My Dear MIRACLE Children

Mommy and her three miracles!

Just having one of those................"overwhelmed by God's goodness and grace to us"..........days. As all of you that are reading this pretty much know, God has worked OVERTIME on our behalf to create/design our family with the most amazing children we could have ever asked for. He went far ABOVE AND BEYOND His calling to provide us our beautiful "quiver full." So, I'm warning you, this post is super long with loads of pictures, but I just want to type this post as more or less a HUGE THANK YOU TO EACH OF YOU that faithfully read our blog and FAITHFULLY pray for our family! TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!! He has done GREAT THINGS! I can't help but think about where these sweet babies would be right now in life if left still in the care of their own biological mommies and daddies. Makes me weep just thinking about it, and it makes me weep even HARDER, having been their CHOSEN mommy, by God! Here are a few brief updates on each of them!


CHAVALAH LYN

Feeding my sweet baby girl. Only way possible right now with my hand having just had surgery!

HOURS of entertainment! Jumparoo!!! She is so happy in this.

Laughing at daddy. The man of her life! :) She's DEFINITELY a daddy's girl! She's got herself wrapped right around her daddy's finger!!!

Just woke up from a short snooze on daddy. Still smiling!

Here's her short snooze. I guess these are out of order! :(

KISSES! She giggles and giggles!

Chavalah is doing GREAT! She is our princess. We are MADLY in love with her. She is 14 pounds now, EIGHT months, yesterday! You can be praying for us April 8 & 22. If all goes well, the 22nd of April will be our final "hearing" not including the actual adoption hearing! YAY! We expect everything to go well, but please pray!!! She is still getting therapy. They've uped her amount of appointments as she's testing at 5 months old. Nothing that can't be helped, just look at our Ezra! At two he's doing everything he needs to be doing, but only by the help of his therapists. We expect the same for Chavie.


EZRA DANIEL

Deep in thought! :) Enjoying the fire. Notice how far away he is! :)

Ezra found his very favorite, "Elmo" shirt, and got himself dressed! We were laughing so hard when he came out!

The best eater EVER! He'll eat ANYTHING!

Playing in the sprinklers while daddy tests them out. Big brothers' shoes on.

HAPPY BOY!

Oh, Ezra. Our sweet boy, Ezra. WHO WOULD'VE THOUGHT, two short years ago, bringing this precious bundle of joy home STRAIGHT from the hospital at 4 pounds would be this darn cute and irresistible!? Ezra has had AMAZING turn arounds in his life and for that we are forever grateful to our Heavenly Father. Ezra, except for when sick, is the HAPPIEST boy, with smiles every moment of the day. He is our strong will, but nevertheless, he's so playful and happy. He is talking and saying SO MANY WORDS and phrases, it's crazy! As his name means, "Helper," he is definitely mommy's helper. He throws his own diapers away, he picks up his toys, he likes to help in the kitchen by standing on the chair to help me, it's DREAMY having him around! :)


LAINE JOSEPH

Give the boy a flashlight and he's happy for HOURS! He always goes on these "make believe" adventures with his flashlight. So darling to watch him play.

Monkey boy! This boy LOVES to tie things, play with robes, swing from things, be acrobatic, just BE OUTDOORS!

Laine has a love for Oatmeal! He LOVES it! And I'm thrilled he does as it's healthy and filling for him! What could be better!?

Being silly! He loves doing something funny and laughing at himself. He keeps us laughing! Hanging out in Uncle Brians' boots.

Can he get any cuter than this?! Shew! Big green eyes, darling round and rosy cheeks, wavy hair, THICK hair. He's gorgeous! Here he is enjoying a concert with the ear plugs in.

OH NO! We're losing our first tooth!!!! Daddy told him to take a hammer to it so it'd come out sooner. NOT GOOD! :)

Laine is GROWING UP SO FAST! He is handsome, LOVING, a servant at heart, a hard working learner in school, mischievous, happy and excitable! School is going SO MUCH BETTER than the first semester. He has been on honor roll for several quarters now, and again, as you see above, he's about ready to lose his first tooth! It's one on the bottom. He's living, right now, for the day that that comes out! :) He heard about the tooth fairy from his buddy at school, so he's working REAL HARD at getting that out. Laine has been SUCH A BLESSING in our lives. Since the day we got him. He has been through SO MUCH, and the biggest miracle I've seen yet, and thank God every day for is the miraculous changes from when we first got Laine. When he first moved in to our home, Laine was a very distant little boy. I, coming from an extremely, loving and hugging family, found myself WEEPING, literally time and time again when all I wanted to do was pick him up, hug him, kiss him, love on him. But to no avail. Our "cuddle time" consisted of him sitting on one end of the couch and I on the other and watch Veggie Tales together. LITERALLY. I remember weeping and weeping about this. Wondering if he'd EVER learn to trust me. And BY THE GRACE OF GOD, our sweet Laine is the most lovey, huggy little boy you'll ever meet. Unbelievably miraculous!

