Benign!

Just wanted to share the great news with all of you. After two long torturous weeks, the doctor just gave my dad the good news that the mass in his kidney is benign! Before his surgery, the doctor said it was 90% cancer. My dad was blessed to be that 10%. The other miracle is that he is completely recovered. His doctor said it would take at least a month to recuperate after surgery. It probably only took my dad four days before he was doing his "usual routine". Most days (when it's not too cold) he walks a mile. It's as if he never even had surgery.

Thank you for all the prayers and support. It was definitely answered! We got the best early Christmas present ever.

P.S.

I finally got a new camera so I'm hoping to upload some current pictures of the boys real soon.

Black Friday

Yes I am one of those crazy people that get up at 4am to go shopping. My sister and I have been doing it for 11 years now. We have a ball. I try to get all my shopping done at this time because I don't have any other time since I'm working long hours. My sister and I have a route that we take every Black Friday. We stay out until my car is overloaded then we go home to unload and hit the mall. It took us 30 minutes to park in Valley Fair. How insane!

So you're probably wondering how I can do this with three kids? Since it's 4am, the kids are all asleep still. Erdy is home with them until I come home around 8ish. I took Nate with me to the mall and luckily he cooperated with us. All in all, it was a fun day.

There's a lot to be thankful for...

Besides the great meal and the many desserts we'll have, there's a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. First and foremost, my family will all be together to celebrate and share a feast. The kids are all doing well. They are all healthy, happy and full of life. Nicolas joined our family and now we are complete. He just melts our hearts every time he smiles or giggles. He is such a happy baby. Nathan has learned so much in the three months of school. Noah looks up to Nathan and copies everything Nathan does. Erdy has been wonderful. I can honestly say that Erdy puts in his fair share in our marriage and fatherhood. Most dads aren't as involved with their kids. Erdy does it all. I am lucky to have a husband who is a loving father and an understanding partner.

My dad had his surgery a week ago and what a miracle his recovery has been. For that, I am thankful. It's as if he never had surgery. He has been able to manage his pain and he has not found a need to take pain medication. He is determined to get better. He's already back to walking at least a mile a day.

My two moms are here. Mama Tina has been a tremendous help with Nicolas while Erdy and I are away at work. My mom has taken over the kitchen. They both have taken over many of the housework chores. So I am relaxed and confident that Noah and Nico are well taken care of. For that I am grateful.

Yes we have our moments and problems but at the end of the day, we have a home to go to and a family to come home to. There's a lot to be thankful for.

The latest in the Barlahan household...

So it has been a two week whirl wind. I started back at work two weeks ago and it's been nonstop since. I haven't been able to really stop working. In the morning, I go to work. I go home and I go to work. It's so busy at work that I can barely keep my head above water.

My parents arrived a week ago. So now I have my mother-in-law and my parents at our tiny house. I must admit so far so good. I'm so glad they're all here. With my crazy work schedule, I have a little lee way at home. I can do some work while they keep the kids entertained. Plus, we're all enjoying my mom's cooking...another task lifted off my shoulders.

We got the ikea bunk beds for the kids. They are enjoying it. Nate sleeps at the top and Noah at the bottom. We will transition Nico into the crib once the Christmas Center is over. Right now I need every bit of sleep I can get. Nico continues to tease me. He has been sleeping more through the night.

My dad's surgery is next week. We met with the pre-operative clinic today as well as the surgeon who will be doing his surgery. He is in good spirits which we're all thankful for. I can't wait until this nightmare is over. At least we can get back to semi-normal again.

I wish I can get more hours in the day. There's just too much to do. Until then...ta, ta for now.

Happy Halloween!

The boys had a great halloween. Nathan had a parade at his school so he got to wear his costume to school instead of his uniform. Of course, Noah wanted to join the parade so he wore his costume too and walked with Nathan. Noah is a regular fixture at Nate's school. He joins the class at circle time, does art work with them, and has snack there too. The teachers get a kick out of him.

After the parade, I took the boys to the youth center here in Santa Clara. They had a mini carnival. The kids got to go trick or treating, play games, jump on the bounce house and do arts and crafts.

