HOT HOT HOT!

Well as usual here in the south it has already been pushing 90 degrees and summer has not even begun! I recently invested in this amazing water slide for Christian. I know for years to come it will be hours and hours of endless fun. The other day we had some friends over to play and Christian was out in the water from 2:30 until almost 6:00pm! Seriously.... he loves this thing and so do the neighborhood kids and his friends! Definitely worth every penny!!!! Here are some shots of them playing and stopping for some lunch before jumping back in the pool! Christian is not so sure about climbing the slide, but we put him at the top and let him slide down! He will get it soon enough! Christian's best friend Elijah, his brother Preston, Malerie and one of her friends playing in the slide the first day I put it up. It looks like so much fun I want to go down the slide! The weight limit is 350lbs so if I do not gain to much weight with this pregnancy, I should be fine to play with them!!!! Enjoy the pictures and remember how fun it was to be a kid in the summer!

Summer Fun

The summer has barely even begun and it seems Christian has more to do than me! His last day of school was on Friday and they had a little water park day. Parents were not aloud because kids might get mad if we came and left them again. He had a blast and came home a tired guy. He does not start summer school until the end of June so I have four weeks to entertain him daily. He started swim lessons (ISR), and has play dates with kids from school and I just bought him one of those bouncy water slides that blow up real big. I can not wait for it to come because that is going to be his entertainment for the summer! We also just got approved to put a swing set in our backyard. Yeah, I know it so annoying that our neighborhood has all these rules. However, I think our house is going to be the play place for the summer for Christian and all his little friends! On top of that we have the pool to go to everyday! I am worn out just thinking about all the things we have going on.
Just May and here are some things we have been up to... Some of our best friends Sam and Jana have a little girl Malerie. I must say that Christian is quite taken by her and thinks she hung the moon. We went over one day to play, but the pool was a little cold so they played in the sprinkler. It did not take much coaxing from Malerie to get Christian to play. The water sprinkler had a cone on top that would shoot into the air and water would go everywhere. By the end Christian was running the show and Malerie had taught him how to work all the controls. With Christian at the controls, Malerie showed him how to jump and play in the sprinkler. It was adorable how he just loves Malerie. He calls her Mal Mal and gives her hugs and kisses. If you know Christian at all, then you would know those are not given out to just anybody!

Then we had Nene and Poppy come to town for cousin Bennett's 1st Birthday. Do Dah Day was that weekend so we packed up all the children ( Christian, Jetta and Foster) and headed to the park. Do Dah Day is a play day at the park for all the dogs in Birmingham and all the proceeds go to the Humane Society. I knew from the beginning that this would not be such a good idea, but Brian swore it would not be a problem. Jetta our lab can be a little unpredictable and within a matter of 20 minutes after we got to the park she had already been in two fights!!! Yeah...great idea Brian! My sister had also come to visit from Indianapolis so she was with us to help with one of the children! Christian adores her so she had the most important child to watch after and take care of that morning. We met up with Nene, Poppy, Julie, Steve, Bennett and of course Spence. The whole clan was at the park and the fun was about to begin. The dog parade started at 11:00 so we all just hung out until then. I took some shots of all the kids ( the four legged ones) and some other fun things going on around us. Christian loved all the dogs and you would not believe what people do to their dogs. They dress them up and even paint them colors. We saw a PINK dog? They put food coloring on these poor animals....that is crazy! The parade was fun to watch and they even had a groundhog! We stayed around for awhile and Christian ran around and just wore himself out playing and enjoyed some shaved ice with his Aunt Heather. We had to get him because it was time for a nap and we had a big night ahead of us. Bennett's birthday party was that evening and we wanted to be fresh and in a good mood. That evening we packed up and went over to celebrate Bennett's 1st birthday! I can not believe she is going to be 1 year old. It is crazy how quick they grow up. It is also so exciting to be having two new additions to the family this fall. One more girl and one more boy added to the clan! I believe God knew what he was doing by continuously giving Julie and Brian opposite sex children. I do not know if I could withstand the competition between those two if it were any different! Bennett is as cute as ever and looked like an angel in her birthday outfit! I love to watch her and Christian interact now that they are older and able too. Now the fun begins as their personalities come out and they learn to share or in Christian's case not share! He is in the stage where everything is mine, mine and mine! We had to keep him away from Bennett's gifts all night. The party was perfect and Bennett was just an adorable birthday girl!

