This weekend my formidably sized family got even bigger as my daughter Julie (#6) and her husband Brad welcomed their new baby boy to the world! Weighing in at a respectable 7lbs. 5 oz. Brayden Alexander Johnson made his debut - via C-Section - at 1:56 Saturday afternoon! 10 fingers! 10 toes! And dozens of family members on hand for the big event. Julie had planned to have a natural birth… but when push didn’t come to shove, the Doctors decided a C-Section was the safest way to go and less than an hour later - Gail and I were the proud grandparents of our 8th grandchild! So proud!!!!!So, after having 6 girls of our own and a total of zero boys, the tally of our kid’s kids now stands at 2 girls (Julia & Lauren) and 6 - Yes, 6 - boys! (Matthew, Preston, Charlie, Adam, Jack and Brayden).

As they say, Mom and Baby are both doing great! As for my son-in-law and brand new-dad, Brad, he’s proud, happy and has that slightly dazed look about him I remember so well. It’s the “Oh-My-God-That-Little-Person-Belongs- To-Me-And-My-Wife-And-Now-We’re-Responsible-For-It-And-I-Have-No-Idea-What-I’m-Doing-Can-We-Please-Stay-Here-In-The-Hospital-For-A-Couple-Days-Or-Better-Yet-Months-Or-Maybe-Just-Until-He-Goes-To-College-So-The-Nurses-Can-Help-Take-Care-Of-Him-Because-I-Have-To-Go-Back-To-Work-So-I-Can-Support-This-Little-Guy-For-The-Next-Eighteen-Years-Or-Maybe-More-What-If-He-Ends-Up-Living-In-My-Basement-Until-He’s-35?” look. If you’ve ever been a father, I think you know the look. And if you’ve ever been a new Mom, I’m sure you’ve seen that face staring back at you.

Father & Son