Greyson Turns 4!!!

4 years old...what?!?!

Well we went for it... we did a Chucky Cheese birthday party. I'm not sure if any of you have been to Chucky Cheese on a saturday afternoon, but it's madness, pure madness. This is what we wanted to avoid. So...we scheduled Grey's party for 9:30 AM on a Sunday morning. perfect, no one goes to Chucky Cheese on a Sunday morning. We nailed it, it was great!

Yeah, Grey LOVES Chucky...and cake!

Lately Grey's been obsessed with music and dancing, at the party he showed off some of his moves!

check it out.




love to all,

Andy, Leigh, and Grey

Halloween...a few months late

I have a feeling every year we're gonna have to "up-the-ante" with Grey's costume. How can we incorporate his wheelchair into the coolest costume ever!!! We'll this year we went with a classic... a cowboy and his horse. I give Leigh all the credit on this one. I may have cut a few pieces of cardboard here and there, but she was the mastermind behind it all. and I think it turned out awesome!

 

Halloween was cold this year, and we just beat the rain. but Grey had a great time with some of his other cowgirl cousins! 

Oh and we did that other Halloween stuff too, like carving pumpkins...

Happy Halloween/New Years!

love, the Gibbs'

Greys brick

Kids love playgrounds. Grey loves playgrounds. Playgrounds aren't made for wheelchairs...most of the time. Oh yeah, they have a single ramp that goes to a single platform, that has a single wheel to spin...wow... fun. But we make the best of it and get creative.

However, this past fall a new playground was built that is super adaptive, and in fact its got greys name in it! Back in the fall Grandma and Grandpa bought a brick, (that was part of a fundraiser for the playground)  that has Greysons name on it, and when it was finally done we had to go look for our brick.

we found it.

As you can see the park has more than "a single ramp to a single platform" it's pretty rad!

theres the classic stuff too.

looking forward to gong back in the spring!!

love,
Andy, Leigh, Greyson

starting small

I feel out of practice...where do i even begin. Maybe I'll ease back into it... post a few things from the fall, and gradually get back into the new year. Yeah, ok, well go with that.

We posted about Grey's new patio a while back, we all love it, and spend a lot of time out there.  Here he is with cousin Evan playing hoops.

 

and here they are riding in Grey's "Barbie" Jeep.

 

Ok, that wasn't so hard. Yeah, we can do this more often.

:)

more posts to come!

love,

Andy

Oh yeah...

...we have a blog.

our new years resolution is to not forget about it.

stay tuned for updates!

happy 2013!

love from the Gibbs'

Summer-Part 2!

Another few months have gone by and we have failed to blog!! Lucky for us, that means we are enjoying the summer!! :) Here is what we've been up to the second half of summer...

In July, we went on our annual trip up north with the Gibbs crew! I'm not exactly sure what/if Grey remembered anything from our trip last year, but I can tell you that he was really looking forward to this "cation." Last year it was "baby-cation" this year, it was just "cation" so cute. :) Grey and baby Evan (yes, Grey still calls him baby Evan, even though they are now pretty much the same size...he will always be Grey's baby) had so much fun together, and we had so much fun watching them!  We stay in a little cottage right near a great beach with beautiful water. The boys had a great time splashing around. Grey loves that little life jacket of his and was swimming all over the place!

 Grey and Ev splashing around

 

Grey and Andy after an evening sea-doo ride.

 Love this kid. What would I do without his crooked little smile?

This might be my favorite picture from the trip. Grey's wheels were all sandy and he wasn't interested in pushing himself...so Evan just did. He heard Grey crying about the sand and just took over. All on his own. He really is the best little cousin that Grey could ask for. 

The Gibbs boys, just taking it easy. 

 Grey thinking about life and enjoying the water.  :)

 What a nut.

 So pretty. We had the best weather the entire time we were up there. 

Couldn't ask for better.

 Daddy and Grey...BFFS

 

 Grey and Grandma Joy. Swimming in the cleanest water that you'll ever see.

We had a great few days and are already looking forward to next year! 

A few days after we got home a big project was started at our house...a new patio!! We were SO EXCITED about this!! We love our house, the inside is just perfect for Grey. Lots of room to wheel around..big open spaces...just perfect for what he needs. The outside however...not so much. Our driveway is sloped, there aren't any sidewalks, and every street that you go down is a hill. Great for the kids who longboard in our neighborhood, terrible for the kids (ok, just kid) who uses a wheelchair. :) SO, Andy and I had been thinking and thinking about what we could to make Grey more independent outside. He is a typical 3 year old who loves playing outside, but there really wasn't a safe option for him, until the patio. :)

Here is a picture from the top. There is a ramp going from the driveway down. 

