Dedication Sunday

Mothers' Day was also Baby Dedication day at Western Hills. Or, as our pastor said, "Parents' dedication."

This was filmed from the back of the auditorium on a Flip. Sorry for the quality.

A Wedding Celebration!

Liam went to his first wedding this weekend. On Thursday, we made our way to Owasso, OK, and stayed at Jen's dad's. On Friday, we left there and drove to Conway, AR, and met up with other CSUers at our hotel. On Saturday, the party commenced. Afterwards, we drove back to Owasso, then Independence, KS, before we finally made it home last night at 9pm.

Enjoy the pictures.

This is before we left Owasso. Liam has on an SBU t-shirt.

This is before we went swimming in the pool at the hotel.

The water was nice and warm. In the foreground is Pete Younker with his daughter, Kenzie.

Before the ceremony. I was in the wedding, hence the tux. Everything went off without a hitch, except for Pete knocking over a candle during the Unity Sand.

The finished product. Welcome to the family, Robin!

Six Months

It's hard to believe, but Liam turned 6 months old on Sunday. Time sure does fly. A quick update about what has happened in the last month.

• He continues to teethe. Drool is non-stop with this kid and his gums are getting harder each day. Everything gets chewed on; that he can fit in his mouth, anyway.
• He's trying harder and harder to crawl. We've found that we can't leave him alone for too long because he's always moving; he'd rather be on the carpet than the blanket provided.
• He loves to jump. Our church has a stationary jumper that he plays in during worship. We were compelled to go out and buy a door-hanging jumper. It's his favorite toy.
• His hair is getting longer and thicker. And, it's coming in reddish. We find that odd.
• He loves to squeal. Mostly when excited, but he also does it just because he can.
• He's getting better at holding on to things. He's also learned that instead of scooting to get a toy, he can pull the blanket and it will come to him.
• He's getting better at sitting up on his own. A little more practice and it should be a piece of cake for him.

That's about it, I think. Before we know it, he's going to be driving.

4 Week Check-Up-Date

Liam was 4 weeks old on Monday and had his second doctor's visit (which he hates very much). He's up from 6lbs 14oz to 7 lbs 12oz and is 20 1/2 inches long. Jen and I think he should be bigger than that considering pretty much all he did this past weekend was eat. But the doctor said he's right where he should be, so no worries.

We've spent most of the last month in Topeka, KS, at Jen's mom. First we spent a week there house-sitting while her mom was out of town. The weekend we were supposed to go back to Bonne Terre just happened to be the weekend that a hurricane(!) passed through Missouri, so, after picking up Doris from the airport, we went back to Topeka. We came back to our apartment the next week and found it was infested with crickets. Having to stay because of a baby shower at church, we promptly left after a week (a week of pure hell. It was like living in a live bait shop.) and went back to Topeka so that everything we own could be sprayed with insecticide. We're spending the next few days here in Kansas City until Thursday, when we will make the trek across the state to Bonne Terre to finally visit my folks (along with other familial visits).

Not a whole lot of milestones have occurred. He's to the point where he doesn't sleep all day long anymore. And he likes to look around a lot. He does scream horrendously loud when he's hungry, though. Life is just so hard for a little guy.

Week 1 @ home

Ruby's first encounter

Brogan Guffey and Liam Reynolds

You takin' MY picture?

Ruby making sure Liam is alright. She's a concerned pup.

Checkin' out the scene.

Family so far and update

Liam has already met some of his family. In two weeks time, he'll meet more. For now, though, here are some more pictures.

We also had a visit from our Sunday school teacher and his wife and another girl from our Sunday school class who happens to work at the hospital we delivered in.

Jen get released tomorrow. We will promptly be traveling to Topeka to stay with her mom for a few days. We're not sure where we'll spend the weekend as Jen's mom is leaving from KCI on Monday morning to go to a seminar. Next week will be spent either in Topeka house-sitting or in Kansas City; since I have stuff due in two classes next week, most likely Kansas City. But, once the weekend comes, we'll be Bonne Terre bound so that Liam can meet Grandpa Jim and Aunt Jamie and Great-grandma Shy. And maybe even his Great-grandparents Reynolds and his Great-uncle Richard. Who knows what the weekend will have in store for us?

Grandma Doris (Deej)

Grandpa Randy

Aunt Emily

Step-grandma Natalie

Grammy

Liam, 2 Days Old

He slept most of the day.

Grammy made it into town last night.


Loving Liam.


Spitting image?

He likes to suck on his hand.

The child shall be called...

We decided on a name. It's been thought of for a while, but now's a good time to tell. After careful consideration, lots of asking around, and sounding his name out (Caedman evidently sounds like "caveman." Thanks Omar!) we decided on one that we could both live with.

Is that how a name should be decided?

It works for us.

So without further adieu...

...the firstborn child of JD & Jen Reynolds is...

...named...

...William Ellis Reynolds.

But we're calling him Liam for short.

So...his name is Liam.

But in all actuality, his name is deeper than just something that we compromised on. William is a family name on my side (the first Reynolds in my clan in America was named William). Ellis is the English form of Elijah, which we like a lot (but couldn't use because it's currently being used by other family members). And both names have strong meanings. William means "will, determined, resolute." (Is that a redundancy for a Reynolds' child? Think about it.) Ellis (Elijah) means "the LORD is my God." All in all, we like. And in a family where nicknames abound - along with the fact that it's just cool - who can resist the name Liam?

So there you have it. William Ellis Reynolds. Liam for short.

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