GOD IS SO GOOD!

Happy Birthday to the LOVE OF MY LIFE!!!!

Sweet love, you make me the happiest woman ALIVE!!!!! I love you SO MUCH, it often makes me cry! I hope today is a happy one for you!

Last Saturday - Garden - 3/21

Daddy's little helper!

WOW, how things have just POPPED! Although these were taken a little bit ago, I JUST got them posted.

Ezra's 2nd Birthday

Ezra's birthday was really quite nice, considering I had just has surgery less than 24 hours before! :) I rested most of the day, but we played and enjoyed our day together VERY MUCH! It was the biggest blessing too, as a friend of mine, graciously brought our family a meal so we wouldn't starve :) and it was the yummiest, most delicious "day after surgery/birthday meal" I could've ever have asked for! WOW! And to top it all off, she brought CUPCAKES as she knew it was Ezra's birthday and knew I couldn't bake a cake! WOW! Now THAT'S what I call FRIENDS! THANK YOU SO MUCH, Patty! No words to express my gratitude.

The weather was amazing and we all sat out on our patio to have a picnic dinner!

See my new birthday plate I just did!? :) SO FUN!
Yes, that is a tea light candle. How tacky is that!? BAD MOM! I didn't realize I didn't have any birthday candles, so we "ad libbed." :)

Make a wish, precious!

Mmmm, this is SO YUMMY! Isn't he HANDSOME!?

Maticulous just like at his first birthday! :) For those of you who couldn't make it or don't remember, I made Ezra his very own birthday cake that he could "dive in to" and I had colorful stars around the bottom of the cake to make a border and instead of usual, grab a fist full of cake and stuff it in the mouth move, he took his tiny pincher fingers and took one tiny little star and ate it ONE AT A TIME around the bottom of the cake! We were all laughing! He's my particular one! Has to buckle the buckle on his high chair EVERY TIME he gets out of his high chair and has to make sure he pushes it in. Crazy kid! Not sure who he gets that from! :)

Sugar dazed after all that heap of frosting!

Week since Surgery!

Well, I'm back again! Lots has happened since last Thursday this time! I'm awake, that's one thing! :) Had my follow up with my doctors' office this morning. They said the incision actually looks good like it's healing. At this point, I'm still very unable to do much of anything. Typing is slow, but at least I can with one hand! :) My pain level on a scale from 0-10 is still at about a 7. Not sure why, but that's the way it is. My hand, too, is SO WEAK. At this point, I can't even clinch my hand into a fist. My fingers don't move, so slow going, but getting there. There is still numbness!!!!! That's my biggest concern! Quite a bit actually! They say 70% patients that have had this surgery get immediate relief day after surgery. Another 20% gradually get it back over 6 months or so after surgery, and the other 10% the surgery never heals as there is permanent nerve damage. I'm optimistic and believe I will be of the 20%!!! :)

So there you have it! :) Thanks for your continued prayers as I continue healing!!

Happy Birthday Ezra BALTZLY!!!!

Today is Ezra's birthday! Wow! Two years has FLOWN by! Shew! This is his first birthday with OUR last name!! Thank You, JESUS!!! We're so thankful!

We too are remembering our sweet Loren Walter! Today would've been his birthday also!

Surgery!

BEFORE

Post surgery recovery!

You can see my fingers very swollen! They are better today.

Several are asking for an update from surgery! I've decided to post one handed! :)

It went well. A little trouble with respiratory at the beginning of anesthesia, but all turned out alright! Benjamin just got real worried when he sat in the waiting room for me and about 5 minutes after they rolled me away he heard over the loud speaker, "Dr Erickson (my dr) to OR #5 STAT for respitory! STAT to OR#5." That was me! Everything else went smooothly!

Today, I'm pretty uncomfortable, although that's to be expected! Running a low grade fever, so praying hard that goes away and no infection at incision site!! I get to take original dressing off tomorrow. Am very curious to see!

