PARTY!!!!!!!

Banastre's First Birthday Party was a blast!! We had family,friends, food, drinks, cake, cheesecake, balloons, and presents! What more could you ask for?

First, our family and friends in attendance:

Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, Uncle Art & Aunt Jimena, Aunt Lauren & Matt, Angela, Eric, and Grant, Lora and Lily, Mrs. Barbie, Jasmine, Spencer, Kenny, and Dawson.

We had lots of food. Including all the fixings for sandwiches, a vegetable tray, a fruit tray, chips, and cheese puffs. The best part though...the cakes!!! We had an Oreo Cheesecake, a regular birthday cake, and a miniature Oreo cheesecake for the birthday boy himself!

Banastre also received more toys than he knows what to do with! We are still working our way through them all. We didn't want to overwhelm him by giving him all of them at the same time!

Thank you to each and every one of you that took time out of your Saturday to spend with us celebrating Banastre's first year!!! It really means a lot to us to have all of our family and friends close by and we love spending time with all of you!!!!!

So, here are the pics. I will try to do captions, but blogger is giving me a hard time tonight! I guess it knows that I have a lot of posting to do tonight!

Elizabeth and Banastre serenading the guests as they arrived.

What a healthy meal!! Cheese, ham, and cheese puffs.

One of my favorite gifts. TMX Elmo!

A choo choo!!!

Ta Da...My very own cheesecake!!!!!

I wonder how I should eat it?

Let's see if the whole thing will fit!!!!

Hey, does anyone else want some???

Needless to say that Banastre really enjoyed his birthday cake. Mommy had to wash it out of his hair and ears that night!

Here's Lily hamming it up for the camera!

Eric, Angela, and Grant enjoying cake.

Lily and Banastre checking out his new ride on toy.

Ok, Blogger thinks that is enough pics of the birthday party. Coming up next, Banastre's baptism, How a Groundhog Stole Valentine's Day, and Tacky Day at Elizabeth's school.

Things learned in my first year...

In the past year I have grown and learned so many things. I started my journey On February 1, 2006 at 7 lbs. 3oz. and 19 1/2 inches long. I now weigh 22 lbs. and Mommy will know my length at my doctors appointment Monday! But I know I have gotten much longer. In the beginning, I could only cry when I needed my Mommy or Daddy. Now, I can say lots of words and I even know what they mean. Like, Mama and Dada. When I say these my Mommy and Daddy turn their attention to me. Cracker and Gaga will get me food and juice, especially my crackers!! If these taste good to me, I will close my eyes and say MMMMmmm. Dog and Cat are those two furry animals that live with me. Thank you is what I say if you give me something or when I give you something. Uh oh is what happens when I drop my toy, food, or cup. (Or if I throw them too.) Hey and Bye Bye are what I tell you when I see you or if you are leaving. I have even managed to include a wave with these two things too. Fish are those things in the big glass box. I know a duck when I see one too. There are a lot more things I can say and do, but Mommy and Daddy get the biggest kick out of my "ROOAAARRRR" that I say when I see anything I think might growl.

(Actually, it took so long for my Mommy to finally post this that when I went to the doctor I weighed 20 lbs. 12 oz (25%) and that means I have lost two pounds and I was 30 inches long (75%) and my head circumference was 46cm (95%). So, I am skinny, tall, and have a big head!!!

Look at how much I have changed:

December 2005

February 2006

August 2006December 2006
February 2007

Happy First Birthday Banastre!!!!!

Today my baby boy turned 1! I can't believe it has already been a year since the first time I held him. This year has flown by and he has changed so much!! But, more on that later!

Banastre's first birthday present...SNOW!!! Yes, we were out playing in the snow at 8:30 this morning. Elizabeth couldn't wait another second and so out the door we went.

Banastre wasn't too sure at first, but he did eventually end up liking it. (He did have gloves on right after this pic!!)

This snow ball ended up getting Elizabeth!! We had lots of fun with a snowball fight!!

Here's a pic of how pretty everything looked with the snow. Doesn't the pond look great?

After getting very cold, we all ventured back in. At lunch time we decided we had had enough of being inside and went to Lone Star for lunch with Grandma and Grandpa.

