After an exhausting 2 days at the hospital, Jen and Joe welcomed their baby on Saturday night sometime around 9:30pm. John Warren Schmitt is 9 lbs, 14 ounces, 22 inches long and of course, adorable! We were able to spend some time visiting our Godson and his parents Sunday night. I believe they will be heading home from the hospital today, Tuesday. I'm sure they are all looking forward to being home together as a whole family. A.J. is already being a great big brother and is totally in love with John. Benjamin is really looking forward to the chance to "play with Baby John when he is bigger like me!"

We had a nice weekend in Chicago after driving down Friday afternoon. My family threw a going away party for Mom and Dad at Uncle Terry's house Saturday evening and it was a nice chance to get together with family. We hadn't been down to Illinois since November, so we were looking forward to seeing everyone again. Luckily, the weather stayed nice for our entire visit, so we were able to hang out outside at the party. We took up as much time as we could holding and playing with Kelsey, who is now almost 9 months old. Benjamin spent his time playing with toys from Aunt Clarice and Aunt Mary, who surprised him with lots of things to keep him busy. Erin very creatively asked me to be the Matron of Honor at her wedding in March and we were able to oogle over the new shiny rings on Kelly and Erin's fingers!

Mom and Dad officially move into their new home in Minnesota next Tuesday, June 10th. Their movers and packers will complete their job this weekend and then they will come up and spend a night at our house Sunday before their walk-through at the new house on Monday. We are all excited for this big change!!

The siding project on our house is now complete. The workers did the last bit of hammering yesterday afternoon. We think it looks great and are very happy with the result. We are planning to work on the landscaping - or I should say WEEDscaping in the back of the house so it can be done by Benjamin's third birthday party. By the way, the big bash will be on June 28th (which is also Dad's 53rd birthday!!). The party might just turn out to be "The Greatest Show on Earth".....