A year and a half today!

Emily singing. I started to sing the "Itsty Bitsy Spider" to get her to look at the camera

and she started singing too! She loves to sing and dance.

18 month well check up stats:

22 lbs 1 oz. 20th percentile

33 inches tall 70th percentile

Head circumference 75th percentile

Dr. asked if she was a good eater and I said yes actually she is a really good eater. In fact we call her the bottom feeder because she will eat anything including anything that drops on the ground especially if it is covered in dirt and has been there for days. Dr. was not concerned about her weight at all though as it has been consistent. She did however make quite a jump in height in that last 3 months! We are scheduling her next RNC (Renal Nuclear Cystogram, not to be confused with the Republican National Convention) to check the status of her Kidney Reflux. She already had one negative test 6 months ago so if we get a second negative she can be done with the daily dose of antibiotics. Ben did not get two negative tests until he was 3 so it would be great if Emily could be done at 1 and a half! I'm not looking forward to the test though as it isn't very fun for anyone involved. I felt bad enough for her tonight as she was very sad about her little legs hurting after her two shots today. Ben was very happy that he didn't have to have any shots but he was happy to accept the sucker anyway. We were lucky enough to be at the Dr. office the day the flu vaccine came in so she got her flu shot and her Hep A shot.

Emily is 18 months old today! No longer a baby! We are definitely in the toddler stage now!

Last Day at US BioEnergy

So today is the last day, the real last day of US BioEnergy. With the "merger" effective last April first (no joke there), and the slow trickle of employees out the door this summer, the last three standing (Ann, Gabe and myself) are finally done today. Right now as I type this we are throwing things into boxes. cleaning out people's desks. You wouldn't believe the junk people left behind. Moments ago I cleaned up a drawer full of girl scout cookies, half eaten candy bars, half consumed bags of chips and some Halloween pop corn from last year! Other strange things found along the way, Preperation H, shaving cream and razer, a pair of old icky tennis shoes, severance letters, even personal photos. You would think you could remember to take pictures of your own kids with you! Brian, Mark, Sandra and Stephanie
US BioEnergy's CEO Gordon Omen and VeraSun's Chairman of the Board for about 45 days.
The SEC Team featuring the "Best SEC Accountant to ever work for Ann"

Now you guess which one of us that is. Brian or Jen?
The HR Team
The Accounting Team and a few others at our farewell gathering a few months back.

We were apart of something great. I worked for US BioEnergy for 2 years and 5 days. I started here on September 25, 2006 and am done today September 30, 2008. I wouldn't change it for the world. Emily was born the day we filed our very first 10-k (March 30, 2007). To all those that were apart of US Bio at that time she will forever be the 10-K baby! I had the opportunity to work with a lot of great people. There is something special about everyone being new and excited about a new company. Taking a company public was a fun and challenging experience. I had a wonderful boss and am going to be really sad not to work with her anymore. Sadly the ethanol industry didn't pan out to be all that we hoped for but we took a leap and we tried we were on our way to having a great company.

Mostly I will miss the people and the great commute too! So farewell US BioEnergy!

I will never forget you! How can I when I have more junk with the US Bio Logo on it than I know what to do with? You would not believe the things we had made with the US Bio Logo on it. I have about 500 US Bio pens alone! Not to mention the US Bio microwave popcorn, and the US Bio Shovel and the US Bio ice scraper and the US Bio hard hat, and the pink US Bio messenger bag, and the US Bio window stickers, I could go on and on.

Say "Yes" to Ethanol!

New Raincoat

I have been searching high and low for a new raincoat for Ben. He has finally outgrown his yellow Curious George coat that he got for his second birthday. Yesterday while having lunch with my boss at Nostrum's we had to walk past the children's section. In my whole life I have never shopped in the Children's section of Nostrum's before. (I have a big enough clothes problem with the stores I already frequent that I don't need to add any more to the list). Well, I tried to divert my eyes but then I saw this Thomas rain coat and matching umbrella and knew that it was just perfect for Ben. He was so excited he had to try it on right away. Obviously it wasn't raining as he is outside in his socks!

A weekend in Duluth - Part VII Playing Trains

No more monkeys jumping on the bed!

Ben is kind enough to share his trains with his sister.
Ben isn't the only train lover in the family now.

A weekend in Duluth - Part VI Halloween PJs

Ben and Emily were very excited to jump on the hotel beds.

This was the best I could do in getting a good photo of the two of them in their Halloween PJs.
Playing trains in the hotel room. What a mess!

A weekend in Duluth - Part V

Some videos from the Duluth Water park Weekend.

Ben really did get brave. By day 3 he was going down the water slides by himself. Emily also went down the water slide with Mom but her favorite thing to do was dance.

A weekend in Duluth - Part IV "The Game"

The main reason we went to Duluth was to attend Adam Wheeler's football game. Adam plays for the University of MN Duluth Bulldogs. He is a defensive end. Did I get that right? The game was at 1pm so Emily and I did not attend as she desperately needed a nap. Ben however, had a great time at the game. UMD crushed University of Mary, 44 to 7. It was a beautifully cool fall day which is my kind of football weather. But honestly also my kind of nap weather!

Lip gloss cell phone?

Remember in an earlier post where I mentioned the toys they give out at the arcades in exchange for the tickets you earned by playing the games with the tokens you purchased with real money? Seems like we could skip a few steps there.....

One of such toys was a Lip gloss cell phone. Yes you got it a plastic cell phone with 4 different colors of lip gloss inside and the antenna is the lip gloss applicator! I'm not even kidding, who thinks of these things?

