Kaelan's First Easter!

Happy Easter to everyone!  First, let me apologize for the length of this blog, but I have a lot to post about! I had off on Good Friday this year... my little man and I had a fantastic day together.  We went to Mercer Arboretum, a first for both of us. I only had my phone with me so here is the best photo I was able to get.

Kaelan enjoyed looking at all the different flowers, but his favorite by far was staring at the water fountain. As I moved, he would move his head as not to let it out of his sight!  I sat with him and let him touch and feel different plant textures.  I've done this in the yard with him (thank you Jessica C for this little tip!) a few times and he gets so excited, so I'm glad it was a hit at Mercer as well.

Friday evening I can proudly say (again) we had our first big belly laugh.  Music to my ears readers... music to my ears.  As Nick told me last night, hearing that laugh makes all the late nights, early mornings, poopy diapers, spit up, pee, and tears so completely and totally worth it.  I'm happy to say that by "hiding" and saying "BOO!" this evening, we elicited more big belly laughs. :)

Saturday we watched our good friend's (Kristin and Adam) little diaper dude, Hayden.  He was so good... he watched Caillou, laughed at Sully, played outside, ate lunch, and napped.  We had a great a time and I am definitely looking forward to chasing an older Kaelan around the house.  Here he is - eyes only for Caillou ;)

Last night Kaelan and I dyed Easter eggs (yes I use alcoholic beverage containers to dye eggs :) ).  It was mostly me doing the work and Kaelan looking adorable as always.  You'll see he's just learning how to sit up on his own.  I can't believe how much he has grown and developed.  My little man will be 5 months old in 5 days!

Now on to the title of my post... Today was (obviously) Kaelan's first Easter and we had a great time!!! The Easter Bunny came this morning to drop off lots of goodies...

...and Kaelan discovered them this morning! He was very excited to hand over all his candy to mom & dad, hug and cuddle his new stuffed animal, and can't wait for mom and dad to read him his Easter books!  Nick is very excited that Kaelan handed over his candy ;)

After checking out his Easter goodies, we picked up Great-Gamma and headed to Grandmere and Pepaw's house for Easter breakfast, pictures, and church.  Kaelan had his very own Peter Rabbit china on the Hopkins' family high chair.  This high chair was my mom's, all her cousins used it, my brother and I used it, and my mom's cousin's children used it.  It truly is a family heirloom. :) However, as you can see, we had to belt Kaelan into it given that there aren't any straps or bars. He was a good sport for the most part.

Before church, the outdoor pictures commenced. Unfortunately, Kaelan was NOT cooperative.  Smiles were limited and he spent most of the time looking at the dogs! He was pretty good in church.  He slept through the Hallelujah Chorus (amazingly) and then smiled a lot at the family behind us.  Towards the end he (and about 8 other infants) got restless so he headed to the lobby with Nick where (I'm told) he was a huge flirt and had lots of fun until the service was over.  Here are a few of the pics we got before church:

All dressed for pictures!

Kaelan (looking at the dogs) with his Grandmere

Great-Gamma, Grandmere, Mom, & K-Bug (looking at the dogs...)

Pepaw, Kaelan (looking at the dogs of course), Mom, Grandmere

After church we were headed to Nick's Mom's house (Grams) for lunch, however, an unexpected change in plans had us back at our house. Grams' A/C broke.  Since most of my readers live in Texas, you understand in 90 degree heat, a broken A/C is not something anyone wants to deal with!  So the group headed over with lasagna, champagne, and dessert.  I wanted a few pictures with Kaelan in front of our oleanders and this turned into a great photo op.  Kaelan mostly looked at Sully, but with all the people there we were able to cajole a few smiles at least!

I am so in love with my little family :)

Grams with Kaelan

Aunts Chelsea & Camille, Grams, Stud-Muffin, and Aunts Kayla & Bree

Aunt Kayla

Aunt Chelsea 

Aunt Camile 

Aunt Bree

Sweet boy making faces at his daddy

The miniature love of my life

The two loves of my life (Kaelan? not amused! :) )

I truly hope that every one's Easter was as great as ours.  Having Good Friday off with my little guy, spending all day Saturday, and all day Sunday with him and with Nick was truly a blessing.  While our lives are by no means perfect, I'm happier than I've ever been and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us.

Happy Easter 2011!
oxoxo! Ashley, Nick, & Kaelan