A Day With the Gray's

Ella Ruth Gray February 2, 2011 5:37 am On February 2nd, 2011 I went for my 4 month prenatal check-up.  I was looking forward to hearing my child's heartbeat. I was out of the 1st trimester and felt like  I was out of the danger zone... There was no heartbeat.. the sonogram confirmed it.. We had lost our baby a few days shy of 16 weeks. I was admitted to the hospital, labor was induced and I gave birth to my little girl at 5:37am.  She was tiny... only 2 oz and 6 inches long.   Tiny little feet... Tiny little hands... We held her in a little pink blanket  handmade by Threads of Love. Ella Ruth is her name. (Ruth after my grandmother) Only the Lord knows why... why my baby girl had to die. I pray that through our loss His name will be glorified! In memory of  Ella Ruth Gray we would like each of you  to consider making a donation to  Love Without Boundaries We would like donations to go to "Mighty" Marisol in memory of  Ella R...

So here are the top 10 moments of 2010 that stood out to me. It is weird looking back it seems like some of these happened years ago and others seem just like yesterday.  1. January 2010 my grandfather passed away unexpectedly. I can remember as a kids spending much of my time in Mississippi at my grandparents. Every time my parents would come to pick me up I would beg to stay just one more week. Such great memories to pass on to my children. I was so happy to see my grandmother's sister, Aunt Louise, was able to make it to the funeral.  It has been years since I last saw her.  Papaw, you are greatly missed. I always loved you calling me Kris:) 2. Colin played Upward Basketball for the first time. It was so fun watching him learn, practice, and grow in this sport. He couldn't dribble a ball when he started and on the last game he scored his first goal (I think that is what you call it... or is that soccer?!?!)   3. Taking an overnight trip to Auburn with my s...

Make that a Merry WHITE Christmas!  First ever!  The kids had so much fun in the snow. Dylan did NOT want to come inside! Bethany was super surprised with A CELL PHONE! Dylan wasn't super thrilled with opening presents  but he did sit down and let me take this cute pic of him:) Colin didn't sit still long enough for me to get a picture of him and his gifts  but he did get this neat little flying thingy:) (Yes, by the next day it was tangled up in sister's hair and we had to bring out the scissors:( ) Merry Christmas  and Happy Birthday  to our Lord and Savior!

Wow! My little ole blog is up to 20 followers... How exciting is that:) Maybe one day I will give you 20 kind people something to read:) I am such a bad blogger these days! For those of you who do not know... we had an answered prayer to Chad's job situation. He turned in his notice at WM after 11 years and now has a M-F job doing something that he LOVES TEACHING! We are also expecting our fourth blessing due July 22nd:) Pray with me that very soon we will get our house on the market and that it will sell quickly! It is not easy driving to Bham 6 days a week! Chad's job is there. Our church family is there. Our hearts are there. Life will be much easier when we move! Praying 

Rina Shpiruk is a friend of mine I met when adopting Anna Li. We used the same agency and brought our girls home around the same time. Rina adopted Myah and I believe she is around 3. Myah has had a rough year! She has had several surgeries and Rina has taken her to doctor's all across the US. She had emergency surgery Sunday to remove a tumor that had wrapped its self around her stomach! You can read more about her here: http://shpiruk.blogspot.com/ Awhile back, Rina sent in a "potty" story to Disney Family. Out of 40,000 people she was one of the finalist. What is so great about this is the winner gets 4 tickets to New York and that is where Myah needs to go to see a specialist. They are not able to afford the trip on their own as they have over $100,000 in medical bills. So... we need people to VOTE for her story!!! I am not going to lie.. it is a little aggrevating as you do have to create yourself a login... but really its only about 5 minutes and it is a great c...

OK this is something You and I do NOT want to miss out on! 30 days of giveaways!!! COME ON... I feel like I am on the Ellen show:) Go on over to HERE to find out ALL the details Girls, this is gonna be fun Good Luck! PS. I won 2 adorable hats on Day 18!

And this is the way Christmas should be....

The Lord has blessed us with baby number 4!  Baby Gray is due July 2011 Please keep Mom and baby in your prayers! My progesterone levels are low again and I am taking medication.   I return to the doctor next week  for another sonogram and blood work.  I am around 6 weeks! Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. Psalm 127:3  Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

OK this is something You and I do NOT want to miss out on! 30 days of giveaways!!! COME ON... I feel like I am on the Ellen show:) Go on over to HERE to find out ALL the details Girls, this is gonna be fun Good Luck!

