Benjamin and I have recently had to make a HUGE decision. It's one we've debated over and over and that's whether or not to continue being foster parents. Our license is up for renewal in March, and this is the FIRST YEAR in all the years we've been in foster care (since 2004) where we've actually had an OPTION on renewing, because all of the kids in our home are OURS!!!!! That's a great thing, but on the flip side, it forces us to make a HUGE decision. This decision, for lack of a better explanation, is the same discussion most normal families would be having when it's time for deciding whether or not to have any more children. In essence, our decision NOT to renew would mean, NO MORE CHILDREN for the Baltzlys'. That's a huge thought for me to put my thoughts around.
Part of me is saying, "YOU'RE DONE. DONE with foster care. You KNOW how much work foster care is, and how EMOTIONAL it is. BE DONE." The other part of me says, "Just look at all of those waiting children in Arizona. You are completely capable of taking more, why stop NOW!?" Can you see this battle playing out in my mind? THIS IS SO HARD! The state of Arizona has the 2nd HIGHEST amount of waiting children in foster care in the United States. Pushing 4,000 now! Please don't get me wrong. I KNOW that I cannot save ALL of these children, but the thought stops me in my tracks, that's for sure! This is not my intention, but I could at least help ONE more, right!? :)
So, the decision has already been made, ultimately, but until it is final and we are "relicensed" it remains a question in my mind! Yesterday and today has been spent rounding up all the paperwork needed to file for a foster license renewal.
At this point, we are on a "sabbatical" at the request of us. We have been, actually since November after Chavalah's adoption. We definitely recognized our SERIOUS need for NO INTERRUPTIONS in our very new and sweet and perfect family for several months, but this happened to come in the middle of that "R&R." We will still most likely stay this way until end of April, then open our phone back up for calls. We'll see!
Would you do us a favor!? Would you pray very specifically about this for us. Would you pray that IF IT'S GOD'S WILL for our lives that He would bring us His chosen one for us and that we would feel PEACE about this! And if it's not that He'd make that clear by bringing us no more children and a peace that this is what's meant to be for us so that we can officially move on?!
Benjamin & I so covet your prayers. I will keep you posted! :)
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
Hmmm.........
......looks as though the blog writer has been SLACKING! :( So sorry! I feel terrible. No "real" excuse here, so without further ado, here is what we've been up to since um............December 15! :)
December 19 we left for a nice 9 day trip away from home to Colorado! We rented a cabin there and got an opportunity to be ALONE! Just the five of us! IT WAS FABULOUS! Nothing wrong with be with friends and family, but we had had SO MUCH going on these last few years that we needed a break away with just the five of us! True bliss! It snowed (we were really praying for that), we were cozy, we all slept well, we went to Focus On The Family (VERY COOL), road the Pikes Peak Cograil, these were a few of the fun things we got to do while we were there. We did also get to see some very special family friends while we were there. They were gracious enough to open their home to us for a very yummy dinner! :) THANK YOU, McCraleys!
Upon returning, we brought in the new year! No huge celebration, but I am always happy to close off a year and open a brand new one! :) :) So far this year, we've almost all gotten sick with something (except Laine), but are on the mend, Laine just started his ORANGE belt karate class, Ezra starts another round of Gymnastics tomorrow morning, I've started my new Bible Study "Living a Life of Balance" which I'm already learning TONS from, Benjamin went back to work after a nearly 4 week break/time off. So far, that's about it! Things seem to be quieting down some for us this year. We have taken a "sabbatical" per se, from foster care and are still licensed, but not taking any placement phone calls, probably until end of March! Just needed a break from the craziness of things to really get our "official family" on our feet in the right way!
We DO plan, however, to relicense at least one more year! This has been a REALLY tough decision for us this year! We're due in March, so we really needed to decide and get moving if we were going to do this again. We'll see what happens. Still following the Lord on this to the core, and we're open to what He'll show us this year!
Not much happening this month! That'll be nice.
Next month, however, my sister is GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Truly amazing! We will ALL fly back to Iowa end of March for about 5 days! Not a very long trip, but the point of our trip is to be there for Anissa and MARK! We absolutely LOVE Mark! He is PERFECT for Anissa! They will tie the knot on March 27! More on that to come!
I hope this helps catch everyone up! I'm hoping to stay more diligent. I have to be honest, I felt like I needed to "catch up" and therefore I had been procrastinating FAR MORE than I should've. I won't necessarily be having tons of pictures with every post, but I will try and document more of our every day life when I can and throw in pictures when I can! Thanks for your continued interest in our lives!
Love to you all!
December 19 we left for a nice 9 day trip away from home to Colorado! We rented a cabin there and got an opportunity to be ALONE! Just the five of us! IT WAS FABULOUS! Nothing wrong with be with friends and family, but we had had SO MUCH going on these last few years that we needed a break away with just the five of us! True bliss! It snowed (we were really praying for that), we were cozy, we all slept well, we went to Focus On The Family (VERY COOL), road the Pikes Peak Cograil, these were a few of the fun things we got to do while we were there. We did also get to see some very special family friends while we were there. They were gracious enough to open their home to us for a very yummy dinner! :) THANK YOU, McCraleys!
