Oh Baby....or should I say CRAZY???

Well, if you could not figure it out from the title Brian and I are thrilled to let you all know that Banta baby number #2 is on it's way! That is right for all you family members doing the math in your head right now....Julie and I are exactly three weeks apart!!! Isn't that crazy? Debbie and Lynn are over the moon to have two more gran babies joining us this year and within a month of each other!!! My family of course is ecstatic and now they will have another grandchild to spoil rotten! My mom is planning on quitting work completely by October so she can help me out as much as possible when the baby gets here. That will definitely be help much welcomed in our house!

Baby Banta is due on October 15th and since I had a c-section with Christian this baby will probably be scheduled and come a little earlier than that! I will be pregnant through the summer, but it was not all that bad with Christian. I guess the people at the pool this summer will have to put up with seeing me in a bathing suit...SCARY!!! I am definitely afraid of the weight gain this time because I can not or should I say, Christian will not allow me to put him in a stroller and walk! Oh well, the nauseousness I am having morning, noon and night will hopefully ward off the eating! I was terribly nauseous with Christian, but I do not remember it being this horrible! I think are bodies make us forget how bad pregnancy can make you feel and therefore will do it to ourselves again and again!!!!

Today on Feb.25th we went for our first doctor's appointment and heard the heartbeat and got our first picture of the baby!!! The doctor told me that once you hear the heartbeat your chance of miscarriage is 4%. I feel pretty confident with that statistic to let you all know the news!!! We had an early appointment and had no babysitter!!! Yep, that is right we had to take Christian to the doctor!! That is why I am beginning to think I am CRAZY! I can not control one child let alone two!!! I am praying that the next one is a little more reserved and CALM!!! Christian was a little restless and I do not blame him because the doctor was called to emergency surgery and we were there from 8:30 to 11:00!!! There is only so much you can do to entertain a 18 month old! I can definitely tell you it is not fun chasing a toddler when you feel like you could vomit any minute!!! We made it through and Christian was excited to see the new brother or sister he will be welcoming this fall! He does not really understand so we probably try to explain to him more when my belly gets bigger!

Well other than the nauseousness and being tired I am hanging in there! Please pray for us and our new baby...oh and my sanity if you think about it!!!

Little Drummer Boy...

O.K. so I am guilty of letting my child play in the cabinets in the kitchen! I do not know one mother of an active child who just sometimes does not say....whatever will keep you occupied! Christian has designated cabinets that I let him play with in the kitchen. He knows they are for him to get into and take everything out and play, play and play! However, lately he thinks all cabinets are within his limits of playing! We have a sink on our island in the kitchen and it has a garbage disposal in it. Well Christian loves flipping switches! I mean any switch he can get his little hands on he will switch it on and off a hundred times! I once let him stand on a ladder in the kitchen and he flipped the lights on and off for thirty minutes! Honestly, and he was laughing the entire time! I wish that something that small could amuse me for hours on end. It is fun watching through his eyes those little things that we do everyday and take for granted...i.e. electricity!!!


Anyhow, back to the cabinets and how he thinks they are all for his pure enjoyment! Last night his Uncle Reed came over for dinner and he wanted to show off his new musical skills! There are a couple of ice buckets under the cabinet where the garbage disposal is located. Lately, Christian gets the two stainless steel ones out and bangs on them like drums.




It is so loud and obnoxious, but so cute too! I think it even hurts his ears because he flinches every time he hits the buckets! Last night he was going to town drumming on them like a rock star! I took the camera out and got this recorded! I thought everyone would get a kick out of his new found talent! This kid definitely has music in his future, but hopefully not dancing because he has inherited his daddy's lack of rhythm. Christian loves music and a few examples of how much he loves music are...



-every time that commercial comes on for the new apple computer in the flat envelope...he dances to that song! Absolutely loves that song and if anybody knows who sings it please let me know. I think it might be Corin Bailey?????

-LOVES American Idol and dances and claps to every person that sings, especially if he liked the song! Maybe he could be the judge in 20 years???

-We are at a store and he dances in the aisles to those stupid dancing animals toys that you push the feet and they sing a song!

-Brian sings to him! Well you would laugh if you have heard Brian's singing!

Anyhow, I enjoy watching all these things. I find them adorable, but then again I am his mother!

We will Miss You!!!!

