Splish Splash

Splish Splash I was takin' a bath

Long about a Tuesday night, yeah

Rub-a-dub, just relaxin' in the tub

Thinkin' everything was alright...

Mommy goes back to work

K has been dreading this day since she arrived home with Luke 6 short weeks ago - the day she has to return to work. They've done lots of planning and have tons of help from family to care for him over the next month, so he will be well taken care of. BUT - nothing can really prepare K for being away from him every day after having spent EVERY day with him for the last 6+ weeks.

She actually got a taste of "being away" last night when she went to a dinner with some girlfriends. It was the first time she was not at home to put baby Luke to sleep. Although she was glad he was such a little angel (he went to bed promptly at 8:00 on the dot after a nice calm bath), she couldn't help but be a little hurt that things went so smoothly without Mommy's presence. I guess it was just her first lesson of many in learning to watch her baby grow, change, and learn not to need his mommy.

After all the angst and worry, the first day back at work was just fine. She actually only worked a half day today so she was there for a couple morning feedings and a nice walk around the neighborhood. She is still dreading next week though, when she has to start her month in the ICU and stay overnight at the hospital every 4th night...For now, she will just enjoy her time with baby Luke and give him as many kisses as possible when she is home.

Playland extraordinaire

That little ladybug is toast!

It sure is tough leaving this little dude

The Zoo

Aunt Robin came in last night to help us out this week as Kristina goes back to work; yes, tomorrow is the big day. On her last day of maternity leave we decided to go to the Atlanta Zoo. Not only that, but we became zoo members. Today Luke didn't find the zoo to be all that exciting, as you can see from the below pictures, but we'll likely see the animals plenty of times again over the next year.

In the bird/monkey house

With Aunt Robin and the Orangutan

the baby elephant, sponsored by the Real Yellow Pages

Happy Handsome Baby Boy Harrison

Great Uncle Bob Visits

Luke was delighted last week to meet his Great Uncle Bob, who drove up from The Villages, FL to see us. Poor GUB came up the night of the American Idol finale, which is one of Luke's favorites from way back when he was in the womb. True story, Luke used to get pretty excited and kick a good amount (dance?) whenever Adam Lambert sang, well before he came out into the world. Anyway, we four watched American Idol and had ice cream sundaes when we weren't entertaining and being entertained by young Luke. GUB wanted the record to show, despite what you may have read on this blog, that young Luke isn't always a little angel, and in fact the evening of his visit Luke was particularly fussy. GUB also wanted the record to show that he was adept at soothing Mr. Luke, which was true on one occasion, but as the pictures below show, not always the case.

in the backyard oasis

GUB successfully soothes Luke

not quite as successful here....

My Boys (aka "backyard oasis")

Three years ago, when K and B were just about to move into their new home, they celebrated their 2nd anniversary. K thought it would be a wonderful gift to get him a hammock for his new backyard. But, there were so many options - rope, fabric, a stand, no stand... - so she decided to give him an IOU so he could pick it out himself. That was 3 years ago...

With visions of he and his son napping in the warm Georgia sun on Sunday afternoons, Ben decided it was time to finally cash in on his gift. All the parts finally arrived last week and it was installed over the weekend. My boys christened the new hammock this past weekend. Ben now affectionately calls this area his "backyard oasis."

Dad, wake up, it's time for the Braves game!

Can't think of any better place to nap!

A weekend to celebrate

Last weekend was filled with reasons to celebrate! Saturday was Luke's 1 month birthday (can you believe it?!) and Sunday was Kristina's first Mother's day. We had special visitors in town for the weekend - K's sister, nieces and Mom - so it was extra special because there were 3 moms to celebrate mom's day together. Luke and Ben sent Kristina a beautiful bouquet of flowers and Luke gave his Mommy 2 pictures for her office at work (for those of you wondering - "she has a office? " - well, no, not yet, but she will in september!), one of he and Mommy only minutes after he was born and one of him looking quite handsome in his green polo shirt outfit. We all had lots of fun celebrating and it was good to have extra little hands to help take care of the baby! B & K also got to have a dinner out alone while Gma, Auntie Kara, Kailey and Madison babysat - what a treat!

Lots of little helpers to take care of Luke

Luke can't get enough of his Gma!

Mommy and Luke on their first Mother's Day. He is wearing his "Mommy's little king" outfit because he had already peed through his "I love Mommy and Mommy loves me" outfit. It will only be a few more years before he refuses to wear anything that says "mommy" so we'll take advantage while we can.

Happy parents and their super cute 1 month old. As you can tell, Luke is a party animal.

Last Night

Last night, on the eve of his one month birthday, young Luke David Harrison went to bed at about 11pm. It was Kristina's night to handle the middle of the night feedings/soothings/diaper changings. So at about 7am Ben woke up and turned to Kristina and asked, "How many times last night? Once?" For once had been the pattern recently, something we were well pleased about. Kristina however shook her head. Ben groaned and said, "Twice? Three times?" Again Kristina shook her head. It then dawned on Ben that little Luke slept all the way through the night, for the very first time.

By the way, for those keeping score at home, Little Luke isn't quite as little anymore. He matches up quite well with the 24 inch long caterpillar toy in length, and his father weighs 10.4 more pounds when he's carrying Luke, than he does when he's not.

Visitors

This past weekend Grammie and Gramp came to visit, and yesterday Great Granny and Great Grampy stopped through on their way north for the Summer. Luke put on quite a show for the great grandparents in particular, as for just about their entire visit, he was awake, alert and CALM. We believe the GG's got back in the car thinking, that is the best baby in history. And he might well be, no quibbles here, but starting when that car took off, the CALM went with them, and Ben and Kristina had their hands full for the rest of the day. Additionally, that nice outfit with the overalls that Luke picked for the occasion of meeting the GGs didn't last long once they left.

Grey found that the best aspect of having visitors was getting a little extra attention from Ben and Kristina, while someone else was minding Luke.

Go Braves!

Luke has been busy entertaining folks (lots of them!) here at home. Although he occasionally gets upset when it means he has to put off feeding for a few minutes or wear handsome outfits for picture time, he gets REALLY upset if it means he has to miss his Braves games. No matter who is here, we always make sure to have the Braves game on TV. He hasn't told us yet who his favorite player is, but we are guessing it is Yunel Escobar because he has the grooviest song playing when he comes up to bat.

Luke also wants to let you know that he loves his NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon as well (he's wearing his JG onesie right now - thanks Gpa!) but more pictures of that to come later.

Go Braves!!!

So lucky to live in Atlanta!