Ben has a new crush on Adam Wheeler's girlfriend Marey. She was a great sport letting them put lip gloss on her, helping them dress the"paper dolls", and she apparently is a good artist too as she drew great pictures on both their hands. So good that Grandma thought they were stamps! I believe Ben has a fish and Emily a flower and butterfly. Emily was very proud of hers she went around to everyone to show them the flower on her hand. Just before bed tonight Ben wanted to make sure he would see Marey again as he wants to watch the Backyardigans with her!

Paper dolls are not what they used to be.

I found this great set of magnetic doll clothes.

Ben and Em were having a great time dressing the wood doll with her various magnetic outfits. The set even game with a nice wooden box and cover for all the pieces.

A weekend in Duluth - Part III "I'm getting Braver"

Back to the waterpark for round 2 of splashing fun.
In Ben's own words, "I'm getting braver and braver everyday." Today, he went down the waterslides with both Mom and Dad. Ben says tomorrow he is going to go by himself. He has a system, he waits until the giant bucket of water spills and then he quickly goes down the slide. That way he is sure it can't "get him".
Emily also went down the waterslides but after 2 times she had enough.

She much preferred just climbing in and out of the pool,

trying on Dad's shoes, and climbing up on the chairs next to Grandpa.

Ben after going down the waterslide at least 10 times!

A weekend in Duluth - Part II The Arcade

Saturday morning we had breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa Dockerty, while we waited for our table we took a walk on the bridge to see Lake Superior. We were lucky enough to see a train go right under us! In this picture you can see the train tracks behind Ben. We had breakfast at Perkins which is not someplace I go very often. Never in my life have I seen sprinkle pancakes! Ben thought that was great! I've seen chocolate chip and mickey mouse pancakes but never sprinkle pancakes.

Oh, he also had sprinkle bacon which I think is a bit weird. A hotel waterpark isn't complete without an Arcade is it?

Ben and Em had a great time collecting tickets.

Playing air hockey with Grandpa Dockerty.

The microphones they each picked out with their tickets. I'm not even going to talk about the annoying toys they offer at these places! I can't really complain this time because the microphones are actually way better than most of the junk we usually end up with.

We took this trip to Duluth to attend Mike's cousin, Adam Wheeler, football game. Adam plays for University Minnesota Duluth. It is a perfect day for a football game. I'm able to publish these blog posts now as Emily is napping while everyone else is at the game. Many of Mike's Aunts, Uncles and Cousins are all here too. We will be getting together with them tonight after the game. But first we are going to attempt to go swimming in the tiki pool one more time.

A weekend in Duluth - Part 1 The Waterpark

Emily and Ben very excited to go to the waterpark.
Brave little Emily is not afraid of splashing water.

She jumped right in and was having a great time.
Ben however had a mistimed first attempt down the slide and the giant bucket of water got him. It is very very loud and a ton of water, I'm not surprised it scared him. He thought the swirly pool and the lazy river were more his speed. He just informed me that he is getting braver and braver though so he may go down the slide today, we will see.....
The Edge Waterpark Hotel in Duluth Minnesota
On our walk back to our room, Dad saw a HUGE spider out the winder.

The kids stopped to examine it.

Music Together Class

Music Together Class
Mirrors are so fun!

I have never seen Emily sit in this position before, she was so comfortable and relaxed!

Emily was a little leader today at Music Together Class. It is amazing how much she has grown and learned since her first class this summer. Emily is one of the big kids! Imagine that! There was one other 18 month old boy in the class. Most of the other kids are under 1! At least this class has a few boys in it. In our last class Ben was the only boy. Every session they have new songs and this session we have a train song. I of course thought of Ben. I think he will be able to participate in one or two classes this session when he doesn't have preschool so he will be happy to sing and dance to the train song. Here is a little video and some photos from today's music class. It was so much FUN!

My Little Ballerina

Friday September 26, 2008

Emily has music together class today. This will be her second session. Both Ben and Emily had music together this summer and Emily loved it. Ben was the big kid in the class and tolerated it. There were no boys in the class and no kids his age! Even though it is suppose to be mixed ages everyone was 12 - 18 months old! Emily will be excited to play with the instruments and dance around. Mom will be excited to sing and act like a fool with the other Moms and Dads.

Nanny Paulette thought it would be cute if she wore her tutu to class.

Nanny putting her hair in a bun.

So cute in her tutu, shiny shoes and her hair in a bun!

Nobody puts Baby in the corner!

My little girl looks so grown up!

Sears Photo Shoot aka Day of Best Buy interview

I will always remember the day I had my first interview at Best Buy. Our wonderful Nanny, Paulette, straightened my hair for my interview and thus I couldn't waste the good hair day! My interview was in the morning so that afternoon I took the kids to get photos done. Believe it or not it had been months since our last photo shoot. (yes, 2 months counts as months)

I am happy to report that I have accepted a new position as "Legal Entity Controller" at Best Buy. For those of you who are not familiar with Minneapolis and the large companies here, Best Buy's headquarters in here in Minneapolis just 9 miles from our house. They have a lovely new campus complete with 2 Caribou coffee shops (ssshhh don't tell my local Starbucks), a game room where they have a few xbox 360s, a few Wiis, pool, backgammon, ping pong, etc. They have many other perks too like a huge cafeteria, banking, pharmacy, healthclub, and a minute clinic all on site!

I'm looking forward to my start date of October 13, 2008. I have just 3 more days here at US Bio (aka VeraSun). I can guarantee you will see a sharp decline in the blog posts once I start my new job!

For now enjoy the photos taken at the Sears portrait studio on September 4, 2008.