wordless wednesday.

lilly.

this morning i received this email from nick, i thought it was pretty cute and wanted to share:)

Last night when I was putting Lilly to bed I said "Man I can't get that Sesame Street song out of my head". She slapped me in the side of the head and I said what was that for, she responded "I'm getting that song out of you head for you". Hilarious., I forgot to tell you when I came downstairs.  -Nick

wordless wednesday.

our kitten.

last weekend our family adopted a kitten.  nick and i have been thinking about this addition for awhile now, and decided now was the best time for our family:)  now i'm sure many of you are probably thinking... "they are crazy, they just had a baby!"  but we have truly thought it through and it is the best thing for our family.  nick and i both feel that a pet is a huge commitment especially when it is a family pet, when your children are involved and get emotionally attached.  there are many reasons for wanting this kitten but have to say that they are all for my children. 

lilly is at a great age for responsibility, not that i am relying on her to feed her or having her clean the litter box, but i am having her help.  another reason is lilly loves baby grey, and it is wonderful how much she loves him.... but there comes a point where i think she needs to focus her love onto something else, we thought a family pet would be perfect:)  one other big reason is that lilly is so good during max's at home therapy.  in the beginning when max was tiny she would sit and watch the therapist play with max, but now they are doing some really fun things and lilly would try to get involved:(  i feel bad because she just wants to play and sometimes it works out where she can but most of the time... it's really is max's time, it's his time to work on new things and i think that is a hard thing for a little girl to understand.  so for the past year that time has been her tv time... now it can be her special time to play with the kitten(she is really excited about that)! 

onto the reasons for max,  it was funny i told max's therapist about getting the cat because i wanted to make sure none of them were allergic, a few are and said it shouldn't be a problem.  but they all were really excited.  They all shared the reasons from each of their specialties how having a family pet was going to help max.  from the first day we have had the kitten i have seen the things that they told me.  it is the cutest thing he sits down right next to her and just talks, i'm not sure what he is saying to her but he talks and talks and talks:)  he follows her everywhere under the table, under the chair, up and down the steps:)  most of the time i am seeing he is very gentle with her, she will just lay there and let him pet her... and he loves hearing her purr.  he is seeing that when he is not as gentle she gets up and walks away from him, he is learning that cause a reaction that he doesn't like.

oh, and i can't forget about baby grey, having a family pet would be that he has less time with his big sister kissing on him:)



max holding the kitten for the first time.

lilly's first time holding the kitten.

lilly letting the kitten play with her toys:)

max lying down talking to the kitten.

it's pretty cute, he tells her something then he laughs, it must have been something really funny:)

we are enjoying our newest family member!

four!

my oldest turned four last week.  she seems so much older to me at times, i need to remind myself that she is still just a little girl.  i think part of the reason why lilly seems so old to me is because she is my oldest child, with her i am always pushing her to be more grown up and independent.  i push her because i know she can do it, she is a very bright, sweet, loving little girl!  

lilly the birthday princes:)

 

lilly wanted a princes themed party,  she helped me make the cake and was so proud of it.



lilly with the elrick cousins:)

lilly with her Godparents.

lilly with the pingel cousins:)





a few things that lilly loves to do are;

draw people, she can make a circle for the head and puts a face in the center with eyes, a nose and a mouth, she then attaches arms and legs to the circle!

she is learning the alphabet, she can pick out the letters if we ask her where they are!

she is also learning numbers,

loves barbies, playing her leapster, playing with the new family kitten, her brothers, her cousins,.. oh and anything with princesses!

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY LILLY!!!

wordless wednesday.

growing fast.

i have been thinking about how i wanted to write this for about a week or so now. i decided that it's just something i have to do and hopefully i'll be able to write it down the same way it's in my head. my baby grey rolled over from belly to back last week on tuesday at my mom's house while i was at work. i am upset that i missed it but i think the thing that was keeping me from sharing this more then wonderful news about this milestone that he has accomplished is that he is just three months old. he can already hold his head up and sit in the bumbo, smiles, laughs and now he roles. i truly am proud of this newest little man of mine, but on the other hand it makes me a little sad. he is growing up way to fast. i am really happy with the pace max is growing at, i am able praise him for the things he does for a good amount of time before he moves onto the next thing. with baby grey i am realizing things are going to be very different.  please, i don't want to be misunderstood that i am not happy, because i am, so, so very happy that my youngest is doing all of these great things:) i would like to end the post with a Way to Go baby grey!!! your dad and i are so proud of you:)

baby grey sitting in his bumbo:)

here comes big brother max!

