Our Princess turned 3

Ella Catherine is full force into the PRINCESS/BALLERINA phase. So, it was only fitting that we had a princess themed birthday party. Her celebration started on her actual birthday, March 5th. Her Daycare was celebrating Dr. Seus' birthday that week. Her class asked parents to come and be a surprise reader for story time and read a Dr. Seus book. I was fortunate enough to be able to be the special reader twice. I read my personal favorite "Green Eggs and Ham" on Wednesday and Friday i read "Hop on Pop". Everyone in the daycare wore pajamas to school Friday to celebrate. So, we sent Ella Catherine and Carter in their matching Pj's to school. I personally can't think of many other ways I'd rather spend my birthday than wearing my Pj's all day. :) Matt and I took off work early to attend her school party. Per her request I baked Strawberry princess cupcakes and we gave out tiaras to the girls and party hats for the boys.

Nana, Pop, Uncle Christopher and Mimi all came in town Friday and we made homemade pizzas to celebrate. She got to open up some of her presents. Matt and I commissioned one of his coworkers to make her a princess dress and we bought her some "heel highs" as se calls them to go with it. Nana and Pop bought her a ballerina leotard with an attached tutu and the ballerina slippers to match. Mimi bought her princess Pj's with matching slippers so we could get her out of the other two outfits to sleep! :) She had a ball changing outfits and shoes all night! She also got a John Deere tractor pedal toy...every princess needs one. :)

Saturday Grams and Uncle Michael joined the festivities and we all headed over to the Red Caboose Park for her big celebration. She had a ball playing wth all her friends on the playground. It is located next to one of the libraries in town, which had the cleanest potty. So, Matt took all the kids and he read stories while they each took turns with one of the other mommys going potty. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of that. She topped off her day by opening two more princess dresses(snow white and cinderella) from Grams and Grandpa. She has worn one of the 4 dresses almost daily since.

Seems like yesterday that she was born and we held her for the first time. How much has changed in 3 years. She is such the little lady now and a great big sister. Some of my favorite things she says: heel highs= high heels, titans= tights, I'm gonna won= I'm going to win, all the singy ladies= all the single ladies (usually accompanied by the tune, picked this one up at daycare from a friend). She will now ask for something and promptly follow it up with "don't say no". For example, "momma can I have some goldfish..don't say no." She likes to plays hide and seek, throw the softball in the yard and LOVES to run. She is a complete card shark! She can win go fish and old maid 8 times out of 10. She loves playing the board game pretty pretty princess (thank you aunt Kelly and cousin Cori) and is gearing up to give Uncle Brian a run for the title our next trip to Georgia. I obviously could go on and on but in a nutshell, she is a wonderful daughter and we are so blessed to be her parents.

Every Princess needs a John DeereHer Ballerina tutu and shoes (AKA: Her sparkly dress..we LOVE this dress)

The Pretty Pretty Princess with all her jewelsLoving the Princess dress Matt and I had made for herThe Princess Castle cake made my yours truly.
At her Birthday Party at the park, ready for some cake. :)

Nine Months Old

Where has the time gone? I honestly can not believe that Carter is 9 months old. It seems like yesterday that we were asking all of our friends and family to pray that our little baby boy would survive. Here we are 9 months later and we praise God daily for his health and for allowing us to be his parents. What an awesome responsibility and an amazing honor.

At 9 months old, Carter now has 7 teeth (another one just popped through this weekend). He is babbling constantly. He is an expert crawler and can get anywhere he wants in the blink of an eye. He is pulling up on EVERYTHING and cruising around furniture. He is even grabbing from one piece of furniture to the next. He can stand by himself but when he finds himself doing it, he promptly sits down. :) He loves to walk holding your hands or behind his push toy. His favorite person reamins his big sister. He adores her and she him. He lets her feed him and they love to take baths together. He really is such a laid back, happy and mild mannered little boy, with one exception. Don't get between him and his food. He has been known to have a complete melt down at daycare when he thought someone else was eating his bottle. (new baby started and she had the same bottles he did and he was convinced she was eating his food) He is loving his taste of table food (cheerios, bananas, very soft cooked peas etc..). At daycare, they have to put him in his crib when they feed the other children because he will pull up and steal their food. What can I say, I do send him food but he is a big boy and someone elses food always looks better than your own! I am frightened to think of our food bill when he is a teenager.

He just had his 9mo check up and he is 22.8lbs (78th%), 29.5in tall (85%) and his head is 47 (88%). He has dropped down from over the 90th% and we attribute this to his constant motion. The days of him sitting in one place and playing has gone. He is now forever on the go.

Here are some recent pictures of our little miracle!Cheerios!Hmmm, this is different.Loving the Cheerios!!!Thanks mom, now I can have what the big kids have at snack time. :)Cruising behind his walking toySo happy to be able to follow after Ella CatherineSo proud of himself for walking across the room

Let it snow

It has been way too long since my last post. I will be doing some catching up this week/weekend so be on the lookout.

