Normal Rockstar

Liam's Easter Pictures

I'm constantly learning how to be a dad and all that comes along with that. One of the things that is important in my wife's family is pictures - we take pictures at every opportunity and even more so now with Liam. (I'm am a horrible picture taker - I just never think about it. So I'm glad at least one of us remembers to capture the moments!)

I have learned that a very important picture opportunity for young children especially is Easter. Little girls get Easter dresses, little boys get Easter outfits, and pictures must be taken (of course). Well, over the years we have become good friends with the couple that took our wedding pictures, and they send us a note saying that they were offering portrait sessions with LIVE bunnies at for Easter... Need I say more?!?

So I give you a few pictures of Liam with a real bunny (thanks to Kevin and Suzette for giving us permission to use these pictures online!). Is he cute or what!!

Rockstars Change Diapers Too

At a shower the downhere family threw for us before Liam was born, they took a bunch of diapers and wrote messages on them for our future entertainment when we changed Liam. This one showed up the other day - it was too good to pass up! And is very true... one of the first things I did when I got home yesterday (after kissing my wife and child) was change his diaper. Funny the things we look forward to, isn't it!

Gene Stallings Discusses His Down Syndrome Son

If you have 20 minutes and are in need of a good cry, click here to listen to this recent Focus on the Family broadcast (I listened to this while trying to eat lunch and choked on my food multiple times!). The featured guest is former coach Gene Stallings, and he shares his deep love for his son Johnny who recently passed away at the age of 46. Gene served as the head coach of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide, the Texas A&M Aggies and the St. Louis Cardinals. Stallings was also an assistant coach for the Dallas Cowboys for 14 seasons. But his biggest and proudest accomplishment was his son Johnny who was born with Down syndrome. His love for Johnny is so obvious in his voice when he talks about him - it is a wonderful encouragement to parents like my wife and I who are just starting on this journey of raising a child with Down syndrome.

If you don't have time to listen to the broadcast, here's one of my favorite quotes from it (paraphrased): "If the Lord took me back and gave me the option of having either Johnny or a normal healthy child, I would choose Johnny every single time."

Kids Draw the Darnest Things

Being a new daddy, I saw this come through email the other day and thought it was too fun to pass up.

A child drew this picture as part of a homework assignment and took it to school. The teacher received a letter from the child's parent the following day:

"Dear Mrs. Jones,

I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer. 

I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit.  I told her we sold out every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it.    Her picture doesn't show me dancing around a pole.  It's supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot.

From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Smith"

Liam's First Photo-shoot

Saturday afternoon Liam endured his first official photoshoot. Well, his father endured the photoshoot - Liam didn't seem to mind at all! (I make it sound painful - it really wasn't, I'm just not a photo taking kind of guy. My wife, on the other hand, is extremely photogenic and would look fantastic with a paperbag over her head!) Our friend Sara came up from Atlanta and spent a little over an hour with us, shooting over 1600 pictures. Click here (or on the image above) to watch a slideshow of our pictures. Thanks, Sara!

Liam Rolls Over!

Yeah, I know - it's been nearly a month since I've updated my blog. These days if you want to stay current on what's going on with me you'd be better off keeping tabs on me via Twitter. A lot has happened in the last month and I'm going to get that updated here soon.

In the meantime, here's a quick video that just happened today - Liam rolled over for the first time (and second and third times) and we caught it on video! He's only 6 weeks old... pretty remarkable. So enjoy - and come back in a couple of days for a breakdown of the last number of weeks (since the big 3-0).

Thanks for the love, Bod!

It's almost 2am and Liam is due for his next feeding in an hour. I just finished changing another dirty diaper and was lying in bed reflecting on the events of my life in the past week and was struck by this thought: how do people outside of "the Body" (i.e. those who wouldn't consider themselves practicing Christians) survive having children?? I mean, I'll be completely honest: if it weren't for the overwhelming encouragement and support of our Christian friends and family, Erin and I would be in a VERY different place right now.

Thanks to the generosity of our community group and friends here in Nashville, we haven't had to cook a meal since we arrived home from the hospital last Saturday - and I believe there are meals lined up through next week as well. Thanks to an unnamed friend Erin's mom was able to change her flight so that she could be here 2 weeks early to help around the house, allowing Erin and I to focus our time and energy on getting to know Liam (it's amazing what a grandmother will do for a little snuggle time with her new grandchild!). And thanks to modern technology we have received countless emails, blog and Facebook comments, gifts, flowers, and words of affirmation and encouragement as we have shared Liam's diagnosis of Down syndrome and our struggle to face the reality of that. I know that literally around the world there are people praying for Erin, Liam, and I as we learn what it means to be a family together.

