Sunday, April 15, 2012

Spring Break!!! (part 1 of 3) the beach

For the 3rd year in a row our family was lucky enough to travel south to Florida and enjoy a wonderful time in some amazing weather. Also, this year we were gonna carve out a couple days and hit Disneyworld. Leigh and I were probably more excited to see how excited Greyson was gonna be when he got there.

But first, it we spent some time on the beach. ahhhhh.

yes it was our very own, at least for a week.

Admittedly, the things Grey can do on the beach are limited, however that did not stop him from having a GREAT time. Here he is with some of his "Friends."


Grey and I pondering Life...



Grey and his cousins waiting for the next wave to come in. Kendall's there to make sure he doesn't get washed away from the tide coming in. But if you didn't know that it just looks like she loves him and wants to put her hand on his back. haha.


I think he saw a shark! (or just a wave, both would have made him pretty excited)


Here's Grey surfing on his "surfboard" with Pop. If it was up to him this is what we would have done all day! he LOVED the ocean and loved riding the waves.


Having this kidding pool down by the beach was great...until the tide came up and nearly took Grey out to sea. haha

Ok, the next section is THE POOL...stay tuned!

Love to all,

Andy,Leigh, Greyson

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!


Today is Andy's birthday so I thought that Grey and I could do a little post all about Daddy! I asked Grey a few questions, and here is what he said...



Me: Whose birthday is it today?
Grey: DADDY'S!!!! (said very excitedly!)

Me: How old is daddy?
Grey: 5 years old
Me: seriously, how old is daddy?
Grey 31!

Me: what did we get daddy for his birthday?
Grey: a cake!

Me: Why do you love daddy?
Grey: Because I do
Me: But what makes you love daddy?
Grey: You do (I don't think he quite understood that one) :)

Me: What does daddy do at work?
Grey: (i'm not even kidding, this is what he said) "Get some girls" (he doesn't)

Me: What color is daddy's hair?
Grey: orange (uh..not quite)

Me: what color are daddy's eyes?
Grey: green (he's right!)

Me: what is your favorite thing to do with daddy?
Grey: hug him (he seriously said that, so sweet)

Me: where is your favorite place to go with daddy?
Grey: D and W (grocery store)

Me: what else do you want to tell me about daddy?
Grey: big and wide (huh?)

Well, there ya have it. Everything you need to know about Andy. :) Grey and I are so lucky to have him!!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

The Sporting Life

First things first, We have reason to celebrate in the Gibbs house... Last week it was Greyson's "Shunt-iversary" 3 years of his shunt working the way he needs it to work, no issues, no revisions, and only a few "is it his shunt" moments along the way. Thank God it never was a "shunt moment" We are so grateful for Grey's good health and pray for many, many more of these yearly milestones. I remember that day vividly, he was a tough little guy that day...way stronger than his parents. :)



Ok back to the theme of this post...Sports.

So a few weeks back Leigh was at Meijer (our local grocery store) and as she was walking in she saw a giant 4x4 truck with what looked like a wheelchair lift in the back. She was intriqued, and proceeded to check it out. Turns out it it was a wheelchair lift and the truck belonged to a 20 something kid from town. Leigh struck up a conversation with him explaining that she had a son that uses a wheelchair, and that its so cool to see something like this, etc, etc...Anyway, he said he played wheelcair rugby and that he had a tournament coming up soon. Leigh told me about this meeting and i was all for checking it out, heck i saw Murderball (thats a movie, a good one by the way) i wanted to see it in person. So the 3 of us checked it out on a Sunday afternoon and it didn't take long for Grey to make his presence known. He saw an open space (basketball court) and tore it up! We continually had to hold him back from going on to the court. And lets just say full contact wheelchair rugby is not a good place for 3 year old. Quickly, we started chatting with people in the stands, players, and met some pretty incredible people. It was cool to learn how the game was played and hear some of the stories behind each of the players. One player, (the one Leigh met) was on the Michigan Storm team and was good...really good. He has a shot of going to London this summer to play for the USA quad rugby team. He trains 3 hours a day to prepare, we heard that from his soon to be mother in law who we struck up a conversation with in the stands. Anyway, Grey got a lot of attention, most of which he didn't care for...


These girls were so nice to Grey, sadly grey wasn't so nice to them...rascal.

Heres a few action shots from the game.

This game is intense and includes a ton of strategy, what a cool way to be introduced to the sport!

Shifting gears from the hardwood to the ice, we had an opportunity to experience a Sled Hockey game last week in Grand Rapids. Every year, the Griffins (our local minor league hockey team) plays a game against the Grand Rapids Sled Wings (our local sled hockey team) and it's always a great turnout. This year we thought Grey would be old enough to enjoy trying out himself. He loved it!



Heres one of the players (like the best player on the whole team) helping grey get going.


