New Addition

We welcomed Hayes Benjamin to the family on Wednesday the 26th. He weighed 8lbs 4oz and was 20 inches long. Jeanne was scheduled to be induced that day and in fact was in labor when we showed up for the induction, it was reminiscent of Sloanes birth when she showed up to the hospital dilated to an eight, she has a crazy pain threshold. Hayes on the way out decided to come out like superman with his left hand leading the way and his right hand on his hip, the Doctor kept saying "this is not the way I would do it but we will make it work.". His incorrect birthing form made his come out looking like he was on the wrong end of a prize fight, he was swollen and bruised, pretty brutal. The kids were pretty stoked to have baby brother finally make an appearance, and Jeanne was happier than anyone to be back to normal. We are excited to start this new stage in our life and are grateful for all the well wishes from friends and family.

Snake!

We had a visitor at our pond this last weekend, a snake! The kids got a kick out of seeing a snake in our yard but I realized the massive amounts of danger we were in so I was not to keen about them getting to close. If I had to guess I would say it was close to 17 feet in length and probably about as thick as my thigh...thick not chunky. I was able to capture a picture of it with my phone, unfortunatly I do not know how to get the picture off my phone so I have to use a stock photo of what I recall the snake to look like. I am pretty sure nature has it out on the Raulstons, Sloane and I both got stung by bees within the last two weeks and now this reptillian intruder. I have not been able to find the snake since our encounter but I am sure he is lurking in the shadows waiting for his chance to attack. So help me if any of my kids or fish go missing that snake is going to feel my wrath.

Countdown to Thirty

We celebrated Jeanne's Birthday this last weekend. She is now officially on the down slope to thirty, where has the time gone. We decided to go out to a movie and lunch on Saturday to celebrate. One of our favorite places to eat is Yamasaki (900 E. 6000 S.) so we went and just got in before they closed between and lunch and dinner. After lunner we saw "The Proposal" which was not as bad as I anticipated, not a huge fan of Sandra. Anyways I thought I would take this time to write down my 29 favorite things about Jeanne then I re-thought that and decided to do just my favorite 11 things (2+9=11)

11. She does great hair
10. She takes life serious but not too serious
9. She is willing to do things out of her comfort zone (a tri with 7 weeks to train)
8. She has a great sense of humor, dry just like I like it
7. She is the voice of reason in our house
6. She holds no grudge even when I prune (butcher) her favorite plants
5. She loves Michael Cera (see prior posts)
4. She is super low maintenance but still looks fabulous (even preggers)
3. She is really open minded and holds no judgment over anyone

2. She is a great wife... I am a pain in the arse sometimes and she still loves me.
1. She is a great mom- I hope our kids grow up and realize how awesome of a mom she is.

I LOVE you and Happy Birthday.

Let the Good Times Roll

Sloane celebrated her fifth birthday this past weekend...I cant believe we have a five year old! She decided she wanted to have a "Sponge Bob Water Party" this consisted of a kiddie pool, water balloons and a caterpillar whose legs whip water around the yard. We invited all of her closest friends and family and had a wet and wild blast in our back yard. Sloane wanted to have a orange frosted polka dot cake and Jeanne was more than willing to fill that cake order (watch your back "Cake Boss"). After the shindig Sloane Jeanne and I went to Sloane's favorite eatery Cafe Rio and went to Target so she could use her "credit card" (gift card) on some new toys. Being the good big sister she is she spent a portion of her money on a ball that she shares with her brother. We are so proud of her and could not ask for a better daughter. We love you Sloane Ba`lone