display the facts

saturday night we headed back home.  before we left though, jill asked us to stop by and say goodbye to the kids.  we figured it was on the way, so no problem at all!  when we got there the kids were still up (way past their bedtime, mind you!) so they could get one last look at their new favorite cousin!  well, it turned out that jill didnt just want us to stop by to say goodbye to the kids, she also had a present for us!  we opened it up and there was this fantastic wall hanging that she had made for us: its got all the information about ledger's birth!  how awesome!  we were just thrilled to death about such a thoughtful gift.  thanks again, jill and family, for the great gift!  ledger will treasure it always!  we've already got it hanging in our living room and plan to have it up for the rest of our lives!

aunt guests

our saturday was filled with guests!  mom had invited a few people to stop by and see our little bundle of joy.  we got to show our boy off to aunt joni, aunt carol, aunt marlene, and to my grandma.  it was so much fun to watch all those women just ooh and ahh over him!  i think my grandma said that ledger is her 37th great grandchild.  wow, now thats a big family, huh?
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proud papa

after all the festivities were over, papa finally got his chance to spend some time with his new grandson.  as we sat together in the living room, papa took a turn holding ledger.  papa enjoyed a couple minutes of just holding him and getting a good look at the future of the brink line!

cousins

after we headed back in from the egg hunt, the kids wanted to check out ledger again!  they were so fascinated by him!  the girls just wanted to watch him and touch him.  well, they had spend so much of their life playing with dolls and babies that it must be pretty neat to have a real one around!
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bjorn it up!

this is something i had been looking forward to ever since we knew ledger was coming: carrying him around in the baby bjorn!  i dont know why, but i have been really excited to try this thing out.  since we were out inside in the backyard and the kids were running around and playing, i thought i'd get some bjorn action going.  i popped our boy in it and got to walk around hands free!  granted, there wasnt anything that i needed my hands free for, but thats beside the point...

on the hunt

since it was easter weekend after all, the kids needed to set ledger aside for a while and go have some egg hunting fun!  mema and papa had gone around and hid a couple dozen candy filled eggs in the backyard earlier in the evening, so these kids were all geared up to go out and hunt down those tasty treats!  bubba found the most, but aves did a pretty good showing.  after all of them were found, they sat down and cracked them open to find all the fun treats inside!  this is an easter tradition that the kids just love.  i guess we will be starting to make traditions of our own for ledger too!
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among the brinks

and now its time to travel!  diana and i packed ourselves, our dog, and the ridiculous amount of baby stuff, and ledger into the car and headed to grand rapids.  friday afternoon we rode up so that his other grandparents could spend a little quality time with their new grandson!  when we finally arrived, (which i'm sure was torture for mom to wait for) they were just thrilled to see him!  mom just couldnt seem to get ever just how cute and small he is!  thats ok though, i've seen him every waking hour for the past week and it still amazes me!  mom quickly got to examining him ('oh, look at those little fingers!', 'look at his little biddy nose!', etc.) while diana and i settled in for the short visit.  shortly after we arrived, it was time for ledger to meet his cousins!  tim and jill got there and we were able to introduce ledger to their kids.  all three of them took turns holding him and looking at him.  they were so curious!  i hope you like him kids, cause he's going to love playing with his cousins some day!
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professional help

wow how time flies!  before we even knew it our first week with ledger came to a close.  and along with that, unfortunately, so did our time with diana's mom.  she had planned to stay a week and that week is over, so she needs to head over to grandma's house and help out there.  she was such a help for us these past few days, its going to be weird not having her around!  she is a nurse and spend many years working at teaching on the birth and baby floor in her hospital, so it has been amazing having a true professional living with us for this first hectic and confusing week!  whenever we have had a question she has been able to give us a ton of information and first hand advice.
thanks again for all the help, mom!

swingin'

it took us a little while before we tried out the swing.  it wasnt because we didnt trust it, its just that we never wanted to put him down!  finally though, we figured we would give it a try.  the first time we set him in there he just about got lost- he's so tiny!  he wasnt quite sure what to make of it right away, but there were soft blankets in there, so he got pretty comfy pretty quickly.  we've been putting him in there a little bit each day to get him accustomed to it and less reliant on his mom and dad holding him all the time.  after all, when i go back to work he's going to have to spend more time in it.  as the days go on he is getting more and more comfortable in it and now doesnt put up a fuss at all.

family comes a knockin'

later in the week diana's whole family stops by for a visit!  her mom was still with us full time, but her dad, sister, aunt, and david all came by to visit as well!  we had a fun time showing off our little boy!  its kind of nice to have absolutely no pressure when guests come over:  i dont have to worry about entertaining them, i just have to let them hold the baby!
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ledger's day out

after the doctor's office, diana and i decided to trek out into the real world with ledger for the first time!  we were both starving, so we went to mcdonalds with him for a quick bite to eat.  after that we knew we needed to pick up a few things so we stopped at meijer and got a couple more onesies for him- there was no way we were going to last on what we had!  we both assumed he was going to be a big baby so we didnt stock up on newborn stuff at all!  so, unless we want to be going to the laundry mat every two days, we needed to get more newborn clothes.  the whole afternoon we were out ledger was as quiet as a mouse!  amazing!  i dont think this is typical, so we arent planning on getting used to it just yet...

rub-a-dub

diana has bathed ledger before, but this was my first time!  oh, what a thrill!  i was super excited to give him a bath, but he wasnt quite so eager- that little stinker just hates it soo much!  my mom got us a cool little foldable bathing thing for him and it works so perfect.  we stick him on there and wash him with a little cloth and soapy water.  he doesnt really seem to know what's going on, but he sure does hate that warm water so much!  but then the best part: wrapping him up in a towel and holding him as he dries off.  you know, i could really get used to this baby thing...

