Kimber's first fishing trip!

Parenting has taught me a lot in the last few years, here are a couple of the lessons...

1. Parenting is a humbling experience and will make you rethink the times you have stood in line at the grocery store and judged the poor women with the screaming toddler.  The first time you say your child will "never do that" you have jinxed yourself.
2. I think that being a parent makes me a better person.  Now that I have two kids am I going to be twice as good of a person?  Or am I going to go a little insane? 
3. Choose your battles, then stand behind your choice. 
4. Be patient.  Be patient.  Be patient.  and then when you are about to blow, remember we are the adults.  (So much easier said then done)
5. Teach kindness...  there isn't enough of it in the world.

Today I learned a few things about being a parent of two children...

1. Just let go...  the fish goo will wash off the lovey, eating a peanut butter sandwich without washing your hands wont kill you, (if you catch something we can probably get a medicine to treat it), and Dane probably will be done with the binky by the time he goes to college.
2. My hubby has the patience of a Saint.  Okay, I already knew that, but it was reinforced today. 
3. As soon as you start changing a diaper or nursing a baby, you will catch a fish and Dane will be trying to crawl over the top of you and Kimber to get the net that is buried under everything.  Did I mention my hubby is very patient.
4. Watching Dane reel in a fish with his Daddy, or drive the boat with his Daddy make ever moment of chaos and stress worth it. 
5. Spending time with my family, whether in the outdoors or at home, is simply amazing!

Some pictures of our trip...

Settling in!

I don't have a lot of time to type, but I thought I would share some fun pictures of our family getting all settled and enjoying our visit.  Courtney is so much help and today we ventured to Giant Springs and the Interpretive Center to let her see some of the sights.  Fun was had by all!!!

They had a really great snake exhibit with live snakes at the Interpretive Center.  It was pretty cool!

Dane lovin' his Aunt at the Hatchery!

Welcome Kimber Lynn Houston!

On Tuesday, June 22 we finally got to meet our newest addition, Miss Kimber!  She was born at 6:46 am after a fairly short and intense night!  I was feeling kind of "off" Monday evening and then woke up about 1:30 am with some definite contractions.  I woke Clint up and he called my mom to ask her to come sit with Dane when we went into the Hospital.  We arrived and got checked in and I was already dilated to 7 cm so things were moving right along.  After the initial check everything looked good and we moved into our room where I labored for a while before they broke my water and got Kimber to settle into place.  Luckily, she was not nose up like Dane so that was awesome!  Then about 5:45 I asked about an epidural...  I wanted to go without as long as possible so that my chances of the whole series of events leading to a c-section would be less.  At that point the Doctor felt it would just help me relax and we should be okay with the VBAC, so I went ahead and got an interthecal.  (sp?)  The crazy part was that right after getting the interthecal they checked and I was complete, with the baby moving down so I was able to get right to the pushing stage.  The medication just helped me relax and get down to business, and at 6:46 we got to meet our 8 lb 4 oz beautiful girl! 

It was an incredible experience and I felt so fortunate for everyone!  Clint was amazing through the labor and we had a great nurse as well.  Our Doctor is super hands off and relaxed so that kept the atmosphere nice as well.  My recovery is SO MUCH BETTER than after the c-section and everything has been easier.  Kimber is eating really well and is just a healthy little laid back girl.  So far she seems to be like her big brother and is just kind of a relaxed little bundle!  Dane hung out with Grandma and Grandpa on Tuesday and then we came home on Wednesday so that is when he came home as well.  He had a really good time visiting and it was so nice to know he was having fun and I didn't have to worry about him so we really appreciated that as well. 

On Wednesday we got to go home and then Courtney arrived from Michigan to spoil us.  She has been so much help around the house and catching up with her has been a lot of fun as well! 

Here are some pictures we want to share!!!

When Mom got to the Hospital with Dane we were so happy to see him!  He was initially excited about the baby and then got distracted by the train that Baby Kimber was thoughtful enough to bring him!!!

