WAY TO GO DAWGS!!!!

Way to go Mississippi State! Winners of the 2007 Liberty bowl 10-3 over UCF.
Most of the game wasn't exciting, but those last 6 minutes were worth waiting for. We had a great time hanging out and tailgating with everyone before the game and a good time watching the game. Ella Catherine watched with Mimi at the house. :)
We will post some pics soon. Happy New Year!

Christmas Fun!

Well, Ella Catherine's first Christmas was GREAT!

We started things off visiting Matt's aunt in Missouri last Saturday the 22nd. Ella Catherine had a ball despite her ear infections. Yes, you read correct, she had her third bout with ear infections and started antibiotics on the 20th. We are glad we started when we did because it didn't affect her at all by Christmas. Christmas Eve we went to church and then out to Grandpa Lynch's house for dinner and presents. In anticipation of our visit, Grams got the play kid's piano out for Ella Catherine to play with. She loved it. She kept looking up at us and grinning as she banged on it. She did VERY well opening gifts. She was very determined to get the packages opened. My boss says she has my personality because I am a very determined person. Some (my husband) may call it stubborn, but I like determined. As anticipated, our little nanny goat enjoyed the paper immensely. We let her play in it a little and I think she ate a little despite our best efforts to get it out of her mouth. I guess a little extra fiber didn't hurt her.

Matt and I are going to the Liberty Bowl tomorrow to cheer on the MSU bulldogs!!! Hope we come out with a victory!!!

Go Ella Catherine Go!

Maybe we will have piano lessons in our future.

She used any means necessary to get the paper off the gifts...her hands, mouth, whichever worked she went with it.

When it was all said and done, this was her favorite part of the day. Playing in the paper and boxes.

The Road to Recovery is a Slippery Slope

Just when we thought the Lynch Household was on the mend, Ella Catherine had a relapse. We really thought we had licked the cold and ear infection but on our trip to Georgia her congestion got worse. We had the Pediatrician call in a stronger decongestant and we thought it was working until Saturday. Saturday she was definitely more congested and started to have discharge from her eyes. By the ride home Sunday, her eyes were a lot worse and we knew we were headed back to the Pediatrician Monday morning. She has bilateral ear infections and was prescribed a stronger antibiotic. She may look just like Matt but I've always said she had my ears. And it appears I was right, well atleast the inside of her ears are taking after me. I had ear infections for the first 18 months-2 years of my life until I got ET tubes. Let's hope this is not Ella Catherine's fate.
On a more fun note! We had a FANTASTIC Thanksgiving in Georgia. Matt, Jeff and my dad stayed out at the cabin most of the time. They deer hunted, duck hunted, crow hunted and fished a little. Matt got 2 does and a duck and Jeff got 1 buck and 1 duck. A good time was had by all! We had lunch at Kelly's house on Wednesday. Thursday after our Thanksgiving lunch and Ella Catherine's nap we went over to visit with Robin, Hutch, Skylar, Sidney and Sophie. Ella Catherine enjoyed playing with the girls and Sidney gave her a hug and kiss when we left. It was REALLY cute! The rest of the trip we either hung out at the House or the cabin with the guys. It was a nice relaxing vacation. I'll post some pictures soon.

On the Road to Recovery

Well after almost a month of illnesses at the Lynch household, I dare to say I think we are all on the road to recovery!!! :) We actually got out this weekend and were able to go see the Christmas tree lighting at Saddle Creek. Ella Catherine sat on Santa's lap for the first time and surprisingly there weren't any tears until she was exiting his lap. After we heard a few christmas carols from the children's choir, we went to go get something to eat with Ed, Katie, Lewis, Sarah Ella, Roger and Airey. It was fun seeing everyone and Ella Catherine Loved hanging out with her friends. The party was broken up early because all the babies had to get to bed. Here are a few photos from the night.

Ella Catherine sitting on Santa's lap. As you can see, she was a little leery of jolly St. Nick but who can really blame her? She had fallen asleep in the car on the way to the event. So, we had to wake her up and then we put her on some strange man with a long white beard's lap. I would have screamed bloody murder!

Our friend , Airey, siting on Santa's lap. Isn't he just precious in his Santa's hat? Airey and Ella Catherine attend the same Mother's day out program at our church. So, they get some good play time together every Tuesday and Thursday. Well, that is when one or the other is not sick. :)

This is our friend Lewis sitting on santa's lap. Also loking very cute in his Santa hat. Lewis was so cute he just snuggled in with santa and was as happy as can be. He turned 4 months old this Saturday. It is so hard to believe he is already 4 months old.

We had to borrow the Santa Hat! :)

Happy Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite days of the year!!! I have always been a fan of Halloween but it took on a whole new meaning for me when I came to work at St. Jude. It is an unbelievably special day there. It is hard to do it justice with words but I'll try. The whole hospital and I mean the whole hospital REALLY gets into the spirit and decorates. It is a HUGE event that starts months ahead of time. All the different departments pick different themes and decorate their designated areas. Then all the staff dresses in that theme. This year there was Candyland, the 50's, Alice in Wonderland, Super Heros, Lion King, Whoville, Construction zone, Disney princesses, Madagascar just to name a few. Trick or treating was from 12-2pm. The kids and their siblings go around to all the different areas and trick or treat. It is soooo much fun. One of my clinics was candyland and I was designated to dress like the kids on the board game. This is the reason I am sporting the overalls in the picture above. Matt joined us for lunch today and brought Ella Catherine to play with mom at work. I wishe he had had more time and I could have taken him through the hospital to better appreciate the chaos that is St. Jude Halloween.

