Cody's Birthday/River Pics

Cody turned 33 this year, and I helped Emma bake him a cake.

Cody about to go down the slip and slide at the sandbar, doing his best Ron Burgundy imitation ('CANNONBALL!!')

Playing in the pool at the cabin on Cody's birthday

My little stud muffin!

Emma got a pretty good shiner at Cody's birthday party when she fell off the steps under the cabin, but as you can see it didn't slow her down any!

Emma with her friend Layla, my friend Jess's little girl. They are only three months apart and will go to school together in a few years.

It looks like he's going to have blue eyes like me and his sister.

Napping on the boat after a long day.

Beach Trip - July 4th

My cousin Katie, about to be a freshman at UNC this fall, is our 'Gymboree fairy' who showed up at the beach with some adorable clothes for the kids. She was a great help with the kids on the trip - Everett's favorite place to nap was on her shoulder!















Cody usually despises the beach, but something possessed him to take a shot at the boogie board one afternoon, so I had to get it on film.















Despite our attempts to keep Everett out of the sun (see below), we managed to let him burn one side of his face. But he survived, and here they are with their holiday outfits on.















The kids under an umbrella out on the beach on the 4th. Emma had a blast, and Everett slept that way the whole day (hence the sunburn above).














Daddy and Emma in the pool practicing swimming skills learned in the spring.

What a Summer!

I'm finally back at the office where I have a decent internet connection so I can catch you up on what's been going on with our family. I've had a WONDERFUL couple of months at home with my kids and I wouldn't trade it for anything. It made me sad to think that's probably the last time I'll get to spend any significant time at home with them for the next several years, but I do count myself blessed to have a job right now in such an economy. We've had a great summer spending time with our friends and family. We went to the beach in early July, celebrated Cody's birthday at the end of July, had a visit from my Granny in August, and have enjoyed a few weekends at the river. Emma is changing so much becoming much more verbal, imaginative, and energetic. Everett seems to change every day and is smiling, gurgling, and trying his best to sit up any chance he gets. We pulled out the Bumbo seat the other day and can sit in it and hold his head up pretty well. I'll post a few shots from the various events shortly, as well as some random other pics. Soon I'll have copies of some pictures we took yesterday with the four Mauldin family great-grandkids that I can't wait to see - Emma, two month old Everett, three month old Sophie, and four month old Granger!

Everett William

Everett & Emma














Everett's second week










One month old

Well, I'm sure most of you know by now that Everett is here. It only took me a month to finally blog about him! We've had a fun and exciting first month. He was born with a nice, quick labor at 3:12 AM on May 25. He started out at 6 lbs 11 oz, and then went down to 6 lbs 1 oz due to some feeding issues (stressful to say the least!). Now he is eating like a champ and at his one month checkup today he weighed 8 lbs 12 oz! He's also grown three inches in length since he was born (now 22 in). We're all adjusting to life as a family of four very well, with some greatly appreciated help from my mom. Emma enjoys being a big sister. She has her moments, but overall she is very sweet and gentle with Everett and loves to tickle and kiss him. We are now trying to potty train her and that is going pretty well so far. We head off to the beach for vacation next Thursday and I can't wait. This will be the first time I've gotten to go on the full family vacation in probably 10 years or more. Cody is going to come for the weekends and I'm staying with the kids through the week. I probably won't post again for a while, so I hope everyone has a wonderful summer and I'll post some new pictures when I can!

Daddy & Emma

They were goofing around the other night and I tried to get a picture without them knowing, but they busted me and this is what I ended up with. I can't complain!

Trip to Butterfly Rainforest

Emma's Grandma took she and I and her Aunt Tracy to the Butterfly Rainforest on campus this weekend. She had a great time, and one even landed on her head at one point. It will be fun to take her back when she's a little older and she can try and identify the different plants and butterflies. Other than me locking the keys in the car (second time in two weeks - can you say pregnant brain?!?) and having to call AAA (who thankfully was there and done in 5 minutes) we had a fun girls day out together.

Garden Update

Things are coming along nicely in the garden. Other than the need for some serious weeding and grass pulling, everything is growing well and we even have some baby squash and tomatoes showing up. Everything else is putting on flowers so we should see some more things soon. We're so excited that we haven't screwed anything up yet!

More Emma & Granger

Emma got to hold Granger when he came down to visit the other day. Can you tell she was excited? I can't for her to hold Everett, and she can't either!

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!