat(sp), low grade fever, moodyness, total mommas boy- OMG, what did I do to deserve this....lol

Myself- my ears bother me 3'd month in a row... No cure so far... Nasanex is not working, musinex is not working, nothing is working. I still feel bubbles popping in my ear, and I have b alance problems. I swear, I am allergic to OC. I need to move back to new jearsey.... And My kids are also.... hihi..

But other than that, they both are doing great. :) Regina loves school and so does Gabriel, they just have hard time giving me same kind of love....lol

MADELYN..

Few days ago I learned that our friend Madelyn has relapsed. She was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma in January 2004.

She is one amazing kid...
Think about her she needs your prayers and get well thoughts...:)
http://www.caringbridge.org/tn/madelyn/

Update...

:):):) Regina had her MRI today. Still same. Dr Gajjar is now 100% sure that changes in her Brain that MRI with contrast picked up are due to radiation therapy.

My question to him would be- So if MRi picked up braindamage, how soon are WE going to see the side effects of that severe damage??? ( we allready see minor ones- Very slow processing information and forgetfulness...) Scary stuff..

AND second bestestestest news after clean MRI scan is - WE ARE DONE GOING TO ST JUDE IN EvERY 3 MONTHS. Next apointment will be in 6 monhts . WOHOHOHOHHO

:)

Happy New year :)

Please keep your fingeres crossed for Regina. Nick and Her will fly to Memphis on Monday(8th) and she will only have 2 appointments- MRI and nurtrition checkup. :) I hope all is well, and whatever changes appeared in her brain about month ago are no gone. :)

:)

I hope you all had fun-fille JUST WHAT I NEEDED kind of gifts. :)

We spent our Christmas in Big bear , learning to snowboard. We dropped Regina and Gabriel to snowboarding school, where they spent whole day learning to snowboard. Gabriel told me that HE LOVES it and it is lots of fun, but Regina thinks that It was fun, but not really her thing. :)

my dh had jetflag and missed his first day of snowboarding. ( wasted 150 dollars), and in most days he was sleeping until noon.. Our cabin was cute, but had few major issues. We wanted to use fireplace, but after 45 minutes of fire , smoke started to come into house. It was SMOKY AND WORST PART WAS that smoke detectors didi not activate. Very upsetting. Then, heater did not heat up second floor, so we all slept downstairs , also doors did not lock properly, and previous renters left trash everywhere ( outside). But overall, it was one of the funnest experiences I had in a long time. I learned to snowboard. It is unbelivable feeling to race down the hill and NOT fall once. But first day (4 hours) I spent sliding down on my butt...lol I did injure myself couple of times, but I really did not care about that. :

Regina and Gabriel got for christmas- JUST what they needed- American girl dolls, pop up books, bike, Supergirl TV, clothes, puzzles,cars....

On 28th, it was our 8th weddig anniversary. We went to Beverly hills and had HUGE dinner in Brazilian BBQ- 15 different kinds of meat and Awsome salad bar,. After that we just walked around and ended up in bowling place for 21 and older. And after few more drinks we went back to our hotel.( kids were with babysitter). I desperately wanted to go to vegas, and we made plans to go there, but my dh chickened out- TO LONG DRIVE. He has been downer lately....

Today is dec.30 and tomorrow dec31. I still can not belive that one more year has passed. year 2006 was good but very challenging year. Regina started growth hormone therapy, ( and she is growing allready), she started antigen therapy for her allergines, 1st grade, new skills, new hobbies, she is learning to read, and so much more..

Tomorrow we will be going to LA Estonian house to welcome year 2007. :) Talk to you soon.

Stay safe. :)

Happy HOLLLLYYYDDDaaayyyySSSS. Oh my goodness, when did this happen- we only have 2 more weeks of 2006 and then it is over... OVER foreeeeeever....
If I think back, it was fun year. It was year full of challenges- Gabriel starting Kindergarten, Regina entering first grade and learning to read, Nick "moving "to china, Me starting college again, and so on ...
I really want to thank you for being here us and thinking about us and sending us letters, and cards and emails, and thank you for all the support you guys have given us throughout the year.:0 That really means lot to us... I hope little Thank You does it :)


NOW , Regina will be flying to St Jude on 8th of december. This time he will go with Nick, since that week I have to go back to college. Anyway, I made Nicks trip as easy as possible.. HE GOT LUCKY. When I fly, I have to fly from Santa ana to Minneapolis, and from there to Memphis... But Nick got NON STOP TICETS FROM LAX TO MEMPHIS. And that is thanks to me.. ( We'll that is my gift to him , It just costed me 5 minutes on phone with St Jude Travel office....Lol) . Regina has MRI 6.45 AM on tuesday the 9th, then Nutrition Follow up, then dr check up and that is it. They will be flying back on same day 3 pmish..:):):) Since I am obsessive compulsive something something, I am worried about how Nick will do it.... lol lol lol... Will he be on time, will he ask right questions, will he this and that... I know he can do it, but since this is his FIRST TIME to fly to follow up appointment with Regina I can't help but being worried :)

Angel Carol :):):)

THANK YOU :) Regina and Gabriel ask me to ask " WHAT TIME IS IT NOW" all the time....lol

Doing good.

Regina is doing awsome. Sorry for not updating for such a long time. :):) It is holiday season and we are just way to busy wrapping and rehearsing and cleaning and attending partys.... As much as I love Christmas, I wish people did not have birthday partys around Christmas. Seems like everybody has birthday....lol

BTW, my sweet Girl Regina is TEACHER OF THE DAY.... She gets to give out orders, follow around teacher all day, enjoy hot chocolate with doughnot and have HUGE pizza lunch with other teachers of the day.. It is sooooo cute..:):):) Very cute. If you ask how she got to be teacher of theday- Well, I purchased 5 raffle ticets - 2dollars each, I wrote her name on it and dropped it into box. I am not sure how many other moms in her class did it, but her name was pulled out of box and There you go- Miss Tan!!!! Good for her.:) At least she get's to be miss boss for a day.... :)

Gabriel is also doing awsme. He enjoys school very much. He does his homework and learns to read . REGINA is awsome reader now. I can't belive how much she has learned within these past few months. She still has hard time decoding some words, but in overall, I am very proud of her. :)