Good Times with The Gray's

It is with great pleasure that Josh and I announce...we are pregnant!! That's right 8 weeks and 3 days!! We found out on November 2 and have been keeping this gigantic secret for 5 LONG weeks!!

When I got pregnant back in April, we shouted the great news from the rooftops, then a few weeks later we had to eat our words!! When it ended so suddenly we were devestated and had to deal with everyone saying "I am so sorry". I did NOT want to go through that again. So when we saw the two solid pink lines on November 2, Josh and I decided we would be a bit more guarded this time around. However, my doctor did assure me that what happened last time(a blighted ovum-a sac but no baby) was a fluke and it would most likely NOT happen again.

We went to the doctor today and heard the small but very strong heartbeat!! 179 beats per minute!! What a relief!! It was the sweetest sound I have ever heard in my life. I already knew how precious this little miracle would be before I even saw it. Not that all women don't feel this way when they see their baby for the first time, but it is truly even more special when you have gone through heartbreak first. We wanted this baby so bad! I do know that the reason that it happened so fast for us again is because we stayed positive and did not dwell on the past. We just let fate take it's course. I am so blessed and I thank God every day for all that I have. Thank you to all of our friends and family who have prayed for us, all prayers have been answered! I will post the sono picture soon!! My next doctor's appointment will be January 6, I will be 13 weeks, stay tuned for the updates!!

Much Love,
Bronwyn

Wow!! I have not blogged in two months!! I am such a slacker. However I do have some really good reasons as to where I have been and what I have been doing. Back to October- My very near and dear Aunt Mary passed away suddenly. If you do not know about my Aunt Mary, she was as close to my brother and I as our own grandma. She kept (raised) us from the time my brother was six weeks old until we I mean he was self sufficient (ha). She was the BEST! We built forts in the living room, sold lemondade in the driveway using tv trays, watched soap operas on 5 different t.v.'s (no lie)- then locked Aunt Mary out of the house because of the soap operas...can you blame us?! We had so many good memories with her! She was very special to us and we both had a very hard time saying goodbye to her.

I have also been spending A LOT of time with Amorey, my brother Brandon and my new nephew Hadley!! I LOVE being an aunt!! Hadley just melts my heart. I give him kiss after kiss and I just can't get enough of him!!

The school year is flying by! Next week is December already! Yikes! This year has been great! I definitely feel like I know more the second time around! I still have a lot of learning to do about teaching but it is a learn as you go process! I have a great group of kiddos and I enjoy every (almost every) day at work!

Right now I am enjoying one of the best perks of being a teacher....a holiday break! That is why I have had time to sit down for once and catch you up on the past few months. I am looking forward to being with my family this week! Thanksgiving and Christmas are very special holidays to me and my family as I am sure it is to all of you! We take the time to reflect on all of our blessings and how lucky we are to have one another. I am truly thankful for all I have! I hope everyone has a wonderful Turkey Day!! Gobble Gobble!!

Much love,

Bron

My mom called me one day in September and she said I have a proposition for you. That already had me thinking great...what does she need me to do for her?? I would do anything for her because she is such a wonderful mother, so of course I said...okay lay it on me. Much to my surprise it was not at all a proposition!! She proceeded to tell me her friend Connie who works for the Dallas Cowboys had 4 tickets and a parking pass that she would like to let us borrow for the September 28th game against the Carolina Panthers!

My family has always been football fans! Yes, even my mom and I! Some of my favorite memories were spent on the couch watching Troy Aikman and Emmit Smith lead the team to victory time after time!

My mom said I would like for you and Josh to have the tickets, and Brandon and Amorey can go with y'all for a fun night out! Even better the game was going to be on my 25th Birthday! I said YES!! YES!! YES!! I would LOVE to go! She went on to tell me that the seats were on the lowest level, row 8! WOW! A once in a lifetime experience to have those incredible seats! Amorey decided to stay home with her Baby Boy Hadley and gladly let my brother's bff Josh go with us!! We had a BLAST!! It was the first Monday Night football game to be played in the new Cowboy Stadium in Arlington! Here are just a few of the photos!

Tailgating with some friends before the game!