Big Day!

Today was a big day for Brian and I, but also for Christian! Today we had our 20 week ultrasound to make sure the baby is healthy and growing perfectly. We also could find out the sex, but we decided to wait? JUST KIDDING! That could never happen in this Banta Household! Brian and I have no patience what so ever so waiting was definitely not an option. Before we get to that I will be happy to let you know that this baby is healthy and growing perfectly. Weighing in at a whopping 9 oz he is just chilling out in there. Oh...did I say he? I meant SHE... yep Brian and I are expecting are little girl this fall! I think I am still in shock because I just knew I was destined for a life full of rambunctious, hyper out of control boys. I think God knew I needed a little bit of sanity in my life! I am hoping for just that because everyone tells me girls are easier when they are little. Once they get older....that is another story! When the ultrasound tech told me it was a girl, I asked her "Are you sure?" It took me a minute to let it sink in that we are so blessed to get one of each.


I do hate to tell you this next part. The name of are little one is going to be kept a secret. I know people hate that, but I just do not want it getting out. Do not bother asking family members either because they have all been sworn to secrecy. They will be disowned if they leak any information! When the due date gets a little closer we will let everyone know her name. I still feel funny saying she instead of he. Speaking of he our little man is not quite sure what is going on and I am pretty sure he is not going to be happy. We try to explain that there is a baby in mommy's belly, but he just does not get it. He will hug and kiss my belly which is probably the sweetest thing ever. He will point to my belly when asked where is the baby, but he also does this to Brian too. Pretty sure he is not getting it!!! I look at him and just can not believe how big he has gotten. He is still my baby and he is growing up so fast I can not stand it! I love my little monkey more and more each day and I just do not know how that is possible. This time in our life is so exciting, but so overwhelming. I have mixed emotions because we are getting this precious new gift from God, but at the same time my other baby is growing up so quickly. How do you share your time, your love and how is Christian going to be with sharing these things? It will be tough in the beginning, but it is a challenge I am happy to take on. We are going to try and make this transition as easy as possible for Christian. We have been talking about getting him a big boy bed and starting that new adventure. Just one more sign how my little boy is growing up so fast! We want to make sure he never feels left out or that this new baby is taking his place. Any suggestions from all you moms out there is appreciated. I think I have heard it all, but you never know what will work best for your child.

That is all for now, but I will keep you posted on the growth of our family. Christian has started ISR (infant swimming resource) classes and I will post pictures and video of that later this week. If you have never heard of this class, you should check it out online @infantswim.com It is unbeleivable what they teach these kids and it can save their life!

Finally.....a vacation!

I know, I know, I know that I am not great at updating the blog every week or every two weeks, but when you are chasing a toddler all day and night Plus pregnancy= TIRED! The only time I have to myself is when he is asleep and resting is THE only thing that comes to mind at that time. Believe me I am reminded regularly how bad I am at the blogging...so sorry everyone. My husband informs me that nobody wants to see pictures of Christian that happened weeks ago, so I will not bother to post anything that has happened in the month of April. Take it up with him if that is a problem for any of you. I thought the point of this blog was to see pictures of him no matter when they were taken!!! Alright, now that I got that out.... I will tell you about the much needed vacation that our family recently took.

Lately it seems that every vacation that we have planned has been foiled in some way or another. We were supposed to got to Tahoe and I got horribly sick and could not go. We were supposed to go on a cruise through the Mediterranean this August and because I will be more that five months pregnant we can not go. Needless to say, I needed a break and a chance to get out of Birmingham! Brian and I planned a beach trip to Seaside, Fl. We were gone for six days and Brian did a pretty good job of not working. I do not think he is capable of ignoring work completely on any vacation. He did work the last two days and stayed at the beach to work through the week. Which is unfortunate because that meant he would be spending his birthday alone and without his family.
We left Wednesday afternoon after picking up Christian from daycare. The plan was that he would sleep most of the ride down to the beach. The trip takes us exactly 4 hours without stopping. Obviously, we took separate cars because Brian was staying down in the panhandle for work. I was glad that he was near by so that if I needed a bathroom break he could watch the little guy. We got down to the beach around 5:30 and checked into our condo. This place was in the middle of town which was perfect. If you have never been to Seaside it is this great little town outside of Destin and is so family oriented. There are not a lot of tourist and plenty of activities for children and adults. Little shops all around and everybody rides their bikes from destination to destination. The beach is across the street, but the water was very cold and we spent more time at the pool. The weather was in the eighties and at night it did get a little cool for this southern girl, but Brian thought it was perfect (typical Yankee)!

