Wow, it still seems so surreal! Downhere officially owns a bus! What a huge blessing, huh?! They have played together for ten years traveling North America in a van and trailer. The van they currently have is #3 and has 250,000 miles on it – it’s on its last leg. God has continued to provide for these guys over the years with tour dates, a great record label, songs that seem to touch the hearts and lives of people all over the world, an incredible bunch of fans, various awards, friends for life, and now a means of transportation that will provide many benefits to this crazy life.
Here are a few perks of now owning a bus… from my perspective:
- A big plus is the possibility for more family time. Meaning, when it’s convenient for all we will be able to join Jeremy on short trips here and there. Liam is a good traveler so I’m praying this little girl will fit right in too;).
- Jeremy will potentially be home a bit more. Now that they have the luxury of being able to sleep in a bunk and take turns driving through the night, they will be able to leave later and return home sooner. We really treasure the time when Jeremy is home so this is a very nice perk!!
- It’s a much safer way to travel. Thanks to those of you who constantly pray for safety on the road! It’s amazing they have been so protected over the years considering the amount of miles they’ve driven and the type of vehicle they’ve traveled in.
- And of course the obvious comfort level! The guys figured they spend 3 months out of the year living out of the van. That’s a long time to be stuck in a smelly van that feels every single bump in the road… I know because I traveled with them for 3 years sharing a bench with my honey… now that’s true love;)!
So I cannot express my gratitude enough, as a wife of a traveling rock star, to those of you who have given to their bus fund. Needless to say, God is faithful and through your giving efforts has continued to reassure them and pave the way for them to reach others for his Kingdom through the gift of music. This crazy life is definitely a calling… and the Lord continues to call them back to the road and back to the studio, and all the while families are growing and there are more mouths to feed. And God is faithful. I am overwhelmed and in awe – and yet not completely surprised because the God we serve is more than I can fathom and loves to bless His children in ways we can’t imagine. Honestly, in a way I am a bit sad too, because it means they will STILL be traveling and not coming off the road. Like I said, it’s a calling, and one the wives need to be called too as well. The fact that it’s a calling doesn’t make it easy by ANY means – in fact it’s quite the sacrifice if I do say so myself! But whoever said surrendering your will to the Creator would be a smooth ride (hopefully it’s about to get smoother, pun intended!).
Here are some pictures we took while Jeremy walked Liam and I through the bus for the first time!
We put Liam in Jeremy’s bunk… he didn’t like it too much. Guess it’ll take some getting used to;).
It has 12 bunks, a front lounge and a back lounge.
My 2 rock stars;)!
Oh, and here’s a fun fact about the bus… it used to belong to a hockey team;). Perfect for a few Canadian boys, eh!
Ok so here is the video. Liam has been crawling like this for a week now. Jeremy had just finished bouncing Liam on his lap… which is his favorite thing, and proceeded to set him down on the floor which he wasn’t too happy about. So that’s why he’s so expressive in the beginning of the video – he wanted to keep bouncing;). Then he gets his eye on the stick and crawls to it. We are so proud!! He’s actually crawling to many different toys today which he hasn’t done yet, so I think he’s about to be all over the place! Our physical therapist said she’s happy with the way he is learning to crawl in that he has seemed to skipped the army crawl stage, and the crawling on his hands and feet stage. It’s lots of fun to watch!
Here is a developmental update on Liam. At his one year appointment he weighed 23 lbs. 3 oz. and 30.5 inches long! Our pediatrician is still using the typical developing child’s chart instead of a DS chart, because he is doing so well growth wise. For height he is in the 80th percentile and for weight he is in the 55th percentile! I’m so proud! He is such a big boy!! However his head circumference falls in the 5th percentile which is typical for DS. They checked his vision at his appointment too and it came back within normal range and they’ll recheck it every year to make sure… I’m so thankful for this result!!
Physical Therapy update – Liam will get on all fours and rock and make a tiny attempt to crawl, maybe 2 movements forward. He’ll move his hands forward and then usually either move to sitting or just fall on his belly;). He moves from laying on the floor to the sitting position really well! He often gets on his hands and knees and then up on his toes… it’s pretty cute! He loves to stand so right now we are working on cruising. He’s still a bit slow at it but will move his feet with a little guidance and will sometimes do it on his own. He also of course LOVES to bounce! His DS allows him super flexibility… I mean he can do the splits and lean all the way forward. So we have a little hip band that I put on him throughout the day that helps him keep his legs from sitting too far apart when he is playing; they are called at-a-bands. He does a good job playing on his knees but prefers to stand… and he can pull to stand from sitting or kneeling pretty well as long as he can get a good grip and I’m behind him to catch him in case he falls because he’s still a bit wobbly. He stands up in his crib now… as of two days ago and I think he’s pretty proud of himself. The first time I went in to get him and saw him standing he gave me a big smile and started bouncing;). For a while I was pretty emotional about him not crawling yet, but at this point I am thankful that he’s not getting into everything while I’m getting bigger and heavier these days!! I’m so proud of him and he’s so fun to watch just make his way around a room to get to his toys. He’s a pretty content happy little guy with his toys!
