Life goes on...

Well we finally got to move back home on labor day weekend so we've been back for about a month. I suppose it has taken just almost that whole time for everyone to really get settled and back into routine. I can't imagine what we would have done without my mom living here with 3 extra bedrooms for us to stay there for 2 months. It wouldn't have been easy to live a normal life that's for sure. We have made lots of home improvements so I'm posting some pictures here of our new digs. We pretty much got a remodel for the downstairs of our house. Some good came out of everything bad after all.

They couldn't match the brick on our house so we got stone on the back of the house. They also rebuilt our deck which isn't pictured here. We got a new kitchen table, hardwood floors and new couch/chair for the living room. And of course I've bought all kinds of extras to go along with our new digs as well.

Plenty is going on with the girls and us outside of our house debacle. So life did go on. Maya started kindergarten at the end of August and she got into a really great school. I did so much research and applied for transfers to 5 different schools and for once something worked out perfectly and she got into the best school around and her daycare can pick her up after school. So far she is loving school. Here's her 1st day of school picture :)

Katelyn is an amazing 1 year old - she's already creeping up on 16 months old. She has such a great personality and is so funny. She loves music and she loves to dance which are two things we didn't have when Maya was her age. She is just too cute. There are a few good videos out on photobucket of Katelyn since she turned 1 so you can see how big she is. Since we're so far behind you'll just have to go out to my album and see what you've missed. I'm working to upload more pictures but the videos from summer are updated.

http://s205.photobucket.com/albums/bb14/kbennett79/

And then of course there's this rumor about a new baby coming in 7 weeks! Holy moly! I am very slowly getting into baby mode but I've mainly been in house nesting mode since we moved back in. That's helping me out getting ready for baby in a roundabout way. I have one more decorating project I want to do and then I'll worry about washing baby stuff and unpacking. Just last week I hit that point where my ankles don't change size overnight and my wedding ring doesn't fit. It's pretty hard having a 1 year old and being 8 months pregnant at the same time. Every time I hold Katelyn Chris is bugging me to make sure she isn't sitting on the other baby. It's not a cake walk and I can tell that I'm getting more tired and uncomfortable with the passing weeks. At least I haven't gained as much weight this time! Thanks to Maya and Katelyn for that! Well I've spent many hours on this computer working on pictures and videos this weekend so I think I'm gonna go watch some football and eat some ice cream. Until next time...which may just be the new baby post!

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

February, now March?!

Hey everyone! Well two months have passed again, crazy how that calendar works ;) The month of February was a little crazy in Texas with the ice and snow, I'm sure you saw the Superbowl coverage to know how wonderful it was. School closed for 4 days one week. Soo different from up north! We've also been fighting ear infections and passing colds back and forth but luckily (knocking on wood) the flu passed us by this year.


We are doing pretty well, plenty going on as usual. Spring has arrived here, it's in the 60s and 70s these days. Katelyn is 9 months old and she is pulling up on everything. I predict that we have an early walker on our hands, we shall see. She weighs 21 pounds and is already outgrowing the 12 mo clothing so I've pulled down all of the 18 mo clothes. It's so crazy how fast she's growing! She still doesn't have any teeth which is crazy but they say it's normal for some kids but it makes it hard to feed her certain things. Maya is as sweet as ever, she's very excited for warmer weather and already insists on wearing skirts and dresses everyday - so tights are popular in our house these days. We also signed her up for a dance class to start later this month which she is VERY excited about.


This past Sunday we did some home improvement items around the house since we've decided we're staying put and one of those was to work on the toilet downstairs. Well...bad idea. We were awoken at 1am on Monday to a flooded bathroom and part of the carpet downstairs. We were so grateful that Katelyn woke up crying that night and I heard the water otherwise we would have been in really bad shape the next morning. Even so, we had to clean up the mess and have a plumber come out to fix it and today we had a water restoration company come out to make sure the floors and walls get dried properly so we don't get mold. What a mess! Just when you feel like you're getting ahead...


Well we are looking forward to the springtime as we do every year - I'm sure time will continue to fly by! Here are some new pics.

Look at our big girl! Playing with the play kitchen is a new favorite activity.

Katelyn has adopted one of Maya's favorite pastimes, laundry basket rides. Why do all kids love this?


Us girls just playing around one night...

And here are a couple new videos we've published to Photobucket as well.

