Starting the Garden

I accidentally put these in backwards order, but we've got our plot tilled up and ready to plant squash, zucchini, beans, corn and carrots in a few weeks. We've also got some liners with basil, tomatoes and peppers that are just starting to come up now that we'll transplant once they're big enough. We've never done this before so I don't have high expectations, but we'll see what happens.

Banner Wedding Pics

These are just a few pictures from the weekend. I didn't take many because I was too busy chasing Emma, but other people got some better ones I'll post later.

Yes, We're Still Alive

Sooo, I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything. We've been really busy around the Banner household these days, not to mention at work, and I just haven't had time to get to it. I hope everyone had a Happy New Year. I didn't even make it until midnight this year. In January we went down south for Cody's brother's wedding. We had a great time with friends and family. Cody was the best man and Emma was the flower girl. Mom went with us, and I couldn't have done it with out her! After we got back, we started preparing for Emma's 2nd birthday party and our first garden. Emma turned 2 on the 27th of February and we had a great time. She is growing and changing so much - I'm constantly amazed by her! We just went for her 2 yr checkup last week and she is officially off the charts for her height and her weight. I am learning that it presents quite a few challenges having such a tall 2yr old - she's getting into everything! I also turned 30 last week, which was pretty uneventful - I spent the night making a presentation at a County Commission meeting. I'm hoping that Cody and I can get away alone sometime before the baby gets here so we can celebrate my birthday and our anniversary.

As for Baby Banner, I am almost 29 weeks along and have very few complaints to speak of. My official due date is May 31, but we'll see if I make it that far. (I have a feeling this will be the first Memorial Day in years that we won't be spending the holiday at the river.) It's been another relatively easy pregnancy - which has been a blessing since I have someone else still needing so much attention! We know we're having a boy, but he is still nameless. It almost seems like it's harder to pick a name knowing what it is. There's just nothing that seems right yet. We've chosen William for a middle name, but that's as far as we've gotten. I'm going to borrow my friend Wrenda's baby name book soon and surely there will be something in there that Cody and I can agree on! He's still voting for Awesome Banner, but I told him there's no way that's happening!

Merry Christmas!

Wow, what a difference a year makes! I can't believe how much she's grown in the last year. I thought she might freak out this year with Santa, but as you can see she did great again! She must love Christmas as much as her Mom and Grandmama. I can hardly believe that next year there will be two little people in the picture!

My Little Pumpkin

Flower Girl

In January Emma will be a flower girl in her Uncle Shawn & Aunt Tracy's wedding. Her dress came yesterday so we had a little photo shoot. It's adorable, but she looks too grown up!!

Sprinkler Fun

Gavin came by with his dad the other weekend and Emma was out playing in the sprinkler, so he joined her for some playtime. She's not outside for long before she's either covered in dirt, or completely soaked! I think they had fun, don't you?

My Little Cowgirl

There are still lots of older pictures I've been meaning to post, but I just had to show off my cowgirl in her new boots! Thomas called Mom the other day and told her they had just gotten in some new boots at AFL. He knew we had been in a month or two ago trying on boots with Emma but hadn't found any we liked. These are just adorable. At first she could barely walk in them, but now she's getting better. Her Pop Pop and Ohma were quite proud that she's turning into a cowgirl. They said now she has to have a pony, but we told them thanks but no thanks! We have enough animals on our hands for the time being.

Is Florida the Sunset State?

Our County Manager sent around this eye-opening article about the State of Florida published in Time Magazine in July. It paints a pretty grim picture of our future, but I must say it makes me proud to be a North Floridian and not a South Floridian. Still, it does suggest that we all need to be more responsible with our resources and pay attention to what the legislature is doing with our taxes, regardless of what part of the state we're in. One of my favorite quotes from the article is from Carl Hiassen: "You don't have to be a wacko enviro to want your kids to be able to swim in a lake or maybe see an animal that isn't in a cage or a seaquarium. And even people who don't give a rat's a-- about the panther will care when saltwater comes out of their faucets."

Family Beach Pics

I didn't get many pictures on our beach trip because I didn't take my camera with us much. I'll have to get some of the pictures off of Mom's camera and post those later. We had a great time. It was the closest thing to a real vacation we've had since our honeymoon!