Bennett's BIG news!

Bennett's big secret...We are going to have a baby! Bennett's 2nd big secret...My mom is pregnant! According to Mr. B, we have two very exciting announcements. He doesn't quite realize that they are one in the same. Baby Story will be arriving January 2013. We are very excited, it has been in fact too long since we have had a tiny thing in our home. So far, everything is looking great. Good strong heartbeat and developing right on schedule. We should find out August 1st if we are getting a brother or a sister. We can't wait!

New Job...Check! New Job...Check! New Life...Check!

Our lives have been turned upside down the last three weeks! We have pretty much started a whole new life, and so far we still go to bed each night with full bellies and have a roof over our heads. It all started a few weeks back, I got an email from Rob saying that he wanted to quit his job. WTH! I called him right away, and he explained to me that he was tired of a company being in control of our future, and he wanted to go out on his own and see what he could do. We thought about it over the weekend and decided that we would take the risk. What have we got to lose right? Rob put in his notice to his company of 7 years, and told them his last day would be June 7th. In the meantime, we will still need health/dental insurance and since my small group doesn't offer benefits in the research office, I had to shuffle my job too. So, now I am going back to the hospital 24 hours a week to become benefits eligible. I was previously working in research full time, and once a pay period in the hospital as a PRN nurse. The roles have reversed and I will be in the hospital two 12 hour shifts, and the rest of the time in the research office. Hopefully, it will all work out. Back to Rob, he is going to be an agent for Farm Bureau Financial Services, and he will be selling auto, home, and life insurance. Get ready for a phone call, and he will see if he can't save you a little bit of money each month. He is hoping that having a more flexible schedule will allow him to have more time to get involved in all of the other projects that people have been wanting him to help with. So, I guess techinically, he will also be a private contractor for all your engineering needs. So, that is the Story of how we both got new jobs and will be living a new life starting now!

It's Been Awhile...

I guess it has been awhile since I have given any sort of update, so here it is...First off, my apologies...we got a new computer and just barely got all of the software programs back on it. I have been a major slacker, I know. Things around here have been GREAT! In a nutshell here is what we are up to...
Rob, is about to turn 30 next Sunday...he is still working at Edge Products as a calibrator and he LOVES his work. He has been doing work on alternate fuels and has really been enjoying it. He has been assisting with CNG conversion kits, and even got to take a few trips to the EPA labs to make sure his work was in compliance with emission standards. Of course, he did AMAZING and met the companies target goals on his first try. He is gearing up for another season of riding and golfing, now all we need is some warm weather.
Kate, I am still trying to balance the whole work-family issue that is called life. I am working in the Endocrine and Diabetes Clinic as a research nurse conducting clinical trials for Type 1 diabetics. I work up there about 30+ hours a week, and try to take a few days off during the week to work on my most important job...Bennett Awesome Race Story. I am also working once a pay period in Adult Psychiatry to make sure I am staying sane at the end of the day. I take off Mondays and most Fridays to stay home and play with my boys. Laundry, dishes, sweeping, vacuuming, and dusting still also consume a lot of my time.
Bennett is going to be turning 4 this March. For now, I am cherishing every moment of his 3 year old days. He LOVES being 3, and has to has everything three's. Our dear friend Derek has convinced Bee that he is so awesome, he should be names Bennett Awesome Race...so, we now have to refer to him as that. He will correct you. He is going to preschool two days a week and LOVES it. He loves the kids and loves learning fun and exciting things each day. He is a very lucky boy to have his best buddy and cousin Bowen join him in the same class. Consequently, they end up playing for several hours each week. They are so cute together and say the funniest things. Bennett is OBSESSED with Transformers, especially Optimus Prime. He was Optimus for Halloween this year, and was good enough to get a HUGE Optimus Prime from none other than Santa Claus this year. He loves music, movies, and reading...hmm. Wonder where he gets that from. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree or trees in our case.
Anyways, that is pretty much what we are up to. I am going to try to be better at posting and keeping up on the pics of the cute little boy...

