Surprise!

Last week I took Luke to Tampa to surprise my grandmother with a visit from her great-grandson. Grandma doesn't fly anymore, so she had not yet been able to meet him. She was SO surprised and practically yanked him out of my arms when I walked in the door! It was so much fun to share him with her and so sweet to see how much she loved being with him. Some of the best memories of my childhood are spending time with my Grandma and late Grandpa, so it was important to me that Luke got to meet my Grandma. Hopefully he will have lots more visits with Grandma in the future and be able to make his own memories with her!

Grandma and her great-grandson right after we surprised her.


Doesn't he look humongous on her lap?


I love this picture...I wish it weren't blurry!


Grandma learns just how fast Luke can chug a bottle!


Luke also got to meet lots of other family members while we were in Tampa -- Aunt Kate and Uncle Jim, Aunt Debbie and Uncle Dave, Aunt Carol, and my cousins Amy, Mallory and Trevor. He was such a charmer and cooed, talked, and smiled for all of them. It was so much fun, and I was so glad that we could see so much of the family in one trip!
My best friend, Paige, and her 9-month old daughter, Finley, got to meet Luke for the first time, too. It was so cool for Paige and me to be together with our babies. Paige and I grew up together and have been friends all our lives. It was almost surreal as we walked the 50 yards from my parents' house to Paige's parents house, as we have done one million times, but this time with our babies in our arms. It was the kind of thing we used to dream about when we were kids, and now it's real!
Also, as a special treat, we got to attend my mom's book club, which meant that nine or so of Luke's biggest fans got to ooh and aah over him for a while. They surprised me with all sorts of books for Luke, many of which were their kids' favorites. It was so sweet of them and so special that they would do this for us.


Luke being loved on (fought over!) at book club. Can you tell Isabel didn't want to give him up?