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Sincere apologies to those of who come back to this blog often in hopes of something new, and have been disappointed.  David pointed out to me last night that it’s been a month since we last posted.  Sorry about that.  It has truly been a busy time, and I hope you’ll forgive us.  Please enjoy the following updates.  I’ve included lots of photos.

We haven’t heard anything recently about Jordan.  My brother reported a week or so ago that the Shahbaz family is keeping on keepin’ on, adjusting to their new normal.  And at this point, no news is good news.  Please continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers.  Jordan’s treatment is far from complete…

We had a beautiful holiday season with friends and family, capped off by a New Year’s Day wedding on the beach here in San Diego.  My sister Gwen married her sweetheart David Vigil in an intimate ceremony followed by a fun family dinner.  The festivities were graced by, quite possibly, the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen.  We wish Gwen and David all the very best, and eternal marital bliss.

Mr. and Mrs. Gwen and David Vigil

A kiss at sunset

Meanwhile, our boys have gotten bigger, more mobile, and ever more interesting.  It’s so fun to watch them develop into little people.  They have started expressing preferences about food and toys and when they want to be left alone and when they want to be picked up.  They now give us kisses – the open-mouthed slobbery kind.  They love to stand on their legs, supported, of course, and Jesse has started cruising a bit.  Jesse has also almost mastered crawling.  Noah could if he wanted to, but he just doesn’t seem interested.  I think he much prefers it when other people do his bidding and he doesn’t have to expend any effort.  Which is how I know he’s his father’s son.  Both Noah and Jesse talk a lot, and the sounds change all the time.  Currently, they are into “Da – da – da – da – da.”  I don’t think it’s intentional, especially because in our house, David goes by “Abba.”  But it’s adorable.  Oh, and, did I mention BIG?  David weighed them the other day — Noah was 25 pounds, and Jesse was 24.  These are unscientific figures, but still!  They’ll be 9 months next week, and they are outgrowing their 12-month clothing.  I’m not complaining though, because they are making my arms really buff.

San Diego in the wintertime - life is hard.

With cousin Nadia the day after Gwen's wedding - and Jesse guilty of trying to steal Nadia's pacifier.

First time sitting up in the Costco cart

Oh, circles of neglect - we bless thee.

Hi mama!

May I help you?

Play time - Jesse likes to roll around and try to knock Noah over.

Happy New Year everyone!  Much love to all.

Both Jesse and Noah have gotten really good at playing on their own recently. They didn’t really play much with anything and then we started putting them in their exersaucers a few weeks ago (see photo). At first they didn’t know what to do with the toys and just banged on stuff, but they picked it up pretty quickly and now know to pull and push on certain things to get the music and lights to work. During this same period they also mastered picking up their pacifiers and putting them in their mouths which, as you can imagine, makes it a lot easier on us.

At the same time that all this was happening, they also got perfected sitting on their own. Combine all that and you get these very cute pictures.

Noah

Jesse