M & M peanuts

Hello there!  Been awhile!  But if you read the last post, you'd see why!  And since the last post, we were blessed by bringing home another precious baby named Maria. But I'll share about her in a bit. 

I last shared a few weeks ago about having to rush Moses to the hospital. Last Sunday night he was able to come out of the incubator and take the feeding tube out. He then showed us daily this last week what a little fighter he is. Jesus did a miracle and brought this baby boy back to life. Just two weeks ago and he was within a day or so from dying and now today we hold him in our arms as he came home from the hospital yesterday! 

I lost count how many times I drove to Eldoret. It's over an hour drive, parts of the road being pretty crazy with potholes, donkey carts, motorcycles, chickens, herds of cows randomly crossing, even once a little piglet ran out across the road, and there are many more obstacles along the way. Such as, last time we had a flat but God pretected us in a big way and sent the right people to help.  I'm glad we don't have to drive there so many times now!  

So Ezra was always along for the ride since im part of his food source. He had a few rough moments of being tired of the car but overall such a great baby. And the extra fussiness was explained in the last week as four teeth have come through and i think six total are coming. At the hospital he was always loved by the nurses and did well to cheer Moses on to recover.  Guess he learned a thing or two in his early days having to be a fighter himself :). 

Ashley and Lisa went back to visit Moses a couple of times with me before they had to fly out. They tried to extend their trip but its high travel season in Kenya so it made it too difficult.  The timing was perfect on the dates they were here though.  And they'll be back! :)

10 days ago...

8 days ago... 

(They had to cut his fro off because it was so stinky and he was too fragile to scrub it for long)

6 days ago...

And then we kept waiting everyday this week to see if he could come home and yesterday was the day!  He was admitted at 4.4 pounds and now weighs 6 pounds!  Amazing how much 1.6 pounds makes a baby this small look so much better. 

He's now crying stronger, eating by bottle and more alert. Those big eyes, button nose and plumpy lips just melt my heart!  He's so precious and a miracle no doubt. 

And then there's itty bitty Maria. She was also in the same hospital as the other three. She too was abandoned. Her story a tad different. Her mom tried to abort her and was unsuccessful.  Thankfully!  The neighbors heard and all we know is they were able to get Maria to the hospital and the mom ran off. She had been in the nicu for 58 days. She was admitted at 1.4kg and when we received her she was still at 1.4kg. She had two infections while in the hospital and was on antibiotics. Each time she had started to gain weight, she would catch something and loose weight again. She wasn't being fed as often as she should have been but she wasn't malnourished like Moses. She just needed some love and consistent feeding. When we got her home, the only clothes on hand we had that fit her perfectly was Claire's bitty baby clothes (America girl baby doll). So that gives you an idea of what a little bitty baby she was! 

Lisa holding her after we gave her a sponge bath. 

Me snuggling her after a bath last week. She is such a snuggler!  Sweetest tiniest babe ever. 

After two weeks, she went from 3 pounds to 4.5 pounds. So she's a healthy girl and thriving! 

We are super thankful to have a very close friend visit in a few weeks. She's one of the founders of the organization Until Then (untilthen.org). They work with street children around the world and do water projects around here. They also help in other various ways, one of which she is bringing us baby needs they had donated specifically for our new four babes. We are super grateful even for the timing of this!  It's been incredible to see The Lord provide every step of the way.  So you could say Spouts Baby home has sprouted :). We are currently remodeling the little guesthouse on our compound and hiring staff to make this a home for our babies until the next phase of Sprouts is up and running. If you'd like to be a part of helping with Sprouts, please email us for the current funds needed!  Or you can sponsor one of the babes!  Email us: mattaw@yahoo.com or Kimberly@mattawchildren.com or sponsor@mattawchildren.com. 

Next post I'll share how amazing little Cindy Lu and Ryan are doing.  They're thriving and making progress almost daily in being restored. Glory to God for our new Sprout babies!