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.