He enjoyed all of his lunch and then we all went home.

This evening after dinner, we gave the birthday boy a piece of chocolate cake with oreo's on top. He was very sweet in the beginning and would only take small bites off with his hand and put them in his mouth. He eventually got tired of this though and grabbed the whole piece and started chowing down. This is the aftermath:

So, now he is in bed and Mommy is ready too. Tomorrow I will post on all of his achievements in the past year and Saturday is his birthday party!!!

A Tale of Two Lora's

Once upon a time in a land called "Babycenter" there lived two pregnant princesses. Growing up, each thought they had a very unique spelling of their name. So, imagine each of their surprise when they realized there was another Lora posting in "Babycenter Land"! A conversation through emails was started and both Lora's were in for another surprise. They found out they lived in neighboring villages that are only about 20 minutes apart. So, Princess Lora T. had her baby boy, Banastre, on February 1. Princess Lora D. had her baby girl, Lily, on February 14. (Princess Lora T's original due date.) As time goes by, both Lora's continue to email each other and get to know one another. After a year, they finally find free time away from ruling their villages and get to meet at Charlotte*At*Play. Princess Lora T. brought Banastre and her daughter Elizabeth and Princess Lora D. brought Lily. The children had a wonderful time and the two Princesses were very happy to finally meet in person. And yes, Princess Lora T. and Princess Lora D. liked each other and got along great. The two princesses now hope to find more time to get together and meet again.
Here's a few pics of their charges playing together.

Look at the two sharing. Unfortunately they both wanted to eat it too!!

Lily is giving a helping hand to Banastre! Isn't she beautiful?

Doesn't it look like they should be singing "Kumbaya"!

Banastre's First Pics

Sorry this has taken so long, but I am finally posting again. Things have been very busy and Matt has been having to do a lot on the computer each day.

You know how every one says with two kids everything is harder? I am truly a believer in that. When Elizabeth was born, we had her pics professionally taken at 4 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 1 year. Well, today we finally took Banastre for his first set of pics. Conveniently, just in time for his first birthday. Let me know what you think!






I look so grown up!!

How in the world did I end up with two of the most beautiful kids in the world? Sometimes, I even amaze myself!! :)

This smile says it all!! This is one of our Favorites!!

Dad said we had to buy this one because he was holding the football!

Well, Banastre has decided not to sleep tonight, so I must go. For all the friends reading this, we are having his birthday party on February 3, at our church, at 2:00. Let me know if you will be there!! I hope you all can make it!

Angels and Crackers

Maybe I should have named this blog Angels and Crackers. One of Banastre's new favorite words is "Cracker". Anytime I open the pantry I hear "cracker, cracker, cracker" until I give him one of his beloved crackers. He also lets you know that he is hungry by saying cracker. It's really, really cute. If I could figure out how to put video on here I would definitely add it for you.

We also discovered his love for Oreo's on Tuesday night. Elizabeth had a small bag of mini oreos and I talked her into sharing one with her brother. After his first bite, he crawled over to Elizabeth and continued to crawl up her trying to get the bag of oreos that she was holding out of his reach. Of course, my camera was no where in sight for this...but we did find it for a cute pic later of his mouth completely stuffed with oreos.

As you can see, he has a mouth stuffed full and was still asking for me! Just wait until he can have milk to dip them in! Only 2 1/2 weeks to go until he's 1!!! AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!

I am hopeful that I can kick Matt off the computer this weekend and finish posting about our Disney Trip and Christmas. Disney may be finished up in one big post so that I can get our Christmas pics up. Banastre has the nasty cold that is going around and I woke up not feeling very well this morning. So we shall see how things go!

Always close the bathroom door!!

Here I go!!!!!!!!

Oops!! You caught me Mom!

(sorry I forgot to flip it!)
Here I am in all my glory!!
Time to stop taking pictures Mom!!!

Ok, this is what happens if you don't close the bathroom after giving Banastre a bath!

That's all for tonight! I will post more on our Christmas trip tomorrow!

P.S. Can you believe Banastre will be a year old in 27 days????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!