Galveston Trip

Last month, Nick and I were spontaneous (for once), woke up on a Saturday morning, and decided to get out of town and take the baby to Galveston for the night.  So away we went!  We sprung for the "deluxe" suite at the San Luis Resort and headed out for some fresh air and seafood!

We took Layla to the Rainforest Cafe for lunch, and she was mesmerized.  I swear, nothing fazes this girl.  She loved looking at all of the saltwater fish tanks and pointing to the fish ("fish-eees" according to her), and every time there was a "storm" in the restaurant, or the animals started their noises, Layla looked around and said "Wow, wow, wow..."  Too funny.  She even took a picture with the big green frog walking around the restaurant!  Good sign for pictures with Santa later this year??

After lunch, we headed down to the beach to take advantage of the great weather.  The water was beautiful!  I guess since there hasn't been much rain, the sediments in the water weren't stirred up, and it was so clear.  Nick was out to above his knees and could still see his feet - unheard of in Texas!  Layla had a great time playing in the water.  Now that she's walking and able to explore more easily, I think the beach held much more interest for her.  She and Nick looked for shells, "jumped" in the waves, and basically had a great time playing together.

From there, it was a quick nap and then off to dinner at Fish Tales, which was so good!  Then we took a walk along the sea wall before heading back to the room for baths and bed.

The next morning, we grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel IHOP and then swam at the pool before checkout.  We were planning on one more outing on Sunday afternoon, but Layla hadn't slept very well the night before, meaning Nick and I didn't sleep well either.  We were all pretty exhausted so we decided to head back to Houston early.

It was a wonderful, much needed get away!  I love creating these little family memories.  Nothing fancy, just us spending some quality time together without worrying about work, errands, etc.  Layla is growing up so fast and these are the times I'll always cherish!

"Yuck, saltwater!"

Houston Zoo

Dana, Jody and I took the kids on their first trip to the Houston Zoo, and we had such a great time!  We were a little concerned that they would be too young to really notice much but that wasn't the case at all.  Their little eyes lit up at all of the different animals, and they giggled, pointed, and babbled their way through all of the exhibits (with a stroller snooze thrown in there as well.)

We spent the day there so we got to see all of the attractions and visit the petting zoo, but I think everyone's favorite activity was feeding the giraffes!  We got to the exhibit at the perfect time and were able to participate in feeding, which was so wonderful and something I'll always remember.  The giraffes were adorable up close, although I have to admit, I was a bit nervous - those black tongues are kind of crazy and the giraffes are definitely not shy when it comes to getting their food! I thought Layla would be hesitant or scared, since obviously this is by far the biggest animal she's been up close to.  I was so wrong!  She just grabbed that lettuce and held it out to the largest giraffe like a pro.  I think she has some practice sneaking food to our dogs - I guess to her they were just bigger puppies!  With those innocent little eyes and goofy "smiles", they kind of were!

It was such a fun, memorable day.  As always, we love spending time with these wonderful friends and can't wait for our next outing!

First Haircut

We took Layla for her (much needed) first haircut last month!  We went to Snip-Its, which was so cute inside.  Layla was mesmerized by everything going on in there.  They have personal TVs at each station so the kids can watch movies while getting their hair cut, all kinds of games and music, and a prize at the end of your visit!  We got the First Haircut Special, which included a little certificate with a lock of hair and a picture.

Layla laughed her way through the entire thing.  I don't know why I was surprised!  It is apparently hilarious to get your hair cut.

Now.  On to the not-so-good part.

I loved the place, don't get me wrong, and we will definitely go back, but the haircut isn't the greatest on her.  I say this with complete and total love, but Layla looks like one of the Three Stooges, or possibly Jim Carrey a la Dumb and Dumber.  I think it's just her hair type - it's like mine, very thin and very straight, so it's hard to get it to do anything other than lay flat.  Which it now does, in a straight line across her forehead.  She still looks adorable though - we are just taking a bit more advantage of bows and clips these days...I'm sure this is just the first of many traumatic hair experiences, being a girl and all.  At least she doesn't know the difference right now!

Desperately needed a trim!

Another "first" checked off the list!

Happy Birthday, Maxwell!

My goodness, we have been so busy and I'm so behind on the blog! I'll catch up soon...

We've had a great month, which we kicked off with celebrating Maxwell's first birthday!  Maxwell is another one of Layla's Little Gym friends, and we have grown so close to him and his great momma. They live a few streets over, and we love getting together for walks and carpooling to our outings with them!  Dana is a great friend and is there for anything you could ever need - we are so lucky to have met them!

