balloon fun:)

for max's birthday party i blew up 149 balloons for decoration:) i would have had a total of 150 but one had a hole in it. it was a lot, i repeat a lot of work. it took from 7:30 till 2 in the morning to blow and hang them all up. i wish i took picture before the party of them all but of course i forgot, so i did take after pictures. oh and the best part for lilly and max was when we took them down.

i attached a ton of photos,

enjoy:)

so cute, his little feet up in the air.

max and his buddys :)

every month we have a get together with other children in our family network. our last one was on saturday so we had brownies for max's birthday, two other families joined us:) it was a really nice time:) i always look forward to seeing them. i attempted a group picture with all of the kids.... and this was the best on that i got:)

starting from the left, devin (logan's older brother), aaron, max, lilly, logan, and aubrey (logan's little sister)
max getting aaron:)

lilly, logan and aubrey playing:)

the three boys:)

birthday week!!!!

last night we had an early birthday party for max, so i thought throughout the next week i will be posting about max's birthday party, and a few of the gifts he received:) i was super excited about this first gift because max's grandma and grandpa pingel made it for him.

they made lilly one, for her first Christmas:)

another long day of playing with her cousins:)

at first glance i thought she was just watching her show while she ate her cheeseburger.

but then i noticed her show was off.... and normally she yells "mom my shows off", over, and over. but not a peep came out of her little mouth.

i said lilly... lilly... still no answer.

to my shock she was sleeping, how she could fall asleep on a stool? you got me.

as you can see, she did eat most of her cheeseburger:)

early birthday present:)

max's birthday isn't till next week friday, but i have a problem with giving gifts early. i really don't see the point in having something for someone and not giving it to them to enjoy. so for max's first birthday he got from nick, lilly and myself, three pairs of leg warmers from knotty baby wear and fisher-price stack'n surprise blocks :)

i'm not sure if he loved his leg warmers... but i sure think he looks super cute:)



look at him go!!!

lilly sat back and gave max a little time to play alone with his toy.

she finally gave into the temptation.

you can see her here, i would like to say helping max place the block on the stand, but i would be stretching the truth a little on that one. if you notice she is trying to collect all of the blocks for herself away from her little brother.

quick max look out!!! i see lilly eyeing up your blocks :) oh, the fun of sibling!!!

My Grandma.

today is my grandma minten's birthday, don't worry gram i will not be sharing your age:) i wanted to write a post about my grandma for a long time now. so with today being her birthday i thought it was the right time.

i have always been very close with my grandma, she lives a few blocks from where i grew up and a few blocks from where i live now:) i feel so blessed to have such a wonderful lady in my life. my grandma is the best listener, and gives the best advice. she helps me look at all the sides not just my own.

the main reason i wanted to share about my grandma minten on my blog today would be for how much she has help me with max. five days after max was born and we found out he had Ds, the first person i wanted to talk to was my grandma. i knew in someway she would understand what i was going through. my aunt is in a wonderful way "special" as well. and so with this i knew my grandma would know what to say for it all to be okay, for me to understand and not hurt so much. i knew she would know the fears that i had and was the only one besides my husband who could truly understand.

and she did...

she helped me see that there is a beautiful, wonderful, loving future for max just like lilly, just like any other child. other people who i love tried to give me that same great advice but it was hard to take from them because they didn't really know... at least the way i was looking and feeling about it, but like i said my grandma did, so i listened and the biggest thing was that i believed her. and i'm sure i would have realised this at some point on my own, but with her help i was able to see it so much sooner. i was able to spend that important time with my child not being scared for him and his future but just loving him like a mother should do.

she also made me realize how lucky i am to be have a child with "special needs" now, compared to when she was a young mom. because of the great support there is out there in the world, not only my great Family Network the wonderful family's i have met here in the fox valley, but the family's online that i get so much support and advice from.

my grandma was right about it all.

so i have a huge thanks to my grandma, life would be hard to imagine without her so i know i am so very lucky to have her in my life:)

HaPpY BiRtHdAy GrAm!!!

i love you,

bear

Christmas 2008

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE.... well at least a few days late:)
we had planned for lilly to be a witch and max a bumble bee, but right before we left the house of course they were dress and ready to go. lilly decided she wanted to be a bug like max, so she wore the same costume as last year a ladybug.
we had a lot of fun, lilly had a blast, she sang the trick or treat song between every house. it was so cute because she changed the words to it, if you can picture a 3 foot tall, soon to be three year old little ladybug singing;
"trick or treat, smell my feets, give me good... somepens to eat, i don't care, i'll pull your underwear's down.... is that right mommy?" nick and i laughed every time:)

grandma minten with lilly and max

it was a very cold day

max fell a sleep as soon as we started moving:)

lilly trying to keep up with her big cousins

daddy and lilly

mommy, lilly and maxthe elrick clan and two neighbor friends:)

wiped out again,

tonight lilly didn't even make it to the couch after i picked her up from grandmas house. wiped out again from playing hard with her cousins all day:)

i unpacked max went into the living room to set him on the floor and went back to put my shoes away and there she was... passed out on the floor/step. at least she was able to finish her sucker from grandma:)

max on the other hand was ready to play!!!
(and yes he is wearing the same pj's as monday)