HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUBREY!!!!

Look who was all excited to see Aunt Joanna! :)
My adorable nephew JACK!!!! Isn't he precious!?

Aubrey, the beautiful birthday girl! Hot mama!

Make a wish!!!

My little man! Ready for cake! He had his very own spot!

My brother, Ben (daddy) and nephew Jack!

What a cute family pic! See that little hump!?
That's my new nephew in the making! :)

Standing on the tippy toes to reach the piano keys! So precious!

Oma with her FUTURE piano students!

Today is Aubrey's birthday. Our family got together to celebrate with some cake and ice cream at my parents'! It was so yummy!

Family Getaway!

KISSES! Can't help it!

Laine ADORES his baby sister!

Our men playing cards.

Jack & Aunt Shi Sha! Jack is a ham when he sees a camera!

Just chillin' out while Jack takes his nap!

Opa & Oma playing games with the boys!

The boys went canoeing around the lake! So neat!

The girls (well, and Laine) went paddle boating!

Ezra was SO exhausted! Whenever he's tired, he soothes himself with his thumb!
Aunt Shi Sha was spinning him in circles. Ezra LOVED it!

Aren't they adorable! I love my boys!

Mom & Dad sitting under the waterfall!

Doesn't Laine look like a whale!? :)

Our poor little Ezra was SOO tired!
Not very often you see him sitting still now that he walks!

This last weekend, my family all went and stayed at a resort in Scottsdale just to get away from everything at home. WE HAD A BLAST! I'm going to let the pictures do the talking!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!!

First day, all ready for school!

Showing off his new backpack!

Standing in Ms Carvel's line at the flag ceremony!

Entering his classroom after flag ceremony!

Laine at his specifically chosen and labeled school desk!

Just finished first day! Lined up and coming out to go meet parents at the drive through!

In front of the Legacy school office.

My THREE miracles!! (Laine, Ezra & Chavalah)

Well, we've officially started school at the Baltzly house! I'm still not actually believing it, but it's true! This morning went well! Today I parked and went in both times to make sure Laine understood the drill of what was expected of him! It's a HUGE responsibility and A LOT for a kindergartner to understand. I have a smart kid though, so I'm not too worried. The real test will be tomorrow when I actually do the "drive through" in dropping him off and picking him up! Should be interesting.

This morning Laine woke up and one of the first things he did was pop up and sit on the edge of the bed and said, "Mommy, it's ZERO (holding his hand in the shape of a zero) days today. I get to go to school TODAY!" We've been "counting down" the days unofficially and without me prompting him at all, he knew today was day "zero." So sweet! He was so excited.

Laine talked to me about his first day of school when he got home. He told me how they took a nap until the timer went off, he had a snack, had recess, and he slipped and told me that the teacher almost had to write his name on the board for something until he said, "Ms Carvel, no, please don't write my name up there, please." I have an e-mail into Ms Carvel to see what that was about, but nothing I'm not surprised about! :) He told me he was talking to his neighbor! Doesn't surprise me! :) He's Mr. Social Baltzly. Love that about him, but he's just not been used to "not talking" to a friend when he wants to.

We actually have homework tonight, so I must get going to start working on that with Laine!

More later!

Chavalah is 4 weeks old!

Can it be!? Really!? Seriously!? Wow! Time is flying by SO FAST I can hardly catch up!

Our sweet Chavalah will be 4 weeks tomorrow! Unbelievable. Thank you for your continued prayers for Chavalah. It's because of you prayer warriors she's doing so well! Last week at a check up, she weighed 6 pounds 9 ounces so is steadily gaining weight! Still so itty bitty and tiny, but GROWING nonetheless! Praise the Lord for that! We are so thankful.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

I also just wanted to say a quick THANK YOU, from the very bottom of my heart, for each and every one of you that take the time to check and read our blog! It means SO MUCH to me! I am so thankful you look and I'm even more thankful when you leave a comment on your way out! :)

Babies!

Mommy & Ezra (a year ago in March 2007)

Mommy & Chavalah (taken today, August 2008)

Real quick, I stole this idea from my cousin! :) Sorry, Andra! :) People have been asking me if I thought Ezra and Chavalah (since biological siblings) look anything alike! Here's my answer! :)

Meet The Teacher!

Finding our classroom!

Laine by his classroom door!

Look who I found and heard screaming "mommy" "mommy." (We miss David SOOOO BAD, but we are so thankful for the family that has him. They are incredible!)

David saw Laine after several weeks of being away from him. For those of you that don't know, David got moved to another foster home that is much more equipped to help with his emotional needs and scarring. Our hearts are still aching his move. We love him SO MUCH!

Finding the bag with Laine's name on it. Laine recognized his name immediately!

Laine's best friend, Dalaynie P. Laynie will be in full day kindergarten though.

Laine's Early Kindergarten Teacher, Ms Carvell

We are so blessed to have family close. Aunt ShiSha is visiting from Iowa!

Laine had a small gift for his teacher, Ms Carvell!

Laine and Oma found his birthday on the birthday calendar!

Good 'ol tetherball! What's a school playground without it?

Laine start school on Monday morning, so tonight (Friday) they had a "Meet the teacher" event at the school in their classrooms! SO EXCITING! We took tons of pictures, so just look and you'll see what happened tonight! He will be attending Legacy Traditional School in Maricopa. Sorry so many pictures, this is a FIRST for us! Ha!