HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As we sit here tonight, on the first day of 2012, I can't help but think back to some of the highlights of 2011.

*you may want to grab a cup of coffee for this one, I can't guarantee that this will be a short post. :)

January started off with Grey doing more standing with his knee
immobilizers and becoming more and more comfortable on his feet.

January was also the month that Grey met "2 Orie" as he is known today.
Here he is showing off his love for both of his Ories...can't sleep without them. :)

In February, our little baby turned 2. I still can't believe it. He is almost 3 and I
am still getting used to the idea of him being 2!

March brought Greyson's first pair of KAFOs!! We were so excited to get
these. They have changed Grey's life...for the better, and we are so thankful
that Grey is able to do so much while he wears them!

In April, we went to Florida with grandma and grandpa Neal, uncle Jake and
aunt Jenny, Parker, Kendall, Olivia, and Mallory...Grey had a blast with his cousins!!

Grey also discovered his love of numbers and large books. :)
May was a big month for us! Grey wore his first tie!

He helped me celebrate Mother's Day!

He also helped me decorate his room...

and started sleeping in his big boy bed!

June was spent walking outside...

getting his very own wheelchair!!!...

and visiting with friends who we wish we could see everyday...

July was spent relaxing at the pool...

taking swimming lessons...

and going on vacation with grandpa and grandma Gibbs,
uncle Jim and aunt Emily, and of course, baby Evan. :)

FYI: "baby Evan" is not really considered a baby anymore, but Grey will
ONLY refer to him as "baby Evan" and tries to hug and pet him any
chance he gets. They are the cutest. :)

August was spent just being cute. :)

In September our little guy started PRE-SCHOOL! I know, I still can't believe it!
Such a big boy he is! He is LOVING it and everyday there, is his "best day yet!"
according to his teachers! We are so proud!

October was spent getting ready for our first Stroll 'N Roll for the
West Michigan Spina Bifida Organization! It was a HUGE success!!

Grey was also an astronaut for Halloween and is still asking us at least
3 times a week what we are going to be for Halloween. :)



No pictures for November :( Grey was busy doing another session of Therapy at 1 plus 1! Everyday for 2 hours! A very busy month!

December was spent making his first snowman...
celebrating Christmas with Emily and Carson at the WMSBO Holiday Party...
and spending time together.

We were so incredibly blessed in 2011, and I am praying for a happy and healthy 2012!!

Each night Grey says in his prayer...

"Thank you that I am strong, thank you that I am healthy, thank you that I am happy..." (with a few other random 'thank yous' mixed in) :)

We could not be more grateful for our sweet little boy, he truly is the biggest blessing. I know that 2012 will be a big year for him...turning 3, going to preschool more than just one day a week, and most likely discovering that he isn't just like everyone else. My prayer for this year is that he will remain healthy, happy, and strong. :)

Much love and many prayers for your 2012 as well!!

Andy, Leigh, and Mr. G

Heat Miser

I think i know why we haven't had any snow...

Grey is the heat miser!

hahahaha! it's spot on.

for those that aren't familiar with the heat miser.... enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbfgVEk-mxQ

White Christmas?

So its days before Christmas and here in Michigan we haven't had any significant snowfall. A part of me loves this, because i dont have to deal with the horrible roads and such, but the inner 10 year old version of me really wants it to snow for Christmas! Turns out Grey really wants it to snow too. Any time the mention of snow is heard, he immediately brings up the fact that he wants to make a snowman. We both repeatedly explain that there isn't enough snow outside to make a snowman, it needs to snow more...he's not buying it. So this past weekend we got the smallest amount of snow and Grey convinced us it was time to venture out and make a snowman.

And so it began, the clothes, the braces, the snowpants, the long sleeve shirt, the jacket, the hat, the gloves, the boots...i recall Leigh saying something like, "you better stay out there for at least 2 hours!"

Heres Leigh, getting him ready.

Ready to Go!


As you can see there wasn't much snow...at all. :) But we scrounged up as much snow as we could and made a snowman!


Here we are just adding some final touches (arms) to the snowman. So we didn't stay out the full 2 hours as Leigh had hoped, however the 2 of us sure had a great time!

Oh and someones getting excited about Christmas!


