Baby Montana, ready or not

There is so much to cover that has happened since my last post, I'm afraid it is impossible to update everything. So I will start with the last event, Montana David Brown making his appearance almost 4 weeks early. After a month of trying to slow contractions and even spending the night in the hospital with the flu, I finally lost the battle and he was born March 24 at 1238 weighing 7 ibs 5 oz.
He had to spend a total of 10 days in the NICU because of fluid on the lungs and underdevelopment. His first day he needed more support and was on a CPAP machine, but eventually was weaned down to just a little whiff of oxygen in his nose. Montana decided to take his own sweet time recovering and the doctors finally decided to let us bring him home on oxygen, which he needed for another 10 days.
He is now 5 weeks old and doing fantastic! He has gained a pound over his birth weight, and judging by the way his cheeks are filling out I'm sure that isn't all. The doctors couldn't be happier and I am finally starting to relax. This was the first time I was allowed to hold him. It was so hard to be a mommy and a nurse, watching him as he was hooked up to all those machines.

Oh baby!

We are so excited that are little family is about to get bigger by one! The due date is April 18th and we are all impatiently waiting to see if Liberty will get his baby boy or Eryn gets a sister to dress up like a princess. Me...I will be happy either way as long as there is only one!

Honeymoon in Glacier

We headed up to Glacier National Park for some honeymoon hiking. It was amazing up there, some of the prettiest scenery I have ever seen! We can't wait to head back up next year for our anniversary.

The Ptarmigan Tunnel hike ended in exactly that, a long tunnel through the top of the mountain to the other side.

If only we had brought our fishing rods, this little lake was jumping!

The Many Glaciers Hotel, we plan on staying here next year.

Sunset from the deck of the hotel.

Sharing the trail with some mountains goats.

Our Montana Mountain Wedding

We have been happily married for 6 weeks now and I haven't seemed to find any time to write about the best day of my life (don't even ask about the thank you cards!) Eryn asked me the other day why the best days are the ones that end the fastest and I wished I had a good answer for her. As the big day approached, a mountain storm advisory was issued for our area and temperatures began to drop. We started to wonder if we would be drenched or frozen. But we woke up to a beautiful, clear and sunny morning that Saturday. A beautiful, clear, sunny and freezing morning. Temperatures were a balmy 43 as we exchanged vows in front of our friends and family (some wrapped in sleeping bags and blankets). It meant so much to both of us to look out and know that everyone sitting there in that meadow was someone that had touched our lives, someone that we loved. And most of those people had come long distances and taken time from their lives. We had friends from Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Wisconsin and even Germany drive up that long dirt road!

I don't think there was a dry eye around, from the time the Eryn and I rode up on horses to the final kiss. We wanted a personal ceremony, something more than just the typical verses. And thanks to our great friend, Dave White, we got just that and more! He told the story of us within the context of our own words in a way I will never forget.

And then there was the band, the horses, the mouth watering food (James, you rock!) and the kids riding around and around on the trailer. The weather held until the very last moment, then we were caught in a summer snowfall. Only in Montana!

As we were driving away from our wedding site to the cabin, Eryn said to me with a heavy sigh 'I wish I had a button I could push so I could start this day over again.' Eryn, honey....I couldn't agree with you more.

Girls Day in Salt Lake

We finally got a camping trip in last week at Hyalite Lake just outside of Bozeman (of course!). I'm still getting used to Lib's Monday to Friday job, so it was hard for me to leave. But while I wished we could have stayed longer, it was a great trip as a family and I can't wait to go again.

The first thing we did when we got there was grab our rods and get on the lake. Lib got Eryn her own brand new rod and they sat there practicing casting.This might be the prettiest campsite I've ever had. We were afraid we wouldn't find anything since we got up there so late on Friday. All the reserved sites were taken, but we happened to find this spot down a trail just off the road and away from the other campers. Our campsite prayers worked.

I love these two, they are so cute together and it's fun watching them getting closer to each other.

Pictures from our hike to the Palisades Falls, it was a nice little trail even if it was paved. Lib spent most of the time trying to scare the crap out of us (when he wasn't carrying Eryn around on his back).

Trying to blend in with my cammo suit. The things we do for the men we love!

I told Eryn if she could catch a baby duck then she could keep it, not dreaming Lib was going to help her too. Luckily the babies were faster than both of them...but not by much. Now we really need a place with property because she has added ducks to her list of animals she needs.

We just couldn't get enough of this view, this was taken on our last morning and the lake was like glass.

My sweet little toothless wonder, Lib told me he had never seen anyone get so dirty.

Eryn sat on this rock and sang to herself in the morning. It was the sweetest thing to see and hear.

Country Jam Weekend

We spent the weekend near Three Forks at the Headwaters Country Jam where we got to watch the band play, drink beer and hang out with good friends. The weather was perfect and so was the company, although we could have used one more batch of jello shots. I finally got to check watching Pat frickin' Green in concert off my things I need to do before I die. He put on a rocking concert despite being interrupted by a fight, losing all the lighting twice and getting a beer bong thrown at him (he actually ended up taking down 3 beers with it).


The concerts were even more special because this was Eryn's first time to see Lib play and her first big concert ever. My heart melted watching Eryn on Lib's shoulders as he made his way to the front of the stage. She was loving it, rocking out and high fiving everyone in the crowd. I don't think I have ever seen her fall asleep faster than that night, it was after midnight by the time we got back to the tent

We all got cowboy hats for the weekend. I am beginning to feel like it has been years since I lived in the big city. I told Lib that I truly feel like I am at ease with my new life.

The band wives.....

.....and our guys (most of them)