Introducing...Cooper James Smithson!

Cooper's first few moments with Mommy and Daddy

 Snuggling with Grandma Smithson for the first time

 Meeting Grammy and Grandpa for the first time

 Love at First Sight...Caroline stepping into the role of "Big Sister" for the 1st time

 3 Generations of Smithson Men

 Our 1st visitors!  My sweet friends (and former Young Life girls), Connie and Kelly could hardly wait to meet lil' Cooper.  These girls have logged a lot of hours as babysitters for us and are excited to add 1 more Smithson to their babysitting bunch.

 The smile says it all...Abigail is head over heels in love with her baby brother!

 Family of Five?  My how we have grown!  Where has the time gone?

The 3 Musketeers!  Looking forward to a lifetime of love, laughter, and adventure with these three!

 Ready to go home and experience life as a family of 5!

 Snug as a bug! All strapped in and ready to go

At 8:09am on Tuesday, August 14th our lives were changed for the better yet again. We went from a family of four to five, we went from having the "Smithson Girls" to the "Smithson Kids", and went from one on one defense to a zone. Cooper James Smithson came into this world weighing in at 7lbs 13oz and stretching 20.5 inches long, making him the largest baby Sally has carried by a few ounces. We were very excited to have Dr. Wampler in the room yet again for another Smithson child birth. She also delivered Cooper's big sisters.

Once the C-Section was complete and we were wheeled out of recovery into our room our first visitors were Abigail and Caroline. We decided this time around that before grandparents, aunts, uncles, or friends met the newest member of the family, we wanted the sisters to be able to meet him first. As the girls ran down the hall I'm sure everyone in the "Baby Place" knew that something special had happened in their lives because they were excited. Fortunately when they saw their little brother for the first time that excitement did not wear off. You always wonder how they are going to respond or if they are old enough to really grasp "a baby in mommies tummy", but I can tell you with confidence that those big sisters got it. They were so sweet with him and like mommy and daddy, they immediately fell in love with Cooper. After a few minutes the grandparents arrived and Cooper was being held, having pictures taken of him, and the center of everyone's attention. It was a great morning with family.

While Sally allowed everyone to hold him knowing she was about to spend the rest of the day with him once they left, we had no idea what his little body was doing. Just after noon the nurse came in to give Cooper his first bath and she noticed him laboring a little with his breathing. After a few tests, they came back to tell us our precious baby boy had some fluid still in his lungs and tummy and would need to be on oxygen for a few hours until his breathing leveled out. Sally took the opportunity to catch a few winks of sleep, but a few hours turned into the rest of the day and by 10pm we really missed our little Cooper. Against the odds, Sally managed to get out of bed with a few pain meds and we wheelchaired her down to see him. One of the greatest moments of our day was that as soon as Sally held him all of his breathing leveled out. The nurse took him off oxygen just to monitor him and make sure he would maintain, and he never turned back. Seemed like all he really needed was mommy instead of all that oxygen. We got back to our room just before midnight to cap off a long day, but we had our little guy with us so being tired didn't matter.

The next day brought many great friends and visitors, several floral deliveries, and a lot of showing off our new family edition. Thank you for all your prayers and the love that you have shown us throughout this pregnancy. We are blessed beyond belief and can't wait to begin this new chapter of our lives with all of you.