More William photos (of course!)

Our little man is growing fast and gaining weight. Who knows, maybe he will eventually grow into his ginormous feet. Here are a few more photos of him in action...

He loves watching the Cubs with Dad. Baseball is good for napping, you can fall asleep for an hour and probably not miss a thing.



His impression of a bean (ironically, it is usually brought on by gas).



He has no problem getting relaxed...






Though this looks strange he absolutely loves it.



Enjoying his crib.

Mohawk

Oh yeah. It's natural.

Hands

HT: My brother Scott.

William - Day 6

All seems to be going well in the "raising William" adventure. Last night we slept pretty much all night - just stopping every few hours to feed. It was wonderful, and Allison and I are well rested today. William continues to grow. He is now back to his birth weight. At this rate (about 3.5 oz. a day), he will be roughly 450 lbs by his 5th birthday. Alright! He is enjoying "tummy time" in his crib. This morning he noticed his mobile for the first time and seems to be enjoying it.

My family has come and gone, and I already can't wait for them to come back to visit. Both sets of grandparents have been tremendously supportive, and we can't thank them enough for their help. Our fridge is stocked with delicious food. Allison's sister sent over a couple of huge trays of food this weekend, and Elizabeth, my debate partner from high school, and her husband had Salem Kitchen send over chicken pie and mashed potatoes for dinner last night. Yummy! Thanks to everyone for your abundant support. We couldn't do it without you.

As we spend time with William, we are surprised at how much it teaches us about God. His faithfulness to us in providing us wisdom and strength as parents; how much He cares for His children; the pain He must have felt in giving up His only Son on our behalf. This morning, William was very hungry, but just wouldn't nurse for some reason. We watched him flail around and get frustrated with his hunger right there in his mother's arms. We talked about how frustrating it must be to God when we get caught up in trying to figure out our own way and fail to take the spiritual food He puts right in front of us. Good lesson.

Some more pictures for you (click on any of the pictures or go here for tons more):








And in honor of our good night of sleep last night, some sleepy pics:





HT: My brother Scott, who takes amazing photos, took the first and third pictures above. See his page here.

William Pics

Well, we're back at home getting adjusted to life as parents. So far, that doesn't involve a lot of sleep. Not surprising of course. But we are operating surprisingly well considering how little we've gotten the last few days. Now that his stomach is big enough to be hungry, feeding is going super well. Now if we could just get him to stop swallowing air...!!!! Such a cutie. Some pics for you all.

WDR arrives

Well, after 38 hours of labor, Allison gave birth last night to a healthy baby boy. William Daniel Roehrenbeck was born last night (Aug. 1) at 10:39 pm. He weighed 7 lbs., 4.5 oz. and was 19 inches long. He has dark blond hair and dark blue eyes - those of course are subject to change. I think he looks a lot like my dad, after whom he is named. He is healthy, and mom is resting and doing well. I was so amazed at how great Allison was throughout her labor. We should be heading home tomorrow, and I'll post pictures. Can't tell you guys how much we appreciate all of your prayers.

Labor: Day 2

Yesterday Allison went into labor. Throughout the day , she was feeling contractions. Nadia came by after work to pick up the dog and go for a walk, and things started picking up a bit. By the time the evening rolled around, Allison was having contractions every 6-7 minutes, and we felt it was soon going to be time to head to the hospital (they say you should go in when your contractions are 5 minutes apart for an hour). However, at about 11:00, the contractions suddenly slowed significantly. We're not really sure why. So, we decided to get some rest. I was able to get about 5 hours. Allison got a couple of shorter stretches. Contractions are much more intense now, but at a slower rate. We'll keep you updated. On to day 2!