We are going to have a speech evaluation done on him in the beginning of January and hopefully begin speech therapy shortly after. He has just recently (the week he turned 1) started to become talkative and saying ba ba, blah, blah, da da, and some other consonant that I don’t think is in our alphabet;). It’s sure fun to listen to him now!! I have been using some sign language with him for a while and he understands a hand full of it. He knows what these signs mean – eat, juice, up, all done, and milk. He doesn’t do them back to me yet. The only one I think he does sign is momma… not completely sure, but I think so! He is also a good waver and knows when I wave to him and say ‘hi’ he usually waves back… so cute!!! He loves to wave and often gets carried away staring at his waving hand!
He also holds his own bottle now when he drinks! I’ve been working on it with him for a while now so it’s so good to watch him do it all by himself. He does need a little refocusing once in a while but for the most part he has it down as long as I’m holding him and he’s not too distracted;). He also drinks juice out of his sippy cup all by himself. It’s time to start weaning him from the bottle and onto a cup… we’ll see how that goes. I’ve tried a couple different kinds and he’s just not interested yet.
His gross motor skills are great and his fine motor skills are pretty good. His pincer grasp is still a work in progress… like he can’t quite grab a puff (if you have little kids you know what this is) off his tray yet with his pincer… but can every once in a while with the raking motion. If it’s something bigger like a banana or carrot he can handle that. He has such a great Early Intervention teacher who has been helping me work with him on his OT. Right now we are working on dropping a toy with purpose. He can pick them up well and bang two toys together and pull toys out of a container, but he won’t put them back in yet.
Oh and he is teething! He got his first tooth on December 10th and has been working on the second one that should pop through any day now. The one he has is on his lower left side, front tooth. It’s so cute and a bit crooked;). Because of this it’s been a rough last week and we are ready for daddy to come home. How come he’s gone when sleepless nights happen… interesting timing;)!
I can probably put down a whole lot more but it’s time for my nap… because it’s time for his;)! I live for his naps these days! Baby sister is going to be here before we know it!
Well I finally remembered my camera and I’m glad it was on a day like today! The lesson after Liam’s canceled so we got to stay a bit longer, and I’m so thankful because he was having a blast!! This was his best lesson yet! I wish I could’ve recorded every moment. He started off with his usual “please don’t take me away from my mommy” mad cry, but then eased up and enjoyed himself after a few minutes of tears (and after I left his sight). We are so thankful to have the opportunity to work with coach Beth! She coaches for the Special Olympics and really has a heart for teaching kids with special needs!! We started lessons with her in September when Liam was 9 months old and he has definitely had his share of crying lessons but I think he has turned a new leaf… thanks to Beth’s hard work and daddy’s help!
I posted some pictures on Facebook but thought I’d show you some videos too. I took so many, so here are a few of the highlights I was able to capture today. You’ll notice he knows when she’s going to put him under water to he knows to take a deep breath… so cute!!
We had the opportunity to take Liam to Kevin Wimpy’s photography studio to have his picture taken with the most darling scene of Santa in his toy shop! It was Liam’s first time seeing Santa and I was a little nervous because he was overdue for his nap. But much to my surprise, he went right to Santa and actually enjoyed being on his lap! It was too cute! So now we are left with the decision of which photo to choose to have them print for us. Ahhhh! I can’t do it! So maybe you can help me. Plus I wanted to show you just how cute they turned out;)! These are the ones I have it narrowed down to…
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So cute… Santa loves Liam and Liam loves Santa;). Let me know which one is your favorite!!
Our good friend Sara Harper came over and captured some GREAT footage during Liam’s first birthday party. Enjoy this video!
…I gave birth to my first born, Liam Jeremiah Thiessen! He was born at 12:18pm and weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. When the nurse cleaned him off and handed him to me I had no idea what kind of prize I was just given. At that moment we had no idea he had Down syndrome. We were just admiring our perfect little baby boy! I just knew he was perfect for me. God’s chosen one to be my baby boy! He is entrusting me with Liam’s care and for that I am forever grateful to our creator for choosing me to be his momma!
Five hours later a pediatrician from our chosen clinic came with our labor and delivery nurse to give us an update on how Liam was doing. He sat beside me and told us that Liam was showing some characteristics of Down syndrome. Those characteristics included slanted eyes, extra skin on the back of his neck, one line through his left hand, and low muscle tone. He said he wasn’t a 100 percent sure but that a blood test would tell us if he had an extra 21st chromosome or not. A couple things went through my mind… I was in denial… “this couldn’t happen to me”… while at the same time thinking “he does have DS – this is what God chose me for.” It was a strange feeling. I believe God had prepared my heart for this news but it was still extremely hard to hear, mostly because I had no idea what that really meant. I had no idea the blessing I was given!
