Happy Halloween!!!!

Happy Halloween Everyone! Today is one of my favorite days. I was a little sad as the day drew near. The was my first year in 10 years not celebrating Halloween by dressing up in a costume for work. At St. Jude Halloween was a HUGE deal and I greatly enjoyed it every year. In the adult medical world dressing up isn't usually done. So, I missed that part of Halloween. However, I was greatly looking forward to taking Ella Catherine for her first real trick or treating experience. If you scroll through our blog you will see that Ella Catherine did indeed dress up last year ( a pink octopus) but we just drove around and showed our friends and family her in her costume.
This Halloween began with Ella Catherine trick or treating at DayCare. Her Daycare is in an office building in downtown Nashville. They went on a Halloween Parade through the building collecting loose change for the March of Dimes. Along the way, some of the people gave them candy. She didn't come home with candy. So either a)they got the kids juiced up on sugar by letting them eat the candy they received or b)the daycare workers snagged it for themselves. HMMM
The Vanderbilt Greek life hosted trick or treating for the faculty and staff's children. After work, Matt picked up Ella Catherine and joined me on Vanderbilt's campus. We weren't sure how Ella Catherine was going to react to all the adults dressed in costumes. The first house she was a little leery but when they gave her candy to put in her bag she perked up. By the 3rd house she was excited, picking out her own candy and saying "Thank You". By the time we turned the corner of Greek Row she had let go of my hand, was running up the sidewalk and trying to cut through the grass. Toward the end her bag was getting a little heavy so Matt offered to hold it for her. She was having no part. Her little hand had a death grip on that bag amd she was not giving it up. All in all it was a very successful Halloween and a Great first Trick or Treating experience. Now we just need to hide the candy and ration it out slowly so she doesn't go into sugar shock!


Ella Catherine and Daddy before school this morning

CUTEST CANDY CORN EVER waiting in line to get her trick or treat bag

We have our trick or treat bag and we are off!

The first trick or treat stop ever and she was a little unsure but perked up after they handed her candy

KD legacy right at home with the ladies of Kappa Delta! By now she was getting the hang of it!

By the end we were a pro! She walked up and would take a piece of candy and say "Thank you"

Weekend in Pickwick

Birthday Boy with Cake

Group Photo ( left to Right) Christopher, Carlin, Caroline, Michael, and Hugh

Friday after work we headed to the Lynch Family Cabin in Pickwick for a weekend at the lake. Matt's youngest brother, Michael, turned 14 on Saturday and decided to have his birthday celebration at the lake. We were all fine with that, a weekend away was just what the doctor ordered. Ella Catherine enjoyed being spoiled by her grandparents and uncles. Matt and I enjoyed have all the extra hands around. Pictures to come, but a good time was had by all!

There was a party on Saturday night and lots of friends came over to celebrate.

Centennial Park

Yesterday Matt picked Ella Catherine up from Daycare and then picked me up from work. It was a beautiful fall day in Nashville. So, we decided to head to Centennial Park to feed the ducks. Here are some photos from our trip.

Ella Catherine throwing bread for the Geese and Ducks.

Ella Catherine and Mom sitting in the park.
Matt and Ella Catherine feeding the Geese and Ducks

Get her Groove on

For the past several weeks Ella Catherine has shown her artistic dancing skills. She has no prejudice against any music, she seems to get her groove on for all types. During this particular show it was Hip Hop. We can't seem to find the camera when she really gets going but we were able to capture a little bit on Friday.

Sorry for the shotty camera work I am still trying to learn how to use a digital video camera.

JAWS

Well, it happened. As a parent of a child in daycare, there are 5 words that you hope you never hear. And those words are, drumroll please................................................................ "Your child bit another child." Matt heard those words yesterday when he picked up Ella Catherine from daycare. I am so glad it was him. You just feel so bad and although you know it is a phase that most children go through, you can't help but feel like a bad parent. We had a talk on the way to daycare about how biting is bad and not nice. So, let's hope that she kept her chompers to herself today.

Walking in Memphis

We headed to Memphis this past weekend to check up on the house and spend some time with Matt's parents. Ella Catherine wasn't too sure about the house when we first arrived Friday night. Of course, she had been asleep in the car for several hours and was a little groggy. It didn't take her long to remember the place and start bringing out toys and books. We had a time getting her to sleep Friday night. Saturday morning Mimi came over and they played outside. She picked up acorns, squashed bugs, rode her trike and played at the park in our neighborhood. After some lunch, we headed to Olive Branch to surprise Grams, Grandpa, Uncle Christopher and Uncle Michael. Surprised they were! She had a sleepover and mom and dad had an evening to themselves celbrating our 3 year anniversary.
We met with our realtor and unfortunately it wasn't great news. The housing market in Memphis is not good. If you know anyone looking for a house in Memphis, Tn send them our way, we will make them a really good deal!
Matt is going to post some pictutres of our trip soon. She is getting so big!

Doctor's visit, a Test and a lost child

This is a post from Matt:
Ella Catherine visited the doctor last week for a check up. Everything looked and sounded GREAT according to the doctor. She is in the 80th % for height and 60th% for weight and 94th % for head size. For those who know us, the latter is definitely a daddy gene. She is getting more teeth her two top fang teeth are coming in. We are working on potty training; we started working on this last Friday afternoon. We were successful once but she is more comfortable with sitting on the toilet and reading while waiting.

Last Saturday Amy had to go and take a recertification test for her work. She tried to go the previous weekend, however when she got there they didn't have a record of her registration even though she had a confirmation printout, so they told her to either wait for four hours until a computer was available or try again the next weekend. She was able to take the test last weekend; unfortunately she will not know the results of her test for six weeks. I know that she did a great job on it and will get her recertification.

Amy is substitute teaching Sunday school at the church we are attending. This past Sunday was here first class. She was very nervous because we are new to the church and she has never taught Sunday school before, plus I didn't pick up here lesson planner on Friday or Saturday, as I was asked to do (oops!). Class is from 10:05 to 10:45 in between masses at the Church. We all went to mass at 7:30 a.m. (which is not that difficult to get up for when your daughter wakes up everyday at 5:30 am) so that Amy could go by and pick up her lesson planner from the office after mass. After church we went home and ate breakfast, then Amy left for school. When she got home I asked her how it was and she said it went well except for the child that I LOST. Turns out that every class is supposed to have two teachers. Well, the lady that called Amy only obtained one substitute instead of two. She and her husband normally teach the class and where going to be out of town. So, a mother offered to stay and help. After class was over, Amy lined all the children up at the front of the classroom at the door. The “helping” mother went out in the hall and said she would help make sure each child’s parent or guardian was there to pick them up. So, Amy handed each child an assignment card as they left the room and then began straightening up the room. Two little girls came back in the room as there mothers were not there to pick them up yet but a short while later both moms came. Amy was about to close up the room when another teacher came to the door. She had a little girl with her that said she was supposed to pick up her little brother and meet her mother at the flag downstairs. Well, there was no little boy left to be picked up, oops. After a short search with panicking teachers, sister and a mother, the little boy was found playing on the playground.