Well, Hello There!

So...it's obviously been over a year since I've posted anything...just wanted to put that out there!  I don't really have a reason other than I'm a total slacker when it comes to social media.  However, I'm determined to keep up with the blog this time around!

Let's see, so much has happened over the past year!  As far as Nick and I go, things have been wonderful with our family.  We've had lots of great changes take place in our lives and feel very blessed.  The biggest item on our plate right now is building a house!  We purchased a 2.5 acre lot in a neighborhood in Richmond and are in the process of building.  It's been interesting and stressful, but fun as well.  We went with a custom home, which means lots of decisions on the smallest details.  It's exciting though - I know it will be worth it when it's all said and done and we have the exact house we want!

Layla has been the light of our lives!  Every day she makes me laugh with something new that she cooks up.  I enrolled her in Mothers Day Out twice a week, and she LOVES it.  She's always been a pretty social kid, and going to "school" has only made that more apparent.  She loves being with her friends and teachers, and comes home each week with new stories and songs to show off.  Here are a couple of pictures that pretty much highlight her personality at this point (sorry for the quality, they are from my phone):

Our biggest and most exciting news is the arrival of Madeline Nicole Banker on March 19th, 2013!  She's such a little pumpkin pie and we have been having a blast with her.  She is a very easy going baby, loves to snuggle, and would prefer to be held 24/7 if possible!

Layla loves her little sister.  Every morning, the first thing she asks is "Where's Maddie?"  She is such a great helper, going to grab diapers, burp cloths, whatever I need.  She loves to talk and sing to the baby, and gets very concerned when she cries and makes sure to let me know that I need to "go get Maddie, she's upset!"

I'll be doing another post soon with all of the details of the baby and more pictures, so stay tuned!  I promise it won't be a year from now...

18-ish Months

Well, I am the worst blogger on earth.  We have been so busy over the last few months and I just haven't gotten a chance to sit down and capture it all! It was a wonderful holiday season, and Layla had a blast with all of our family and friends.  She was the little princess this year and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Layla, you turned 18 months old on January 17th.  This has been such a fun and amazing time for us.  You are such a talker.  At this point your vocabulary is too big to really name off all of the words you know, but let's just say you can definitely make yourself and your wants known!  You will mimic anything we say and seem to pick up on words really quickly.  You love to name animals and make their sounds, and you have the names of all of our pets, family's pets, and friends memorized!  The first thing you say in the morning is "Manard?  Tukee?" (Mallard and Turkey).  You usually follow that up by asking for a "Faffle" (Waffle).  You are great at naming colors, until you get tired of me asking you, and suddenly everything is "ye-yow".  You love to draw and color, and can scribble with the best of them.  You can also count to 10, but really, you just have it memorized - I don't think you really know what you are doing. It is cute to hear you counting along with Sesame Street in the mornings, though!  Speaking of Sesame Street, "Mo Mo" (Elmo) is still your favorite, although Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Ernie are closing in.

You really like to sing and make the hand motions - your favorite songs are Itsy-Bitsy Spider, The Wheels on the Bus, and If You're Happy and You Know It.  You are also a little dancing machine and will start bopping along and waving your arms to pretty much any music you hear.  We are still going to Little Gym, and are about to move up to the Birds/Beasts class.  You favorite activity is to run around the class and say hi to everyone - and you love the attention you get back!

You are still a Daddy's Girl, and you two have a blast together.  As soon as you hear the garage door open in the afternoon, you run to the window to watch Daddy get the mail and then run to the kitchen to greet him when he walks through the door.  He makes you laugh like no one else can, and I love the special relationship you have. 

You make us laugh every day, and we are so blessed to be your parents.  I can't wait to see what 2012 holds for us!  We love you sweetie girl!

Here are some pictures that my good friend Kate took for us in December.  Check out her website here - she is an AMAZING photographer.  Thank you again Kate!

Children's Museum

We recently took our first trip to the Children's Museum with Jody, Evelyn, Dana and Maxwell, and had such a great time!  I'd been hearing about it and hearing about it for so long and was really excited to take Layla - it sounded right up her alley.  We weren't disappointed!  As soon as we set the kids down, they took off and never looked back.  The Tot Spot is awesome and we had a great time watching the kid's faces light up with every new toy or display they came across. 

Layla is Little Miss Organization (wonder where she gets it from), so she had a blast with so many of the set-ups they had.  She loved the oversize light up peg board and sat there making sure everything was arranged to her liking.  Same thing with the wall that you could drop different sized balls into.  She had to make sure everything was right where she wanted it before moving on to the next thing.

Although we didn't get any pictures, the kids also loved the Water Works exhibit outside!  They were fascinated with all of the different fountains and waterfalls and somehow managed to get soaked even though they could barely reach anything.  That's when we called it a day, but we'll have to go again soon - there was so much to look at and play with that we only made it halfway through before leaving!

Here are a bunch of pictures of the kiddos playing.  I tried to get better ones but everyone was too busy to even look at me!

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!