So far Dane has totally been loving his little sister!  We are all working on figuring out the new routine and Dane still went to "school" the last couple of days to keep that consistency.  The first thing he wants when he wakes us is to see the baby, he wants to kiss the baby before bed, etc.  I think he kind of thinks its more of a pet though, cause when she starts wiggling he giggles with glee and says "it moved, it moved"!!!  He also has to be reminded to "be gentle" and seems to be really trying, although the 2 year old enthusiasm is hard to keep in check sometimes!!!

Happy Father's Day!

First, I would like to say Happy Father's Day to all those incredible men in our lives!  Clint and I are so lucky to have such a great group of Dad's!  I also have to say that Clint is an incredible father.  (and hubby)  I feel so lucky to have him as my partner in this crazy journey that we call life!

As everyone knows right now we are all just kind of in a "holding pattern" waiting for precious package #2!!!  Clint had to work all weekend so Dane and I hung out a little closer to home just getting things done, enjoying the sunshine, checking out the Farmer's Market, and just having a good time!  Today we went down to the River to check out the dams.  We have had a really wet spring and the water is high and muddy.  The great news is that our Reservoirs went from about 55 % full back in February to about 98% full now!

I took a few pictures of Rainbow Dam...  It's cool to see all the water going over when we are used to just seeing a trickle.  Dane had a great time throwing rocks, checking things out, and just being a boy!

Here are a couple pictures...

Besides that, we have some other fun headed our way...  Besides the obvious!  :)  My incredible Sister is coming to visit us and will be here on Wednesday.  I will start my leave that day even if Kimber isn't here so that I can spend some quality time with my Sis.  I am so excited to see her!  I hope that Kimber is feeling agreeable and makes her appearance so that she can meet Aunt Courtney!

Wildlife at Benton Lake

Today when Clint got up we decided to take a nice drive out to Benton Lake Wildlife Refuge.  It's fairly close to town and a good place to take a peek as some critters.  It was really nice and enjoyable, except that the skeeters have really come out!  Luckily they weren't too aggressive towards us, there were just a lot of them!  Here are some pictures from our drive.

A muskrat

We think this is called a yellow headed black-bird.  (A clever name!)

A hen and drake shoveler

The little man

A gadwall

As you can see it was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed our drive.  We also stopped an took a little hike spotting several white-tails out in the prairie. 

Besides that the weekend was fairly low key.  We went to the Farmer's market and spent some time at Grandpa and Grandma's house.  Then today Dane and I got all of our shopping done while Clint was sleeping, we spent a while at the park chasing gophers, butterflies and birds, and just had a great time. 

Kimber (we think that is going to be the baby's name) is happily hanging out...  and we are okay with it.  Our Doctor gets back tonight so any time now she can make her appearance and we would be thrilled.  But, she will come when she is ready, so until then...  we wait!  :)

We LOVE Holter!!!

Yesterday, we went to Holter to enjoy the nicer weather that we had. We were fortunate and Brock was also able to come along and we had so much fun. Brock is really great and patient with Dane and Dane seriously looks up to Brock and adores him.

The fishing was also pretty good. Here are Dane and I with a big trout that we landed. (Yes, he helped reel it in like such a big boy!)

Clint and Brock with a double that they landed

Brock with another nice trout

Me and Dane...
Oh my goodness, look at that belly it's getting BIG! It's so big that Dane can rest his elbow on it!!! :)

Brock and Dane skipping rocks

Brock driving the boat like a champ!

Checking out one of the fish...

Besides that... Things are pretty quiet. Next weekend we are probably not headed out to do too much because Clint doesn't get off until 6 am on Sunday... Maybe we will head out to do something on Sunday afternoon, but it probably will be pretty low key.

As far as the baby... She is hanging in there, which is fine with us! Our Dr is out of town this week, and although his back-up Doc would be fine, my chances of ending up with another c-section are pretty high with her. Much higher than with our Dr. But, at this point I've done everything I can so I'm just going to relax and she will come when she comes... (Okay, if I'm still pregnant in 3 or 4 weeks I probably wont be quite so relaxed!) Last week at our appointment we had an ultrasound and everything looks good. I am dilated to about 2 cm and 80% effaced so things are moving in the right direction. We will keep everyone updated!