LOL Day, Harrison is 9 weeks!

Our Lady Of Leisure day was fabulous! Having 2 babysitters all day is definitely spoiling me! We met for lunch with my Katie, Erin, Megan, Sloane, and Miss Peg at our all time favorite restaurant, Eclipse di Luna. For 10 years now, we've dined at this tapas restaurant for every celebration in my group of 13 besties from college - from birthdays, to graduations, to engagements, and now babies! Since most of our college girls have moved away, there were only 4 of us representing today - we missed the rest of you so much! :)

After lunch, we went back to Grandma's condo and her sister and cousin dropped in for a quick visit with Harrison. He loved all the attention from the ladies!

More Pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Aubreyslye/Harrison9Weeks#

Aubrey, "Grandma Great," and Harrison

Katie, Erin, Miss Peg, Megan, little Sloane, little Harrison, Aubrey, Mom, Grandma


I LOVED this picture of Sloane! Megan was talking to her, trying to get her to smile and she was just eyeing her Mom like she was crazy!

Precious Sloane smiling away!

Megan and Sloane, Katie, Erin, Aubrey and Harrison

The two mommies! (i still can't believe we're mommies!)

Great Aunt Sarah and Harrison

Great Cousin Sally and Harrison

Harrison LOVES his Grandma Great - he smiles with such enthusiasm when she appears! It's just adorable!

I love my Grandma Great!

Thanksgiving Trip to GA

Thanksgiving in GA was so much fun! We arrived last Tuesday via Air Tranny. Harrison was the BEST little boy in the world on the plane! He didn't cry a single time! We had to run by Megan's house to pick something up before we headed to Griffin, so we got to put the babies in their "I LOVE SLOANE" and "FUTURE MRS. SLYE" Tshirts! It was hilarious! I think Harrison was feeling a bit intmidated by his older woman, but by the time we left he was in love! :)

On Wednesday, Dad flew up to pick Grandma up in Atlanta. I was soooo excited to see her and introduce her to her 7th Grandson. She can't seem to get away from the boys (she has 4 sons herself!). Grandma was AMAZING with Harrison. At 88, I thought her arms would get tired, but she held and rocked that baby the entire time she was here! She would pull up a chair by his bassinet downstairs and stroke his head (he LOVES this) until he fell asleep. Talk about spoiling a baby!!!! :) David and I thought we were bad!

I was so lucky to see so many of my girlfriends over the past week. And, I have lunch/dinner dates lined up with several more to introduce Harrison to all his aunties who have been awaiting his arrival. It's been SO much fun! Joanna and her parents came to visit the day after Thanksgiving - he slept a lot of the time, but woke up to smile and laugh at Joanna! That evening, several of my girlfriends from elementary school came over. Amanda and Josh brought their 5 month old, Addison, for Harrison to meet. Unfortunately, it was Harrison's feeding time, then bedtime, so he didn't get to snuggle with his woman like he had wanted! I loved seeing my girls, though.... what a fun evening!

On Sunday night, my Mom threw my Dad a fabulous retirement party (we're still waiting on pics from the photographer and then I will post some). Harrison was able to meet so many of their friends - it was so fun to show him off now that he's a little bigger and I feel more comfortable about being out. (I had antibacterial hand sanitizer in my back pocket, though!!!) :)

Monday morning I took David to the airport and Grandma back to her place. It was an EARLY morning... 545am!!! I was sooo sad to see my hubbie leave. Last night I put the phone near Harrison's ear to let David say HI and I swear his eyes lit up - so cute! We'll see Grandma again on Wednesday for lunch with the girls (I love being an LOL - Lady of Leisure!!! HAHA - that all stops when I leave my babysitters!!!).

Monday afternoon, our good friends, Sam and Becky, came over with Sam's twins, Ford and Addie. They are absolutely precious and almost 5 months, so they were cooing and trying their hardest to carry on a conversation the entire time! It's crazy in 3 months Harrison will be as big as Ford - 16 big ones! Harrison just loved hanging out with his new buddies!

Today, Mom and I ventured out in Griffin to run some errands and have lunch. It was so fun being in my home town and seeing how much it's changed! We made all the necessary stops and had J.Henry's famous salmon salad for lunch! What a fabulous day! Tonight, Dad is away for the night hunting, so it's just the girls and Harrison!!!

MORE PICS:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Aubreyslye/Thanksgiving2008#

More to come next week, after we get home on the 9th!

Harrison after the flight, on the train in the Atlanta airport - scared to DEATH!

Getting ready for a walk in the cold GA weather!

Harrison and his girlfriend Sloane (aka Cougar #1). She is being so sweet and trying to make him feel welcomed in her home, but Harrison just was not comfortable with an older woman's arm around him.

"Okay, now I'm comfortable with my lady friend! Can you just reach your hand up a little farther and rub my head?"

You are funny, Great-Grandma!

Harrison in his favorite cuddle position with his Great Grandmother, who is the best babysitter in the world!

Auntie Joanna

My Griffin Girls - me, Jan (with Stella, due in April), Amanda (with Addison), Rebecca, Brooke

My little ELF!

Auntie Brooke and Auntie Rebecca!

The Abebes!

After a long nights' sleep, Harrison is full of energy at 7am!

Harrison and one of his girlfriends, Addie (aka Cougar #3), and his new buddy, Ford.

