Hello everyone! We've had quite the week. For those that don't know yet, i'll give the short short version. We were scheduled for an induction on Tuesday night (May 17th), and after 24 hours of tough laboring, we were faced with a tough decision....risk having a natural birth or an emergency C-section. After seeing the babies heart rate drop with every contraction, we decided to do what was best. Sierra Belle Kimball was born at 9:05pm on Wednesday May 18th, weighing in at a whopping 7lbs 10oz and measuring 21 inches. Witnessing a C-section has changed my life in so many ways....(i've seen my wife's insides....literally). We stayed in the hospital for 3 nights to give Beth more time to heal and to give us a little bit of sleep before we headed home. The next hurdle to consider was introducing Brandon to his new little sister. He's only 23 months, so we weren't sure how he'd handle the addition.
As you can see...he's very curious about Sierra and I think he's already a tad bit protective. He gets mad at us when we try to tickle her feet! He's learning to be gentle with her and we're sure he's going to be a great big brother...for now. He can't say "Sierra" yet, but he says "night night baby" every night before bed. 
This picture was taken to dispel any rumors or thoughts floating around after hearing our daughter's name....it's just a coincidence that my favorite beer happens to be Sierra Nevada. The name really originated from Beth's hometown and one of our favorite vacation destinations....Mammoth (which happen to be IN the Sierra's). The name "Belle" is a family name on Beth's mom side....but I am looking forward to day when I ask Sierra to bring me a Sierra. That's just cool!
The day we left the hospital was the same day Beth's brother (Wes, wife Rachel, son Wade and Daughter Nora) and sister Amy flew in for some family time. Add that to Elaine and my whole family Dale, Cha, and Nicole who already live close.....in short, we've been VERY BUSY. I think having this much family around is making the transition for all of us a lot easier. The picture above shows Lita with all her grandkids. I'm hiding behind the chair holding Brandon which forced that beautiful look on his face.
Here's Sierra being held above some pretty blue flowers.....we think it's cute, but I doubt we'll win any awards just yet. All in all, we are doing fairly well with the new addition. My infant skills have come back like riding a bicycle and Beth is sharing her time well between both kids. I'm excited for the day when Sierra and Brandon can run around the backyard together and play....but for now I'll cherish the "floppy" infant stage for as long as I can. I'm on paternity leave for a couple more weeks and will thoroughly enjoy spending time with the whole family. Ah....how nice it is to be blogging again! Take care everyone.
