Wiley Andrew

Our third musketeer is here!

Wiley Andrew

Born Wednesday, August 27th

1:41 p.m.

7 lb. 12 oz., 20.5 inches 

Wiley is the sweetest little guy and we are all just smitten!  His big brothers adore him, and he is instantly calmed by the racket of their crazy antics.  We are slowly but surely finding our groove as parents to three little boys.  There are moments of pure chaos, to be sure, but the sweet moments far outweigh the overwhelming ones (or at least make them feel worth it!).  

When I'm not taking care of these three critters I am trying to catch some rest or have a complete conversation with my husband, but one of these days I want to write out Wiley's birth story here.  I feel so fortunate to have experienced another natural delivery.  While it was a beautiful experience, it was the total opposite of my other deliveries, which was somewhat disorienting.  It took me a bit to wrap my head around the experience and how I felt about it, but all in all it really was wonderful...just very different, which is fitting considering the entire pregnancy was different.  I think God was just preparing me for Wiley to be his own man despite his baby brother status!    

Wiley is named after my great grandfather, John Wiley Slocum Jr. (so technically he is named after  his great- great- AND triple-great grandfathers!).  His daughter was my grandmother, Betty Horn.  You might remember my writing about her after she passed away almost three years ago.  Grammy and I were very close and while I never met her father, I have heard stories about him throughout my life.  He was quite the renaissance man, and he loved the Lord.  Most importantly, he raised my beloved Grammy, so Wiley is a tribute to her most of all.  

Andrew is Jonathan's middle name, and a family name on his mother's side.  This kept with our tradition of giving our boys biblical family names for middle names (Riggins Thomas and Rhett Matthew).  

We actually didn't settle on his name until seeing him in the hospital, which was a fun change for us after naming our other boys early in pregnancy.  We were fairly certain he would be Wiley in the weeks leading up to his delivery, but it was fun to wait and announce his name once he arrived.   

We are immensely grateful to the Lord for another healthy baby.  Too many we know are longing to become parents or faced with incredible health challenges with their children, so we do not take for granted the gift of an uneventful birth and a healthy child.  It truly is miraculous.