Monkey See, Monkey Do

Carson has started immitating things that Greg and I say...and apparently do. We were in the kitchen and left the refrigerator door slightly opened. I guess Carson has watched us get into the fridge plenty of times to realize how it works. And, now that he's tall enough to reach the handle, he decided to give it a try himself.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all! We had a great, low key Easter. Carson is cutting a tooth, therefore he has not been in the greatest of moods.

Funny side story to share. When I was little, my dad used to ask me, every year, what Easter was. I could never remember if it was Jesus' birthday or when he rose from the dead. This question stumped me for years as a young child. I am happy to report that I now know the difference! It'll be fun to do the same with Carson as he's growing up. I'm sure he's a lot smarter than his old mom! :)

We kept the Easter activities for Carson low key. He got a little Easter basket and some eggs to play with. Also, Granny (my mom) sent him a HUGE bunny in the mail! It's bigger than Carson! haha

Of course he's going to taste test the egg - why not. He taste tests everything else...and I mean everything!

I just love this picture. Such a serious look. He knows what he's doing and he's focusing hard to get the job done.

He would put the eggs in the holes on the putting green and take them back out - over and over again. 

Looks like he found a golf ball in there too!

Greg, you are so going to get in trouble w/ my mom on this one. Greg thought it would be funny to roast Betty the Bunny (yes, that's what he named her) for Easter dinner. Luckily, I stepped in and saved her!

Thank you Lord for your son. It is because of his death on the cross, we are able to have eternal life.

Greg calls it our "Texas style date"

Last weekend we were in Texas for Greg's grandmother's funeral. It was great to see the family, but sad for the reason why we were all together. We flew into Dallas on Friday and back to LA on Sunday - needless to say, it was a fast trip.

Saturday night we stayed in the Dallas area. Usually, we find a hotel where we can get a sitting room seperate from the bedroom - this makes it much easier when putting Carson down for naps and bedtime. We weren't so lucky this time. No worries - we'll improvise!

Carson went to bed at 9pm (we keep him on Pacific Time when we're back in Dallas, therefore he goes to bed later and mommy gets to sleep in....oh, I mean, he sleeps later in the mornings). Greg picked up a pizza from Grimaldi's in Allen (our favorite pizza place) and I went to the store and bought some wine. Keep in mind, since we're traveling, we didn't have a wine opener (I'm sure some of my family and friends reading this are disappointed...haha), so I bought any red wine I could find with a screw top.

So, Greg and I had a romantic dinner - pizza and wine (in plastic hotel cups).....in the hallway! That's right, we sat outside of our hotel room, on the floor and enjoyed our dinner! Actually, we had a really good time! A few people walked by and gave us some funny looks but we simply explained that we had a baby sleeping in the room. They didn't seem to mind.

Obviously eating dinner off the floor of a hotel is not ideal, but we made the best of it and enjoyed our time together. I love creating these types of memories with Greg.

Kisses

I had to make sure we got a picture of this. Carson loves to give mommy and daddy kisses - just not sure he has it down just yet. No worries, I love them just the same!!

Saying goodbye to a wonderful woman

This past Saturday, April 9th, Greg's grandmother passed away - Charlotte Ruth Harr, age 96.

I only knew Grandmother for a very short five years, but I learned very quickly that she is a kind, loving, smart, strong-willed, admired woman. She welcomed me to the family the day I met her. I loved hearing her stories, especially the ones of Ruthie (Greg's mom) and Charlie when they were children. I recall Charlie trying to sneak a peak of Ruthie as a baby in her bassinet and Charlie actually knocking Ruthie out of the bassinet....that explains a lot! haha  :)

She adored Carson. In fact, visiting Grandmother in Wichita Falls was our first road trip w/ Carson. Normally a three hour drive took us about 5 hours! :)  After the diaper changing, feedings, and worried mommy-stops, we finally made it. I remember asking her if she wanted to hold Carson (6 weeks at the time). She didn't even hesitate - of course she did! She took complete control and didn't skip a beat! It was so great to see Carson and his great-grandmother spending time together.

I mentioned earlier that Grandmother was smart. Smart doesn't even begin to explain it! (I'm not even smart enough to think of a smarter word than smart.) I remember during a family reunion everyone was playing card games. I watched for a bit thinking to myself, I can figure it out. I was so wrong...not even a chance. She explained it to me over and over again - I still, to this day, have no idea what was going on.

Grandmother will truly be missed. But, we all have our special memories of her and something special that stands out in our mind. The good news - she's in heaven with her maker and her husband, Russell. That name may ring a bell...that's Carson's middle name, Carson Russell Hodges. Check out the initials of Grandmother: CRH...Carson's initials, CRH.

We love you and miss you Grandmother.

Walking on Sunshine!

That's right ladies and gentlemen, Carson is officially WALKING!! Here's a short video Greg was able to snap. Anytime we pull out the Flip video camera, he drops to the floor and crawls as fast as he can to it. He loves to play with it. In fact I have a few videos that Carson has created...all by himself!

He's still doing some crawling, but he's getting better with walking everyday! I love to see his confidence!