SUNDAYS

Every Sunday (and Thursdays) we always go to church. Never have we ever missed going to church except when she was hospitalized of course. Ryla wore her white and blue flowery dress today. I just can't believe on how TALL she is! She looks like a giant compared to all the kids in her age group! She definitely would fit with the 5-6 year olds, perfectly! Yes Ryla is so tall! I'm 5'4 and she's up to my ribs, no joke! Those you have met Ryla in person knows what I'm talking about. People are surprised when I would tell them that she was only 3 years old. There was this little girl who was going to be 10 years old this year and she happens to be maybe about half an inch taller than Ryla! Hard to belive huh? Yeah I would find it hard to believe too but it's true! ;)

NEXT WEEK

Next week, Ryla will have to be fasting in the morning because she will be getting a spinal tap, then Vincristine, then she will start her 5 days of steroids too. My poor baby girl is going to go through a lot next week. They're gonna access her through her port. I really hate it when they have to poke her like that. I wish there were an easier way. We're almost on the halfway mark! I can't till this year is over!!! I can't wait for Ryla to live a normal, happy life! ;)

MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL

Just letting everyone know that I'm doing a Mother's Day Special with my photography business. Please come by my website to check it out. I will try and get my business into full gear this year and my goal is to be fully up and running by next year. Thank you!


L.Amor Photography

TRAINING

What is so difficult to teach Ryla right now is how to clean up after her mess. I guess it's a problem for all kids. I think it all as to even do with the mood she's in too. There are times where she will clean up her mess and she would even sing at the same time, "CLEAN UP! CLEAN UP! EVERYBODY DO THEIR SHARE! CLEAN UP! CLEAN UP! EVERYBODY DO THEIR SHARE." But this morning she made a total mess of M&Ms (M&Ms that no body eats for some reason) that were in this little jar that we have. She threw them in the air like it was raining M&Ms on her and when she was done getting a kick out of it, she just left them all over the carpet! I asked her to clean it up and she got mad! Ayyii-ya-yay....

My Photography

All day yesterday I've been working on a decent looking business card that I can make my own without having to go out and order and spend $60-$100 getting it made. This was what I came up with. If anyone is in the San Diego area and is interested in taking pictures, I offer prices of just the same amount as ordering business cards! :)

HAPPY FEET KIDS

Ryla and Alex has turned their dances into HAPPY FEET! I should video tape it and show it to you all. Ever since we've bought Happy Feet, their dance moves turned into running in place. They're trying to tap dance. Alex is really good at it. Ryla, I guess you can say it's a very good exercise for her legs! She's getting good at it too! But Alex is super fast! Looks like we got a tap dancer in our hands!

CHEESE!

The kids always have a blast in the front yard. These are just a few out of the many shots I took of the kids having fun! The first picture of Ryla is on her Ryla's Progress page. Come check it out!

Lovin' that smile!!!

MODEL!!

One of Alex's famous "HUH?" face!

HAVING FUN!!! TAG! YOU'RE IT!

APPT. UPDATE

Well, we actually missed her appt. It was scheduled for last Monday but of course they saw us anyway. Luckily it was just labs and not chemo. Her counts looks great! Her ANC is at 1200! She's been having so much color and we love it! She's due though for a spinal tap again next week ;( I really hate it when she has to do that. She has to be fasting and then she has to be put to sleep in order to do it. She gets really upset when she wakes up. Plus it's been a while so it might feel new to her again. It's been a while since we've walked into the treatment room. I guess you can say it's a good thing! But of course since it's been a while, she's going to have to adapt to it again and with all the poking. Her one year mark is coming up very soon. May 9th. I think we will attend church that day...

DR. CHECK

It's been two weeks since Ryla's been at the hospital for a Dr. check. Feels like it's been a looong time! But throughout the two weeks, she's been so active and healthy! Today during our friend's wedding, she decided to ditch the french fries they gave her and ate greens instead! Yes, vegetables! She loves green vegetables and I gotta put all the credit to Elmo from Sesame Street! If it weren't for him talking about how vegetables are delicious on tv, Ryla would never have tried it! :) Wish us luck for her blood counts tomorrow! Or should I say later on this morning (since it is 1:30am) ha!

Raindrops captured in a Photograph

...Heard raindrops falling outside my house. I went outside to capture it. Raindrops seems to deliver strong feelings in a photograph. It can stand for many emotions. It amazes me to see that a countless piece of object such as a raindrop, can somehow deliver such a tremendous effect and turn into this magnificent art. Almost like a graceful dance. San Diego hardly gets rain so this is the first real rain San Diego has encountered this year. Have you ever watched the rain? Each rainstorm is different. Sometimes there is wind. Sometimes it is cold, and sometimes there is thunder and lightning. Have you ever noticed the raindrops that fall from the sky? Sometimes the raindrops are very small and seem to float. Other times the raindrops seem huge, and they splash when they hit the ground.
.[all photos have be taken by me].