January videos - http://s205.photobucket.com/albums/bb14/kbennett79/?action=view&current=January2011.mp4

Feb/March videos - http://s205.photobucket.com/albums/bb14/kbennett79/?action=view&current=FebMar2011.mp4

New pics

Our favorite photographer Zip was with us on Christmas day so we got some cute pictures! Here are a few...


Both of our favorite Grandma's were with us on Christmas! We are so blessed!



No I will not actually look at the camera AND smile at the same time! What are you crazy people thinking!?

New Year ramblings

Hey everyone! Well it's been months since I've written a blog that contained anything more than just pictures, and while I'd like to say that my news years resolution is to get better and post every month I know that is pretty unlikely especially since I don't make new years resolutions. However this week I have felt motivated but be forewarned that this post is long and rambling!


Katelyn is 7 1/2 months already - she can sit up without falling over, she can eat cheerios and drink water from a sippy all by herself (which she LOVES), and she is learning how to crawl although she's thankfully still pretty slow. She really loves her new Christmas toys although funny enough her favorite toys are Maya's hand me downs. She still doesn't have much hair although her fuzz is growing in and is darker than Maya's hair. She doesn't have any teeth yet either although we keep checking for something, especially on those crabby afternoons. She really doesn't nap very well, maybe a couple of hours all day long however she is a great sleeper at night sometimes sleeping from 7pm to 7am without feedings. She's still so big, we were just talking last weekend that we're pretty sure the rolls on her legs are getting bigger instead of smaller. And she is quite the screamer and squealer, making sure we know that she's there. She isn't too content to be alone with plain old mom (unless she's tired or hungry) so she's always looking around for big sister and dad to entertain her and make her laugh. And everytime she gets to laughing she ends up with the hiccups which is adorable. And last but not least when she sees me at the end of the day she will give me a big 'hug' consisting of burying her head in my shoulder and grabbing me really tight to tell me that she missed me. Oh how I love my baby girl ;-)


Maya is doing awesome, growing up more and more every day. She pretty much tells us what to do all day long. She is working on grasping the 'calendar' right now - what season or holiday comes next, what day is it, what day comes next, etc. We talk about these things at least once a day. Some of our other daily conversations: She tells me she loves me about 20 times a day - which I LOVE because I know in 10 years she definitely won't be telling me that! Every night as soon as I get home she asks for a snack and keeps asking for a snack at about 15 minute intervals until bedtime. She very recently started to eat her dinner better, probably because we tell her no snacks unless she eats dinner. So she'll eat the required number of bites and immediately ask for a snack while sitting at dinner. She also asks for a snack as soon as she wakes up some days, preferring 'snacks' to breakfast. She had an awesome Christmas and was so excited for Santa this year. She got tons of toys and stuffed animals. I'm not sure she has a favorite but the unicorn pillow pet from Santa Claus got to go to daycare twice last week for show and tell so it appears we have a front runner!


Outside of having perfect children (LOL) things have been pretty stressful. I survived layoffs back in October when the FDIC shut down one of our loan products that produced 60% of our company revenue. The company luckily seems to have made a quick turnaround and I feel pretty safe for this year but that was a really awful time. On Chris' end of things he ended up having to work the night shift for the past two months during Q4 and actually just got to go back to the day shift this week. That schedule was really hard on us all and I'm very glad to have my husband back home with me at night!


We have also been in turmoil about our house and Maya starting school in the fall. For several reasons we do not want Maya to go to the elementary school that she is supposed to go to, so we've been contemplating whether we try to transfer her to another school in the district, try out private school, or we try to move. After changing our minds numerous times over the past year I believe we are going to stick things out at our house and play the odds that one of our transfer requests is granted (trying 5 schools). That is the two second version to a long decision. If we knew she would for sure get into one of the transfer schools then it really wouldn't be as big a deal - the hardest part is that we won't find out until the week before school starts which school she'll be attending!

We did get to escape and had an awesome night out on New Years Eve - Grandma Bennett babysat the girls and Chris and I stayed overnight downtown. I only had one request for the event - that I got to lay in bed and order room service for breakfast. Well it was a success! It was just what I needed to recharge for a few extra hours! :-)

And so 2011 is already in full swing and Christmas already seems like a distant memory except for one thing - my wonderful, loving, awesome husband got me a MAID SERVICE for Christmas and I have my first cleaning tomorrow!!!!! Happy New Year to me!!!!