The body of Christ can be a beautiful thing when it works as it should.

Baby Rockstar Makes His Grand Entrance, Throws a Curveball

Baby Rockstar arrived somewhat unexpectedly on Thursday, Dec. 4th at 12:18pm - his name is Liam Jeremiah Thiessen and he is such a joy! He weighed 7lb 8oz and was 20.5" long - a really good-sized baby considering he arrived 22 days early! (If he would have gone full term I suspect he would have come out with teeth already!) We chose these names for the following reasons:

Liam - it is a derivative of "William" which is Erin's dad's name. It means "unwavering/determined protector", "strong-willed warrior". Liam is also an Irish name as is "Erin".

Jeremiah - this is the origin of my name - "Jeremy" - and it means "God will uplift".

The whole delivery process was quite smooth - Erin did fantastic! The Lord answered our prayers and provided us with a fantastic nursing team, and we were able to enjoy the experience from beginning to end (minus the final hours of labor prior to the epidural - but even then I didn't get cursed out when I fell asleep during one contraction!).

Liam threw us a curveball on Saturday. We received confirmation that he has Down Syndrome. This was obviously hard news to hear, but in hindsight we feel like all the way through this pregnancy the Lord has been preparing us to hear this news. I have yet to come across a better description than the following written by Emily Perl Kingsley of how it feels to be told you will be raising a child with a disability. it's like this...

Baby Rockstar, Momma, and Registeries

It's been a little while since I've updated you on Baby Rockstar, so I thought it was about time. Momma Rockstar (Erin) is looking as cute as always, and DEFINITELY pregnant. Most people think she's due imminently - when she tells them she still has 11 weeks they can't believe it! I'm really proud of her - she has done a fantastic job of eating well, exercising, and just being healthy all the way through this pregnancy. She was beautiful BEFORE being pregnant, but it's no wonder she continues to glow!

Our baby boy is doing well too. We are due on December 26th, but he's measuring 2 weeks ahead of schedule, so we're hoping he comes early so that we can be home on Christmas Day (the last show of our Christmas tour will be the week of December 14th, so if he's anything like his father he'll pay attention to the schedule and come somewhere in that window).

We haven't been home long enough to start nesting yet, but that will all change this month. Next weekend we are having a painting party, inviting a number of friends over to help paint the nursery (which means I've got to get my desk cleaned up and papers all filed before then - good times!), and in the next month or so Erin will be the guest of honor at a baby shower or two.

Speaking of showering Erin with gifts, I thought I would post a link to our gift registeries to make them more accessible for our friends and family. We are registered at Babies 'R Us, Target, and NurturedFamily.com (we're doing the cloth diapers thing). If you get the urge, feel free to stop by and check things out!

Single Parent Event: Ministry in Action

Last night my band played at a single-parent family retreat put on by New Life Media, a network of radio stations in Illinois that includes WIBI-FM 91.1 in Carlinville, WBGL-FM 91.7 in Champaign, WCIC-FM 91.5 in Pekin, and WCFL-FM 104.7 in Morris. It was an interesting evening - the crowd was not our target market (the age range was from 2-15 and then 26-60 - college students were absent) and because one of the lights blew up right at the start of the show we had to do the rest of the set under florescent lights (which REALLY is not an ideal situation when you're trying to put on an entertaining, dramatic event!).

But they could have cared less. For an hour and a half last night, I got to watch a thing of beauty - single parents who generally live their lives stressed to the max having a good time with their kids. The weekend was highly subsidised by the radio network - from what I gathered the registration fee they charged each family barely covered their meals for the weekend. The radio network planned on losing investing over $40,000 in the weekend, giving these parents an opportunity to come out to a fun place and have fun with their families without being stressed about how they were going to pay for everything afterwards. As we signed autographs after the show, each parent and child were genuinely thankful and apreciative of the night. I felt privileged to be a part of something more significant in their lives than just another night of "entertainment".

Way to go, New Life - great job. You are living out the gospel, taking care of the widow and the poor. Thanks for the privilege of serving alongside you last night. Press on!