THANK YOU

I just wanted to take the time in thanking everyone who has been practically by our side with Ryla's condition. From day one, you all have shown your concern and care and I just feel like you're now a part of our family. Yet again our family has been struck with an eye opener. This time from Ryla's Daddy's side. You can just never tell what could happen. Anyone can be in a critical situation, no matter what age you are! Life is extremely fragile so we have to make the most out of it. With ourselves and with our loved ones. Tell them you love them as often as you can. Hug them when the opportunity is there. Don't ever wait for the "RIGHT TIME". There is no "RIGHT TIME". So many people have come and gone through our lives. Some have been with you from the very beginning but have left either so quickly or suddenly. There are others who have just recently came into your lives and others, just seem to have fade away. Keep those you love, close to you and tell them frequently you love them.

GROWING UP

Ryla is indeed growing up. Her facial features seem to change too! Her baby face is turning into a beautiful little girl. Her walking is even gotten a lot better! I think I mentioned that already. Now the next thing on the agenda is to get her use to just using sippy cups! Yes, Ryla is currently still drinking from the bottle but only at night time. Since her diagnosis, she went backwards with everything so now that she's on stabled condition, I'm going to try and train her as a regular 3 year old or actually she'll be 4 years old in 2 months! I'm trying to get her to write properly but every time I try to help her trace the letters I wrote, she ends up trying to just COLOR them instead! ha! It will take a while but I know she'll learn it! If I can't bring her to pre-school like I wanted to, I'll teach her at home and prepare her for Kindergarden when her chemo is all over ;) By the way, I'll be throwing her a "NO MORE CHEMO" party next year. All of you are invited ;)

RYLA, RYLA!

I finally was able to load Ryla's song from Songs of Love Foundation! Ain't it adorable?! It's also loaded on her Trip of a Lifetime page on her website as well as her Ryla's Progress page. That's the latest update on her page. Ryla's doing wonderful! Her walking is starting to be a lot more normal now! Still a little bit off but her walking and running is starting to make a difference! Her running is faster now haha! Oh we now have a NEW MOVIE... before it was constantly Nemo... then Monsters Inc... then Chicken Little... then Cars... now it's HAPPY FEET! heehee! Alex and Ryla now dances like Mumble from Happy Feet ;)

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TALK ABOUT A LIGHT SLEEPER!

So we're trying to teach the kids to sleep in their own bedroom. We try to put their DVD cartoons that automatically replays so that they can fall asleep watching cartoons. That USE to work! Well it still works for Alex but for Ryla, she kinda grew out of that. So recently Arcy and I have been taking turns sleeping next to Ryla until she fell asleep and then we would walk into our room and keep the monitor on in case we hear them cry. That USE to work also! But lately she's been able to wake up the moment she feels that we're not beside her and then we'll see our door open and here she comes! One time Arcy and I were still awake and we heard some shuffling through the monitor and we were like "UH-OH, she's awake" so we're peeking out our door and sure enough she's walking down the hallway, TIP-TOEING hahah trying to be slick about it, thinking that we don't know that she's coming towards us, she's holding onto her puppy, and with her Mimi (Pacifier) in her mouth looking at her shadow on the wall as she tip-toes to our room hahah! It's adorable most of the times but when Arcy and I are extremely exhausted, it's very frustrating to get her to bed so she ends up sleeping in between Arcy and I, and then I would have to bring Alex into our room as well (I don't like it if we're all together and Alex would be alone in the other room). I guess we're just going to have to figure something out haha!

GOING GOOD!

Yes, things have been good since our vacation. Ryla's been having so much energy. She did develop a little attitude but I knew that time had to come someday ;) All in all she's doing great! Her hair is now starting to touch her neck! YAY! It's close to needing a brush now! Looks like I gotta start buying some hair clips soon! I know it's been a while since I've updated you all on Ryla. Just think that the less you hear about her, it's good news ;) Two days ago, all she did ALL day was laugh!! I'm serious! I never seen her laugh so much in my life! She just having fun with Alex and playing with her toys! ;) My family's doing great!!!

A TRIP OF A LIFETIME

Wow, our trip was amazing! I'll give you all the details about it later on today because it's late. Just wanted to let you all know that we got home safe and Ryla is doing excellent! Come see a few of our pictures posted on Ryla's Website!