Thank you for your continued prayers! There is still tingly numbness in fingers as before, but hopefully that goes away. They said 70% of the patients that have this surgery will have immediate day after surgery relief or feeling back! Not me quite yet, but hopefully soon!

I'll post later!

Big Day

Tomorrow is the big day! Phew! As I write, the house is quiet. Two of my kids are spending the night tonight instead of getting up at 4:30 in the morning to get all loaded up and dropped off at three different homes! Shew! But I'm WIPED! That wasn't originally the plan. The hospital doesn't call you until the night before to tell you what time you have to be there. So, I didn't find out it was so early until tonight at 6:00 PM. NICE! :) Luckily, Laine & Ezra are situated, and now it will just be Chavalah we have to drop off so early in the morning!!! It's been reported Laine is asleep, and Ezra was asleep before I left. I wanted to make sure he wasn't going to cry awhile when he was not in his own bed. He went right down! :) So nice!

Good night! Other than the possibility of Benjamin posting for me, it may be a bit before you see another post! JUST WARNING YOU, you blog regulars!!! :) I actually LOVE it that you so faithfully read my blog! And that you so faithfully pray for our family!

Hugs!

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!!!!!!!

Best baby EVER! Happy all the time and smiley all the time! :)

This is her new silly thing. She sucks her bottom lip and squeaks it.

Here's our little sweetie on St Patrick's Day!!! :) Do you see now, why I can't quit squeezing her!?!?

Also, Happy Birthday Annika, my sweet cousins' baby (not anymore). And Happy Birthday Isabella, my dear friends little girl!!!

Chavalah

Chavalah is just too cute! I can't quick squeezing her! Just lovey! Scrumptious!

She has a new thing that she does and that's scrunch up her cute little face and inhale and exhale through her nose! Watch! :) She has also figured out how to click her tongue!

Spaghetti Man!

Ezra LOVES spaghetti! I usually strip him down to just his diaper when he eats it as he gets it EVERYWHERE! :) He's such a dolly! I love him so much! He's just growing up SO FAST!

Mmmm, mmmm, Mommy!! :)

GNO!!!!

Much needed Girls Night Out happened last night! What a delightful time! My friend Amber and I went out WITHOUT our kids! WOW! It was so wonderful! THANK YOU ROB AND BENJAMIN for watching the kids while we got out. We went to a really good restaurant called Z Tejas first and enjoyed a PLEASANT surprise when we got our bill. We ended up ordering appetizers from the menu cause that's what we wanted and they ended up being half price as it was "happy hour." Didn't even know it!!!! What a blessing!

Then we went to As You Wish which is a paint your own pottery place to paint a birthday plate for our families. I will serve all of our family a piece of cake on their very own birthday! Should be fun! I just want my kids to have special memories of growing up just as I do! As you can see, they turned out pretty cute, but you really CAN'T tell what they'll look like until you actually see them glazed, which we can pick them up on Tuesday, so I'll take another picture and post when we get them back.

Thank, Amber, for a great night!

Weekly Update on Benjamin's Garden

So, I think it's SO INTERESTING to see the growth of a garden from seed to full growth, so I'm going to try and take a picture every Saturday to show you the growth! This is yesterday's shot. I'm a little late, I didn't have the first few pictures as seed really other than them planting, but I'm starting now. So, in the pictures, you can see a little bit of green. He planted half of the garden about 2 weeks ago, and the rest throughout this week. Farthest away are two full rows of sweet corn, then there is broccoli, green beans, shell peas, carrots, potatoes, pumpkins, green onion, garlic, a whole row of tomato plants, and an entire row of strawberry plants! Should be yummy!!!!!! Can't wait! The black strips that you see along the garden are drip tapes that allow us to set our water on a timer and it will start watering on its own and just DRIP the water through so it's not so "flooded." It's more even. There is a drip tape for every row of vegetables on each side. So fun! I'm learning so much! My husband is AMAZING in the garden. This is his first "Arizona" garden, so he's very unsure of himself, but I have confidence he'll do amazing. Come along on our journey if you feel like it! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAMA!!!!!

TODAY, is my mama's birthday! Actually it is now 12:10 AM, but I still consider it her birthday since I'm still awake!!!

Mama, I LOVE YOU so much, it makes me cry! You are the best mom in the entire world EVER! I couldn't ask for a better best friend! You care about me more than anyone in this world but my husband. You make me feel SO SPECIAL! So happy to still have you. Looking forward to celebrating your NEXT birthday! :)

Miss you! Can't wait to see you a week from today!

