I know, I know...

...It's been forever since I last posted any content or pictures. I'm sorry. I'll skip the excuses and jump right into the update. It's going to be a long'un. Sorry.

The kids are both great. They are growing like crazy, especially Lia. She is in size 3 diapers now. (For context, Kira only wears size 4.) At their most recent doctor visit, Lia fell in the 95th percentile in height and weight for her age. Kira is in the 10th percentile for both for her age. How long before Lia passes Kira up? Payback for all those "hugs" is coming sooner rather than later.

We had a party last month for Lia's baptism and Kira's 2nd birthday. It was a lot of fun. My niece Lauren was like a little mommy to Kira all day, and it was a huge help. It was blazing hot but we had 3 pop-up tents to keep us in the shade. Lia was a sweet angel all day, naturally. Thanks to everyone who came. Here are pictures from the baptism and party. (Thanks to my Spanish mom who made the beautiful dress Lia wore.)

Kira news since the last update: she tripped, fell, and hit her face, requiring 3 stitches on the bridge of her nose. She cried for about 2 minutes when she fell and then she was over it. She didn't even cry for the stitches. They have this anesthetic gel now, so she didn't have to get a local shot to numb the area. Her eyes turned black and blue and her nose swelled up. She looked like she went 10 rounds... When we saw people out in public, I could see their minds flashing on the thought of calling Children's Services on me. Not fun. It still looked bad for her birthday party, which you can see from the birthday pics. (In case you were wondering about the bandaid: the doctor said to cover up the stitches when she's in the sun to help avoid scarring.) It's been about a month since she fell, and the scar is getting better but still stands out a lot to me. I feel so bad about it.

She talks a mile a minute, in line with her genetic predisposition. (Thanks, Mommy.) She speaks pretty clearly and is very understandable, but there are still some occasions where I have no idea what she's saying. She is so earnest about everything she says, so it's pretty funny. I feel like she's a cute, miniature Walter Cronkite asking for "sauce" (ketchup) for her chicken. (She's a sauce fiend - barbeque, salad dressing, ketchup, etc... and would put it on everything if we let her. We don't.) She can count to 2 and knows what 1 and 2 actually mean. (Actually, she counts sometimes to 5, but beyond 2, she's just saying familiar words.) She knows all her colors and shapes. She's a smarty. She loves her sister tremendously except when Lia has Mommy or Daddy occupied and Kira wants something.

Lia is an angel. She is the sweetest baby ever. She is very laid back and happy pretty much all the time. She doesn't protest when Kira "loves" her violently or when Kira drags Mommy or Daddy away from attending to Lia's needs to attend to Kira's. (Constant.) My favorite thing is napping with her. She wiggles and wiggles until she's right up against my belly and then settles down immediately. I can feel her chest moving up and down as she breathes and she gurgles happy little noises until she falls asleep. I know that's probably not everyone's description of heaven on earth, but it's mine. Or one of them... She's getting very big and very strong. She can roll over both back to front and front to back. She ate her first meal (cereal) several weeks ago. She loved it so much she sucked on her lips. She looked like she was an old lady with her teeth out. It was hilarious. She watches every move her sister makes. I won't be surprised if she does a lot of things very early because she wants to do what Kira does.

Both girls went to Jason's mom's house with him a few weeks ago and had a great time. Kira loved playing outside with a motorized car. Both girls went to visit Great Grandma Marvel. They had a very nice weekend. Pictures are here.

They've also visited my mom's house, but I don't have pictures from those visits yet. To be posted soon... Also, the girls have loved having Grandpa living in Columbus. He's been over to visit a lot, and the kids light up when they see him.

Here are lots of pictures of both girls. The painting project with Kira was Father's Day presents for Jason and my dad. Also, there's a couple of pictures of Lia's first meal. Unfortunately, we couldn't capture her sucking her lips into her mouth.

In non-kid news, my Spanish sister Maria had her baby yesterday. (Ok, it's still kid news, it's just not our kids' news.) She named the baby Maria as planned, and everyone is doing well. I hear the baby looks just like her father, Israel. (My other Spanish sister Carmen's daughter Lola looks just like her dad, Manuel. And of course Kira and Lia look like their dad. Carmen joked that none of us sisters are capable of producing a child which looks like any of us.) I am anxious to meet the new baby, but it will probably be next year before I see them again, since I just got back from Spain less than 3 months ago.