Happy Birthday Banks Henderson and Daniel!

Last weekend, we went to "the other Banks" party.  Our new friends in Montgomery, the Hendersons, have a Banks too and oh we love Banks Henderson!  They are the sweetest family and I am so thankful to have met them.

Jennifer, Banks' mom, is as talented as Leigh Anne at giving parties.  Banks had a western round up party and she did a fabulous job.  I was very busy chasing my Banks around but did manage to snap a few pics.

The Birthday Boy

My Banks loved playing with big Banks little brother, Blevins.  Don't they look cute in their coats?  It was super cold!

I guess this explains why Jennifer and I get along so well too.  She has 2 pugs!  And in true "kid" form, they were dying to come in and be a part of the party.  Poor puggies....they were cold and shivering.  It brought back memories of my sweet Basil, who was ALWAYS cold!  

Meghan (who will be my neighbor in one week) and Mary Clark were there too!

...and our sweet friend Hale Borden, who was multi-talented at eating a s'more pop and riding the pony at the same time.

On Sunday, we went to Tallassee for lunch and had a birthday cake for Daniel.  He turned 4 on Monday and we had a little cake for him.  He was so excited!

He was confused a bit though.  He is having a big party tomorrow and the theme is Mail and the U.S. Postal Service (a mild obsession of his theses days).  He is so excited about his party and when he saw his cake he said "I didn't think I was having a flower birthday party."  So cute!  We explained that it was just a cake for us and not his real party.  

Someone loves the attention!

Stay tuned for pics from the Postal Service party and pics of our new house!  We are busy getting ready to move in.  Yay!

2 Weeks in Review

Banks really wants to be like his Daddy these days.  Some nights, just before bed, Bryan will be in his chair and Banks insists on going to get his rocker and sitting it right by Bryan and saying "my rock"  which I am assuming he is trying to say, "I rock".

Banks thinks the MAC belongs to him...but it doesn't.  He has almost claimed the iPad so I refuse to let him destroy my computer.  On this night, he had pushed the chair too far away and instead of giving up, he improvised and somehow made it to the mouse.  Oh, help me!

After one of my check-ups with Dr. Sharp, my Birmingham friends took me to lunch at Chez Lu Lu to "sprinkle" baby Reid.  Oh, how I love these girls and miss them SO much!!!  We had a great time chatting and they got baby brother some really nice new things.   I really don't need anything new but it was nice for him to have a few things of his own. 

Top left to right:

Whitney (with Owen), Tara, Cary, Emily, Cali, Lori, Lauren, Ashley, Lauren,, and Me.  

Catherine had to leave early, so she was not in the pic.

On pretty days, we go over to our church to play on the playground.  This day, Bryan didn't go into the hospital until 1, so he came with us. 

Banks got another haircut....and was not happy about it.

...but throw in a bag of gummy worms, and all is better for the moment.

Tuesday, some of my new friends in Montgomery took me to dinner to celebrate baby brother's upcoming arrival.  These are the sweetest girls and they have made the move here SO much better. 

Left to right, Alexia, Caroline, Daphne, Leslie, Erin, Myra (a dear friend for 13 years who lives in Montgomery) Me, Jennifer, and Meghan (a dear friend from Birmingham who lives here now). 

On Thursday morning, we headed over to Atlanta to take Banks to the Georgia Aquiaruim.  He enjoyed it very much, but in true Sir form, got overwhelmed and tired towards the end.

He loved the snacks there.  Please don't judge.  Normally, I don't let him have an ice cream sandwich and a cookie for snack. 

 Banks has really been into showing us how strong he is lately.  He insists on trying to pick up everything...including his pack and play when we were at the hotel.

....which sometimes can wear him out. 

 or this huge box of diapers!!!  Look how proud he is of himself.  He was saying "my strong"  Which means, "I am strong" in Banks language.

On Thursday night, we went over to Junior and Sima's.  The kids ate dinner and stayed with the Nanny while we enjoyed a yummy dinner at Echo.