They quickly ate dinner and went trick or treating with Erdy. They only went a few blocks (due to the cold and windy weather) and they got a huge load of candy. As a sugar police mommy, they were only able to choose two of their favorites and I hid the rest. They'll get them little by little as a reward for good behavior (ok bribery too).

Nico is three months old!

My little baby is now three months old. So hard to believe. He is holding his head up and when he is placed in his car seat, he tries to get up and sit up. You can find Nico in his best mood when he first wakes up. He giggles and babbles a lot. He has slept through the night three times now (what a teaser). But for the most part, he wakes up at 4am, drinks milk and goes back to sleep right after. For his three months old celebration, we went to Kara's cupcakes. I was a bit disappointed. Sprinkles is way better! He's growing up all too fast.

Chuck E Cheese

As I mentioned in a previous blog, Nathan had to do a blood test. I felt so bad for him since he had such a difficult week with the surgery and everything else, I decided to take them to Chuck E. Cheese. As usual, they loved it. They never seem to get sick of the place.

Deer Hollow Farm

While Monica was in town, we decided to take a hike to Deer Hollow Farm with the kids. The kids did really well during the hike. We got to see farm animals, ate a picnic lunch, took a leisurely walk back and of course ended the day with ice cream.

Noah is shouting back to the rooster..."cock-a-doodle-doo"

Amara and Noah chasing the chicken!



Very appropriate...Noah is wearing his chick magnet shirt.


A group picture in front of the cow.

The pumpkin patch went to the preschool

Since Nate's class just had a fieldtrip to watch a play, they decided to forego a trip to the pumpkin patch. Instead the pumpkin patch went to them. I had the chance to volunteer so I got to see it firsthand. They played the pumpkin walk (similar to musical chairs) and once they got their pumpkin, they were able to paint it. There were also other art activities. The kids all had a ball. Here are some pics of the event.

Uesugi Farm

Over the weekend we went to Uesugi Farm in Morgan Hill since we heard so many good things about it. The kids had a great time. They rode on the cow train and the pony ride. There's a lot more to do there but it was too hot. I didn't think it would be as hot as it was. Nate and Noah picked out more pumpkins. Now all we have to do is carve all of them!

Halloween Party

We went to Kim's house for our halloween party. The kids has so much fun. The entire menu consisted of orange food. We had orange turkey pasta, pumpkin soup, cheese & ham sandwiches, pumpkin bread, orange jello, mandarin orange, cantaloupe, cheetos, pumpkin pie and pumpkin ice cream. The kids decorated cinnamon sugar cookies. Everything was absolutely yummy. It was nice to break away from the old routine on a school night!

Nathan had his surgery

Nathan had his ear surgery this past Tuesday. I think I was more nervous than he was. We sat him down and explained to him as simple as possible what to expect. He did well the morning of surgery. I thought all the doctors and nurses in his room would freak him out but he was totally fine. The surgery to put the tubes in was less than 15 minutes. We went to the recovery room soon after and Nathan woke up and was quiet for about 5 minutes then he was back to normal. The nurse told me to expect him to be drowsy for the rest of the day but not my Nathan! He was running and playing around as soon as we got home. Everything went well with the surgery but...two days after, we found blood in Nate's urine. We are still unsure if it's related to the surgery. Many blood tests were run (they took four tubes of blood) and so far they have all turned out negative...thank goodness. It's possible that it's a reaction to the anesthesia but that's very rare. We have a follow up appointment tomorrow. Poor Nate has been through a lot this week.

Nicolas is growing up too fast..

He's only 10 weeks old but he's growing up too fast. Most people that see him thinks he's a big baby. He's just pudgy. He has only slept through the night once (what a teaser). But I shouldn't complain. He only wakes up once to feed and goes back to sleep within 15 minutes. He loves to coo and talk to you and Nico enjoys all the attention he gets (unfortunately his brothers doesn't). He's a very happy baby, always smiling at you. As cheesy as it may sound, he just melts my heart. Here are some pics of him.

Recent pics of the Barlahan boys...

A pic of the three boys with Lolo.

Nicolas is all smiles.

Noah doing some gymnastic moves at the beach. What a silly boy.

Nathan smiles for the camera. What a cutie!