Here's some of the action! Players of all ages got to play against pro hockey players! what a cool event. I talked to some of the younger kids before hand and they were pumped! Who knows, maybe Grey will be on the ice getting hat tricks against the Griffins in a few years.

Oh one more thing to leave you with.., While grey was out mastering his sled skills a "camera dude" asked if he could interview our family...naturally we said yes. Turns out they used it in the promo video!

check it out. we come in around 1:20
https://vimeo.com/37965596

P.S.

they cut all my lines i swear! I said some really great stuff, really i did. hahaha


love to all,

the gibbs'

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

My 3 year old...

A few people have asked me what Grey is up to now that he is 3, so I thought I'd write a blog post all about it! :)

He can...
count to 50
count backwards from 10-0
knows all of his letters and the sounds that they each make
with help, starting to sound out easy 3-4 letter words
knows all of his shapes (even crazy ones that I barely know) and how many sides they each have
can spell his name (first and last)
knows where Michigan is on a map


I am just so amazed by this kid every single day. When we were told that he had spina bifida, we were immediately told that he would have brain damage and would be cognitively delayed...He is constantly proving them wrong. :) Take That Spina Bifida!!

He is loving school more and more everyday (and he has always loved it, so that is saying a lot!) He has always talked his teachers' ear off, but he is finally starting to talk with his classmates more and more. He joins in when they are doing a song with motions (this is new), and will now play with his friends. I just love peeking in on him when I pick him up...he is always having such a great time and makes my worrying heart feel such peace and happiness. I pray that he always loves school as much as he loves it right now.

Lately he has been saying some pretty hilarious things. Just tonight at dinner he said "I'm sorry I can't give you a second wish, mommy." Huh?!? I have NO idea where he got that!!

Here are a few more of his most favorite sayings...

"I'm sorry I scared you, mommy" this one is said all. day. long. Just randomly throughout the day. Pretty sure that came from a Mickey episode

"I sure can!"

"I sure did!" Both said VERY confidently and loud!

"what's wrong with this picture?" this is another one that he just says out of the blue...not idea why.

and the best...

I was pointing to a little bump on his thigh and asked him what it was. his response..."that must be my shunt!!"



Hope you all are happy and healthy!!

Love,
Leigh

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Grey's 3rd Birthday

Wow! It's been 3 years.
3 years since I peaked over the big blue sheet and saw my baby boy for the first time...I remember it almost moment for moment. what a blessing!
Leigh and I often play a game where we look at the date, open iPhoto, and then say "What did grey look like 1 year ago, 2 years ago", and now we can say 3 years ago. It's crazy to see how much he's grown up, and really fun to "go back in time" and re live those times we had with him.

So lets play...

it's February 16, 2012

what happened 3 years ago today?


He was still in the NICU, recovering, getting stronger everyday.

what happened 2 years ago today?
He has being silly wearing my hat.

what happened 1 year ago today?
He was lovin life!

Ok so i dont have a picture of him today, February 16, 2012 but lets pretend...here's some pics from his birthday weeekend!
Greys birthday breakfast. Oh by the way, he loves Mickey Mouse these days,
Um, yeah, those are Mickey Mouse pancakes.


Our big 3 year old!

Just being silly!

Mickey Mouse clubhouse cake. (we still have leftovers of that thing)


WE asked Grey for weeks what he wanted for his birthday...Cake, thats all he wanted. And boy did he love it!



Here's Grey's "stool" that Grandpa Gibbs made for him. this week he's loved using it to help with the dishes and "cook with mommy" it's such a great piece of furniture to have in the house! Thanks pops!
And after a long day filled with cake and presents, its time for a rest with mommy.

Here's short clip of us singing Happy Birthday to him, Man, he loved it this year.


love to all,

Andy, Leigh, Grey

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Here fishy, fishy

It was this time last year when we got Grey a few goldfish for his 2nd birthday. Surprisingly, we are pleased to announce that 2/3 of those fish are still with us today. Amazing really. Well anyway, i think we were a year off in the gift, because Grey couldn't care less about those fish when he got em, but now all of sudden he has a huge interest in them and always wants to feed them. Here's just a few pictures of him taking care of his "friends".


i think here he's trying to make a fish face...not bad.


Well, here's to the still nameless fish...may they be here again this time next year!


love,

Andy, Leigh, Grey (and his fish)

:)

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Finally...A real snowman!

So just as January turned into February we finally got some real snow. Well enough to make a real snowman, and thats's all Grey cares about.

Here we are!

Grey was lucky to have baby Evan over for the afternoon so he showed him how to sled. Ev was a little apprehensive at first, but we got some smiles out of him.




Even Grandma Joy joined in!


Hope everyone's having a great winter!

love to all,

the Gibbs'


P.S. Someones almost 3...say what!!! cant believe it