Agash, Banks, and Suryia, enjoyed a very heathy and yummy meal prepared by the heath food queen, Sima.

We went over to Candace's house on Friday to play and visit with Caroline and Campbell.  Oh these little girls are SO sweet and adorable.  

Caroline was SO sweet and let Banks play with every toy they had.   I got tickled at Banks.  He made himself right at home with all of their toys.  After about 5 minutes he came up to me and asked "trucks"?  Translation:  Where are the trucks?  Precious thing didn't understand why these little girls didn't have any cars and trucks.  Needless to say, he did find him a pink airplane that did the trick.

Finally, my sister-in-law told me about this soup and so I decided to try it.  Let me just say, if you are a tomato soup fan, you must go to your local Publix and pick up a can of this.  For you Birmingham gals, it is a dead ringer for Olexa's tomato basil soup!!!  Yummy!

28 Weeks and counting...

Well, I thought I would do a pregnancy update since I have hardly even mentioned that I am pregnant again.  I had my 28 week visit last week and it went great.  I had to drink the dreaded sugar drink but all was well.  I passed with flying colors with an 88.  That number might not mean anything to most people but my years and years of selling insulin and constantly talking sugar numbers make me so aware...and I must say I was thrilled with my results.

I am feeling good...but slow.  I can really tell how quickly I get tired and I am just thankful that Banks takes about a 3 hour nap in the afternoon so I can rest.  I am so thankful that my feet and hands have not swollen with this baby.  I blame my swollen feet with Banks on the heat and driving 1000 miles a week.  At this point, I was wearing compression hose and I have not even thought of wearing them this time!  

Baby boy does have a name finally!  

We are still deciding on the middle name but we know his first name is Reid and we will call him Reid.

Banks is more and more aware that we are having a baby.  When we ask him where the baby is, he always points to my belly.....I guess that is progress considering that he used to just ignore us.  

I am absolutely dreading the upcoming move.  I am trying to be proactive and pack a box or 2 a day but   it is going to be tough to unpack boxes and get our house settled at 35 weeks.  Oh well,  it will all work out.

Overall, I have had a great pregnancy.  Let's hope it stays that way.  

Art Museum

I have not been blogging because we have been doing a whole lot of nothing around here!

January has been very quiet and that is just fine with me.  

Banks has been going to school 4 days a week in the morning to give this pregnant Mama time to rest and pack.   Oh yeah, we bought a house and are moving in about a month.  I am so glad to get in before the baby comes!

Saturday, we took Banks to the Art Museum to the Children's section and he had a great time.  I can really tell he is growing up because he was so interactive with the activities. 

What a smart little boy.  He got all of his colors right and got them to the right spot.  

Banks loved the abstract Car piece.

 What a cutie coloring a picture.

I wish I could freeze him at this age.  He is 1 part baby, 1 part little boy.  I could literally eat him up. 

.

Afterwards, we went outside to feed the ducks.  Banks loved this and would get so excited when they gobbled up the bread.

Banks Crocker?

I don't really know what has gotten in to me lately, but I have been doing more baking than usual.  I think it is for 2  3 reasons.  First, I have been on a kick to "clean out the pantry" by using our pantry ingredients as much as possible.  Secondly, I feel like we waste so much food and in an effort to save money and food, I have been going through my pantry and cooking what we have.  (Oh, and I am pregnant and clearly not on any diet) 

So, that means that we have made pumpkin bread, corn bread, and yesterday we made a sour cream pound cake.  I usually bake 2 loaves and freeze one.  

Anyway, Banks is a HUGE fan of helping and mixing.  Every time he sees me get a bowl out he runs over to the powder room and gets his stool so he can be at the right height to help mix.  

Yesterday, we made a cream cheese pound cake and he was a big helper and a big fan of licking the beaters.    My Mom always let us lick the beaters and that is such a fond memory as a child.  I would be upstairs and when I would hear the mixer going, I run come down to help and the best part would be eating the cake batter.  yummy!

Notice Granny's bundt pan in the background.  We decided not to use it but it has had more cakes baked in it than could possibly be counted.