And his name is.......

Everett William Banner

We finally settled on his name. I don't know why it took so long, but I'm excited that we finally know what we'll be calling him. And it's so cute to hear Emma say it!

Swim Lessons

For the last few weeks Emma's been going to swimming lessons at the YMCA. It turns out she doesn't really learn how to swim, but she's had fun just the same. Cody's done it with her for the most part, but I gave him the night off one time and took her. She really enjoys it and gets to kick, move her arms, climb in and out of the pool, and sing songs (her favorite part). Next week is the last week, and then her Daddy will continue her lessons at the river!

Emma & Granger

Emma and her new cousin Granger ( 2 wks old). Too cute!

Garden Update

We planted our garden the Sunday before Easter and this Sunday all our seeds sprouted. We're pretty excited so far. We started small, but packed as much in there as we could. We've got squash, zucchini, carrots, grape tomatoes, tomatoes, basil, bell peppers, corn and green beans. We had to replace the ones we had already planted in the liners because we had a little cold spell that got them, but we had plenty to switch out. We'll see how it goes from here. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but I can't help but be excited!

Easter Goodies

Emma helped me make some desserts for our Easter meal with the family, and then she enjoyed trying them out to make sure we had done a good job. We had fun and I found something simple she could help me with that she really enjoyed (rice crispy treat 'bird nests' with candy eggs). Special thanks to Wrenda for the apron! We had a great Easter weekend with church, friends, and family. God is so good and we are truly blessed!

Emma's Birthday

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!