The week was so relaxing and we just all hung out together. Every morning we went for bike rides and put Christian in a bike trailer, which he absolutely loves! Then we went to the pool each afternoon and Christian played in the baby pool. The pool water was really cold too, but the baby pool was warmer because it was so shallow. If you stayed out long enough you wanted to jump in the pool because it did get hot. However, you quickly cooled off and wanted out of the water. Each afternoon we would have lunch and Christian would take a quick nap. He does not sleep well outside of his bed so his naps truly were short if existed at all. Brian laid down with him one afternoon and I got this adorable video of them sleeping. Both were snoring up a storm and I do not know if you can hear it in the video, but it was soooo sweet!

When Christian woke up we would go outside and shop around and play in this big grass area in the main circle of Seaside. We would eat ice cream and just enjoy being together. It truly was relaxing. I believe that Christian was the happiest he has ever been to have both his parents to himself for a whole week. Brian got a little taste of how exhausting it is to have a child want you and only you 24/7. Christian is in the stage where he only wants daddy and only daddy can make everything better. This is fine by me because I get a break from the daily routine. I actually enjoy it!? I think Brian now understands why I am so tired everyday. It is mentally and physically exhausting to have a child pawing at you all day long.
Brian's best friend Reed and his girlfriend Melanie were also down in Destin. They were staying with Reed's father who was in town for a wedding. We had dinner with them a couple of nights and just relaxed. I think we were in bed, at least I was every night by 10:00. Reed's father rented this big beautiful house with a pool and Christian loved running around playing. Being around a pool with a toddler will definitely keep you on your toes. We did get a break for one night and went out for a nice dinner at Cafe 30-A. Brian's birthday was Wednesday May 7th so we all went out for a nice dinner with Reed, Melanie, Reed's dad and his wife. No, we did not take Christian to Cafe 30-A. We got a babysitter through a service down at the beach and Christian was not thrilled with this idea at all. He survived and we were able to sit through a dinner and enjoy our meal.

Monday rolled around and Brian had an appointment that he could not cancel in Montgomery so he left that afternoon and would be back later that night. This was perfect because Christian and I had plans to surprise him with a birthday present, but we had to make it first. In the little town was a pottery place. One of those places where you go and paint pottery for fun or gifts. I had already given Brian a birthday present, but Christian had not. I wanted him to have something that was personal and something that Christian could participate in making. This pottery idea was perfect and something that would be lots of fun. When Brian left we headed over to the store for an afternoon of painting. Since we were at the beach for his birthday I wanted something that had a beach theme to give him. We picked out a little tile that you could frame so Brian could hang it in his office and begin to think of ideas. The ladies that worked there were very helpful and gave me many ideas. I wanted Christian to do most of the work so hand prints had to be a part of the picture. We painted the background and I do not know who had more paint on them me or the tile. Christian was having a blast and really liked when I had to paint his hand for his print on the tile. His hand print turned into a fish with lips, eyes and gills. His thumbprint turned into a crab and this little picture turned into a precious gift from a child. We added some sponging and other background things and it turned out adorable. This picture is one of those things a parent can treasure forever because it was literally made with love. Christian wrote Happy Birthday Daddy (with my help) and we were done!

Tuesday Brian had an appointment for breakfast, so Christian and I packed the car and got ready to leave. When Brian got home from work he played with Christian and took him for ice cream before we hit the road. Christian gave him his card and present and I think Brian was pleased with his gift. I think Brian would have stayed for another week if he could have done so. We had a great time and were all tired when we got back home. I think Christian was glad to be back home in his bed and I was too. Brian's birthday was today and we wish we could have been with him, but we could not. We will celebrate more with him this weekend. Happy Birthday Brian and Daddy! We love you and had a great time at the beach!

I hope you enjoy the pictures! I must say...I believe we have the cutest child on this planet!