Upon returning, we brought in the new year! No huge celebration, but I am always happy to close off a year and open a brand new one! :) :) So far this year, we've almost all gotten sick with something (except Laine), but are on the mend, Laine just started his ORANGE belt karate class, Ezra starts another round of Gymnastics tomorrow morning, I've started my new Bible Study "Living a Life of Balance" which I'm already learning TONS from, Benjamin went back to work after a nearly 4 week break/time off. So far, that's about it! Things seem to be quieting down some for us this year. We have taken a "sabbatical" per se, from foster care and are still licensed, but not taking any placement phone calls, probably until end of March! Just needed a break from the craziness of things to really get our "official family" on our feet in the right way!
We DO plan, however, to relicense at least one more year! This has been a REALLY tough decision for us this year! We're due in March, so we really needed to decide and get moving if we were going to do this again. We'll see what happens. Still following the Lord on this to the core, and we're open to what He'll show us this year!
Not much happening this month! That'll be nice.
Next month, however, my sister is GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Truly amazing! We will ALL fly back to Iowa end of March for about 5 days! Not a very long trip, but the point of our trip is to be there for Anissa and MARK! We absolutely LOVE Mark! He is PERFECT for Anissa! They will tie the knot on March 27! More on that to come!
I hope this helps catch everyone up! I'm hoping to stay more diligent. I have to be honest, I felt like I needed to "catch up" and therefore I had been procrastinating FAR MORE than I should've. I won't necessarily be having tons of pictures with every post, but I will try and document more of our every day life when I can and throw in pictures when I can! Thanks for your continued interest in our lives!
Love to you all!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
OFFICIAL
So, had a "weepy" moment this morning! Chavalah's birth certificate with her new name and new "mother's name" and "father's name" were ready to finally be picked up! Not sure why, but after driving to Florence to get this "official certificate" with her new name, and after getting back in my car and actually LOOKING at it for the first time, I started weeping! WHAT A DAY OF CELEBRATION!!!!!! In foster care, time is NEVER on your side, and to WAIT and WAIT for this very document that declares BY LAW, she is Chavalah Lyn, and daughter of Ben & Joanna Baltzly, there's just nothing like it! I know, I know, you're probably saying, YOU SHOULD BE USED TO THIS BY NOW. Can I just put the record straight! YOU CAN'T EVER GET USED TO WAITING FOR YOUR CHILD! It's like waiting 17 or 18 months to "deliver" your unborn child. Our "delivery room" is the court room, and until then, you are only a care taker.
Took the fresh birth certificate straight to the SS office in Casa Grande to change it to a new number also! Many of you might remember what happened with Ezra. Once the adoption is final until the old number changes to the new, our information, the day of the adoption is all accessible through the SS office. So if someone (in our case, the birth mother) decides she wants to OUT OF THE BLUE go and look up her childs name for information, OUR information, as of November 17 is readily available. YIKES! That's what happened last year with Ezra. She showed up at the SS office looking for Ezra's whereabouts. It just so happened (because we serve an AWESOME GOD) that we had changed his SSN either hours or days from her looking him up and his number (the old one she had) was unable to be retrieved because it had literally JUST changed to his new one. Had I gone in even ONE DAY later to file for a new one than I did, she could've EASILY have had ALL of our info! So, this is a significant day! Filing for her "new identity." Can't wait to have the card in hand to know that it too has been taken care of! About another 4 weeks they say! :)
Thanks again for your prayers about this!
I'll probably post one more time before our trip that we leave on this weekend. Just wanted to post this HIGHLIGHT!
Took the fresh birth certificate straight to the SS office in Casa Grande to change it to a new number also! Many of you might remember what happened with Ezra. Once the adoption is final until the old number changes to the new, our information, the day of the adoption is all accessible through the SS office. So if someone (in our case, the birth mother) decides she wants to OUT OF THE BLUE go and look up her childs name for information, OUR information, as of November 17 is readily available. YIKES! That's what happened last year with Ezra. She showed up at the SS office looking for Ezra's whereabouts. It just so happened (because we serve an AWESOME GOD) that we had changed his SSN either hours or days from her looking him up and his number (the old one she had) was unable to be retrieved because it had literally JUST changed to his new one. Had I gone in even ONE DAY later to file for a new one than I did, she could've EASILY have had ALL of our info! So, this is a significant day! Filing for her "new identity." Can't wait to have the card in hand to know that it too has been taken care of! About another 4 weeks they say! :)
Thanks again for your prayers about this!
I'll probably post one more time before our trip that we leave on this weekend. Just wanted to post this HIGHLIGHT!
Monday, December 7, 2009
MORE!
I still have lots more! Just need to do these in small chunks! Here's to get you started again! :) Will be back later with more!
