Ezra Joseph

I went back and looked and I wanted to write something about each of my children and only got through the first 3! I don't want to miss out on telling you about my last 2 kiddos and the 4th one to come along was Ezra Joseph. First of all, I love the name Ezra. I have always loved it from the time I met a great kid with that name. I'm so thankful we had at least 3 boys so we could use it! It is unusual but not too bad to spell! At least I thought so. Ezra went into the hospital when he was about a week old - 10 days old maybe. I looked at his chart by the bed and it is a notebook and his name is on there spelled ERAZ.... what?? How can you mess up a 4 letter name!

Ezra means "help" or "helper" and I just love the book in the Bible (read it sometime it is not long!) where the KING wants to know more about God's word/law. So he asked for the most wise, most knowledgeable person to come and teach the whole nation and him and who did they get? EZRA! That's right, buddy! Ezra! And my little guy (who is 4 right now) has 2 cow licks on his head (in the hair) and that means he will be super smart! (Ok so maybe its an old wives tale but still, what's the harm in believing it for my son??) His middle name is "Joseph" and that means, "and God shall add". We thought that was appropriate because God surprised us with him and GOD added to our family! Not that we weren't thrilled just surprised. It also is the name of our beloved pastor who has mentored us and given us hope when we were burned out and left for dead. His name will live on in our son Ezra Joseph. I will always be indebted to Apostle/Pastor Joe for the wonderful family life he taught us that we can have.

Ezra is the most calm, easy going child. I just love the fact that he wants to sit in my lap and for as long as I will let him. He is very observant and in some ways a little sneaky. We called him our "stealth bomber" because he is silent and strikes in different places and you are left to even wonder who it was that did it! We were trying to get ready to paint the house (inside) and had primed over some marks on the walls. Well, the next day, in permanent Sharpie marker, is Ezra's name with the "e" and the "r" backwards, on the wall that I just primed! At first I thought it was just marks and the baby did it, then I looked closer and it was his name, and here he was acting all innocent even pointing the finger at little brother and the whole time it was him. Now, that's not to say he isn't spirited. He is very close minded to any form of discipline, he will scream at the top of his lungs if I put him in the corner or time out. I guess, since he got away with things (stealth bomber, remember?) he doesn't exactly like the consequences when he gets caught. But he apologizes and moves on with his life.

He is so cute, too! He does these faces that are hilarious! One we call the "eyebrow face" where he lowers his chin and practically looks at you with his eyes rolled back and through his eyebrows! He has the smoothest, brownest, most beautiful skin. I rub his belly and his sweet cheeks and man, I would love to have the kind of skin he was blessed with.

He is going to school (pre-school) for the first time in the fall of 2008 and he is going to do very well. He gets along with everyone and even though he may be a little shy at first, he is so fun and huggy and cute that you will never remember that. He also has a little stutter where he says a word over and over while he is thinking of the rest of what he wants to say, he will get over that really quick. The Lord healed him early in his life (see above hospital visit) he had a mass of fluid in his lungs and was in the PICU for 5 days and stepdown for 2 and regular room for 1 day, he has spent the longest time (at once) in the hospital (of all my kids). They said he would be back with all kinds of lung problems (he went in in October so it was just the beginning of winter and all the possible sicknesses during that time of year) but he was totally fine and has not had any problems since then. It was just a thing that the Lord wanted me to know that He is in control of my kids, and not me. The other way He did that was during the birth of Ezra. I went in at 10pm or so in labor and stayed all night going through contractions when they gave me the shot of antibiotics needed for safe travel through the birth canal, it went in my IV so I turned over on my side because it burned my whole arm and I felt a big movement in my belly when I did that. Well, Ezra flipped into a breech presentation! He was back first so totally breech. They talked to me about risks and craziness and in the end we decided to have a C-Section instead of try to turn him. It was pretty traumatic for me, I expected to be up and about right away like before but now I was in constant pain just sitting and had to stay in the hospital for 3 extra days and try to figure out what I was supposed to do with my kids when I was only planning to be "gone" for 2 days! He made himself known that very day, the little stinker!

One thing I will always remember about Ezra is how he holds up his arms to me and says, "Hold you?" I never correct his grammar because he will grow out of even wanting to be "held" and he will definitely learn to say "hold me" instead of "hold you", but for now, right now, I love it with every fiber of my being. It says to me that he loves and trusts me as his mommy, plus he's so snuggly and soft that it makes me feel just as good as it makes him feel.

I love my little Ezra (who will probably not end up so little!!).