First Day of Kindergarten

Blake started Kindergarten on Aug 24th. He was very excited to start school. He is lucky to have 4 neighborhood kids and 1 boy from soccer in his class. This is really crazy since there are 7 Kindergarten classes. His teacher is Ms. Wolfe. I have only heard great things about her, so I'm excited and happy to have her as Blake's teacher. I handled the big day ok. I know he is ready and will do great. His school day is very long, 7:45 - 2:45 so we do miss him much of the day. Ben really misses having his brother around after having such a fun summer. We also have had to adjust to the earlier mornings and look forward to the weekends much more now. I can't wait to see what this year holds. I know Blake will learn and grow so much this year!

The brothers. Ben wasn't too happy about the photo op.

Blake and Ms Wolfe

Blake's 6th Birthday

Blake turned 6 on Tuesday, August 11th. I still can't believe that I have a 6 year old. Time really does fly. What a fun 6 years!!

We celebrated his birthday all week. On Monday, I took the boys to Build-A-Bear to make our very first bears. They enjoyed getting to pick everything out. I did manage to get them to pick out different bears from each other, but their bears have the same Dallas Mavericks uniform. They weren't really cooperating for a picture.


On Tuesday, Blake got to choose where we would eat for dinner and Dickey's it was. Kids eat free on Tuesday so this was an added bonus. After dinner we came home to open a few presents. The presents were opened after having a bath, so that is why they are in the underwear. I wasn't a big fan of this, but was too lazy to walk back upstairs and get some clothes.

On Wednesday, we met Blake's friend, Hayden, at Amazing Jakes for some pizza, rides, and games. Blake really liked the bumper cars and riding in the rockets.


Then on Saturday we had his party at Planet Pizza with a few friends. It's an indoor amusement park with rides, games, and a big soft play area. Everyone had a great time and it wasn't too stressful on me!

Riding the ship with Grand. This was before the ship really started going. He wasn't all smiles then but did ok. Ben on the other had was rather upset. Needless to say, the Baldwin boys didn't ride the ship again.


Blake and Walt on the roller coaster

Brent, Mr Mike, Blake, and AJ on the bumper cars
Carly, Brynna, and Addy

Hayden
Blake and Taylor
Brother Air Hockey game


The Tiger cake Blake picked

Blake has brought so much joy to our lives for 6 years. We enjoy seeing his personality develop and can't wait to see what the Lord has planned for his life!

Brooklyn's Shower

My sweet friends and sister in law threw me a shower for Brooklyn. Everything was so perfect with tons of cute details! Everyone invited received a onesie with their invitation to decorate. They all turned out really cute. Brooklyn will have a lot of adorable onesies in all sizes to wear her first year. She also received lots of fun girl stuff that I can't wait for her to use. The pink is starting to take over the Baldwin house. We are so excited to welcome a little girl to our family soon.






The invitation


The hostesses and I....Erin, Bekah, Kristy, Carol, Me, and Mallory


Sis and I

Erin, Me, Grand

Jana and I
Mallory and I

Our Cat, Clyde

Saturday was a sad day for our family. We had to put our cat, Clyde aka Fuzzy, to sleep. I had taken him to get groomed a week ago and they did all his annual stuff. After checking out they told me he had lost 2 pounds and they would recommend blood work soon. On Saturday, I noticed he was not looking right and when he stood to walk his back end was wobbly. It was 11 am and all the vets closed at 12. I found a place that would work us in and I took him. The blood work was done and the vet told me he was in kidney failure. His numbers were really, really bad. I wasn't too shocked as this happened to the last Himalayan cat I had, although he was 7 when he went into kidney failure. I was of course upset and didn't know what to do for the kids sake. I talked to the vet and she said she would give him fluids and that I could take him home to say our goodbyes then bring him in on Monday to be put to sleep. As I was checking out, I get a phone call from Blake asking if I was bringing Fuzzy home and if he was ok. I assured him I was bringing him home, hung up and lost it. I knew it would be a tough weekend.

After thinking about it, I decided I couldn't go all weekend knowing we were going to have to put him to sleep or have him suffer anymore. We took some pictures and then we told the boys Saturday evening that he was very sick and that he had to go to the Animal Hospital and that we wouldn't see him again. The tears were instant and Blake was really upset. Then his sidekick, Ben, followed his lead. It was a hard few minutes, but then we were ok. There has been a lot of talk since but nothing too emotional. I was glad that we celebrated Fuzzy's big 10 year birthday in March (a plea from Blake). Crazy to think that Brent and I got him right when we got back from our honeymoon. The boys loved him! They would chase him around the house all day long. He knew when they were away as he would instantly come out of hiding. He will definitely be missed, but I can honestly say (after the emotions) I am looking forward to getting rid of all the long hair in my house. Here are a few pics of our goodbye....