7 weeks

So let me ask how this works...

How did the 7 weeks prior to Greyson's arrival seem like it took FOREVER!!! The waiting, the worrying, the excitement, the rescheduling, the waiting again. I swear that stretch of time was the longest and hardest to endure for Leigh and I.

OK, Now cut to today... 7 weeks since our little G-man made his debut and this thing called time, seems to be traveling at a very accelerated pace! Has anyone experienced this one? hehe :) I mean, WOW, it's like these past 7 weeks have been bunched up and have all blended together into what feels like a week. Our little man isn;t so little anymore. But he sure seems to be falling into that "Daddy's Not so scared he's gonna break him" size. In other words, I pretty much can't help myself from pickin the little guy up any chance i can! I love it!

So besides seeing our boy getting bigger before our eyes, we've also been busy with appointments. This week has been no different. Leighs usually the go-to-guy(girl) when it comes to getting grey to his doctors, but today, my schedule was such that i could join them for Grey's appointment with the neurosurgeon. So a part of me was happy that I could be there and support the two of them, but there was a part of me that kept recalling the previous visits to that same doctor. The latest, and still vivid in my memory was when we got the tough news that grey's vents were getting bigger and he needed the shunt. So needless to say, its not a real "fun" place to visit. However... Leigh and I had a good feeling about this visit. And I think the fact that we only had to wait 30 minutes to see the doctor even got us more pumped up!!! hahaha, isn;t it twisted that we were excited that he was only a half-hour late! but seriously this is unheard of when it comes to this guy. Anyway, the DR checked the incisions and his shunt settings and confirmed what we thought all along...that Grey was doing very well so far!!! So finally I walked out of that office smiling, and I hope we can continue this streak we've been on!

Grey goes back in a month to be checked out again, and like I said, let's keep this streak going! WE also got the results of his hip ultrasound early this week and it appears like they are where they need to be. So that's more good news! So lets give thanks and continue to pray for Grey as he's been doing so well lately, we ARE SO PROUD OF HIM!

love to you all,

Andy, Leigh, and Grey

P.S. We've been getting more and more smiles out of him. BEST THING EVER!!!

So little...but SO BIG!!!

That is what we are thinking these days...Greyson is so little, yet getting so big at the same time! This past week was a VERY busy one for our little guy. He had OT, an ultrasound on his hips, an appointment with his urologist, and we went to visit the conductive learning center. His appointment with the urologist went very well. His kidneys and bladder haven't changed since the last ultrasound that he had done while in the nicu. This mean, that for now, we don't need to think about cathing...YAY!!! The meeting that we had with the conductive learning center went great as well! This center helps kids who are dealing specifically with spina bifida or cerebal palsy and happens to be 5 minutes away from our house. The program has helped a lot of children both physically and cognitively and Andy and I feel encouraged that it will do the same for Greyson! We start our weekly sessions there this Thurs. This week is another busy week in the Gibbs' house. Greyson has appointments with the neurologist, orthopedist, OT, and PT at the CLC. I also have an appointment, so between the two of us we are staying very busy!

Greyson has started smiling more and more! I think that I've gotten at least 5 out of him today! He is also getting a bit more vocal. :) He makes sure that I know weather he is (or isn't) enjoying something! :) He has been sleeping great at night (about 7 hours) and during the day he likes to take short cat naps (not my favorite, but I'll live) He's been eating about 5-6 ounces at a time and the proof is in his chubby little cheeks! Andy and I feel like the luckiest parents in the world!!!

I hope that this finds you all happy and healthy.

love, leigh, andy, and greyson

Hello all!

Today grey's OT came to the house and she worked him hard. Hard enough for him to zonk out mid-way thru his "exercises". She showed Leigh some techniques to keep his legs limber and so we will continue to do these throughout the week. His legs are definitely getting chunkier, and it appears to LEigh and I that his right leg and foot is moving a little more. It's quite remarkable the joy and hope we receive by the simple bending of a knee, or the movement of a toe. In fact, as I write this Leigh just belted out "yeeeaahhhhh" Grey was moving his legs!!!

Speaking of moving legs...I've starting running again. It's about this time of year, usually while at a sports bar partaking in the viewing of a march madness game that i begin to think about training for the River bank run here in Grand Rapids. So this year was no different as I hit the pavement and began to train. However, what has been completely different for me is my motivation. Perhaps you know where I'm going with this... Yup, Greyson has already been such an inspiration in every part of my life, so it's not a big surprise that he's inspiring me to stick with my running. Funny how much we take these things (legs) for granted. We just go about our day walking, running, and occasionally skipping :) never thinking about how different our lives would be if we didn't have the complete use of our legs. So as one might imagine, I do think about how Grey's life will be and just how well he'll be able to get around and if he'll be able to walk someday.

So I run, (sometimes I walk, I'm not in really good shape yet) and on every single run I thank God for everything I have. Because, truthfully I am blessed, even though it didn't seem like that not too long ago. But I am. If you could measure the amount of love I have for LEigh and Grey and somehow store it and use it as an alternative fuel to run the next generation of SMART cars...We'll lets just say everyone would have a full tank of gas :) hehehehe So where was i going with this...oh yeah, I run. and when my legs hurt after running, I don't complain. And I don't think I will ever again.

love you all,

Andy, Leigh, Grey

Time for an update...

