Easter Bunny Tales

Ha ha, get it? Play on words, bunny tales/tails??

Well, the Easter bunny (AND his tail) came to the Carter house this past Sunday and Harrison must have been a very good boy because he got lots of neat stuff. Here he is checking out his Easter basket for the first time.



He got some "choo choos", Da Da is helping him with one below. When you blow the whistle, Thomas moves around!



He also got a Play Doh set and had fun mashing it in his hands.



We did an Easter egg "hunt" in our front yard........he didn't quite understand the concept of holding the basket and putting the eggs in there, so we just set the basket on the ground and let him find the eggs and bring them back to the basket!



Will and Megan came over to have brunch and check out the Easter bunny loot.



We made Harrison interrupt his T-ball practice to take a picture with us!!!



The best part was opening and closing the eggs.....



Later on in the day after his nap, we took him to Hammond Park and played there for about an hour and a half. He thinks he is such a big boy, he wants to go down all the big slides and climb on everything there is. I think Da Da had as much fun as he did!

Batter Up!

Harrison got an early Easter present on Saturday, it was such a beautiful day that we thought it would be nice to get him started with a junior T-ball set, and celebrate the upcoming baseball season at the same time!

Here's Da Da showing him the proper way to hit a baseball.......



......and soon enough, he was making contact all on his own! He has a great swing already, and loves teeing up the ball himself and then taking a good smack at it (sorry, Poppy - he seems to bat right-handed, but there's always hope he could pitch lefty!). He and Da Da also did some "fielding" practice.



These pictures don't have anything to do with baseball, but here are some good ones of Harrison and his best buds, the doggies. Here they all are, checking out what's going on outside in the neighborhood. Apparently, birds and squirrels are very intriguing not only to canines, but to one year olds as well.



Gracie is always so nice and lets him sit on her like a horse! She doesn't even blink an eye. Da Da, of course, is checking his NCAA brackets for the thousandth time.

Trying to Fill Da Da's Shoes

When Harrison sees Jason's tennis shoes lying around the house, he likes to step inside them and try to walk, which is really funny! It's also really cute, because he truly watches every move "Da Da" makes and imitates him all the time. Jason has been doing a lot of work around the house lately, and Harrison tries to "help" as much as he can. The other day, Jason was hanging shelves in the baby's nursery (see below!) and was holding a shelf up to the wall, so Harrison picked up the other shelf and did the same thing, like he was going to hang it!

He loves his Da Da so much and they are best buddies! Those are big shoes to fill, buddy, literally and figuratively!





Here is the nursery so far. We still have lots of work to do but we are proud to have it painted and the crib and dresser moved in! Harrison doesn't seem to think much of it so far, but he likes to play with the rug by rolling it up and unrolling it.

Fun with the Roberts Cousins

The cousins on my mom's side of the family are slowly trickling into the Atlanta area, so we thought it would be fun to have everyone over for dinner on Saturday night and catch up. The Fedors (Caroline, Ken and Cameron, who is Harrison's age) moved to Brookhaven last October, and Matt Roberts graduated from the University of Florida this past winter and started a new job with Holder Construction recently and lives in the Virginia Highlands. And, of course, Will and Megan have been living here for a while now. Here are some highlights from our fun evening together (thanks Will and Megan for the great pics!).

Harrison checking out the baby!

Caroline and Cameron. Cameron looks just like his Uncle Jay!

Matt and his girlfriend, Angela. She is a law student at the University of Florida who is up visiting for her Spring Break.

Uncle Willy and Harrison checking out the appetizers before dinner.

Quick - I want some of THOSE!!

Cameron and Harrison dive into some cheese pizza.

The party got wild after dinner - the boys pulled every toy out, and were having a great time! Here's Harrison showing off for the camera........

.......and walking around with the equivalent of a lampshade on his head!

We finally settled in with a book before the evening was over!

Another Goodbye to a Grandmother

My Grandma Eschen lost her battle with pancreatic cancer on Sunday, February 24th. It's been a tough several months for all of us, especially my parents, as we lost Grammy (my mom's mother) this past November. But they are both in a better place now, free of any pain and suffering and although we miss them dearly here on earth, we know they are always with us.

We attended Grandma's funeral that following Tuesday in Winston-Salem, NC. While there were a lot of tears shed, it was also a wonderful celebration of her life and what she meant to all of us. It was also very nice for all of the Eschens to be together again in the same place for the first time in over 10 years, we had a good time seeing everyone and catching up.

As we learned from Grammy's funeral, it is nice to have a young child around to remind us of laughter and love, and how to cherish every day because life is so short. Harrison was quite a hit, as usual, and brought many a smile to a sad face. I only took one picture the entire time we were in NC, but it pretty much captures his spirit - here he is enjoying a ride on the luggage cart at the hotel, being pushed by Daddy and watched by Poppy!

We miss you dearly, Grandma and Grammy. Rest in peace.