our latest

here's our little man. he has such distinct features...it's amazing.


every little one has to have a yawning picture, right?


he's so long!!!


lisey is officially getting ready for pool season.

jay is faithfully getting us ready for next winter's wood burning season! you should see him with his chain saw! he's so good about looking for wood, taking the time to cut it...i am so grateful for how he provides for us and takes care of us.

now that the bouncy seat and baby swing are back out again, elise has had her fair share of time in them. this was the case the other day...i actually had 10-15 minutes with no one in my arms or wanting me to pick them up!

happy father's day, daddy

more of our little man

lisey could not have been more proud to hold her little brother! there was such joy and excitment on her face...it was priceless!

brother and sister! i cannot wait to see their relationship grow!

four generations of baloche men

isaac met his cousins! each one took a turn holding him...but i don't think anyone enjoyed him as much as jonas. it was like he had gotten a new toy!

isaac in the kauffman bassinet. each child who has been in this bassinet has had his/her name written on the bottom. isaac is the 63rd child to be added. what a legacy.

Isaac David

yup, he's here! he arrived very quickly on wed, june 3rd at 6:39pm. i'll attempt the short version of his arrival. as justin left for work, i told him i was feeling some pressure, which then followed with an early morning phone call to him, saying that i was contracting...but it wasn't much. then i asked vanessa to come over and she spent the day with lisey and i. after two rounds on the breast pump (that thing is amazing!)...my contractions started to pick up in intensity. by the time justin got home from work, we were about ready to go to the hospital. papa picked up lisey to go stay with him and oma (and by the way, she had an awesome time with her cousins who were also over there!) then my mom and doug brought over dinner, which i never tasted. instead, we left the house in a three car caravan headed to the hospital during rush hour. we seemed to get behind every senior citizen on the road on the way there...all the while i went from 6 to 9 cm. during that car ride. justin was a fantastic driver! once we got there, and i was wheeled through the ER in a double wide wheelchair (all that was available)...to then realize it was too wide for the elevator...vanessa and justin held my arms while i contracted up the elevator, down the hall and into the labor and delivery unit. it seems many of the staff had just left for dinner...so the few that were there, helped us. within minutes i was in a room and told, "you can push when you're ready."

there aren't many words to describe going naturally. it had been my desire and going quickly helped tremendously in making it happen. about 15 minutes of pushing and Isaac was here. but i will say...the phrase "ring of fire" is very, VERY real!

i have so much to say about this whole experience, but the main theme of it all was thankfulness. i couldn't stop thinking of the gazillion things i was thankful for. God provided and was so kind in so many countless details. i will write more later. but for now, here are some pics. please note, it happened so fast, justin barely made it back to the delivery room with the camera. so our pictures are few. mary and oma have a ton more pictures that i will post soon.

groundbreaking

yesterday, our church had their groundbreaking ceremony. in about 10 months, we're told we'll be in our new building. the theme was God's faithfulness...and our pastor said...that has been the theme all along...ever since the church was planted 15 years ago. it was so awesome to be part of this ceremony, as a member of this church family, and rejoicing over how faithful God has been, continues to be every day, and how faithful He will be to those who come to the church years from now when we're all gone. everyone was encouraged to bring their own shovels. as was said, this church will not be built by just the "big-wigs" but by every member of the church...so instead of just one shovel going in...there were tons! even elise got into it! we are so very grateful for this church family God has brought us into.