Tuesday, April 27, 2010

And then there were five...






















On Friday, April 16th at 11:08 am, we welcomed Ezekiel James Bransford into our family. He weighed in at 6 lbs, 10 oz. and was 18.5 inches long. The c-section went well and Ezekiel came out perfectly without complications. He will be the final member of our little clan (unless we adopt one day), as the doctors discovered the lining of my uterus was "practically non-existent." They could see Ezekiel through it! We went ahead and had the doctors tie my tubes because the risk of my uterus bursting (killing the baby and me) with another pregnancy was way too high. Ezekiel is by far the smallest of our babies. Graci was 9 lbs 3 oz and Isaiah was 8 lbs 2 oz. I'm convinced that the Lord made Ezekiel smaller so as to protect he and I from my uterus bursting this time around. Thank you Lord!!!






Graci and Isaiah are adjusting well to their new little brother. Graci is already a natural at being gentle and taking care of him. Isaiah asked to hold him the other day. It was so cute to see him hold him in his arms and kiss him on the head. Precious! Isaiah seems pretty unaware of Ezekiel most of the time, but when he cries he walks over to him and says, "Oh, the baby crying. It's okay baby. It's okay." Again, so cute!






We have been so blessed by my mom who came to visit for a week upon our return home from the hospital. It was so fun to see her with her newest grandson. I'm sure she made many memories during her time here, as did we. She was the cook, cleaner, hair cutter, face wiper, tush cleaner, nurse, doctor, etc. extraordinaire!!! She went back to Ca on Friday afternoon and then we were greeted by the Tom and Kat Davis clan (Jon's twin sister and family). Kat has been here throughout the week helping out with the kids and cooking/cleaning duties around the house. Tom had to return to Kansas on Sunday for the work week. We are so thankful to all who have come to help out!!!






Jon is currently finishing his last week of classes at DTS for the semester. It has gone by really fast! He is doing his best to finish strong despite just having a new baby and coming down with a horrendous cold/cough the week before Ezekiel was born. We are still praying and seeking the Lord as to whether or not He would have Jon go to school full time again in the fall or part time. He was awarded another $1000 scholarship for the fall semester. If he goes part time, he is ineligible for any scholarships. We are praying for God to give us a clear direction. He is currently registered for 14 hours for the fall, but it's not set in stone until we have to pay tuition for it in August. Full time would be great so he could finish the schooling as fast as possible, but it's impossible to work full time and have a family (that's still in tact) at the same time. Please keep this decision of full time vs. part time in prayer.






I think that about sums us up for now. God continues to provide abundantly beyond all we can imagine. Thank you for your prayers and love!