A Day With the Gray's

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!! We got our Christmas present the day after Christmas and it was a call from Mary Katherine (our Anna Li). She was so excited that she called while Papa Denny, Mama Carol, Kevin (Chad's brother) and Bethany (sister in law) were here. She got to talk to everyone. She is doing very good and is very happy. That just made my Christmas complete. The kids on the night before Christmas looking all cute in their pj's. Bethany is way to polite to say she has a favorite... for goodness sakes, I couldn't even get her to tell me what she wanted Santa to bring! I believe her favorite was her Nintendo DS games and her North Face jacket. She detested the blow dryer he brought (didn't even want it in the picture) but mom loved it because that means she can quit using mine!! I know, I know! Santa has went overboard once again!! Someone is going to have to have a talk with that man. Colin's favorite was the bat cave. He spent hours on end playi

I am so tired today! Dylan kept us up all night. I am not sure if it is teething or the stuffy nose.. or both but I pray we get some sleep tonight. We tried Tylenol last night but it seemed to just boost his energy instead of giving him some relief. I am so thankful for my husband for taking shifts with me. I was up until 2am and Chad took the 2-4am shift. I think he gave out sometime after 4am and we got a little sleep before getting up for work. Oh the joys of parenthood:) _______________________ I have also made the decision NOT to quit work right now. I know, I know.. I am heartbroken over this. There is nothing I want more than to be a stay at home mom. BUT let's face it the economy stinks! I have a good job with good benefits. We are just not where we need to be in order for me to quit.... BUT I will stay optimistic. I will continue to pray for Chad a full time teaching position. I will work really hard to pay down our debt. AND I will reevaluate things this fall

Well, he will be in about 2 more days but close enough! Dylan is such a joy!! He is very active. He loves to laugh, smile, and coo. He was 11 lbs at 2 months so we will have to wait for his checkup to see how much he has grown. He LOVES to be held and walked around thanks to the girls! We have made it 3 months without any sickness minus the stuffy nose;) He loves his Bumper Jumper. He hates his swing and bouncer. He loves music and He loves his mommy!

We had such a fun time at church today! Last night Bethany and I baked lots of cookies for our Mission Fair at church today. The kids set up booths in the gym and sold their arts, crafts, and baked goods to raise money for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Bethany was able to donate $22 from the sale of her cookies. We had Mint Chocolate Chip, Brownie Bites, and Sugar Cookies. To learn more about Lottie Moon go to: http://www.baptistheritage.org/StoriesforKids/TheStoryofLottieMoon/tabid/259/Default.aspx

Oh what a night we had!! 5 little girls running all over the house. 5 little girls giggling. 5 little girls with their high pitched screams. Oh what a fun night we had:) Happy Birthday Bethany! I hope you had a wonderful night! Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate These girls can put away some chocolate. They had chocolate cake and a bag full of chocolate candy bars. Washed down with about 3 litters of sugary coke= ONE wild night! The girls created their own fashion designs and put on a fashion show. I can now say I have no garbage sacks, cling wrap, or aluminum foil. They would have got the TP but there was only 2 rolls left... That could have been disastrous;) 1 girl went home sick (probably from eating too much chocolate) 2 girls went to bed at 2am and 2 girls went to bed about an hour ago (8:30am) Uhhh, that would be Bethany and her cousin Kailey! Pray for me today as I will have two very ill and grouch kids:) Colin spent the night with his buddy Luke... wonder what time he went to be

This year we took our 2 nd annual after Thanksgiving dinner walk in the woods:) It was a little sad not having Anna Li walking with us but I know she had a wonderful Thanksgiving with her new family AND she called and talked to us the next day. She is really doing great in her new environment. We are so thankful for her and her family. I can't say enough how much it means to have them in our lives. Before you look at the pictures I want to share a few blogs with you. My dear sweet friend Vickie adopted a 13 year old about a year ago only to find out that her daughter had two biological brothers in China. She is now in the process of going back to adopt them (in the paperwork stage). Such a precious family click on their link and if there is anything you can do to help them out please do. http://wwwourchinagirl.blogspot.com/ Another great blog to check out is http://shpiruk.blogspot.com/ Myah and Emily were adopted around the same time from the same orphanage from two separate