huge

At our visit to the pediatrician today, we found out that burke weighs 7 lbs 3 oz!

You don't know how thrilled Adam and I were to hear this news... The little bug has had some trouble getting back to his birthweight, so we've been on a kind of crazy feeding schedule that involved lots of feeding, pumping, supplementing, waking him up in the middle of the night and just not much sleep. To be more specific, never more than 2 hours and rarely more than an hour and a half at a time. Which translated into many, many nights in a row with only 4-5 hours of sleep. It's been a rough few weeks.

But tonight, friends, we are allowed to let him go for 3 and a half hours between feedings. AND, we only have to supplement on an "as he seems hungry" basis... which essentially gives me an extra 4-8 hours a day. Glory! We are absolutely, deliriously thrilled (and heading out to celebrate with queso and margaritas)! HOORAY!

father's day

Since this is Adam's first Father's Day, we are still trying to figure out some great "celebrating dad" traditions. This year, Burke and I went with the old stand-bys- breakfast in bed and presents (a used baby Bjorn that I found on Craigslist [thanks for the idea Deb!] and a gift card to Outback). Oh yes, and the ever-important card with 10 reasons Adam is the best dad in the world!

We also got to hang out with BOTH of our dads today... we went to Colorado Springs for lunch with Adam's parents and my dad flew in this evening from Idaho. We really are so blessed to have such fantastic dads to look up to and celebrate today...

To all you other dads out there- Happy Father's Day!

buddies

The dads plus Burke and Jack

George Owen and Burke

Two of our close friends were due within a week of me... While we were all pregnant, it was so fantastic to have Megan and Heidi around to ask questions and commiserate with about morning sickness, wild emotions, maternity clothes, etc.

Now, with all three Littles here on the outside, I am so thankful to have these girls to walk with through this new season of being a mama... And Burke has two little friends- George Owen and Jack! :)

woohoo!

I was sitting in the waiting room at the obstetrician's office a few months ago when I saw IT in a magazine- the diaper bag I have been searching for. I took down the details so I could order it online at home... "Ramalama Ava" in chocolate brown. I got home, typed the much-sought-after bag into google, and got some very disappointing news. Did you know that diaper bags can cost $390.00? Apparently, I am a champ at finding the most expensive leather totes out there. Even worse, now I had The Perfect One in my head and everything else paled in comparison.

Enter my wonderful brother-in-law, Drew... While he was at a leather tannery in Fez during his trip to Morocco last week, he found, bought, and hauled home the most perfect diaper bag EVER. Even better than Ramalama Ava. And definitely not $390.00! WOOHOO!

I tried to get Burke excited about it this morning, but he was much more interested in trying to find his fist to suck on... we'll work on "appreciation of beautiful things" later.

burke hearts keadryn

The refrain in the Gentry house for the last few weeks has been, "Gentle... gentle, Keadryn... gentle." But it isn't because she has been rough with Burke on purpose- just the opposite actually. She ADORES the little bug... whenever he's around, she wants to kiss him and hug him and hold him and rock him and crawl into his car seat with him. It is absolutely precious. She is going to be a darling big sister in a few months!

sun tea & limeade

During the summer months, if you opened the fridge or freezer at 1805 Western Ave. (the house I grew up in in Farmington), you could be certain that you would find certain items. Chicken salad (light on the dressing, heavy on red grapes and walnuts), frozen blueberries, grapes and bananas, juicicles, grillables like brats or burgers, watermelon, sun tea and limeade. Lots of sun tea and limeade.

In my house now, if you open our fridge in June, July or August, you can often find many of the same items. But you will certainly find iced tea and limeade. I love mixing the two together... it is the perfect summertime drink! And apparently, I am not the only Ludwig who continues to love this slight twist on the Arnold Palmer. In these last few weeks, mom, Jordi and I have drained more than 20 gallons of tea and limeade. LOVE THAT STUFF! :)

pain management

my little voracious eater... all parts sweet and innocent here :)

In our childbirth class, every week we played a couple rounds of a game called, "Breastfeeding Fact or Crap." Basically the point was to extol the fabulous benefits of breastfeeding (which is sort of funny since there were only three couples in the class and all of us had already decided that we would breastfeed, so it's not like anyone needed convincing).

Sometimes as I feed Burke in the middle of the night, I remember one particular round of this game. The screen read, "Breastfeeding: Fact or Crap... Breastfeeding hurts!" Of course, all of us chanted, "Crap!" in unison and our instructor, Ellen (incidentally a local La Leche League leader) outlined why pain in nursing is one big myth.

But that was a lie! It DOES hurt! Alot! My sister assures me that this painful part is temporary and that it'll get better... In the meantime, I'm a little bitter about receiving faulty information.

In all of this, I have found one benefit of my 30+ hours of labor and delivery. During that Saturday/Sunday, Adam and I tried pretty much every pain management technique we'd heard of... and I found several things that work pretty effectively for me. So now, when Burke is voraciously attacking me, besides reminding myself that he is a sweet and precious baby that doesn't know how much he is hurting me, I start counting. Yep, counting. I don't know why it works, actually... maybe it gives me something else to focus on, or maybe it makes me feel like there is an end in sight. I know it sounds basic, but right now it's getting me through the 40 minute feedings. That and crying. Again, Jord said this part will be over soon. I hope so!