The pediatrician left the room and the nurse stayed behind and asked if she could pray with us!! What a gift she was to me that day! Not only did she do a fantastic job taking care of me throughout the birthing process but she wanted to pray over us after receiving this news. God sent her to us in that moment! Anyway, we did go through the process of grieving a loss of what we had expected. But it didn’t last very long as we got to know and love Liam for who he is! I believe God’s grace was poured out on us as we learned to love our little boy with DS. I think we are the lucky ones to have the chance to raise this precious boy. He is truly a gift and I can’t imagine him any different. He is so loving and happy and easy going. He is definitely much more of an observer than a mover. He’s pretty content to just sit and play with whatever is in front of him (which has come in handy lately;). He loves music and books and anything that makes noise when you bang on it;). Each stage of growth this past year has been my favorite… so I look forward to many more years as his momma!
God looks at Liam and sees him as his beautiful creation and so do I! We have chosen this life verse for him – Psalm 139:14 “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Or another translation I like is, “How you made me is amazing and wonderful!” God has already used him to touch lives… including my own… and taken us places and challenged us in ways we never dreamed of. I pray he continues to use his little life to touch others and point them to Jesus!
Happy FIRST Birthday Liam! I love you and am so blessed to call you mine!
First time I got to hold my baby!
My big one year old boy!
He is starting to really groove to music or mommy and daddy singing or whistling! It’s a lot of fun.
And he seems to be all healed from his surgery 2 weeks ago, which is such a blessing! He has been off pain killers for 4 days now and is eating and drinking great. It was a long week and a half but worth the effort. He is sleeping better now too and taking longer naps so it seems to have worked!! Thanks for your prayers. Enjoy the video.
Yes it’s true – we are having a girl! The ultrasound tech showed us and I was in such disbelief that I smacked her in the arm and said, “No way!?” We are super excited! Jeremy called this one… so he’s two for two now! We haven’t come up with a name yet, but we will keep that a secret until we see her face. We are just so thankful that God is blessing us with another little one, and everything looks great so far. We meet with our doctor to discuss the ultrasound on Thursday, but the tech didn’t give us any reason for concern so that was encouraging.
May this little girl grow up to glorify our great God!
In this picture she is sucking her thumb! So cute!
Well it’s 4:45am and since I’m up I might as well write this down and keep everyone up to speed;). Jeremy and I are taking turns sleeping since the room sleeps one besides Liam. His surgery went well and the doctor decided to take out his tonsils too just to rule out any obstruction in his nose and throat that may be causing the apnea. He said he went back and looked over Liam’s sleep study and realized that the numbers were pretty significant, and to prevent having to put him under maybe a month or two from now he might as well take out both his adenoids and tonsils now. We are thankful for his decision… we are just dealing with a longer recovery process for Liam.
After the surgery they put him on fluids through an IV to keep him hydrated. The day of the surgery the only thing he would take through his mouth was the Icey they offer here. It’s good stuff… just shaved ice and yummy flavor. He took that well once on Monday. Then yesterday (Tuesday) he was willing to eat baby food so we fed him 2 and 1/2 jars of it throughout the day. He still didn’t want to take anything from a bottle or sippy cup. So we tried giving him formula on a spoon and he loved that… mostly b/c he was pretty thirsty since they took him off fluids at 7:30am yesterday. We found that he will take some from a syringe as well but it’s a bit of a fight. He really has to be in the mood for any kind of intake. But it’s early Wednesday and he’s had 8 oz. of formula starting last night around 5pm. So that may be enough to show the doctors he’s willing to drink (if we get creative) and send us home. I just think he’ll sleep SO much better at home. The most frustrating part is when he finally goes to sleep (b/c lately it takes him forever to fall asleep) and we have to wake him to give him tylenol or his antibiotics. Then he’ll be so upset that it will take him another hour to fall back asleep!!! Ahhhh! He needs tylenol every 4 hours even through the night.
Anyway, besides that he does seem to be in good spirits. He still loves reading his books and playing with toys and watching baby einstein. They took his IV out last night so that freed up another hand to use to play with! His blood oxygen sats look amazing while he is sleeping now too!! Before they would dip down into the 70’s and now they are staying in the 90’s (where they should be), praise the Lord!!! Oh and our creative way of feeding Liam is this… Jeremy holds Liam laying back in a rocking chair, and I stand nearby and hold the laptop with baby einstein playing on it, up near my shoulder so he looks up… while in the other hand I use the syringe to put formula in his mouth. And then after each squirt Jeremy blows in his face a bit to help him remember to swallow. It’s tricky but whatever works at this point!
So thanks for praying! The doctor saw Liam yesterday morning and noticed how content he was and said Liam’s made a liar out of him (b/c he warned us that he would be cranky for several days). But Liam does have a pretty good track record;). Just pray now that he will start taking fluids more willingly b/c that will speed up the recovery process. Ok off to wake him up once again… sigh!!!
Eating the Icey
And now peas and brown rice the next day.
This toy is a little drumset that lights up and makes noise… the nurse who was prepping us and Liam for the surgery brought this in for him to play with not knowing what daddy does;). He loves this toy and it has stayed in the crib near him since!