Erdy hits the big 3-0

Erdy is now three decades old. It was a big deal to him. He wanted to make sure he checked off everything on his list of goals before he hit 30. And now he has three kids to show for it! He took the day off so we spent the day in Santa Cruz (naturally) and ate at our favorite calamari place. We went to Red Lobster for dinner. That's always Erdy's pick. We go there twice a year...for Erdy's birthday and Father's Day. The next day my sister took the entire family to Texas Roadhouse (yes, we did a lot of eating) and after the kids went to bed, we met some friends at D & B. We haven't been there in years. We had a blast. I must admit my arms still hurt from hyper bowl.

Some bad news..

On Monday, the doctor informed my dad that he has a tumor in his left kidney and he was 90% sure it was cancer. My dad found out hours before his flight back to the Philippines. Of course, he was completely shocked and probably still is. He has been here for a month doing his routine physical exams. One of his blood tests came out abnormal. His creatinine levels were extremely high. His primary doctor assumed it was due to the medications his dr in the Philippines precribed him. So she changed his medications around and asked him to do more blood work after two weeks, thinking those levels will go down. That didn't happen. It went further up. So she ordered an ultrasound which detected the cyst. The doctor ordered a CT scan to further explore the cyst. A day later she called stating that it was definitely a cyst, not cancerous, and nothing to worry about. We were relieved. But then on Monday, the urology department called and asked him to come in. This is where dad learned about the tumor.

It is 1.7cm big. They caught it early enough that they will perform a laproscopic surgery which is less invasive than open surgery and recovery is a lot shorter. My dad thinks he has been given a death sentence. My sister and I tried to assure him that he would be ok and tried to convince him to cancel his flight. He was adamant about flying back so we made a deal that he would have to return in November.

His surgery has been scheduled for November 21st. My mom will be flying back with him. Please pray that his surgery will be successful and without complications. Pray for my dad that he will have the courage and strength during these trying times. Pray for our family that we can pull through this and be strong for him.

I am overwhelmed and stressed having to coordinate all the details of his upcoming surgery and trying to live life as normal as possible. I have Nathan's surgery to worry about too. I'm going back to work and I'm wondering how I'm going to do this all. It will be one stressful holiday season.

A crazy day in SF

Since it was my dad's last weekend here, we decided to spend the day in San Francisco. We weren't sure what we would do so Erdy drove around for a bit. Whenever we go to SF, Erdy drives around the steep hills and gives the kids a thrill ride. So this day was no different. The kids were pretending to be on a roller coaster as Erdy drove down the hills. But this time, it was a bit more exciting...There was a car going uphill but he had to stop since there were two cars ahead of him. So his car was rolling and all of a sudden, his car kept going down this long steep hill. We assumed he was driving a stick shift. He kept going downhill and it appeared that he couldn't stop. Erdy and I were yelling "pull up your hand break!" He kept going down the hill and we were sure he would get runned over by other cars at the intersection, not expecting him to be there. By the grace of God, there were no cars at the intersection. We quickly drove up to him and asked him if he needed help. We pulled over to help him and luckily his car started again. Needless to say, we didn't go down anymore hills.

After wondering around, we ended up watching the Blue Angels. They were awesome! The kids enjoyed themselves but Noah got scared when they came too close. San Franscisco was packed with people. There were cars everywhere. I saw one man take his toddler out of his car seat and had him stand up and stick his head out from his moon roof to watch the blue angels while driving around. One wrong mistake, that toddler would have flown out! I saw another driver looking back, trying to watch the Blue Angels and take pictures as he was driving! I thought for sure, he'd rear end another car.

We ended the day in downtown Sf. I did a little shopping while Erdy played with the kids in Union Square. We had dinner at our favorite Japanese spot in Sunnyvale and the kids were pooped by the time we came home!

A day at Half Moon Bay

We had a great Sunday at Half Moon Bay. Besides the horrific traffic, we had a blast at Lemos and Pastorino Farms. Nathan and Noah spent a lot of time picking out the perfect pumpkin. Nico was oblivious to the whole thing. He slept most of the time. We woke him up once but he wasn't a happy camper. The day would not be complete without riding the choo-choo train. Here are some pics from the day.