Granger Smith, Wife Amber Expecting a Baby Boy Two Years After Son’s Death
Granger Smith and his wife Amber have happy news to share: She is pregnant with the couple's fourth child. The baby boy is due in August.
The Smiths announced Amber's pregnancy on social media on Thursday (March 11), sharing a video of their family that honors their late son River and thanks both him and God for this soon-to-arrive baby.
"Because of the life you lived, very soon, you're going to have a baby brother," says Amber in the clip, which also features words from Granger and the couple's oldest two children, London and Lincoln. Footage of the family coming together and holding hands in a sunny field also includes shots of sonogram photos and of a picture of London, Lincoln and River together.
"If I’ve learned anything over the last two years, it’s that I do not have as much control as I think I do ... Never did I think at 39 I would be blessed with expecting another baby boy," Amber writes. "These past couple of years have been so rough but also so full of so much joy, hope, healing, growing and grace from God."
In a new episode of their webseries The Smiths, the singer and his wife share that they have been trying for another baby since January of 2020, but that it was late 2019 when Granger Smith "just felt this overwhelming feeling that, as a father, I had extra love to give" and their conversations began in earnest. Amber, who is now 16 weeks along in her pregnancy, had her tubes tied after River was born in 2016, but the couple stayed open to the idea of adopting -- "and that is still an option," they share.
"It was a rough journey to get to where we are now," they admit, but add that they want to talk about it to share "a message of meaning, a message of purpose," and to show that there's always light at the end of the tunnel.
"Simultaneously, we have felt extreme grief and suffering and extreme joy with this baby," they continue. "It's okay, and it's absolutely possible to feel that."
The Smiths will share more about their journey to expanding their family for a fourth time during a CBS This Morning appearance on Friday (March 12), and in a mini-documentary as part of The Smiths on Tuesday (March 16).
The Smiths' baby boy is due two months after the second anniversary of the death of River, their third child. The 3-year-old boy drowned in the family's backyard pool in June of 2019; his death prompted his parents to become advocates for swimming pool safety, and to establish the River Kelly Fund, which supports a variety of causes, including the hospital that tried to save River's life.
"He had a 1,000-plus days on this earth, and he lived them so carefree," Granger Smith told Today in 2020. "Bare feet and running with the wind — and can't we all just live a little more like that? A little more in the moment, a little more with the wind."
The Smiths moved out of the Texas home at which River drowned shortly after the accident, opting to build a new home for themselves rather than stay where the tragedy happened. "I know that there's going to be a time when I'm going to forgive myself, but I'm not there yet," Smith shared in the Today interview.
"I don't know if we ever truly will be able to forgive ourselves," Amber added at the time. "I pray that we can. I hope we can."
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