I am writing this blog with sadness and much joy too.... my sister Heather moved to Indianapolis this past week. We will all miss her terribly, but it is a great new adventure for her to be going on! Heather moved to Indianapolis to work for the great company of Eli Lilly in thier Bio Statistics division. She will be assissting in the statistical data for clinical trials on new medications. Very interesting!
Anyhow, I believe the high there the other day was around 9 degrees....burr not the weather we southerners are use too. We have known for awhile that she was going to be moving, but it sure snuck up on us quickly. Christian and I have been trying to spend more time with her before she left and I must say, she will be missed by us all! Christian is very fond of his Aunt and has actually mastered her name. Heather is not an easy task for a youngster, but he says, Eather. Every time he says her name he justs laughs and is so pround of himself! I triedto get it on video to put on this blog, but unfortunately he does not talk on command these days! Last week we went over to her house and took his tricylce. We rode and walked around the neighborhood. Heather has some big rocks over by her house and Christian loves to climb up them, so we headed over that direction. We played on the rocks and then went back to her house where we packed up for lunch. We took a trip to Chick-fil-a where Christian proceeded to be the loudest person in the place! After lunch we went back to her house to play for awhile. Heather has this foot massage thing that vibrates when you put pressure on it and Christian thinks it is hilarious. He will walk over to it and step on it and then just laugh and smile. He will do this repeatedly over and over until everyone is in stiches from laughing so hard! She also had some left over Mardi Gras beads, which Christian loves to put them on. I think he might follow in his father's footsteps in his love for Mardi Gras and throwing beads. However, he will not be attending any parades in the near future!
This past Tuesday when they were packing up her house Christian and I went over to visit. I figured he would like the big packing truck! I was right! I left him to spend some time with Heather and went and ran an errand. When I got back, I discovered that he had been quite the little helper. Christian had been playing in the boxes and helping the movers tape the boxes together! I even got to see some of his handy work! I do not think his future is in packing boxes! However, he had a blast playing with all of the paper and boxes etc.... I think I chased him up and down the ramp to the truck about fifty times! He was having a field day and the movers thought he was adorable. I knew he was in the way, so I finally packed him up and took him home for a nap!
Tuesday night with no bed in her house, Heather spent the night with us at our home. It was nice because she got to spend some more time with me and Christian. Wednesday morning was supposed to me the big move, but she spent most of the day cleaning her house for the new guy moving in. One more day in Birmingham.....someone might have been procrastinating from leaving. I do not blame her at all!!! Thursday morning we got a phone call from Heather and she was about to head out of town. We told her to please stop by so we could say goodbye or see you later.... we do not like goodbyes and that seems easier! Heather adores her nephew so I knew this would be difficult for her and me. I love my sister and it will be hard to have her so far away. I just have to think about it as a new and fun place to go visit! Once she got to our house, she visited for a few minutes and then it was time to go meet my parents, who were helping her move. Heather had been holding Christian and when she handed him over he started screaming. I do not know if he sensed something was happening, but he did not want to let her go! I know....that sure did not make it any easier to leave. With tears and hugs we waved goodbye and said, see ya later!!!
We will see her at Easter and are making plans to go up and visit her, when it warms up!!! Until then we will talk on the phone and send pictures! We are so excited for Heather and hope this is just the beginning of something wonderful for her!!!!

Welcome to the World Isabella Paolino!

This weekend some of our best friends welcomed their first baby girl! Her name is Isabella Marie Paolino! Good Italian Catholic Family! Anyhow, mommy is doing fabulous after what I would say, was a pretty easy birth. Jana went into the hospital on Saturday morning around 11:00 am and was 3cm dialated. Dr. Banks, her physician thought it would be a while before she blessed her parents with her arrival, but he was wrong. We got a phone call around 1:00pm that Jana was already between 8-9cm dialated! Wow! I could not believe it....that was quick. Sweet Isabella was going to be here much sooner than expected. Brian and I headed up to the Hospital a little after 3:00pm thinking she would be here around then. We were not to far off because she was born at 3:20pm!!! Weighing in at 6lbs and 5oz and measuring 20.5 inches long she was absolutely beautiful and a had head full of black hair! Mommy, daddy and big sis Malerie were all smiles when we got there! I did not have my camera with me to take any pictures, but I will post some soon. Brian, Christian and I took them lunch on Sunday and everyone seemed to be settling into parenthood rather smoothly. Jana has a beautiful daughter Malerie who is seven and going to be the best big sister ever and a huge help to her mother! If all went well this morning, Monday, then they were going to come home! I remember how nerve wrecking that was....coming home with this tiny new person to take care off! Jana is a pro and a great mother and Sam is going to a fabulous daddy! I think he might be in trouble though....because I think little "Bella" as he calls her already has her daddy wrapped!!! We wish them congrats and lots of love on this new journey! If you want to see her adorable picture you can log onto http://www.our365.com/

The things we do for our Children.....

To some people this is not new information, but I want to take a minute to pat myself on the back! Everybody that lives in a decent size town knows all to well what a pain it can be to get your child in a preschool program! Christian goes to a mothers day out program at our neighborhood church two days a week. I have been desperately trying to get him into a program at St. Stephens Preschool in Birmingham. He was second on that list the whole last year and never moved! So frustrating!!! Well, they start over every year for enrollment and if you were on the list than too bad! So what is a mother to do??? Whatever she needs to do to get her child in the program. After everyone and their mother had a chance to register....it was out turn! TWO spots left for his age group and I'll be damned he was geting in!!!!! The doors opened at 6:00am and registration was at 9:00. Yep you heard right...get there and sit there for three hours??? Crazy I know, but I had a plan! I had spoken with the director the day before and she told me not to be there untio 7:00 because that is usually when they opened the doors! She said only the crazy people got there earlier than that!!! Well call me crazy because I was not taking a chance! I was at that church at 5:45 am and YES I was the first crazy person there! However, at least five other crazies followed behind me! This program is so great and I was not about to take any chances of Christian not getting in! His best friend Elijah Copeland is in the same class and they are going to have a blast! The program is three days a week. It is not just mothers day out it is a learning program. I am thrilled that he will be learning Spanish next year! I figure someone in our family should know how to speak it because it is the new language of our great country! Anyhow, I am thrilled and Christian will have so much fun learning and playing next year!!!