Everyone warned me, but of course I thought I knew it all. “Eric, your life is about to change,” stated numerous friends, family and co-workers.” My reply always was, “yea, sure it is.”

Little did I realize what would occur on June 6th would indeed, be a true life changer for me.

Braelyn Noel Smith, my first little baby girl arrived into the world on June 6th at 3:19 a.m. After watching my wife lay in bed from Monday morning, June 4th at 3:00 p.m. until Friday morning, June 8th at 9:00 a.m. gave me a wake up call to reality and the life of becoming a parent. I must admit, I could NEVER go through what apparently all mothers go through at birth. One little bragging right, I did prove a few people wrong by not passing out during her birth.

It has only been six days since our Braelyn was born, but boy have I learned a lot. I must admit the first few nights, the baby’s cry had about the same effect on me that my alarm clock does every morning. Yes, I slept right through it. I hope that my wife will agree, I have gotten a lot better and am a lot more alert when she gets fussy at all times of the night.

I do not need to go into details, but the daily operations of a father with their new-born as many of you know, are exciting at times, challenging at times, interesting at times and overall, a great learning experience to say the least.

There was one time when I joined in with Braelyn in shedding out a cry and a few tears and that was when we watched the Spurs get torn apart during their game six loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder. If Braelyn could talk, she would have agreed it was sad to see the Spurs suffer such a melt down in the series. When you go from winning 20-straight games to losing four in a row, how do you explain? Let’s just say I will root for the former UT Longhorn Durant, as they enter the finals against the Miami Heat!

One of the main things I have learned is that when newborns arrive, so does the company. It was a true stunner on day one of her birth, that somewhere around 65 people stopped by the hospital to welcome her into this world. Thank goodness that my wife’s hospital was very understanding. We joked around, because the sign on the entrance states no more than “2 visitors” at a time. By the time the Smith family left, they had added a “2” in front of the other “2”. You get the hint.

I will say this, I have a lot more respect for a Motel 6 and a Super 8 Motel than I ever had. I never dreamed that I would run into a worse bed, but I did in the hospital. What I learned is the little “couch beds” are meant for short term, not a week long vacation.

One thing I can thank God for, is despite a scare or two during my wife’s pregnancy, she along with Braelyn are alive, well, healthy and are doing great. I almost choked a nurse or two at times, but God was with us and another miracle was born.

You can see a picture of our little angel in the Life Styles section. So far, it has been a blast. She’s a cutie!