 I love Wild Olive tees! They are having another big give away! Here are the details straight from their blog! We will be giving away TWO Women of Faith Packages. Each package contains two Wild Olive tees of your choosing, and two Women of Faith tickets for their Over The Top Event in Hartford, CT on November 19th and 20th. Amie and Stefanie will be attending this conference, and we would love for you to join us there, representing Wild Olive! AND, for those of you who don’t live close enough to attend the conference, we love you, too! So we are giving two more prize packages, each contains TWO Wild Olive tees, winner’s choice! So there will be FOUR winners, announced Wednesday, November 10th. Entries close at midnight EST on Tuesday, November 9th, so get crackin’! To get the details go   HERE

In honor of ThanksGIVING this year we have decided to give up EATING OUT for A WHOLE MONTH!!!! In honor of two very special kids.... http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/medical_sponsor_child_detail.cfm?child_id=1351&mc_id=101 and http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/medical_sponsor_child_detail.cfm?child_id=1319&mc_id=101 We will not be eating out this month so please don't ask us out:) We plan to save and save big to make a difference in the life of these children! I look forward to seeing how well we do! This will be very challenging for us as we eat out wayyyyy to much! Bethany chose to help: Emily Colin chose to help: Logan Each child will be paid $1 for each chore they complete. They will get paid $2 for each chore they complete without being told! The child that earns the most will get a little extra something (got to keep them motivated...1 month is a long time for a kid). In addition to the fundraising we will be lifting up these children to the L...

I know, I know! I have fallen far behind in bloggy land.  I am pretty sure I am down to maybe 2 followers:) What's the deal...  Well... It has absolutely nothing to do with  CRYING BABIES THAT HATE TO TAKE BATHS  OR FALL FESTIVALS   OR ZOO FIELD TRIPS     BONFIRE, BIRTHDAYS, AND LOTS OF FOOD AND FUN WOULD NEVER GET IN THE WAY..                  OR AFTER SCHOOL "I GOT NOTHING TO DO" BLUES   IT WOULD NEVER HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE FACT MY SON INSTEAD ON SPENDING EVERY WAKING HOUR OUTSIDE PLAYING...   OR TEACHING COLIN TO RIDE HIS BIKE   AND, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER WOULD SOCCER PLAY A ROLE IN IT.. OK, So maybe it does:) But, lets face it... sometimes there are just more things important than blogging and  These 3 blessings  have everything  to do with it!

 We had so much fun last night as our church family kicked off their new CD The God We Praise ! Much thanks to my boss  and coworkers for letting me leave work a little early:) Chad, Bethany, and I met up with the wonderful ladies from our small group at Dairy Queen for a little din din THEN we headed to the sanctuary for SUCH A NIGHT OF FUN!!  There is nothing like starting the service off with a little cell phone challenge and duct tape:) The elders were given a cell phone number and they had to call it and try to locate who's phone was ringing in the worship center...FUNNY! Some didn't even know how a cell phone worked! Then we moved on to the Duck Tape challenge! (Chad was chosen to participate in this challenge) The teams had a set amount of time to duct tape their elder to the columns in the church. Then.... We Waited.... to see who's elder fell first:) Sad to report Chad's team didn't win:( Is that fear on his face?!?! Great night full of friendship, fun, la...

Where is our Halloween Spirit!?!?!  We have been so busy that we have skipped a lot of our traditions this year! However we did make time for a little Halloween Craft: The Candy Corn Tree:) The kids had so much fun doing it and Dylan had so much fun eating it! Here is our finished product:)

Happy 6th Birthday Colin!! (September 7th) Happy 1st Birthday Dylan!! (September 16th) We celebrated at Chuck E. Cheese... WHAT FUN! The birthday boy got to take a turn in the Ticket Blaster. He ended up with 1300 tickets by the end of the night!  My other birthday boy taking a dive into his 1st birthday cake:)  It did not take long for him to get the hang of it!  The King of Chuck E. Cheese was crowned... Dylan was amazed by the show! All the kids gave Chuck E. a big goodbye hug!!  So, so much fun!!!! You can see more pictures on facebook. Oh, and what did he get with those 1300 tickets  (which cost mom and dad some big bucks!!) a Chuck E. Cheese stuffed animal a little basket ball and a plastic slinky!

Day 65 Deep in Thought

Day 64 Bath Time!