He's here! Elijah Joel Baker 6lbs and 15 oz. He was born on Sept. 13 at 7:15 am after a little over 5 hours of labor.



Please pray for him as he lost a whole pound whcih would not be too alarming if he had been an 8 or 9 lb baby, but since he was little to start with, we were all ( his Dr., Pat, and I) concerned and he has been on formula in addition to nursing for about a week now.

We are hoping to drop the formula but not until he reaches his birthweight and we find out why my milk production is low. I  thank God for the internet and being able to research this without having to drag three kids to the library constantly!  I have began to pump. Could it be that God is teaching me another lesson in mercy towards others who can't always live up to the ideals of life. Yes, breastfeeding is best and it is the ideal, but we must not deify it--we cannot worship breastfeeding or let us allow ourselves to think that those who need to use a bottle or even worse (oh my!) put formula in it are somehow rebellious or love their children less or "doing it wrong".

God has been showing Pat and I many areas in which we have deified some ideals and is turning our hearts around to seek just him and not bowing down to all the ideals that we think we are "supposed" to have...
blah, blah, blah... okay ... I am rambling....

The main point is: Please pray for little Elijah to continue to gain weight, whatever it takes!

Oh--here's all three of them!