doctor visit

while we were still in the hospital we got a visit from our pediatrician.  we had never actually gone to see the pediatrician before, so this was something new for us.  she was very nice and quite excited for us.  she gave us a few pointers for making the transition back to the house, and then was off!  we made an appointment to see her again the first week back home, and now we were off to her office.  its quite nice because she is only about 2 miles from the house- handy!  we got there and checked in and sat in the 'not sick' waiting room.  the place was really cool, the walls were filled with fun dr. seuss paintings!  after a short 10 minute wait, we were called in.  first things first- ledger was taken over to the scale and he was weighed and measured.  he's a little bigger than when we left the hospital, so thats good!  the doctor showed up soon after and we got a chance to really talk to her.  i tell ya, we got pretty lucky, our doctor is amazing!  i dont think i've ever seen a doctor as passionate about her patients as she is!  she did a little bit of poking and prodding and told us that everything looks good, our boy is in good shape.  we made arrangements to see her again in two weeks.  i'm sure by then we will have a ton more questions for her...

change and chill

so far this little guy doesn't seem to mind being changed.  he doesnt put up too much of a fuss when we have to change his diaper, other than it being a bit chilly in his room sometimes. he almost seems to be doing just the opposite:  when its time to go on the changing table, he takes it as an opportunity to stretch out and enjoy the view!  usually we have him swaddled up and bundled up, but when he gets the chance to stretch he certainly takes it.  live it up, kid, live it up!

burpy time

my favorite time with our little guy is when i get to burp him.  sounds strange, i know.  but when i get to burp him, he has just filled his little tummy and is on the verge of falling asleep.  i put him up on my shoulder, patting him on the back, and he curls up into a little baby ball and within minute is sound asleep!  i get to have that warm little guy right up by my face, with his cute breathing in and out.  its a time where he and i can bond, he being cute, and i enjoying that cute!
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great grandma's joy

with diana's grandma not doing so well, health wise, we made a point of going to see her with ledger as soon as possible!  she had been diagnosed with cancer and was not willing to go through the destructive treatments, so she was just fighting the good fight without aid.  we were able to go and see her with ledger just a day or two after we got out of the hospital.  she was so excited to see him- he is her first great grandchild!
oh, to see her look at little ledger!  the joy in her eyes at our little baby, it felt like, for just a moment, she melted with love.  as she looked at him her features softened, her pain subsided for a short time, she was simply a proud great grandma.  though ledger will not remember when he met his great grandma, we will be sure to tell him just how proud she was of him and how her heart overflowed with love to just hold him a moment!  we will be sure to tell him how much great grandma loved each of us and how she held on long enough to kiss his precious face.
we wont forget you, grandma, and we will make sure that ledger doesn't either!
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home and sleepy

when we got home we werent exactly sure what to do, we had never had a newborn before!  well, it turns out you don't do much of anything!  he just wants to spend the whole time sleeping!  but oh, what a cute sleeper!  here are a bunch of pictures over his first few days of him sleeping and just generally hanging out being a baby: 1, 2, 3.

in bed

now that we are home with ledger, an important question arises: where does he sleep?  we had the crib all set for him, but we dont have a baby monitor yet, so we didnt feel comfortable leaving him on his own in his room (and we wanted to have him close to us anyway!), and we didnt bother with a bassinet, so what do we do?  well, we kind of made a makeshift bed for him using his changing pad for the first night.  we knew that wasnt exactly the safest option, so the next day diana and her sister went out and got him a little tiny bed to put between us.  its kind of like a cute little pack-n-play!  we figure he can sleep with us for the first few weeks, but this is definitely not going to be a permanent option.  david said that he has a monitor for us, so we will use that as soon as we can!

rockin!

soon after we got home i got to bring ledger into his room for the first time. he was quite impressed (or at least thats what i assumed considering that he was sound asleep and couldnt really talk even if he was awake...).  i was excited to test out the rocking chair that we had gotten from diana's family- it was time for ledger's first rock!  as one would expect, it went off flawlessly!  we are going to be getting used to thing, i'm sure!  i expect there to be many many hours spend in this chair as we raise our boy.  hopefully one day he will think back to this rocker as fondly as diana does to the rocker she had growing up!
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poco, meet ledger!

now, time for the thing we have been the most nervous about: bringing our baby home to meet the dog.  we had heard all kinds of advice about how to do it, how to introduce the dog to the baby in a way that would make sure the dog saw the baby as a welcome addition to the family and not an intruder.  we had already asked diana's sister and mom to bring home a couple things for poco to smell that ledger had warn, a hat the first night and a blanket he had been swaddled in the second night.  so far so good.  in fact, when mom and sis woke up on that second morning, poco had found himself  comfy spot right on top of that blanket on the couch!  ok, so maybe this will go well.
we had heard that it might not be a good idea to bring the baby in while the dog is in the house, this makes the dog see the baby as an intruder, coming in on his turf.  instead they suggested that we should take the dog out of the house and then bring the baby in, when the dog returns, they will see the baby as something that is already a part of the accepted family.  kind of strange, but we trust cesar millan when it comes to dog stuff...
diana when in and got poco, put on his harness, and brought him out.  i got ledger out of the back seat and brought him in, followed by diana and poco.  at first the dog was unsure about this thing in the car seat that kept moving around, but after we took ledger out, then poco just wanted to get up and smell the little guy!  we did not let him, instead making sure that poco knew that there is a boundary: poco must stay away from ledger.  we hope to introduce the two of them slowly over time yet still keeping a distance between them.  sorry doggy, but there is a new favorite in town!
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