Free at last and home to stay

Liam and Dani got to leave Orem Community Hospital yesterday. If anybody's having a kid anytime soon, we highly recommend that place. Dani's looking beautiful and he's happy to be in his own house. He's using the same cradle as his dad did when he was a baby, and is sharing a room with mom and dad until he learns a few more tricks. Click on the one of him and grandma, it's pretty cute when expanded.

Liam Mark Firth

After a lot of deliberation, prayer, and thought, little baby Firth finally has his name. We love his name and we love him.

Here's a little bit of an etymology (dad had to have his reasons):

Liam- A form of William- William is a strong family name repeated many times over (on both sides); two examples are William White on Brady's side who was a Mayflower passenger and the first dad in the colony, and William Carter on Dani's side who was the first to till land in Salt Lake. Means "Determined guardian". Celtic/Gaelic origin (same as Brady and Firth) from previous German forms. I AM (reference to Christ) is also couched within Liam. You pronounce it LEE-um. Lastly, it's not as unique as some people think- it's been on the top 200 list for a while and there are more and more little Liam's being born, although we're glad he'll probably always be one of the few Liam's people know.

Mark- Brady's middle name, Grandpa Firth's middle name. From Hebrew Mark (of the Gospels), ancient Roman name for Defender.

The resemblance

We're curious- do you think he looks like mom or dad? we'll check your comments.

Proud Parents

Great-grandparents

Great-Grandma and Grandpa Flinders and Firth both came to visit their new great-grandson (the first on both sides). Grandma and Grandpa Firth- we neglected the camera when you were here, we're so sorry! He'll just have to see you again soon. The greats were really excited to see their fourth generation in action. He'll do them proud. The other great-grandparents will have to wait a while longer to see him as they're in Oregon and Alaska, but it will be a happy reunion. Both grandpas are still waiting patiently as well. Guys, he's only getting cuter.

What's for Breakfast

Just a funny little note. The morning of the delivery, Dani had to make a choice about what she had for breakfast. Wheat Chex? Yogurt? A bagel? Nah- how about Chicken Tiki Marsala, a spicy indian dish! That's the magical life of Danielle (we're going to claim that it explains the short four hour labor).

What we've all been waiting for

He only cries for about 5 seconds when he does (and he only does when it's strongly elicited- like a very vigorous bath), but he's so cute when he does we wouldn't mind if he did more often (I'm sure we'll take that back in about 10 hours). These pictures (on the whole site so far) are all when he's only a few hours old or less. We just celebrated his one-day birthday (firthday??) and he's still as happy as ever. He has a very powerful presence. Yesterday he had his eyes open virtually the whole day; he's a very alert little guy. You can feel that he is calm and composed and sweet, and ready to make his mark on the world. Dad is excited that he's got his new best friend and outdoor adventurer, and Mom is excited for her beautiful new addition and helper.

He is so happy!

More of the same I guess. He's loved by a lot of people. The list on the name board is getting shorter and shorter. Today it's down to two- Liam and Jonah.