It's a Boy!

Bandit meeting Izzy up close for the first time.

About 5 hours old - already up and at it.

This being born stuff is so tiring!

The race is finally over for Izzy. On Tuesday night, I took some pictures of Izzy and sent them up to Brynn to see (good thing no one saw then, they might wonder what on earth I was sending pictures of...) with no hope of a baby any time soon. Boy were we wrong! Early Wednesday morning, Brooke came home from working on her apartment and had the impression that she should check on Izzy. As she was walking down to the stall, she heard a funny noise and decided she better get us quickly. I could hear her thundering up the stairs and down the hall. Out of bed we dashed and went outside to see just one leg sticking out. Not a good start to a first baby. Ken had me hurry and call Doug Justensen to come and help him. As soon as I hung up the phone, Ken remember that Doug was having a sleep apnea test that night. Here he arrives all dressed, shirt tucked in, belt on, wallet intact and his monitor still on his finger with the sleep recorded shoved in his pocket. What a guy!

Once they got both legs out and started to see a nose, they ended up pulling the colt. Izzy wouldn't lay down, so the poor little fella's first introduction into this world was a big ol' thud on the ground as he fell on out. Once again I missed the birth. You know that scene in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers where Millie is having her baby and the 6 brides-to-be were dashing up and down the stairs with supplies? Ok, that was me - trying to gather all the things together that the men would need. Does hearing it count?

What a cute little guy he is. It's so amazing to watch them try and get up at first, and then try to lay back down once they get tired.

Brynn made it about a half an hour after he was born. She was so sad she missed the birth - and I think she set a land speed record getting here from her apartment.

Izzy let the men spend some time imprinting the baby, and then she took over and we cleared out. Brynn stayed up til about 3:45 waiting for him to figure out how to eat and then she came in to go to bed. I finally fell asleep about 4:30 and was startled out of bed by the phone ringing just an eye blink later. The little stinker had figured out a way to get on the outside of the stall while Izzy was on the inside.

We have had a great couple of days watching him start to grow and learn basic skills. Today we took them out back and put them in the pasture. The baby enjoyed stretching his legs a bit. We have finally come up with a name for him - Brynn will submit Zips Snip as his paper name and it looks like we will call him Bandit. Brooke calls him Truffle due to his coloring. I just call him cute baby.