Outer extremities! :)

Ezra is pointing to his outer extremities for you here in this video! :) He still gets a little confused, but for the most part is quite familiar! :)

Big Update

Our fabulous school boy!

Boy is that ice cream cone GOOD!!!

Ooop! Helping daddy with the garden!!

Laine helping daddy plant the strawberry bushes.

Chavalah snoozing in her jumparoo!

KRISPY KREME!!! Enough said! :)

These boys are INSEPARABLE! They are AMAZING!
Praise God from whom all BLESSINGS FLOW!!!

Brothers! Did you hear that?! Brothers! Takes time for these adoptions to SOAK IN! Sorry for the repeat! I just like to hear that! :) BROTHERS! :) AMEN!

Mommy & Chavie!

It's been a GREAT week, but BUSY, and I'm ready for a weekend to recuperate! Benjamin has worked for almost 9 days in a row again and I'm ready for him to be HOME! :) Laine has been on Spring Break this week, it's been nice not to have to hurry up and get him to school by 11:40 every day, then hurry back to get him by 2:40. Had NO IDEA how much that actually disrupts my day! Shew! Nice break! Although, our sweet school boy has asked EVERY MORNING if he goes back to school yet! :) Such a cutie.

So, we started our week at church. Great service. I got some more Pampered Chef from my cousins' party and am always a very happy baker/cook when I get new things! :) People think I'm nuts, but I USE EVERY SINGLE PIECE, MANY TIMES, WITHOUT FAIL! :) Worth every penny.

Monday was a "prep" day for a freezer meal cooking day on Tuesday! My sister-in-law, Aubrey, and I planned an ALL DAY cooking day for Tuesday! Can I just say, that was one of the most rewarding days of my life! I felt SO SUCCESSFUL! I was so proud! And I think Aubrey would agree with me. We prepared meals for our families' that will probably last spread out about 2 months. We even did a batch of Slush and Chocolate Chip Cookie dough. Plus TONS of meals! They all smelled and looked SO YUMMY! I'm just hoping they last me through my 2-4 weeks of no cooking after surgery on Thursday! Eek! Probably not, but I"m going to really make them stretch! I just refuse to let my family eat out for the for sure 2 weeks that I can't cook. Can't afford the cost of eating out or the cost of the calories of eating out! Aubrey and I were in the kitchen from 10 until 7:30 with two short breaks, otherwise. Once Aubrey left, I was still in the kitchen until 1:30 AM finishing everything up. Shew! LONG DAY!

Today I felt we needed to GET OUT OF THE HOUSE! So, I decided I'd take the boys to Krispy Kreme. My original thought was that I'd take them there so that they could have fun watching the donuts being made, etc. To my suprise, this location only had donuts and a cafe, no manufacturing! :( I was SO DISAPPOINTED!!!!! The boys still had a fabulous time and we all enjoyed a special treat!

Last week, was busy as well. Benjamin planted most of his garden, with the help of his assistant sons! :) It was so cute, Benjamin would give Ezra a seed (corn) and tell him to plant it and Ezra would put it in the ground, cover it up (barely enough so daddy would finish), but he felt "so accomplished." You could just see the pride in his eyes! I LOVE seeing that in my children. Self-confidence! Good to teach them young. Ezra, after covering his seed up said, "Ni Ni, seed, Ni Ni" as he pats the dirt!! Too cute! They had SO MUCH FUN! I will take pictures tomorrow of his BEAUTIFUL GARDEN and post them! My baby is AWESOME when it comes to gardening and I can hardly wait to eat, can and store his goods! :) Thank you, sweetie!

Our baby girl is now 7 months old! Time is FLYING! Shew! She gets cuter and cuter every day! Can't stop loving and kissing on her. Pour baby was sick last week with an ear infection. She is starting to get over that now, but I think there might be some teeth coming through! We'll have to see. It seems to take forever.

Last week, also, our dear sweet Laine had an INCREDIBLE report home from school! He was SO GOOD, so focused, so kind to others, so much so that his principal got called to Ms Carvell's class to give Laine a great huge hug! Laine was pretty proud. We celebrated with an ice cream cone out on our patio in the 80 degree weather! WAY TO GO, LAINE! Mommy and daddy are so proud of you!

I think this brings you up to speed! Sending our love to all!