Here are some pictures of me and my Daddy. We like hanging out together and taking naps. We dressed alike for the Final Four game, and it worked (thanks for the shirt Kristen!) - the Gators won! And the last picture is me in my new bathing suit from Aunt Gail that I wore to the beach, even though we didn't get out in the sun. Look how good I can stand up with Daddy's help!
Most Recent Pics - Eight Weeks
Older Pics
4 Weeks
Easter - 5 Weeks
Napping with Miss Buddy - 7 Weeks
I know, I know it took me long enough right?!? This is our beautiful baby girl, Miss Emma Lee Banner, born February 27th at 6:42 AM. And since you're probably wondering, we are calling her Emma, not EmmaLee - there's been a great deal of confusion about that - she'll probably want to kick us for it later. But anyway, isn't she just great? This was one of the first pictures taken of her in the hospital. She was eight pounds even, and 20.5 inches long. "A long drink of water" her daddy likes to call her. We just went to the doctor last week for her two month checkup and she now weighs just over twelve pounds and is 24 inches long (the 95th percentile!).
Well we've finally moved into our new home! I haven't had much time to take any final pictures, but I have a few of the carpet and cabinets in some of the rooms that I can post until I get some new ones up. We made the transition this past weekend with much help from our family, and we spent our first night in the house on Monday night. The only family members who have yet to join us are our fish and Flash (the turtle). They're still hanging out at Grandmama and Grandpa's house, probably until Sunday afternoon. The baby shower at the church is this Saturday, and we've got lots of Charlotte family coming in as we speak to be with us. So we're hurriedly trying to put a few finishing touches on the house so it will be ready for company. Here are a few other interesting things of note with us recently: this week is my third anniversary working at the County (although it feels like longer), and this week Cody accepted a new/old job, working back with the Witts at G&K Nursery in Ellisville - I told him that maybe the third time's the charm! He worked there in high school, and then went back for three years or so before taking his current job with Chestnut Hill. What seemed like a very stressful situation in the beginning turned out to be a true blessing from God. He's provided for us over and over again in ways that never cease to amaze me. We were looking around for jobs because his current one wasn't working out, thinking all along he would probably have to take a pay cut. But now we've ended up with something where he'll be making more money than he is currently, and we'll be saving money on gas because he's only about five miles from work! I'm excited because that means he'll be able to come home for lunch and spend time with me and the baby while we're home. And he won't have to keep working every Saturday so we'll have our weekends back together. God is good, huh? There's just no denying it around our house these days.
This is where the cooktop will be behind the raised bar. It will probably be wide enough for two stools and that's it. We set it up where we can be cooking and still see into the living room. The place we are now is set up like that and we really like it. The Floyd house kitchen was so isolated from the rest of the house and it didn't make it much fun to cook.
This is the wall to the left of the sink that backs up to the utility room. The fridge will go to the far left and just next to it the microwave will be mounted under the wall cabinet. Cody and I were both worried that once the cabinets went in the kitchen would look so cramped and tiny, but it almost seemed to open it up and make it feel bigger. I think it will suit our needs perfectly! I just can't wait to see the finished product. Our appliances are in, so once we get the cabinets and countertops finished (some time shortly after Christmas) I guess we'll go ahead and pick those up and install them. More pictures to come! 
Alright Tifani, against my better judgement and sense of self respect, I'm posting a belly picture, just for you. Not a very flattering one, but it was while I was thinking about it, so I got Cody to snap a shot. This is me at 29 weeks - and don't I look happy to be having my picture taken! I'm finally in the third trimester, and things are going pretty well. I failed my first glucose screening test, so I had to go back for the three hour test today. Boy, was that fun. I guess I'll hear the results in a few days and hopefully there' s nothing to worry about. I'll let you know when I hear something. I'm feeling more movement all the time, although so far it still hasn't been anything crazy. Maybe the baby is just laid back (translation lazy) like it's mother. We go back to the doctor on the 27th of this month, and then I guess it's every two weeks from here. We're getting closer all the time!
Here's the latest photo of the house. Not much has change on the exterior, with the exception of the finished soffits, and the porch posts have been wrapped. Now we need to repaint the exterior trim and paint the doors red. I've got some pictures of the inside with the finished painting, I just haven't downloaded them onto the computer yet so I can post them. We've ordered our new living room furniture - we got a great discount by placing the order the day after Thanksgiving. Mom and Dad are giving us a pair of recliners as our Christmas gift and we are buying a new sleeper sofa that will also be our 'guest bed'. I can't wait to have new living room furniture that actually matches! We've been blessed to have what we do now, but it's falling apart and just isn't fit for a new house. We'll be getting cabinets installed next weekend - I can't wait to see how they'll look! I also have a picture of the tile, but I want to get a better picture after we've cleaned off the grout residue, so more to come on that. As for the latest baby news, we had our last appointment on Nov. 29th and everything is going along smoothly. I'm now in the third trimester, and we'll start going to the doctor more often from now on. I just signed us up for childbirth classes and we start tomorrow. I was glad I called because the next class doesn't begin until the end of January and wouldn't be over until we're within about two weeks of the due date, which they don't recommend, so if I had not called today, we would be rolling the dice that we would finish in time! I also signed up for a newborn care class and a breastfeeding class - I figure the more information I can get, the better - then we can pick and choose from it what will work for us. So, needless to say, the month of January will be pretty booked up between packing, moving, baby classes, and hopefully unpacking! Let me now apologize in advance for any acts of insanity or general moodiness on my part that you may encounter. But, I figure if we can cram as much into January as possible, that will give us all of February to take it easy and prepare for our little one to arrive!
Here are some pictures of the crib bedding we bought. I just love it! There are hundreds of little accessories they can sell you, but right now we just have the crib bedding and a diaper stacker that came with it. It also came with a valance that I think we might use to make a pillow. I might add the mobile and possibly the hamper, but we'll see.
