Trip to Pickwick

Enjoying the lake life in her pink life jacket
Let the boys ski, wake surf and knee board....I've got my pool of toys
Hanging out in the pool on the boat
Playing Jenga with Miss Cindy

Fishing, AKA :Waiting for the orange ball to go under the water

Back to Reality

Well this week was a big week in the Lynch household. I started back to work Monday and believe it or not, our family survived! :) I had good intentions of practicing taking both kids to daycare before my actual return to work. While I did take both of them the week before my return, I didn't really make a huge effort to get them there for the time I need to when working. My thought process was hey this is my only vacation for a while and do I really want to get up and going that early. The simple answer was no.

Sunday night I got everything I could ready ahead of time, bottles made, lunches made, clothes laid out etc... Monday morning Matt and I worked like a team to get everyone fed, groomed and dressed for the day. We all made it to our separate destinations on time and all had good days. The rest of the week went fairly the same with a few exceptions. Wednesday was Teddy Bear picnic day in Ella Catherine's room and she was suppose to bring a teddy bear for the picnic. Well, I remembered 1/2 way to daycare/work that we didn't have her teddy bear (Strike 1). I spoke with her teacher and luckily they had extras just in case. Phew! No damaging life scars. :) Thursday I forgot her afternoon snack (Strike 2) and did have to hear about it the whole ride home. Today was the icing on the cake. Fridays are waterplay days in Ella Catherine's room, weather permitting of course. Well, guess who forgot to pack her swim suit, towel and water play shoes...you guessed it! Me! (Strike 3) I couldn't have her be the only kid that wouldn't be able to play in the water so I ran to Target and quickly bought her a swim suit. Crisis averted!

Matt has been a tremendous help this week. i honestly do not know how women who work and have husbands that are not helpful do it. I would be completely exhausted as I would have to get up even earlier than my 5:30am wake up time and stay up late getting it all done. I so admire single working mothers!!!

Carter has sailed through his first full week without any problems. My biggest problem in regards to him for the week was trying to figure out how much milk to put in his bottles and how many bottles to send a day. Once we had that figured out, it was smooth sailing. He seems to enjoy the stimulation the other children provide and he is his smiley, happy self.

We want to congratulate our friend, Megan Plato, on her new job! Megan was a student of mine at St. Jude and recently completed a Neonatal Nutrition Fellowship in Houston. She will be working in the NICU and PICU. We are so excited for her and happy that she has landed a job doing what she loves.

playdate in the park

Best Friends
siblings
Touching the plane
Matt, Ella Catherine and Carter...family fun at the park
One little puddle provided so much joy and fun
Reese giving Ella Catherine a flower he picked...pretty sure that it is illegal to pick the flowers and so we discouraged further flower picking....but a sweet moment

Monday night we met up with our good friends the Sams at Centennial Park. Ella Catherine was beside herself when she saw Reese. She had been asking about him all the previous week. They had a ball running around in the park, feeding the ducks and geese, playing on the playground and looking at the old train and plane. After the park we grabbed a quick dinner and then it was off to bed. She fell asleep in the car and didn't even wake up when Matt changed her diaper. Carter and Reese's younger brother Erich also enjoyed themselves but I know in a few more months will have even more fun on these get togethers.

Carter's first day of daycare

First day of daycare
pooped at the end of his first day of daycare

Carter went to daycare for the first time yesterday, 7-13-09. I have to start back to work next week, 7-20-09, and so we decided it was best to ease both him and myself into daycare. As expected, he did fantastic! His mother was a bit of a basket case but kept busy and survived the day. His teachers LOVE him! He is the youngest in his room and is still at the snugly stage and so I was informed when I picked him up that they were spoiling him rotten. Great!?

Last week he had his 6 week check up (although he was actually 7 weeks old). He is now 12lbs and 5oz (75th%)...he gained 3lbs in 3 weeks and is 24 inches long(90th%). The pediatrician said he was great from head to toe and confirmed what the cardiologist told us. His heart sounds strong and looks great on ECHO. We are so blessed and are having so much fun with our new little man!

SSI and the 4th of July

SSI 2009 beach trip
drawing in the sand
Swimming with Aunt Kelly and Cousin Cori
playing with uncle Brian and Aunt Kelly
Carter with his Great Grandmother.
swimming with daddy
So happy
Swimming with Nana
Not crabby at all! Carter is all smiles these days.
jumping to daddy in the pool
Carter and Ella Catherine hanging out with cousin Cori
Searching for seashells with daddy
Drawing in the sand
Taking a brief moment from running to stop and look at mom
Washing her feet off after playing on the beach.

We made a trip to Georgia to introduce Carter to his great grandmother and to go to the beach! We visited one of my favorite places St. Simons Island, Georgia. This is one of the beaches that I grew up vacationing at and it is also where Matt proposed. So, it was only fitting that this was where Ella Catherine experienced the beach and the ocean for the first time. This trip was especially great as my whole family was able to make it. We had a fabulous time at the beach. Ella Catherine had a ball running between the water and making sand castles. She wasn't frightened at all by the ocean. Carter even made a brief appearance on the sand but spent most of his trip indoors in the condo. She enjoyed the pool at the condo just as much. She was able to jump from the side of the pool and play games with her Nana, daddy, aunts and uncles. At night once the little kids went to bed, the big kids enjoyed playing Mexican Train Dominoes. Winning was fairly distributed but I will have to give my husband "the belt" on this one. He was the overall winner from the week and underwent much heckling for it. As an added bonus Matt and I were even able to enjoy an adult night out thanks to my parents. It was fun spending some adult time with my siblings and their spouses plus my second brother, Phil and his wife, Debbie.

Matt and I would also like to Congratulate our friends Katie and Ed Thomas on the birth of their son, Taylor Cole Thomas. He is so precious and we are so excited for them. We would also like to Congratulate our friends Emily and Adam Patterson on the birth of their daughter, Olivia Hayes Patterson. She is Beautiful and we couldn't be more excited for them as well. Our families are growing by leaps and bounds!