A New Baby Brother

Today was the first day it really seemed "real" to Cameron and Anne's kids that they had a new baby brother because they finally got to hold him.  

The first day he was born, he had to go to NICU, so when I took them to the hospital, they only got to see him all connected up to tubes and lines, and Mason didn't get to go in at all, so I'm not sure he even knew his mommy had the baby.  These are pictures Cameron took of when Anne got to hold him for the first time after the NICU experience.

  Sydney, especially couldn't wait to hold him, and she really spent her time with him.  

Sydney wanted to show me his tiny foot.

Mason wanted to hold Baby Gavin--it looks like Gavin actually enjoyed having his "big" brother hold him.

But mostly the kids liked being by their mother and enjoyed having her hug them and play with them.  They have really missed her and their daddy during this hospital stay!

They have been so good for me while I've stayed with them, but no one takes the place of a mommy and a daddy!

So, it was a special visit for all of us.  

Oh, and I got to hold Gavin, too, and got to know our 24th grandchild a little better.  What a sweet little guy!

Mason cried half the way home and kept saying, "Ma" and "Da".  It broke my heart, but we soon had him playing and happy again.  It won't be long now and they can all be a happy family again.  

Baby Gavin is here!

Well, he came a day earlier than the scheduled C-Section, but we are thrilled that he did!

When Anne's water broke at 5:10 a.m. this morning, she and Cameron were out the door in five minutes on their 40-minute drive to the hospital.  Anne had immediately gone into hard labor, and let's just say, Cameron was going a little faster than the speed limit.  When the policeman stopped them, Cameron tried to explain the urgency while the policeman was saying, "I know you're excited for your first one, but we need to be safe."  Cameron told him this wasn't the first, in fact it was the fifth, and they know how fast their babies come, so they needed to go.  Finally, he was convinced and let them go!  Even with all that hard labor, the baby still needed to be delivered C-Section, so poor Anne had to go through both, but he is safely here, and both mother and baby are doing  fine.

 
Little Gavin Ray Copeland arrived this morning, May 25th, at 6:46 a.m., weighing 7 lbs., 19 3/4 inches long, and is just adorable.  Since he was 3 1/2 weeks early he was a little lethargic when he was born, so they immediately took him to the ICU unit where they put him on oxygen to help raise his blood levels up a bit.

It is now 1:30 p.m., and they have just taken him off the oxygen.  They plan to keep him through the night just to observe him, but his levels are great.  We all think he looks like Mason when he was born, but he has a little more hair and it's a little darker.  We certainly salute Anne who goes through such an ordeal to get these babies here safe and sound--and not too early.  And certainly she couldn't do it without such a great and loving husband who covers things well at home when she's deathly sick or on bedrest in and out of the hospital.  You guys are great!

A Super Weekend!

After the graduation and graduation dinner, we all (except for Jeff who had to work on Saturday) piled in the cars and headed for Orlando.  Kent was so kind to reserve a condo for everyone to enjoy.  Craig, Cassie, and Riley joined them the first part of the week, and George and I, along with Amy's kids, joined them the last part of the week.  

Daytime view of the pool below us--we were on the 15th floor!

Nighttime view

Of course, the kids loved the pool.  This pool had a huge pirate ship on one end where the kids could climb to the top and go down a big water tube.  They loved it and went again and again.

Ethan and Grandpa played a game with the football.  George would throw it and Ethan would catch it in mid-air over the pool.  They must have done this 50 or more times.  It kept them both entertained!

On the way to Orlando, we had stopped at a rest stop that had this stuffed gator. 

But, we saw the real thing in Orlando when we went to Gaylord Palms at their atrium which is made to look like a Florida swamp.  It is complete with the sounds, the plant life, and even the swamp creatures--snakes, turtles, and gators!  What a great way to see the swamp--in air conditioned comfort. 

Ella was a little afraid of the gators at first.  Whenever she calls, she asks me if there are any gators at my door.

Every day one of the groundskeepers makes up a beautiful arrangement and chooses to give it to someone.  She chose to give it to Ella.

Ella felt like a princess and carried those flowers everywhere!

On Saturday, since it was my birthday (no telling the age!), Kent and Natalie took me out to dinner, and then we went back to the condo for cake and ice cream.  The kids had a great time putting all the candles in.  I finally made them stop because there just was no more room in the cake unless they put two in one hole!  Hah! 

We all said good-bye to Kent and Natalie Saturday night.  George took them to the airport at 4:15 a.m. on Sunday morning in Orlando.  It was so great being with their family and letting the cousins have so much fun together.  

George had about a 45 minute rest, then he took me out to the Orlando airport at 6:30 a.m., and I was on my way to Dallas to be there for Cameron and Anne's new baby arrival!  There is always something exciting going on in the Copeland household!