baby dane is here

Dane Christopher Smith arrived last night at 7:39 PM after we awaited his arrival ALL DAY! He weighed in at 7lbs 4oz and was 20 inches long. He is absolutely perfect.Amy had a long day, but she pulled through it like a champ. And at the end of the day, Chris and Amy's gift from God was snuggled in her arms. The kids and I had been up at the hospital a couple of different times yesterday. We stopped by that morning to say hi and hang out for a while, hoping something might happen while we were there. When lunchtime hit, we decided to go home to get some food and rest. Marmie and JT assured us that they would call if anything began to happen. Once the kids were up from their nap, even though we hadn't received a call, we headed back up to the hospital. I couldn't stand the thought of missing any of the excitement. (Obviously I wasn't remembering how long this process can sometimes take, and that there usually is quite a bit of time from when the baby is born before visitors can actually meet the tiny miracle!)

The kids had fun playing in the waiting room. We also passed the time with a tasty snack in the cafeteria. Daddy finally showed up too. Brenner finally begin to grow tired of the hospital, however; and he needed dinner, a bath, and a bed! Matt graciously volunteered to take Brenner home and let Berkley, Beckham and I stay awaiting Dane's arrival. FINALLY, Marmie got a text from Chris around 7:45 announcing Dane was here! Of course, then we had to wait a while before we actually got to go meet the new little man. The kids and I were growing quite tired of the waiting room, we were all getting really hungry, and bedtime had already approached... but we had to see Dane before we left. By the time we got a glimpse of baby Dane, it was around 8:30. We just got to run in Amy's room really quick and get a quick "peek" of Dane, but none of us got to snuggle with him.

The next morning we were all excited to head back to the hospital to spend some time with Dane. Berkley got to hold Dane first. She really enjoyed meeting her new little cousin.She was definitely very proud of Dane, and she really enjoyed being the first cousin that he got to meet!Berkley gave Dane her approval!
Unfortunately, Brenner didn't quite share Berkley's enthusiasm about this tiny intruder. Brenner definitely plays the role of the "baby" really well. I think he is feeling a little threatened by baby Dane.

Beckham had no problems meeting his cousin. He was really interested in him.He really seemed to enjoy checking him out and getting to know him a little. Dane seemed pretty interested in Beckham too. (I'm sure they were making big plans together!)
We are so blessed to live in the same town as family. Berkley and Beckham both are so excited to have a cousin in Abilene! They've been waiting for Dane to arrive for a long time, and it is evident that they are glad he is here.

On a side note, Beckham now wants to be a "nursery" when he grows up. Beckham was fascinated with all of the nurses he saw at the hospital yesterday while we spent so much time waiting. Once we got to see Amy and baby Dane, he was really intrigued with the nurse that came in to check on them both. The nurse immediately got his attention, because she was wearing gloves. As soon as Beckham commented on them, the nurse asked if he wanted a pair. His eyes lit up as he shook his head. When the nurse returned with a pair for both Berkley and Beckham, she also brought her stethoscope so Beckham could get a closer look at what had been hanging around her neck. She showed Beckham how it worked and let him listen to his heartbeat. He was amazed! He had found another passion in life. He wanted to be a "nursery."

Needless to say, the next day when we returned to the hospital for our first true visit with Dane, it was no surprise to me that Beckham needed to bring along his own "patient" and his doctor kit. Of course, when we asked if he just wanted to be a doctor, he quickly responded, "No, just a nursery!"