Growing up: Part II

Kyle is growing up, too.  Check out what he learned to do last Friday.  This video was taken after his second attempt without training wheels!

 

Mississippi Visit

At the beginning of November we flew to Mississippi to visit Russ' family and also to see Texas A&M play Mississippi State.  We had a wonderful visit with Russ' grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins, Grandpa Buster, and Aunt Kelly.  It was a "house divided" with Russ' family having gone to Miss. St. and Kelly and our family rooting for A&M.  The boys were spoiled by Aunt Gay and Uncle Dennis...John Deere tractor toys upon arrival and a trip to the JD store for more, a ride on a real HUGE tractor, Gator rides at the farm, shooting a real gun, great southern cooking, and an awesome tailgate before and after the big game.  In the end, A&M pulled out the win, which made the trip all the more fun.  

Sitting in the cockpit, thanks to the nice pilot

Ryan at the controls

Moving hay out of the trailer...

into the Gator

A little cabin maintenance

Ryan and his bud Uncle Dennis

Here comes the tractor!

Ready to roll

Gig 'em Aggies

Kelly and Me

Thumbs up!

Ryan's grass 'stache

First taste of soda from a can

Peek a boo

A little break with Grandpa Buster

Passed out on the way home

Roasting marshmallows at night

 

A Thanksgiving to remember

Thanksgiving day started out very eventful in the Gray household, but not for a good reason.  Unfortunately, it included a trip to the ER. Ryan was running around the corner into the kitchen and somehow lost his footing and the next thing I know he is on his back crying.  I scooped him up to comfort him, assuming it was just another of his (many) head bumps.  I thought I smelled blood as I carried him to the couch, but figured it was just something else.  When I touched his head to rub the sore spot, I felt the blood on my hands.  After washing the spot and examining it, he had a small gash on the side of his head that looked like it needed stitches.  We hopped in the car and drove past the two urgent care centers nearby, both of which were closed for Thanksgiving, so off to the hospital ER we went.  At this point, the bleeding had stopped and Ryan had stopped crying and was back to his usual self.  Long story short, after a 3 hour wait at the ER, we headed to Gigi's with 2 staples in our head just in time for lunch!

Hard to see in his hair, but there are 2 staples

Soccer 2012

Kyle played soccer for the first time this year and really had fun.  He played on cousin Wade's team, and those boys were a hoot.  For the most part, he liked to get in with the action, but there were also times that we had to remind him to pay attention to where the ball was!  He even scored a couple of goals.  It was quite humorous watching ten 4-year olds kick the ball around the field.  His last game was on November 10th and they had a little recognition ceremony where they had cupcakes and received their trophy.

#10 Kyle Gray

End of game handshake

Action shot

We played against "girlfriend" Josie

Kyle (with red icing all over) and Coach Tor

Growing up

Ryan is growing up too fast!  Last Saturday we decided to switch Ryan to his big boy bed so he could give his crib to "baby brother".  I was apprehensive to switch him since we had such a good nighttime routine, but Russ was ready to make the move.  Ryan really impressed me and you would never know a switch was made.  He was so excited and kept saying "big boy bed".  For the time being, we are using Russ' toddler bedspread which has all forms of transportation.  Ryan is super excited and he likes to point out the different vehicles.  I think he likes the extra space, too.  He hasn't tried to get out of bed and still calls for me to get him out when he wakes from a nap or in the morning.

So excited!  He kept saying "again" for another picture

Little monkey jumping on his bed

Showing me the race car

Sweet dreams buddy!

  

I'll have another

Boy, that is! We are excited to announce that we are having another healthy baby boy! The news came as no surprise as we guessed all along we'd have all boys one day, and we couldn't be happier to have a trio of them! We had a little scare when the technician thought she saw a rare congenital condition called an amniotic band, but thankfully after a follow-up ultrasound a few days later, we got the wonderful news that all was well with nothing but a healthy baby! Thanks be to God!

Here is a picture of #3!

Boston Getaway

A couple of weeks ago, Russ and I took a trip to Boston.  It was my first time to be away from the boys, but they were in good hands with Nanna and Gigi!  We had a wonderful time and did TONS of walking!  Boston is a great city and we really enjoyed it, along with beautiful weather and delicious food.  We packed a lot into our 2.5 day trip.  We walked the Freedom trail and enjoyed all the sights and history that go along with that.  We did some shopping, saw a comedy, toured Harvard and the Harvard museum, went to the Red Sox game, and took a quick trip out to Salem and saw some of the witch trial history there.  Below are some pictures from our trip:        

Not just a hand-me-down

LBG #3 due 2/26/13.  Stay tuned next week when we find out what we are having!

First Day of School - Part II

Today, Ryan had his first day of Mother's Day Out at our church.  He did great!  I was a little nervous he might cry, but I snuck out while his back was turned so he didn't get the chance.  His "monkey gram" said he was a busy little boy playing and he was very content, quiet, and a sweet little boy.  When I went to pick him up, he was busy coloring and he did not want to let go of the red crayon and come home!  I hope next week goes as smoothly as today.  Here is a picture before we headed out:

All ready to go!

 

A house divided

Last night we headed to the Stratford/Memorial high school football game. Russ and I both went to those schools so we thought it would be fun to take the boys to the game. I dressed the boys in the school colors...Kyle in green for Stratford and Ryan in red for Memorial. Russ joked we are a house divided. The boys had a blast, especially since it involved eating popcorn! The Brocks met us there and it was fun to have them to watch the game with. There was a nice breeze in the air and we left a little after halftime with Memorial ahead. They ultimately won, which has been the case here lately. We look forward to continuing the tradition of watching this rivalry game for years to come.

Before the game, about to watch the players run past

Brotherly love

Cousins - not sure what they are looking at

First Day of School

Kyle had his first day of Pre-K on Monday.  He has really seemed to enjoy heading back to class and is doing well.  He is worn out every afternoon!  Here are a few pictures of the first day:

A picture with my boys before heading out

Ready to walk to school

And he's off!