Love to all,
and a Merry Christmas from Andy, Leigh and Grey

A few questions for Grey

Well Leigh and I had this great idea that we'd set up the camera this past holiday weekend and ask greyson what he was thankful for. Naturally, he wasn't interested in accommodating us for our video...However we did get some footage of him answering some random questions, drumming, and singing his favorite song, which happens to be called "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 song"

heres the video.


Heres a few images from our Thanksgiving Day.








Just relaxing after a big meal...and some how Grey ended up with 3 "ories" (eeyores)

Another incredible year with so much to be thankful for!

love to all,

Andy, Leigh, Grey

Grey the Astronaut

So far this Halloween has been Grey's (and our) favorite! It all starts with the costume and this year we scored big when we found an amazing (and really reflective) spaceman suit. From there the ideas just kept flowing. Rocket booster's on his walker, a space shuttle, spray paint, stickers, paint. we were pumped... until we actually had to make the stuff. We both procrastinated until the last week before and with some help from grandma the basic shape of the space shuttle was formed...with cardboard and A LOT of duct tape. Soon it was primed, painted, detailed and fitted for his chair. Here it is right off the showroom floor.

So the next big thing was to cross our fingers and hope grey liked wearing his costume and having his rocket ship attached to his ride. Turns out he loved it!

Here he is getting ready to make his rounds.


Here he is showing off his rocket boosters.


Here he is with his cousins. Boy they sure helped him out and made sure he got all the candy he deserved. Thanks girls for going up to the house with all those steps!
Preparing for take off...

A proud astronaut mommy.
Lets do this daddy!
It took Grey approximately 1 house to figure out what trick or treatin was all about, and after that you couldn't stop the kid. "should we go to that house daddy?" "that house has candy daddy." "I want M&M's candy!" he loved it, and so did we.

heres i little clip of grey as an astronaut...


Hope everyone else had a happy halloween!

love,
the gibbs'

Stroll 'N Roll = Success!!

That is right...the first ever Stroll 'N Roll for the West Michigan Spina Bifida Association was a HUGE success!! Emily and I spent the week leading up to the event making signs, finalizing the menu, getting things ready for the raffle, and most importantly...checking the weather! October in Michigan is VERY unpredictable! On Monday, weather.com said that Saturday was going to be sunny and 60...yay! By Wednesday it was cloudy and like 55...on Saturday it was HIGH WIND and mid 40s. Yikes. Not what we were hoping for. Emily and I, along with our awesome volunteers got to the park early on Saturday and were a bit discouraged by the weather conditions. Our signs wouldn't stick, our raffle kept blowing away, and pretty much every thing else that we had planned was just not working out...we had to move on to Plan B. :)

With the help of our great volunteers things ended up working great! By 10:00 the teams starting rolling in. We had over 20 teams and 230 register to join in the walk with us!! A-Mazing! Having all of these amazing families show up was really incredible to see. Emily and I were still a little discouraged by the weather, but then we thought to ourselves...if anyone in life knows how to roll with it when things don't go exactly as planned...it was this amazing group of people. Everyone was happy, enjoying themselves and we heard such nice things from everyone. We only wish that we were able to sit and talk with every single person who made it out. I am so happy to announce that this event raised over $20,000 for the WMSBA!!


To say that I am blown away by this SB community is such an understatement. Emily and I had such high hopes when we first got this crazy little idea of holding our own stroll n roll...will people show up? will people want to support the WMSBA and this event? We shouldn't have doubted. To everyone who came, everyone who supported us and was thinking of us on the 15th, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have all made it possible for this organization to continue helping and supporting those living with spina bifida.

We are already looking forward to next year!

And a special little love note to Emily...I honestly feel so incredibly blessed to have you as my friend. I would never even consider doing something like this without you. Love you!

Busy, busy

Hi friends!! I feel like it has been so long since I've posted on this 'ol blog...and I have so many things that I want to catch up on!! Like...

Grey's first (and second, and third) day of preschool!

and...

How awesome he is doing with his standing/walking!



and...

His new haircut!

and most importantly...


October is Spina Bifida awareness month!! Because of this, (or maybe it's just a really awesome coincidence) we are planning our first Stroll 'N Roll and that has pretty much taken over every spare minute that I have...so no blogging tonight. :) Just wanted to give you a quick update and let you know that you still have one week to help us reach our goal!! Thank you so much to all who have donated already!

Once October 15 has come and gone you will get a nice LONG update! :)

Love to all,
Leigh (and Andy and G)