Well, much like the rest of the country we have had some unusual weather this winter. We have had more snowfall than in all the past 5 years combined. I think everything looks a little better covered in snow! :) That being said, it has snowed mainly during the week and Matt and I still had to go to work. We are so thankful that the kids are in the Vanderbilt daycare and that it does not close for bad weather. It is affiliated with the university and the hospital so it is open as long as they are open and everyone knows that hospitals are always open.

Ella Catherine was much more excited about snow this year and had snow angels and building a snowman on her agenda. Luckily the biggest accumulation of the year thus far occured on the weekend and so we had the opportunity to enjoy it. As you can see by the pictures below we found a lot of fun ways to both enjoy the snow and prevent cabin fever.

Carter was cutting some more teeth and was very congested so we kept him inside. He now has 6 teeth. He is pulling up on everything and walking around furniture. He was 9 months old this past weekend... where has the time gone? We have his 9mo check up this week so stay tuned for his new stats!

Ella Catherine is doing a little Yoga with Mommy and the Wii. The Wii helped us get a little exercise and prevent cabin fever. We had dance competitions with "Just Dance", We did Yoga, hula hoop, running races and biggest loser challenges.

following along with the instructor

I honestly think she has better form than I do.

Getting in position to make snow angels

1...2...3...
making snowangels

The final product! One momma snowangel and one little girl snowangel.

Ella Catherine working with her shovel to get snow together for the snowman

Matt shoveling the snow for our snowman

Carter having fun as always! Just hanging out in his jams in the exersaucer

Playing a little Wii Fit and doing the Hula With Daddy....so much fun!

What else do we do when it snows? We make brownies with daddy.

Adding some sprinkles for extra fun brownies.

Becky's 90th birthday

Carter and Ella Catherine with their Great Grandmother Becky, AKA the Birthday Girl!!!
Cousins! Ella Catherine, Carter and Cori
Carter showing off his new crawling skills
Aunt Kelly and Ella Catherine coloring
All the ladies in the family(from left to right): Michele Cassidy, Me, Kelly Williams, Becky (the birthday girl!), Lori Cassidy, Gaye Carter, Cori Williams and Mary Kay Byerly


My grandmother, Becky, celebrated her 90th birthday on January 10th. It was a celebration the Lynch Family wasn't about to miss. So, we headed to Macon for the festivities.
Ella Catherine has become more aware over this past year of what birthday celebrations are all about. So, she was very excited to sing happy birthday to Becky and to eat some birthday cake. :) My grandmother's nieces, Gaye and Mary Kay, also came to town to help celebrate. We had a house full and Ella Catherine and Carter loved all the attention! Matt and I enjoyed seeing them play with everyone and enjoyed a little break at the same time. As always it was a great trip. Becky had a wonderful birthday! And we are so glad that we could be there to help her celebrate. I love my Becky!!!

moving in 2010

Here is a picture of Carter sitting on Santa's lap taken at Matt's Xmas party. We just got the pictures.

Well, 2010 started off with a bang! Carter has decided that crawling was way more fun than sitting still. :) He has been "precrawling" for several weeks now. You could set him down in one spot and he would gradually make his way across the room. So, he could get to what he wanted to get, it just took some time. He would crawl 1-2 times and lunge forward. Well, 2010 came and on 1-3-09 he started crawling full force! He is at the stage now where we really have to be careful about what is on the floor and tables that he can reach etc... I can't believe that he is already crawling and about to turn 8 months. It is exciting to see him developing new skills and exploring his surroundings, but seems like yesterday he was born.

On a side note, his top two teeth are about to push through the gums anyday now. I know he will be relieved when they do and we are hoping that his runny nose might clear up for a while once his teeth come through.

ho ho ho, Christmas 2009

We are hoping that all of you had a very Merry Christmas. The past 2 weeks have been very full of fun family festivities. So full that between all the fun and work blogging has taken a back burner. So, let me take a moment to catch up. The weekend before Christmas, Nana and Pop came to celebrate Christmas with us. They arrived Friday just in time to watch the kids while Matt and I headed off to my office party. It was great to spend an adult evening away and know that the kids were well taken care of...always nice to have the grandparents visit. :) As I mentioned in my last post Ella Catherine attempted to sit on Santa's lap with Matt and Mimi but the line was too long. Well, she spoke about it all week long and so Ella Catherine, Nana an I left out Saturday morning to go sit on Santa's lap. (Carter has been battling a very nasty cold and so we left him at home with Daddy and Pop.) We were hoping that the line wouldn't be too terrible but were prepared for the worst. Luckily, we were pleasanly surprised. The line was not long at all. She kept to her word and walked right up to Santa and I put her on his lap. She smiled pretty for the picture and then told him what she wanted for Christmas. She said thank you when he gave her a candy cane and that was that! Surprisingly we made it home in time to allow the guys to go have some fun of there own. Sunday Nana, Ella Catherine and I went to go see the Princess and the Frog. She enjoyed it and was happy to tell her friends at school on Monday that she had gone to the Movies.