Laine's Belt Ceremony
Many of you knew Laine was in karate these last few months! It has been the neatest thing for Laine! He's learned A LOT about respect, honor, self defense, etc. He completed a few months of karate and graduated now into the orange belt! They had an actual belt ceremony that we attended, and I was a PROUD MAMA! He did GREAT! We plan on starting orange belt after the first of the year! He's definitely interested enough to continue! Opa & Oma got him his uniform for Christmas. In the beginners or white belt, it wasn't a requirement and I hated spending the money on a uniform if I wasn't sure whether he'd like it or not! We're very proud of our orange belt son! WAY TO GO LAINE!
Waiting patiently for the ceremony to start with his buddies.
The spectators! :) Benjamin was standing behind my dad.
Beginning the ceremony! Notice Laine in the bright yellow shirt and the ONLY child there without a uniform! :)
Removing the old white belt.
Tying on of the new ORANGE belt!
Congratulations hand shake from his instructor.
Shaking hands with one of the owners. Also an instructor.
Ezra digging through Oma's purse. Funny story. Mom had eaten at a Chinese restaraunt earlier that day and decided to keep her fortune cookie, as she knew that she'd be with her grandkids that night and that one of them just might want that cookie. Well, Ezra saw the wrapper sticking out the top of her purse and begged for the cookie, naturally! After finishing the entire cookie, he thought he was on to something by finding the first treasure and thought perhaps there might be another treasure in there somewhere, so he proceeded to dig through Oma's purse, but mom told him there was literally nothing because she knew there was no gum, etc. Ezra wouldn't take no for an answer, and SURE ENOUGH, he found ONE measily little mint at the very bottom of the purse and had the biggets grin on his face when he pulled it out of her purse! Little stinker! :)
Very proud parents after the ceremony!
We all finished the night out at Barro's Pizza to celebrate! It was such a great night!
Waiting patiently for the ceremony to start with his buddies.
The spectators! :) Benjamin was standing behind my dad.
Beginning the ceremony! Notice Laine in the bright yellow shirt and the ONLY child there without a uniform! :)
Removing the old white belt.
Tying on of the new ORANGE belt!
Congratulations hand shake from his instructor.
Shaking hands with one of the owners. Also an instructor.
Ezra digging through Oma's purse. Funny story. Mom had eaten at a Chinese restaraunt earlier that day and decided to keep her fortune cookie, as she knew that she'd be with her grandkids that night and that one of them just might want that cookie. Well, Ezra saw the wrapper sticking out the top of her purse and begged for the cookie, naturally! After finishing the entire cookie, he thought he was on to something by finding the first treasure and thought perhaps there might be another treasure in there somewhere, so he proceeded to dig through Oma's purse, but mom told him there was literally nothing because she knew there was no gum, etc. Ezra wouldn't take no for an answer, and SURE ENOUGH, he found ONE measily little mint at the very bottom of the purse and had the biggets grin on his face when he pulled it out of her purse! Little stinker! :)
Very proud parents after the ceremony!
We all finished the night out at Barro's Pizza to celebrate! It was such a great night!From Catepiller to Butterfly!
Cocoons! I realized I didn't take a picture of them as a caterpillar! :(
You can see here one has hatched from its' cocoon and its' wing is still not all the way out.
And here it IS! Unbelievable!
Laine saying his "goodbyes" to his butterfly friends.
Lid is open and watching them fly away!In one of our Language Arts lessons, Laine and I read a poem about how a caterpillar turned into a beautiful butterfly. I've heard many things about the neat process that it takes, but I've never witnessed the entire process myself! Truly a miraculous thing. How they can spin that cocoon and more or less "hatch" out of the cocoon with LIQUID wings and then turn into a GORGEOUS butterfly is truly breathtaking. I thought it'd be pretty cool to witness it myself, so I purchased a butterfly house and we experimented with watching this amazing process. I didn't get near as many pictures as I should've, but you can see a little bit! We eventually let them fly away! Would totally do it again if I could!
Ezra's Room
Ezra's new room!!
So we decided that a great time to paint Ezra's room was the week OF the adoption party! How smart were we!? :) Ahem!
Not as easy as it looks! :) Those stripes were a bit TEDIOUS, especially for a very "symmetrical picky" person! Ha! BUT, we did it! And I am so proud of our outcome. His room is ADORABLE! Now the only ones left in the entire house are Laine's, laundry, our master bedroom and bathroom! That's IT! Every other square inch of this house has been painted. I don't think I've posted pictures of the boys' bathroom or Chavalah's darling Pooh room, I'll have to work on that! :) Ezra is very proud of his room! He is our very orderly son, and if we even leave ONE dirty shirt on his floor when we put him down for nap or bed, the next morning it will be squished in a dresser drawer. His closet doors have to be shut, his fan has to be rotating, his water has to be on his bookshelf right next to his bed, he can't have the blue elephant pillow anywhere NEAR his bed, you get my drift! Mmmm hmmm! One unique, but oh so precious little boy! :) WE LOVE OUR EZRA!!!!!
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