Sam (Aunt Sammy) and me with our little boys, Ford and Harrison

"Wow, my chins match my bald Grandaddy's chins! ...But, at least I have hair!"

Going shopping with Mom and Grandma in my warm fleece bear outfit!

8 Weeks on November 25th!

I started this entry before we left for GA but am just now finishing putting the pics up!!!


We've had a fun week, with more outings - Grandma and Granpa Slye's, The Greek Festival, lunch with friends... Harrison has met so many people this week and been so many places! Unfortunately, he doesn't last long in his car seat for shopping at Town and Country! David had to stroll him around outside while I ran in and out of a few stores to get us suited up and ready for the colder weather GA has! We fly out tomorrow morning and finally get to visit "Camp Smith!" More Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/Aubreyslye/WeekEight#

Seven Weeks Old!

Harrison is weighing about 10 3/4 lbs and gaining a chin every 2 weeks! We're starting to get out a little more, which has been so nice for all of us. Thankfully, it's still nice and warm here in Houston - we're still wearing short sleeves. The two days we hit below 70 degrees, everyone broke out their Uggs and fur coats! It was a sight!

This Thursday, we're headed to the doctor for Harrison's 2 month checkup (about a week early). He's set to get 5 immunizations - yes, FIVE shots in his little leg. I can hear the blood curdling screams now! After this appointment, we'll be ready to head to GA next Tuesday for Thanksgiving! David will be staying for about a week, and I'll be there for 2 weeks. I cannot wait!


Below, you can see the progression over the last week of my "old man's" hair loss - it's going rapidly, especially on the sides, where you can see an official receding hairline! It's still TBD on what color his hair really will be!

Oh, and I had my first official "girls' night out" last night! Amy and I went to the Coldplay concert and danced and danced and danced. It was so much fun - I only called David 2 times to check in during the 5 hours I was away! (see the last pic of us bidding farewell to the little man)

More pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Aubreyslye/WeekSeven03#

Six Weeks Old!

Harrison had a big week - 2 play dates with his best bud Nathan Zorn! It's so much fun having a friend with a little boy only 3 weeks older than Harrison! Saturday night, the Zorns came over to cook out. What a sense of normalcy we all felt! It was the first time in months that David and I were able to functionally have people over and we enjoyed it so much! However, by 8pm, Lisa and I felt like it was midnight! :)

Harrison is so much fun for David and me - he is such a happy and content (most of the time) baby. (If we could just fast forward to when we get 8 hours of sleep at one time!!!) He's smiling more "on demand" now - just a little cooing at him, and he'll crack a big smile that usually starts with one side of his mouth smiling, then a few seconds later, the other side smiles, too and his little dimples show! I love it!

He's also able to hold in his pacifier (as seen below)! It usually doesn't last for long, but hey, it's a start! He doesn't need the pacifier much at all, which David and I are extremely thankful for! We just swaddle him tightly (which he LOVES), and put him in his crib, and he's the happiest baby on the block!

I give Harrison 2 more months until he's lost all of his baby hair! I can't believe that he's already started to lose it on the side and on top. Sometimes I think I see some golden hairs coming in and then other times, I see a little auburn, so we'll just have to wait and see.

More pics of week six:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Aubreyslye/WeekSix02#

Harrison is 5 weeks old!

Once upon a time there were four little rabbits...

I'm sooo tired. Dad, do I really have to read you another bedtime story?

Forget it! I'm pooped - I've had to babysit Mom all day!

Dreamland

My gangsta son!

We made some big changes in the Slye household this weekend! It all started with a very tired Mom, a Dad who wanted to watch the big UT game, and a baby who needed to go to bed. We knew we couldn't put him in our room in the bassinet because I would not be able to sleep the 2 hours between feeds for watching over him, and we couldn't put him downstairs because it would break the "routine" that we'd been trying to establish - lights out, time for bed- AND because David had reserved Saturday night for the game! So, we ultimately decided to start him in the crib this Saturday night!!!! With our handy dandy video monitor, the plan was for David to watch carefully over him while I slept until the 11pm feed. Unfortunately, Harrison didn't like his new sleeping arrangements as much as we did.... he wailed and wailed for what seemed like eternity. So much for sleeping the 2 hours - I was worried about my baby, but was quickly intercepted by David every time I tried to "rescue" my little boy!!! I was turned around and put back to bed. David was MAKING me enforce the 15 minutes of crying rule - he assured me that Harrison was fed, changed, warm, and comfy, but I bit off every fingernail I had in those 15 minutes. (and shed a few tears!) I paced up and down the stairs, begging to see the hand held video monitor, which David would only show me when Harrison wasn't crying. It was a LONG few hours - Once we got him to sleep, it was time for the 11pm feed, after which he cried again, but this time it was definitely shorter in duration. After his early morning feed, the same thing happened, but again - shorter in duration. Sunday night we continued to shorten the crying bouts. And last night, the INCREDIBLE happened - he went down without a PEEP - after all 3 feeds!!! We are successful! And we are RESTED! It's amazing how your quality of sleep improves when you're not listening to grunts, stretches, and dreams all night! We'll see if it lasts, but I'm a stronger person for letting him cry - I can really do it and know that he'll be okay (at least for a few minutes, right?!?)

More week five photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Aubreyslye/HarrisonWeekFive#