As you can see from the picture, our little girl was a pink octopus. Surprisingly she did very well wearing her costume today. I think all the extra people and activities helped. Katy went and picked up Beckham from daycare early and he and Ella Catherine played. He was dressed like a monkey. He liked playing with her tenticles and she liked tugging on his ears. It was a lot of fun to watch them play. Great fun was had by all! ( see pictures)We left St. Jude and went by Matt's office. Everyone there enjoyed seeing her all dressed up. Who wouldn't like a cute pink octopus? :)

She had such a big day and so few naps. By the time it was time to go over to Roger and Sarah Ella's house to play with Airey, Lewis and the other babies, she was exhausted and cranky. We decided it was best to just go home and go to bed. So unfortunately we didn't make it to the party. Hopefully we can make it next year to go trick or treating with the group.

All in All it was a FANTASTIC 1st HALLOWEEN.

Pumpkin Patch

Well, after 9 days of illness we finally have our little girl back. She had a pretty rough GI bug that she passed on to Matt, Mimi and I. Two weekends ago was a rough weekend in the Lynch Household. However, this past weekend was a lot of fun. Roger Cole turned 30 and celebrated with a Halloween costume party. After much debate on what we were going to dress up as, I went as the girl from flashdance and Matt dressed up like Richard Simmons. It was HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone really put thought into their costumes and everyone looked great! A good time was had by all.

So, I've had it in my head all October that I wanted to take Ella Catherine to the pumpkin patch and take pictures of her. Unfortunately, due to her illness we hadn't done it yet and time was running out. So, I got the idea as I was leaving Schnucks on Saturday that we would just take her to the pumpkin patch outside the grocery store. And that is what we did. Matt went along with my crazy idea and didn't complain even though I know he would have rather been anywhere else. I truly have a GREAT husband. So, I had to post the picture. It was a beautiful day and she really had fun playing with the pumpkin. Next year we can do a real pumpkin patch with the hayride and all. :)

Crawling

It is still pretty slow going, but ella catherine started crawling last night. We have been anxiously awaiting this milestone as she has appeared to be on the verge for quite some time. She would rock on her knees and move one hand and one knee but then plop on her belly. However, she is moving and grooving now. No more putting it off....Matt and I must now baby proof the house.

nana and pop's visit

Nana and Pop came to town Wednesday the 3rd. They got a lot of Ella Catherine time. Unfortunately, Ella Catherine decided that this weekend was the prime time to start cutting her top two teeth. In addition she has a really bad cold. Poor thing! She is such a trooper. Despite running fever, a running nose and her gums hurting she smiled, laughed and played all weekend. I've told Matt we were definitely blessed with a VERY good baby. What is that old saying....stop while the going is good? Anyway, here are some fun pictures from our weekend.

Funtimes in the walker! We eat our cheerios every morning strolling around the kitchen.

Pop and Ella Catherine playing. He taught Ella Catherine to wave this weekend and she is SO PROUD of herself when she does it.

Nana and Ella Catherine spent a lot of time playing on the floor with her toys. She is so close to crawling and we all have tried to show her how to do it, but for now she just inches like an inchworm. In all honesty, I think we are in serious trouble when she becaomes mobile. Life as we know it will be forever changed!!!

All in all we had a GREAT visit and we are sad to see them go.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Having a hard time getting in touch with Matt?

Never fear, so do I and I am his wife. :)

When I woke him this morning to say good bye as I was leaving for work, his comment was " I'll see you Saturday." His new position is both a blessing and a curse! Although we expected him to intially be busy, I don't think mentally we were prepared for how busy. He is averaging 12-15 hour days/ nights. In fact, the earliest he has gotten home all week has been 1am. Not only has he been working these crazy hours but he has still been taking care of Ella Catherine in the mornings before Mother's day out starts. So, he is also a little sleep deprived as well as over worked.

On a different note, my mom and dad are in town. They came in town for an Ella Catherine fix. We are excited to have them and are looking forward to a fun filled weekend. (pictures to come :) ).

Congratulations Matt!!

The Lynch household had some very exciting news this past week. Thursday afternoon we found out that Matt had received a promotion at work. He is now the Regional Nighttime Operations Manager for Service Master Building Maintenance. We are very excited about this new opportunity for him. Initially it might mean a few long evenings, but he had those long nights prior to this promotion. So, it won't be that big of an adjustment.

Today is our 2nd wedding anniversary! :) It seems like just yesterday we got married. However, so much has changed and happened in 2 years. We have been VERY blessed and are looking forward to many, many, many happy years together.

September 22,2007

After months of bombarding our friends and families with pictures of our princess we decided to create a blog. This way everyone can log on at thier leisure and check in on us instead of an overzealous mom (me :) ) sending pictures and updates all the time. We hope you enjoy!
Love,
Amy, Matt and Ella Catherine

September 23, 2007

Ella Catherine had her first visit to the playground at our neighborhood park today. She had a BLAST!!! The more daddy pushed her the more she squealed. Mom sqealed too but more out of nervousness. :)