Sportin the Romo jersey of course!





Josh, Brandon and Josh getting ready for the game...next to a Panther fan!


Our seats were INCREDIBLE!




Can you tell we were having fun?





This is Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers. We were on the visitor's side and Josh, Josh and mainly Brandon spent the ENTIRE game shouting at him! And I do mean shouting! Enough to where the man actually heard us. He turned around time after time and was clearly rattled by these trash talkers in the stands. I was laughing hysterically! I was hoping that Steve Smith didn't go out and catch the winning touchdown of the game. If that would have happened the entire section 137 would have been raging at my trash talking men for pumping him up enough to catch the winning pass. Luckily this did not happen! So I am officially 25 years old and I had the best birthday a girl (that loves football) could have!

I am supposed to be doing lesson plans, however blogging sounds like more fun!!

So about 2 months ago a friend from high school messaged me on Facebook and said have you ever heard about the OV Watch? I said no of course as I had no idea what she was talking about. She wrote me back and explained that it was exactly what it sounded like, an ovulation watch that predicts when you are most fertile during your cycle. She continued to explain that she used it when the doctors told her that she would probably not be able to have children. I am happy to report that the doctors were wrong and she is very close to (if not already) having her second child!! This definitely got my attention. She was so nice to offer to mail it to me to use! I said Wow, of course I will give it a shot! Plus, I looked it up later and these things are NOT cheap! Super sweet of her to lend me this great tool, to aid in our baby making! ;) A week passes and I get the watch in the mail! I was extremely excited because you MUST begin wearing the watch on day 1, 2, or 3 of your period and it was about that time for me.

I read up on the watch prior to receiving it in the mail and I was stoked to begin as soon as it arrived at my door! So I open the box, re-read ALL the instructions again so that I followed EVERY direction to the T! I am now ready to activate the watch!! Each cycle that you use the watch a brand new sensor ($50.00) is required!! These suckers are expensive!

I put the sensor in and try to turn on the watch...NOTHING!! I am like maybe I am doing it wrong. So I take out the sensor and try again...NADA!! OMG I was crushed! The sensor was expired. I know what you are thinking, go get another one. Well, I would have but they only have two stores in the state of Texas that sell them and they were in Dallas and Frisco. I was not going to drive there for a sensor, ridiculous. I was already on day two of my cycle I had to have the sensor by the next day, it just wasn't happening. It took a few days, but I got over it! I decided that if I didn't get pregnant that month that I would order a new sensor and try again.

I ordered the sensor a little over a week ago, and got it in the mail a few days later. I was pumped...round two! At this point I was just waiting on my period to come! And it did, no baby yet. This time I want to make sure that nothing gets in my way of wearing this watch! I decided it would be smart to replace the battery just in case, luckily the battery is a very common watch battery and you can get it anywhere! So now all the parts are updated and ready to go.

Last night, day 2 of my period, I am trying to remove the screws on the back of the watch to swap out the batteries. I get two of them out and the other two are stripped!! AHHHHHHH!! Yes me screaming in frustration. I am running out of time and I need to get this thing on my wrist ASAP! You are totally laughing right now, I just don't understand why this watch and I are not vibing! So I leave it alone so that I don't ruin it completely. Josh says he promises he will take care of it when he gets home! So I go to bed, hoping that my hubby will save the day tomorrow! He got the screws off!! YES!! I get the new battery and sensor in place...hit buttons B & C and nothing!! I wanted to throw it across the room...I disassemble it AGAIN!! The battery was upside down, I put it all back together and finally...it worked!! We are in business!! I have gone into so much detail about how troubling this has been for me that I won't ramble on about how it works. However if you are interested check it out at ovwatch.com.

Wish me baby luck!

Hopefully this watch and I will finally make amends!

Welcome to the world little guy!!

I am so excited to announce that my nephew Hadley Tate Jackson arrived Saturday (8-29-09) morning at 5:12 am! He is 8 weeks early but he is a fighter, weighing in at 4 pounds 2 ounces, 17 1/4 inches long! Brandon and Amorey are doing so good! Emotions are high, but that is definitely to be understood! