Isla Caroline is HEEEERE!

She's here, and we can't be more blessed or in awe of such an incredible gift! Born on Tuesday, Aug. 12th at 5:25am was an 8lb (or about half a stone for you Guerns!) beautiful baby girl. We named her Isla (pronounced EYE-LA) for where Ross came from and Caroline as a mix of my mom and Ross' mom's full names (Carol and Ann) with a twist.

I'm a bit sore, but it's mostly in my heart because we had no idea we could love anything in this world more than Ross or my family, but now there's a blood mix of all of the above and we're in awe of the whole thing.

On a superficial level, we have to say that we're in awe of the MODERN birthing process in general. Epidurals are an essential part of child birth, so sorry if some of you all don't agree. God invented it to be so it has to be great, right? Heck yeah! Oh, and with that, Liberty Hospital in Liberty, Missouri deserves a shout out for their amazing and attentive staff... check this out:

On Monday night at 10:30pm, we went to the hospital and I was at 3cm. I got the epidural within the half-hour, then I went to sleep for the next six hours. Yes, I slept through the entire remaining 7 cms to go! They woke me up at 5am and after waiting for the doc to show, I pushed for 19 minutes to bring little Isla into the world! Didn't feel a thing!! We had a wonderful nurse, Stephanie, who just went above and beyond for us even though she was six months pregnant herself, crazy lady!

Here are a few pics to whet your appetite for the barrage of photos to come - they're all on three or four different cameras. She has a ton of hair! Just minutes old, we had a moment of wide mouthed acclaim...then Daddy turned into a ball of mush. His attention to this little girl will be unprecedented, I have no doubt.

Thanks to you all for all of your flowers, gifts, cards, letters, phone calls...this little girl is definitely being born into this world with many, many blessings and we can't thank each of you enough...