Our newest and greatest adventure...

This last year has been quite eventful. As everyone who reads this blog knows, the population of our island of adventure has expanded to include a little Brandt-Smith. Specifically, William Brandt Smith was born January 29, 2014 at 4:59pm at the St. Thomas hospital. Weighing in at 8 lbs 6 oz and 21 inches, he took his time in the delivery room but finally arrived to the delight of his parents and family.

A freshly delivered William ("Liam") Brandt Smith

Prior to his arrival, Liam was quite the traveler. So much so he technically earned gold status on American Airlines in mom's belly!

We first discovered we were pregnant in May while in Colorado. I was attending a two week statistics workshop and Tyler took vacation to get some writing done. Happily, this allowed us to spend a whole bunch of time with the Smiths, Scheetzes and McMahons.

Ben, Emma, Tyler and Sharon (Mom/Gaga) on a hike during our Colorado stay.

We were very excited and our little growing nugget was hard to keep a secret after that, but we stayed mum until we could confirm the good news. The doctor confirmed his existence once we were back in St. Thomas and soon after that we jetted to Jamaica for a conference. My excuse for not participating in the usual marine science boozing and diving was an "ear problem". The "ear problem" excuse was starting to run thin but after returning from Jamaica we had only a couple of weeks until we finally heard the heartbeat. It was after that appointment that we gleefully spread the news.

After that it was baby-party central. We went on our previously scheduled beach vacation in August with the whole Smith family and family-friend Perrys in North Carolina. A little bump was forming by then, which generated much excitement.

The extended Smith family in North Carolina (photo credit: Lynne Poulton)

North Carolina was followed by the big "appointment" where we found out that our little nugget was a boy. Bring on the blue!  Shortly after that we headed to Massachusetts for our friend Joanna's wedding, followed by a quick trip to Philadelphia to meet Chung and Mike's twins, followed by a long weekend in New York, complete with a beautiful baby shower hosted by Mom Brandt and Kelly and attended by Mom Smith, soon to be Aunts Michele and Mindy, who all made the trip from Colorado. The trip was everything we could have asked for: friends, family, and fun. Not to mention gorgeous fall weather.

Us with the "bump" at our baby shower.

Following the big trip up north, we did a long-weekend "baby-moon" in October in Puerto Rico. We had won a 3 night stay and airfare to San Juan at a silent auction the previous Christmas and so we decided to use it for our last hurrah. We got the trip for such a deal that we thought it would be a shabby hotel. Instead it was wonderful: newly redone with a great pool that we spent a lot of time at. We did visit the rainforest, but mainly we lounged and enjoyed the hotel.

After that, I made one quick trip to Santa Barbara, CA for a workshop at the end of October and then I was officially grounded. Christmas was weird for both of us since we'd never spent it away from family before (let along in the tropics). But we had some friends over and spent a lot of time at the beach.

Not long after that, Mom and Dad Brandt arrived to start the countdown. It didn't take long... only three days after their arrival I went into labor and voila! Our little star was born.

Liam has been an absolute joy since. He's growing fast - I can't believe he's already 4 and 1/2 months! He's been lucky to have already met in person both sets of grandparents as well as his Aunts Mindy, Michele and Kelly and Uncle Ed and cousin Connor. All of whom came to visit and helped out in the first days. We're currently returning the favor and have gotten off the rock for Liam's first trip to the mainland. It's a tour de force, with our first stop in Emerald Isle, North Carolina for a family vacation with the Smiths and Perrys and soon onto New York to visit the Brandts.

I can't say I'll be better about blogging, but I'll try to keep some updates coming at least as a record for Liam. Here's one of his latest and greatest shots, taken by Gaga during bath time here in NC. Let the new adventures begin!