more pictures of the Gala! Also a picture of us prepping Sofia's meds for the week!!! She is such an amazing girl.[...]

We had such a GREAT weekend!
As you might remember, last summer we traveled to Orange County to visit NEGU and fill Joy Jars. The Jessie Rees Foundation: Never Ever Give Up - NEGU has been a big part of our lives since that trip. This past weekend they had their annual Gala to raise money and honor many individuals who have contributed in various ways over the past year. We were lucky enough to be invited to this very special evening!
Since the event was being held at The Disneyland Hotel, well how could we not get a little Disneyland in!!! What's even better was that we got to do it all with Ava and her family!
Though Sofia knew we were going to LA she had no idea we were going to Disneyland. So, minutes before we left for the airport we told her the secret, and she screamed!
Since we were only going to have 24 hours for the parks we went full force! Given that Sofia and Ava are very sun sensitive and get tired very quickly we were able to skip the main lines and go through the fast pass lines, which made things so much easier. Sofia made it very clear that she was not going on any roller coasters, that is until she tried one! She definitely has her daddy in her with the rides and I'm happy she's not scared like me! Since it was going to be such a packed weekend we decided to leave Noni at home. Of course, he got a fever the day we left!!! Mommy guilt was kicking in but his aunties, grandma and cousin gave him plenty of cuddles.
On Saturday night we were overwhelmed by just how amazing the Jessie Rees Foundation is and were so inspired by the Gala. Ava and Sofia even got to go onstage and present an award!! But the highlight of the night was when the girls got awards for being so courageous! The night was full of joy, tears, inspiration, dancing and even a wardrobe change by both Sofia and Ava (2 dresses are better than 1)! It was an amazing weekend!![...]

March 16th is a special day!! In exactly 1 year, on March 16,2018, Sofia will finish her treatment for Leukemia!!! Instead of talking in years, we will talk in months, until it becomes weeks, days and minutes!! To celebrate the day we decided to raise some money 💰 for Pediatric Cancer. So if you would like to buy this awesome shirt for $20 you can do so emailing [email protected] . It comes in men's S-4XL and kids sizes S-L. You all are Sofia's Army, and we couldn't have made it this far without you! #teamsofia #oneyeartogo #goodbyechemo #sofiasarmyfightlikeagirl[...]

I can't believe it's day 475!
Today Sofia went it for another Lumbar Puncture with chemo. Though I absolutely hate LP's, we have found comfort in having a routine on these days. Given Sofia's extreme sickness after her Lumbar Puncture in December we have started taking every pre and post step possible. It worked well last month so we crossed our fingers this month and did an exact copy of last month. Happy to report that Sofia did great and had a really good day post treatment! We even went out for ice cream and dinner (she gets the ice cream first because she can't eat dairy near her evening chemotherapy). Her ANC is lower than it's been in months, at only 590. All of her other numbers look good so we just need to be cautious and check again in a couple of weeks.
After our ER scare a couple of weeks ago, we've had a pretty quiet month. The rain kept us home, even more than normal. We tried to take advantage of every sunny moment outside! Sofia was also lucky enough to be invited to Disney of Ice. She had so much fun!! But the highlight of the past month was when Mike, Sofia and I attended an amazing event called Ava's Kitchen. As you all know, Ava is Sofias bestie who we went to Hawaii with. Ava's Mom, Ashley has been working for months on a charity event for NEGU and children battling Pediatric Cancer. The evening was perfect, emotional and inspiring. And somehow, the normally quiet, and a bit shy little girls, completely transformed into The belles of the ball! They were on stage cooking with Michael Mina, smiling from ear to ear! Oh, and did I mention that the evening raised over 200K!!!!
It means so much for us that Sofia understand the importance of giving back and being grateful for every day. It's something that we will be focusing on for the next 40 days, especially. We have our "grateful bag" ready and every day during Lent we will put one item into the bag. At the end the kids will donate the 40 items to The Thrift Box in Willow Glen, where all proceeds go to LPCH.
In no way do I look at my life as easy, but I know it can be worse and we are so grateful for every moment together!!!
We have some exciting days coming in March and we can't wait to share them with Team Sofia!
For those of you who have been asking about my mom, she's doing well. She had a pretty hard time her first few months on her medicine but she's settled into a good dosage for her body. She has had some rough moments but right now she's feeling good, especially when she's with her grandkids! She comes over to visit three times a week and last week when she walked in, Noni yelled grandma! He, of course, got spoiled rotten that day!!
Thank you to all of you for your continued love, support and prayers! We feel them all!!![...]