The Fire

Here's the story:

I was in the middle of warming up the grill for a steak dinner. I smelled gas and turned off the grill and doubled check the connection to the propane tank. I turned the grill back on and I didn’t smell any gas of any sort so, I went inside to grab the steaks and when I returned outside their was flames shooting out of the propane tank. I immediately ran inside and told Kelly and the girls to run outside because the grill was on fire. I grabbed the phone and dialed 911 and when the girls where safely outside, I returned inside to see if the house was on fire yet and then the propane tank blew up. The back porch windows, deck and back door were all in flames. Within 5-7 minutes the fire department came and put out the flames. Maya and Katelyn were invited into a neighbors house to play as the fire truck came by. The family is safe and that is the most important part. Thanks for you prayers.

Here are a couple pictures:

Maya's 5th Birthday

Thought I'd catch up on the 3 months of blogging that I have missed. Before I get to the reason that we've missed so much, I wanted to take a few minutes to blog about Maya's 5th birthday party back at the beginning of July. It was a grand success, we had the party at our house and I rented dress up clothes for all the girls. It was quite the production and we had way more dress up than we knew what to do with. We had a fashion show for all the girls and attempted to have a dance party. Maya had a really great time and we had a great turnout of friends and family as always. We are so lucky to have such great people arround us! Here are a few pictures. I have TONS of pics because our house photographer Zip was here, so I'll post the rest out on photobucket.

Maya at the fashion show

Maya blowing out her candle (homemade jello cupcakes were yummy)

Baby GIRL #3!

Yes it's true, and the proof is in the pictures. The baby is perfect and healthy and that's all that matters! Now to pick a name...at least I don't need to buy anything!!

http://s205.photobucket.com/albums/bb14/kbennett79/Baby%20Girl%203/

Trip to Mexico

We just got back a few days ago from our trip to the Riviera Maya in Mexico, an area just south of Cancun. We all really enjoyed the getaway although family vacations are definitely exhausting. Maya LOVED swimming in the pool and that is really almost all we did while we were there. We spent a little time on the beach, just enough to build a sandcastle, and one afternoon we took a trip into Cancun to take the girls to the aquarium and do some souvenir shopping. Otherwise we just enjoyed relaxing at the resort. We stayed at the Azul Sensatori which I would recommend to people with little kids as well as adults as there is an adults only side to the resort. The pools were really amazing, and although I couldn't partake in the drinking I could certainly appreciate the open bars all hours of the day. The girls did really great on the plane rides, Katelyn just laid her head down and took a nap on both flights without our normal crying/fighting routine to get her to sleep (which is a lovely new phase we're in right now). Anyways we had a really great time.

Here's a link to our online album with some pictures and video from our trip. We did get some cute pics of the girls and you can see some of the fun kids stuff that they had as well - Maya got to be in a puppet show and even danced on stage.

http://s205.photobucket.com/albums/bb14/kbennett79/Bennett%20Mexico%20Vacation/

Well next up, Maya's birthday is just around the corner and I'm sure the rest of the summer will fly by. Chris and I both have outings and things going on the next couple weeks, including a business trip I have to take up north for a few days. So her birthday will continue to sneak up on us - I really need to get on the ball. Things with baby #3 are going just fine, everything's still been easy so far and I really hope it stays this way and I don't get big and pregnant this time (hey a girl can dream right?). We find out if we're having another baby girl or a baby boy this THURSDAY and we are very excited so keep an eye out for email/text/facebook updates with our news!

Katelyn Turns 1!

Katelyn's 1st birthday was a huge success a few weeks ago - we had a family birthday party at my aunt's house where all the kids got to swim, and Katelyn had her first experience with birthday cake which was very cute and messy just like it's supposed to be. We are very blessed to live so close to much of our family that many of them could share her birthday with us. And Thank You very much to everyone who sent your well wishes!

Here is her birthday video:

http://s205.photobucket.com/albums/bb14/kbennett79/?action=view¤t=Katebdayparty.mp4

Katelyn loved her blue frosting!

Maya and her cousins swimming in the pool at the party

Katelyn and Maya on her actual birthday after opening gifts. Of course Maya had to play with all the presents just as much as Katelyn did.

Maya Dance Recital

Maya did such a great job at her first dance recital in May - we're looking forward to many more! Here's a link to the video from her dance. She even got flowers from Uncle Thad after her performance.

http://s205.photobucket.com/albums/bb14/kbennett79/Maya%20Dance%20Recital/

And we have some news

Things are a wee bit crazy around our house these days :) April was a busy month - my dad visited, we had our 7 year anniversary, my mom moved to town and we had Easter dinner at our house just to name a few. And last weekend we had another party when Chris threw me a surprise party for my birthday! It has definitely been a whirlwind! Of course I'm always looking ahead so we are excited to have my brother visit in a couple weeks as well as the girls birthdays are just around the corner and we have our first big family vacation in June to the Riviera Maya in Mexico.

I can't believe Katelyn is going to be 1 year old in less than a month. Hard to believe! She is such a little character right now. Here are some of her favorite pastimes: Playing with doors/cabinets opening and closing them 100 times in a row, pushing her walker, chasing the cat. Favorite food: chicken and cheese. Favorite phrase: uh oh (which she will say continually until you acknowledge that she dropped something just for you to pick up). She also recently started giving very sloppy kisses and shaking her head. It's so fun to see what new little things she is going to pick up this week.

Maya is in dance classes right now on Saturdays which she really enjoys. We don't get to watch class so I'm anxious to see her recital in a couple weeks. Then I'm sure we'll do some swim lessons for the summer and at her daycare she'll finally be old enough to go on all the field trips they take which should keep her entertained for the summer. There is Kindergarten Kick-Off next week at the schools and I'm sure fall will be here before we know it.

And last but not least, we had a surprise recently that definitely threw our world into a bit of shock - we found out that we are expecting again and we will be adding to our family again in November! I am 13 weeks along already. I just hope the rest of this pregnancy goes as fast as the past 13 weeks have gone. You all know how whiney I get when I'm miserable and pregnant. LOL. If it wasn't past my bedtime I'd upload my latest ultrasound picture onto here but I'm tired so it'll have to wait for next time. But trust that I am most definitely not

trying to pull a fast one on you. There really is a new baby on board!

Here are some pictures for you. Videos will have to be next time too...goodnight!

The girls with their grandma's on Easter

Maya and her cousin Noah on Easter

My blue eyed girl giving me a smile - it is REALLY hard to get her to smile for pictures!

My dad and Mary with the girls during their visit - it was so much fun having them visit!

Maya showing off her dance class attire