Tuesday was Carter's 6 month follow up with the cardiologist. He had an EKG and an ECHO and was a very good boy through the whole thing. As I mentioned before, he has had a VERY bad cold for 3 weeks now and he was having a bad day Tuesday. He has slept most of the day at daycare and had just thrown up his bottle when I arried to take him to the doctor. So, I was extremely proud of how well he did givin the circumstances. He smiled as usual at everyone and had stolen all there hearts by the time we left. Dr. Doyle gave him a clean bill of health and proclaimed him one of his blessings this year. Of Course, he is one of our as well. His ECHO was normal. No more mitral valve regurgitation!!!! All chambers of his heart are normal size!!! It was truly the best Christmas present Matt and I have ever received.

We were both off work Christmas Eve, and we had a nice family day at home. We baked cookies for Santa. We played, We read, We sang, We danced and we practiced writing our letters. Carter slept a lot (still not feeling the best) and played hard when he was awake. Then we all got dressed for church and went to "go see Baby Jesus" as Ella Catherine so eloquently said on the way to church. After church we headed out to Opry Mills and drove through there Christmas lights and Bethlehem display. It was BEAUTIFUL and Ella Catherine loved it! Carter was fast asleep. :) Then is was home to put out the cookies and milk for santa and carrots for the reindeer. Matt did his traditional reading of twas the night before Christmas and it was off to bed. This was the only night in a very long time that she did not play around when it was bed time. :)

Christmas morning I was awake before anyone excited about the day. She woke up and Matt brought her downstairs. She wasn't quite sure what to make of things. She spotten the things that Santa had brought to Carter first and then saw her Tricycle and books. We then had our milk while mom read her the new books. After that I think she finally woke up and once we started looking in her stocking to see what Santa left she was overjoyed and wired! She helped everyone open there gifts. :) The day was spent playing with our new toys and old alike. It was a GREAT day! Sad to see it come to and end.Ready to sit on Santa's lapAnd here she is.....on Santa's lap!

Putting the cookies, milk and carrots out for Santa and his reindeerElla Catherine showing Matt the cookies she made for Santa

The traditional reading of twas the night before Christmas.Carter was already nestled all snug in his bed

Carter's new WalkerBoth kids got new wheels for ChristmasElla Catherine feeding her baby doll

Matt couldn't resist getting him started early with some camo

The aftermath! Hurricane Christmas 09'

Gingerbread, gum drops, icing and sprinkles Oh My!

The gingerbread house before the earthquake. :)
One gum drop on the house, One gum drop in my mouth
So focused on the kneading of the icing
Ella Catherine and Mimi in their matching aprons
Mimi feeding Carter some breakfast

Mimi came to visit this weekend. She and Ella Catherine went shopping at Sam's and came back with all kinds of goodies like a fruit tray and vegetable tray all picked out by Ella Catherine. In addition, she picked out a Gingerbread house kit. So, Mimi, Ella Catherine and I attempted to make a gingerbread house. Mimi had made us all matching aprons to wear. We are very excited to have them and will enjoy them for years to come when we make our Christmas goodies. Let me just say, in making a ginger bread house it is most helpful to read the instructions and follow them. Our kit had conflicting information and we obviously chose the wrong set of instructions to follow. So, we had an earthwake and the house fell down shortly after we took the above picture. However, Matt came to the rescue and fixed it. House is now standing and all is right in the world. The most important thing was Ella Catherine had a great time making the house. She ate almost as much candy as she put on the house and is officially obsessed with candy. When someone asks her what Santa is bringing her or what she wants Santa to bring her she says "Candy".
I had Carter's 6 month photos scheduled for Saturday morning. Angela, our wonderful photographer, had agreed to take some pictures of Ella Catherine as well. Mimi came along to help and it was so nice to have another set of hands to help. I think we got some fabulous pictures and I can't wait to see the proofs. Despite having a terrible cold he cooperated beautifully.
Sunday Carter was feeling worse. So, mimi watched the kids while Matt and I went to church. After church Carter and I stayed at the house while Matt and Mimi took Ella Catherine to see Santa. Well, the line for Santa was extremely long and they did not get to visit with the jolly ol elf. She told Matt that she wasn't scared and she was going to sit on his lap, but history says otherwise. At Matt's company Christmas party Santa came to visit and she cried and refused to sit on his lap. She was still asking to see Santa today and so I think we may try again this weekend...Lord help us!