Maxwell is basically the cutest thing ever, and that was on full display at his party.  Dana is so creative and put together such a great celebration - and she cooked and created all the decor herself!  Everything turned out so cute.  There was face painting, balloon animals, wonderful food, and plenty of room for the kids to run themselves silly! 

Happy Birthday, sweet boy!

Happy Birthday, Evelyn!

Sweet Evelyn turned one in August, and we joined in on the celebration at her Gymboree party!  We met Jody and Evelyn in our Little Gym class, and have had such a great time with them since.  Evelyn is the sweetest little girl I've ever met - she is a cuddle bug with such a wonderful disposition.  And Jody is such a great friend that I've loved getting to know!  She is super smart, gives wonderful advice, and is such a great mommy - I'm so happy we met them!  I love that Layla has some little buddies close to her age here in Pearland, and now that we have our weekly lunches and playdates scheduled, we're having more and more fun as we go!

Happy Birthday, pretty Evelyn!  We had a wonderful time!

The Three Musketeers!

Layla loved the cupcakes - in case you couldn't tell!

Layla's Birthday Parties

Layla had two parties for her first birthday - you know something this big calls for more than one celebration!  On her actual birthday, we had a family party in Bay City.  She had a blast!  Her Grandma got her a special cupcake, which Layla loved, and we had a great time visiting with family and friends (and watching Layla soak up being the center of attention!)

 

We had her Little Gym party later in July, and it was a blast!  Again, Layla loved the attention, and had a wonderful time playing with all of her friends at one of her favorite places. 

We are so blessed with such great family and friends, and Layla is such a lucky girl to have so many people around her that love and care about her.  Thank you to everyone for coming to the parties!

One Year!!

Layla turned one on July 17th - I still can't believe it.  It has been such a crazy year, and it really and truly only seems like yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital.  This has been such a wonderful time for our family, and I know it's just going to get better and better!

Layla, at one year old, you have changed so much!  You have your own little personality and are quite a character.  You are really funny, laugh at everything, and are a daredevil.  You love to play and crawl and jump and squeal, and do not really sit down.  Your vocabulary has extended to "ba" (ball), "wawa" (water) "baba" (bottle), "nini" (night-night), "yaya" (Layla), and "Ummm" (Yum - meaning "I'm hungry!").  Also, every time you take a drink of something, you say "Ahhh" afterwards, really cute.  When we ask "What does a pig say?", you make the funniest little noise trying to oink! You also still love it when we sing, especially now that you can participate.  When we sing "If You're Happy and You Know It", you clap at all the right parts.  Also, when we sing "The Wheels on the Bus", you chime in with "ra ra ra" (round and round), and you have the tune down pat.  You learn something new every day, and it is a blast watching you grow up, you make Daddy and me laugh constantly.

Eating is going great.  You love all kinds of fruit, and suprisingly will eat spinach and brussel sprouts.  The only meat you'll really eat is chicken, but that's OK - whatever works!  We made the switch from formula to whole milk, and so far so good with that as well.  You didn't really take to juice, so right now it's mostly just milk and water. You have a total of four teeth, and I think I see a fifth starting to poke through.  The last one really gave you some pain, I felt so bad for you!

At your one year check up, you weighed 19 lbs, 5 oz (30th percentile) and were 29.75 inches long (71st percentile).  The doctor said you look great and are thriving!  The only other big thing to come out of that appointment is that we should start to transition completely from bottles to sippy cups, and start to phase out the paci.  The bottle thing isn't a big deal, but the paci is.  You've always really only gotten one to sleep, we don't usually let you have it during the day. But, it's going to be really hard for you to fall asleep without it, I can already tell.  Oh well, we'll see what happens!

We're still going to the Little Gym, and are moving you up to the next class.  We are also starting swim lessons this month, which I know you are going to love.  Daddy already taught you how to blow bubbles, so we are ahead of the game!  I'm looking forward to it, I think it will be a lot of fun, and they are outdoors so I can get some sun as a bonus!

We love you more and more every day and this past year really has been the best one of my life.  You bring us such joy.  There is nothing better than getting a "Layla hug" or hearing you say "Mama??" with a big smile first thing in the morning when I walk in your room.  We are so blessed to be your parents, sweetie girl! 

I'll do a separate post on your birthday celebrations, but here is one picture of you playing with the scarves at the Little Gym party:

We love you!  Happy Birthday!