Christmas day at our ranch starts at about 4:30am with a trip out to the barn to check on our horses and alpacas, feed the dogs, cats, chickens, rabbits and ducks then settle in to see how all of our critters are doing.  All was well and we had some time to visit before the kids headed downstairs to see what was under the Christmas tree. We have 2 mom alpacas due in early January.  About noon today we were surprised to see a new little addition in the field. It seems Clarissa decided to have her baby Cria early on this very special day.  We named the little guy Nicolas given the day he entered the world.  He's doing well at only 14 pounds and is a bit premature but we're keeping him warm with a cria blanket to get through the night. 

He's not nursing too well so we mixed up some special formula to help him learn the knack of nursing and will be up every 2 hours tonight to check on him and give him a 60cc boost of formula.  Clarissa is a first time mom so she has some learning to do as well.  We try to help the effort along but mostly it's instinct with a little support from the other mom alpacas.  So we're excited to welcome little "Nicolas" to our ranch on this special day!