 

Here it is from the bottom. It's probably about 30 feet by 40 feet 

(maybe, I'm really bad with guessing dimensions)

We have been spending so much time out there, and we LOVE it! We've had fires, played baseball, had dance parties, played with the sand/water table, done spins, seriously...so much!

Andy has always loved baseball and I know it means so much to him that he actually has a place to play with Grey now. Even if Grey's favorite part is throwing the bat after he hits it. Basically, he just wants to throw the bat, he doesn't really care about hitting it. :)

I hear "let's go play on my patio" all day and I love it! :)

 One last picture...we went to the fair with my friend Erin and her kids this past week and Grey had so much fun! It's a little extra work getting him in and out of all of those rides, but so worth it! Just look at those faces!!

Well there you have it, the second half of our summer! We've had a great summer and are looking forward to Fall!

September 22 is the second annual Stroll 'N Roll for the West Michigan Spina Bifida Organization! It seems like Emily and I have been talking about this for so long, and now it is so close and I don't feel ready at all! :)

If you'd like to help support Greyson's team you can do so HERE!  We are so excited to celebrate Grey and those living with Spina Bifida!

Too Long!!

Wow, it has been a really long time since we have updated the blog, and an even longer time since I (Leigh) have posted anything!! So long in fact, that blogger is totally different and I'm completely lost! Please forgive me if this post is totally random (like this weird underlining that I can't figure out!) So, with that said...here is our summer so far...

Grey is like all 3 year old boys and wants to be outside all. the. time. We are constantly trying to find new things that he can do while we are out. Grey's cousin, Parker, came up with a great idea and made him his very own longboard!! Grey LOVES it and rides it all the time! Here are a few pictures of him riding...

 

Yes, I do make him wear elbow and knee pads. The helmet is a no brainer, and the others I make him wear because they are just too cute to pass up. :) 

 

We have also spent A LOT of time at my parent's pool. They are probably getting so sick of us! :) At the beginning of summer, Grey still had to be held and I wondered if he would ever have any type of independence in the pool...well, he totally does! :) He wears Parker's life jacket from at least 10 years ago and swims all over the place on his own! We are so excited and proud of this!  

And just for fun, here is a picture of Parker wearing the same life jacket...they are kind of twins. :)



This summer we have a pass to the zoo!! It has been so great, we have gone at least 6 times and Grey loves it more and more each time we are there. He is kind of a freak about animals these days, and it's so fun to see his excitement while we are there! His favorites? The ducks, flamingos, lions, and bears!

 

He also loves going to the splash park! At first I was pretty worried about letting his ride get SOAKED...but he is a kid, and needs to have fun! So it gets wet and we dry it off. So far, nothing crazy has happened to it. :) 

 He is a crazy person while he is in there. Going all over the place having the best time! I love that he can do a "typical" kid thing and have just as much fun as all of the other kids. This is the only picture I could find, sorry. :)

We also went to a the Grand Rapids Wheelchair associations bowling day. Grey had fun for the first game, but then just wanted to check the place out. So I followed him around the bowling alley for the next 40 minutes, it was awesome.  :)

  

I was able to go to the Spina Bifida Associations national conference again this year! This year it was held in Indianapolis and 5 of us from the Grand Rapids area drove down together. It is crazy to think that if Grey didn't have spina bifida, I most likely never would have met these amazing women. They have become some of my best friends and I couldn't imagine living this life without them. They "get" the things that no one else does, and understand me completely. And the best part... I would absolutely be friends with them even if our kids didn't have SB. :)
Here are a few pictures from that weekend...

I was also able to meet my friend Angie for the first time, although it felt like we had always known each other. :) Her youngest son, Palmer was born with spina bifida and he is a rockstar. Already, knocking the socks off of so many. Love that Thompson family!

 

Well, there you have it. Throw in the Fourth of July

and a few park trips and that has been the first half of our summer!

 

We hope that you all are enjoying your summer as much as we are!! 

We are already gearing up for the second annual Stroll 'N Roll event that is coming up on Sept. 22!! Emily and I are working hard on making some changes to make it the best event that we can! We will keep you all posted!! 

Much love from the Gibbs family!!