revision free

The other day Leigh asked me what the date was (we both lose track of days amongst the chaos of our lives right now) and I glanced at my phone and said it was the 5th of March. She say's "wow it's been a year since Grey had his shunt surgery."

I responded by thinking the same thing...Wow it's been a year already. A year with no revisions, complications, or emergency visits to the doctor. Oh, make no mistake there were plenty of those "Do you think it's his shunt" moments sprinkled throughout the year, but thankfully it never was. I pray every day his shunt will keep working like it is.

I'm not much for taking stock in statistics, especially after Grey was that 1 baby out of 1,000 that is born with spina bifida. Nope, Grey's not a stat or a percentage. Anyway, I do remember our neurosurgeon say something like 50% of kids with shunts need a revisions the first year.

Thata Boy GREY!!!

Here's to many, many more revision-free years!

This is Grey looking and being smart. :)

love to all,

Andy

Dear (Jet's) Nina,

Thank you VERY much!! :)




Love,
Grey

Grey's (and Leigh's) TV debut

I can't believe it's taken us this long to post this on here (oh wait I remember.. life has been crazy lately!) But for those of you that haven't seen this already Leigh and Grey were featured in a local news story about the Conductive Learning Center. Leigh's mentioned the CLC before and it's a wonderful place that is doing amazing things for a lot of great kids!

Check out the g-man as he makes his tv debut. And yes thats his buddy Carson and his mom Emily also making an appearance!!

www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=118886

more Gibbs family updates soon :)

love,

Andy

Birthday Weekend part 2

So after the first Big Party we did it all over again the next day. This time it was at my folks house (Thanks for hosting Mom and Dad) :) and Grey had a blast!

Here he is before the festivities even begin. It's like he knows that there's cake behind him.


I think he caught on when we started singing...


and then it was on. He knew what we was getting into!








hahaha look at his hands.



Aunty Em made Grey some really cool hand puppets. As you can see Grey liked them so much...he had to eat them, naturally. :)





love,

The Gibbs'

Birthday Weekend part 1

Wow it's been a busy week and I've been meaning to get some photos up from Grey's 1st Birthday Extravaganza a lot sooner...but no luck. Got some time, got some photos, time to share.

Last friday started with a good old fashion Birthday Pancake breakfast. I was wielding the batter and did my best at attempting to make a "1" pancake for Grey. Seems easy enough, results were mixed. I thought it turned out reasonable.


The important thing was that Grey enjoyed them :)


Sadly i had to go to work and couldn't spend the whole day with my birthday boy. But mommy did, and they had a good time. Here are a few pics of grey hanging out during the day. Note the wild hair...he's crazy!




That evening the 3 of us went out to eat at our favorite local mexican restaurant (the L) and had a wonderful time together as a family. Grey loves bean burritos :) So Grey's actual birthday was pretty lo-key...only to intensify the next 2 days! That's right Grey had two big events planned that weekend. The first was at Grandma and Grandpa Neal's house and things got started off right when Grey got a 4-wheeler!!!

Here he is all decked out in the proper birthday attire.


The event was wonderful. So many friends and family came to celebrate and share this big moment with us. It was a big year and each and everyone of you played and even Bigger role in our family's life. We thank you all very much for loving and showing support for Grey throughout the last year!

and then there was cake.

Grey wasn't exactly sure about the whole cake thing. Here he is when we first gave it to him. Not exactly wild about it.



but it only took a few tastes and he was hooked!





He had a blast and we had a blast. It was really a lot of fun. Turns out a big exciting party and a belly full of birthday cake leads to a great nap for the little guy. Leigh and I also needed a nap...to get ready to do it all over again the next day! exhausting!

love Andy, Leigh, Grey

GREY'S ONE!!!!

And a year ago today...I became a father.

I imagine most fathers-to-be have a feeling of "oh my goodness, how am i supposed to be dad" right before it actual happens. We'll I was no different. But I had a little dash of "How am I supposed to be dad...of a baby with "special needs" all mixed in. So perhaps an elevated height of anxiety on my part was present.

As I think back now, and play back how the day went I could almost lay it out for you all without missing a single detail. It's that vivid in my head. I mean, it's not everyday you become a dad for the first time and it's not everyday you know your son has a giant hole in his back and needs surgery on the day he's born. So yeah, not an easy thing to forget :) So without touching on every single detail I'll hit up the one's that are top on my list.

First, I had to wear goofy scrubs and had a serious issue getting my face mask on, I was all flustered and had a hard time tying it up around my head. I remember as I stood outside the operating room where Leigh was, and thinking my heart was gonna exploded out of my chest...I had never been so anxious/nervous in all my life.

then they called me in... things went fast at that point. I felt calm, surprisingly calm, I remember repeating Isaiah 41:10 to my self while holding Leigh's hand. A few minutes went by...and then I remember the doctor asking if I wanted to see the baby's face. I stood up and peeked over the blue divider and saw Grey for the first time... it was amazing!! Sure I could only see his head, but then he stared to make some noise and cry softly. I sat back down. Minutes later he was out and I remember seeing his back and thinking, "wow I thought is was going to be way more gruesome than this." You see we have a tendency to let our imaginations get the best of us when the unknown presents itself. That's what happened to me. I thought our baby was going to be a mangled up little mess when we was born. Turns out he was shockingly cute. Leigh and I were both very surprised at how cute he was minutes after being born. (sure we are biased) :) After only a few minutes with him he was taken to the NICU, and I remember breathing so much easier. Yes, he still had a long day ahead of him, but I finally was able to meet him!!! Worry melted away. I wasn't in denial or anything, I knew he had spina bifida, heck i had about 50 pictures of the lesion on his back that proved it, but there was a sense of "I can do this, we can do this. I'm a dad, I'll be a good dad."


And so I have a years worth of experience on my Dad resume, and have to say it's the most rewarding job i've ever had!

Happy Birthday Grey, I can't even say how much I love you without crying. (Oh yeah, when you become a Dad, it doesn't matter how tough or hardcore you are, you become an emotional mess)

:)


love,

Andy

Happy Birthday, Grey!

One year ago I became a mother.


This past year has been filled to the brim with many different emotions. Joy, happiness, fear, doubt, but most of all it has been filled with LOVE! I knew that I would love my baby, but I had no idea HOW MUCH until he was here. Until I saw that sweet face, until I touched his chubby hands and cheeks. I love this boy like no other, my heart could just burst. I love how Grey can find every little fuzz/string on the carpet and goes after it until it he gets it, how he can play with a ribbon of his blanket for 20 minutes,how he laughs EVERY single time we walk up or down the stairs. I love his sweet sounds that Andy and I just know mean "I love you," how he tricks us into thinking he is giving us a big hug when really he is just after the back of our hair. I love how he looks for me after I've been gone, how his little fingers start to wiggle when he is excited. I love how he looks at things out of the corner of his eye, how he will talk to himself every morning until I go in there to get him. I love how he smells. I love his pudgy little hands. I love his determination. I just love Grey, my sir. Happy Birthday to my sweet sweet boy.