Welcome to Jedi Leander Luke Ballard! He was born today, June 1, 2009,  at 10:05 am CST, at the Choctaw Nation hospital in Talihina, Oklahoma. Mom and baby are doing great!

12-Hour update

Stats

Weight: 8 pounds, 2 ounces
Length: 21 inches
Apgar: 9.9

Newborn Jedi Leander Luke
 

Mom & Baby Jedi
 

Dad & Baby Jedi
 

Mom & 3 Boys
 

The Boys got to push the button that plays the lullaby over the intercom system for the whole hospital when a baby is born. They were excited!
 

More & better pics, etc. coming in the next few days. Stay tuned!

This is a Water Cooler Wednesdays post…

One of the biggest things I’ve wanted to do in my life is actually put down roots and live somewhere for more than 2 or 3 years.  For much of my life, it seems I’ve lived a nomadic existence.  Since 1994 when I went off to the University of Oklahoma, I haven’t stayed in the same place for very long.

I want the relationships and familiarity that can only come with living or dwelling somewhere for a long period of time.  We never guessed that place would be Fort Smith, Arkansas, but here we are.  After living here for 10 months in an apartment, the perfect house for us went on the market and we acted quickly. God has been in control of this whole thing and has been very faithful to help us during this process of putting down roots.

The last few weeks have been quite tiring and difficult… juggling job, family and moving.  All the packing, U-Hauling, scraping, painting, ripping up, laying down, measuring, cleaning, fixing, buying, installing and aching has been worth it.  I haven’t been to the gym in 2 weeks and haven’t walked in almost as long, but I’ve been burning calories and pumping the muscles in other ways.  We didn’t expect this to be such an ordeal, but it’s totally worth it to settle into such a great community, church and job.

I really need to take some time to write down my life list.  Up until now, I just sort of have this running list in my head… and there are still lots of things I want to do like skydive, go to Australia, take an African Safari, visit Tokyo, Israel, Ireland and Montana.  I want to do a marathon, write a lot of great songs and have a few more children.  I want God to change me into who He has always wanted me to be.  I still want to get an MBA and a PhD… mainly just for me, but to keep learning.  I don’t ever want to stop learning, growing and experiencing something outside my comfort zone.

I believe setting down roots is going to play a major role in the great things that are yet to come and I can’t wait to see where God takes us as we plant ourselves and serve him with our lives and all He has blessed us with.  Check out the song Roots Before Branches by Nikki and Adam Anders on iTunes.

From the dining room this morning, my wife started screaming YES!!!

I was trying to wake up the boys and ran to see what was going on. She was on the internet checking our bank account. Today we close on our house and she was trying to figure out if we had the money we needed for the cashier’s check. She was smiling ear to ear as she swirled the chrome neck of the old school iMac around to show me the balance in our account. It was $1,800 more than she had expected. Our Federal Government Stimulus Package arrived sometime during the wee hours of the morning. We have two boys and qualified for the $1,800 amount. The timing on this is so incredible! We now have more than enough to close on our house and buy the paint and supplies we were planning on getting. I know some people have been against the stimulus payments, but we’re certainly glad to get this – especially at this time.

We are excited to see what God has in store for us as we continue to put down roots and settle in to the work He has for us here in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

This has already been quite a stimulating morning and it’s only 7 a.m.