Happy Halloween

Bennett & Kylee

Ahoy Matey!

Little Pirate Man

We had a very happy halloween this year with our little pirate. After watching "Dora's Pirate Adventure" Bennett decided he wanted to be a pirate. We later found out, it was only because he thought he would get a treasure chest full of toys and prizes. Whatever his motive was, he was one cute little pirate. We went to a Halloween carnival at Edge the Monday before Halloween, Bennett definitely enjoyed eating baby doughnuts off of a string, and getting a bucket full of Candy with only a half hours effort. The Friday before Halloween we went to my work for a trick-or-treat where he received another bucket full of treats in about a 15 minute time period. Needless to say, when Halloween actually rolled around, we had too many trick or treats. Now everyday we get to pick a few "trick or treats" to have after lunch.

Yee Haw...Ride Em' Cowboy!

Bennett & Jackson...the Cowboys!





Bennett found his Cowboy hat and has been running around the house ever since, saying..."Yee Haw, Ride a cowboy hat." He found a long ribbon, and says he is going to "Lasso" everything. It is so cute and so funny. I thought I better post up some pics of him in cowboy mode. He wants to be a pirate for halloween, cause he wants to wear an eye patch, but now I am debating to have him be a cowboy. Let me know what you think...

Bennett Update

Well, Bennett is going to be 2.5 on Monday so I guess it is time to say bye-bye to "Binky mouth." I decided to snip the tips off of all the Binky's before I ran the dishwasher the other morning. He was waiting for the dishwasher to be done so that he could have his bink, and go lay down to watch Diego. I gave him one, he popped it in his mouth, started to walk away...and then STOPPED! Bennett:"Oh, No!! My Binky mouth is broken." Me:"Ought Oh, if it's broken you better throw it in the garbage." Needless to say, he proceeded to throw every single Binky in the garbage. We are officially two days with zero binks. We have had a few requests, quickly followed by, "Oh, there broken and thrown in the garbage." I think it is safe to say, the Binky addiction is officially over.
He has been quite a turkey when it comes to eating lately. If it weren't for sippy cups of milk and juice, combined with butterscotch pudding the boy would be starved. We were at the Knolls last weekend for Dynofest and I was trying to get him to eat breakfast. I told him he had to have 7 bites before he could go outside and ride bikes. He ate 1 bite, then he would hold the tiny pieces of french toast up to him mouth, and then very dramatically say..."I can't, it's too heavy." Apparently, it's too much to eat a few pieces of bread. Today, I was trying to get him to eat anything for lunch, and he said that a sandwich was "too big", and wheat thins were "too little". A quesadilla was "too tight," and soup was "too yucky." He is such a little kiddo, and we are loving all of his hilarious little comments. He is a really big helper, and is loving to learn Spanish with "Go Diego Go." Our next big step is potty training, any suggestions or tips are appreciated.

Farewell to Summer

Ready for a ride...

Who needs a scarf when you have puppies?

We need this little boy out of the way...where can we put him?

Bennett really wanted this "Motorcycle Bikey"

Kate & Rob in Chuck's Sandrail

Bennett & Mommy

Me & Trit at the Pioneer Days Rodeo

It is turning into fall quickly, and since today is September 1st...I thought I would start saying goodbye. We had an awesome summer! Apparently I was too busy playing and working that I didn't have time to blog about any of it. My baby sister Trit was up for most of the summer, along with her three year old Jackson, and baby girl Hannah. I work three shifts a week from 6PM to 6AM, so in between sleeping and caring for Bennett it's been a little crazy! Some of our summer highlights were going to the Sand Dunes, the Pioneer Days Rodeo, Cowabunga Bay, and spending time with our family. We haven't made it to Lagoon or to the drive in yet, but I think we may still be able to squeeze those in.