It's been a few days since our last post and we figured that you may be wondering what was going on with our little guy. This week Greyson started with his weekly appointment of occupational therapy. He started off strong, impressing the therapist with his great eye contact and ability to track objects. However, midway through the session he got all tuckered out and fell asleep! Not to worry though, we will have these appointments every week! Greyson also had an appointment with his orthopedic doctor. His feet (especially the left) kind of curls inward. His physical therapist noticed this last week and wanted us to have it checked out. Well, the doctor agreed that there was a bit of a curve to the feet but nothing to worry about now. He wants to see him again in 6 months to check again. He also noticed that his hips were a little tight. Often times with spina bifida hips can be out of socket so he wants an ultrasound to see if that is the case with Greyson. He did say that as long as the hips are mobile (which Greyson's are) that physical therapy is the way to go. He doesn't like to do surgery for this and says that it shouldn't hinder him from walking one day if he is able. All in all, it was a good appointment.

It has been confirmed this week (written in the baby book) that he gave me a smile! It was the most amazing thing that I have ever seen! Pretty much all we do is sit around and try to bring out that smile! He continues to amaze us and really is so happy and alert. He has become a spitter, it doesn't bother him at all but I'm pretty sure that my laundry load has tripled!!!

This coming week is a busy one for Greyson. We have four appointments. We will see his OT, have his hip ultrasound, see the urologist, and meet with The Conductive Learning Center at Aquinas College. They specialize in helping kids with spina bifida and cerebral palsy. We are going next week to check it out and to see if they will be any help to Greyson.

So here I sit on a Friday night just watching Andy and Greyson "play" on the floor, and I realize that no matter how busy life gets with doctor and therapy appointments, I couldn't be luckier! Enjoy your weekend, as I'm sure we will be enjoying ours!! :)

Leigh (Andy and Grey)

The Outakes

So it's pretty obvious I have a favorite subject when it comes to photography. But just to let you know, not all the photos turn out as planned. And actually those have become some of my favorites. So here are a few fun "outakes" of our favorite little boy. We can't even imagine life without this little guy!

love to all,

The Gibbs'

This Friday the 13th...

wasn't scary at all.
In fact, it was a very pleasant day filled with plenty of good things! The best of those good things was the fact that Greyson's follow up, post-op appointment with the neurosurgeon went great! Everything looked good and the shunt is working properly and set to the correct setting. He'll have to go back in three weeks for a similar follow-up. This news sure made the other good things even better! and that other good thing happened to be my birthday!!! What, a birthday on friday the 13th, sounds like it's destined to be doomed! Quite the opposite. In fact it was a great birthday and I got to spend it with my little buddy which was by far my best gift. Although my new running shoes fit really well and look striking on me :)

Oh one tidbit about my Friday the 13th Birthday...

As I have in the past I like to make unusual request for a birthday treat at the office, this year was no different. After realizing my big day would indeed fall on a friday, i immediately thought, " I want A Friday the 13th horror flick themed cake with blood red frosting" So in my explanation I must have got my horror film movie stars mixed up and said i wanted freddy kruger on the cake...opps what i meant to say was Jason. yeah know, Jason the guy with the hockey mask. WEll anyway it was too late and the cake was made and sure enough I celebrated with a Friday the 13th Freddy Kruger cake. The mix-up made it even better than I imagined!

Ok enough about me... Leigh and I took grey out for a walk in his stroller today, and although it looked like it was 60 degrees and sunny, it was much, much colder than we expected. But Grey was bundled up in his Caribou/Elk/Reindeer/Moose jumpsuit that looks very warm. I wish i had one. So the walk was great, just cut a little bit shorter than we thought. Spring where are you? Come soon please!!

coming soon... some "outake" photos of Grey :)


love to you all

One Month Old!!!

Holy cow, our little Grey is already one month old!! I guess time really does fly!

This week we have had a few appointments. On Tuesday, we met with the plastic surgeon who helped with his back closure surgery. He was so pleased with how his back is healing, that we won't need to see him again! One less doctor to worry about! :)Today we met with Greyson's physical and occupational therapists. There was quite a bit of paperwork that needed to be filled out during this first appointment. While I was doing this with the occupational therapist, the physical therapist got busy checking out Greyson. She noticed (as have Andy and I) that both hips can move pretty well. She did recommend that we continue to do the stretches that we were taught while at the NICU to keep his leg muscles limber. I mentioned to her that his left leg and foot always wanted to curl under his right and she said that this is something that should be looked at by an orthopedic doctor. This is something that will be done in the near future. She also gave us a few other things to work on this week...Greyson seems much more comfortable turning his head to the left, so we need to work on getting him to turn his head more to the right, his arms and hands seem pretty tight so we are working on getting those a little more flexible. Other than that, she was really pleased with what he can do (he is only 4 weeks so it's kind of hard to determine what exactly that is). She said that he is making great eye contact and tracking objects really well. Andy and I are both really excited to start with Greyson's PT, we want to do all that we can to give him the best chance at walking some day.

Friday Grey goes into the neurosurgeon for a post-surgery checkup of his shunt. We pray its a quick in-and-out, everythings OK type appointment.

Anyway, it's been great having him home for a "normal" week. Were aren;t sure what normal is yet, but its feels a lot better these days :)

love Leigh, Andy, Grey