max joining baby grey on the floor:)



max is the best big brother any little boy could ask for:)



max teaching grey the little people farm animals.   it is the cutest thing, he goes through each one.

he holds each one up for his little brother to look at, then moves on to the next:)



baby grey is loving this attention from his big brother max:)

they are going to learn so much from each other.

wordless wednesday

 

Mama!

this morning i woke to max yelling uuuuuuuuuup just like every other morning.  i walked into his room reached into his crib to get him and he looked right at me and said MAMA!  as clear as could be MAMA! today is my 28th birthday.... this is the best birthday gift a mom can get:)  

The New Year.

we celebrated new years eve up north this year! grandma and grandpa elrick, the kilgas family and our family all brought in the new year together:) 



the little kids making a fort on the bunk beds.

the bigger kids and baby grey watching a movie in grandma and grandpa room:)



this is such a funny picture because grandma and lilly are smiling so nice... evan on the other hand was just about to yell "it so cold on my back!"



nick and me.

baby grey all decked out!

max and his new year hat:)



max and grandpa elrick.



max making sure grandpa is smiling for the picture.



lilly and grandma elrick:)

a family new years picture.



it was a great weekend we had a tun of fun and all of the kids got along the entire weekend.  oh, and i surprisingly stayed up late two nights in a row. 

Happy 2011 Everyone! 

packer game.

for sundays big game nick had the kids all decked out in packer apparel.  he even found a hat for max... it didn't stay on for to long:)

max in his little cap.

all three just hanging out on the couch:)  they are getting so big!

lilly thinking she needs protect baby grey from his big brother max.... and all he wanted was to kiss his little brother on the head,  he is really so sweet to his little brother. 

lilly and baby grey.

if you don't follow football the packers ended up winning on sunday, that made nick think kids clothes are a good luck charm:)  so my guess is they will be wearing the same thing this sunday.

Christmas eve and Christmas day.

Christmas eve we spent the night with the minten side of the family.  before we left the kids sat by the tree for a picture.


 

great grandma minten with baby grey.

 


lilly and max playing with the new train set at grandma and grandpa elricks.

the family gathering around the food!

more food.

lilly's gift from great grandma minten:)

max reading the card great aunt jenny made for the family:)

grandma elrick holding baby grey.

 

max opening his present from great grandma minten.



a car... he loves it!



jenny, max, annie, ashley, and baby grey.  this picture was really funny because max would climb down and then back up and wedge himself right between jenny and annie and look back and forth at the two of them! (writing it down doesn't seem to show the true humor...but, it was hilarious!)



cousin ashley and annie were very smart at the end of the night they sent lilly around with a tip jar while they played the piano... lilly's cut was three dollars! big bucks for a three year old:)

max on Christmas morning, we got a late start because the kids slept in to 8:30.

max's big gift from santa.

lilly got a leapster explorer that she loves.

baby grey got diapers from santa oh, and a pillow pet.

lilly and max had such a good time opening their presents, they were so sweet and took turns and shared all of the things they got... it was a great Christmas morning.



max and the family gift from santa.




baby grey exploring his newly found fingers!

for the last few years we have been picking names on the elrick side of the family.   big cousin riley picked greys name and she came up with this gift all on her own.  she made a book off of shutterfly for him!  every page has a different cousin on it and it tells what their favorite color is. i think this might be my favorite gift the kids got.

max and his great big smile for the camera.

lilly and her new princes costume.



aunt dana and uncle adam giving lilly a big kiss.



max got a tun of animals from aunt jess and uncle ben!



grandpa elrick and baby grey.

 

grandpa pingel and max:)



lilly showing of her gift she got:)



a few of the pingel cousins.



max and his new mickey mouse!



baby grey and his new finger puppets:)

we had a wonderful Christmas with our family:)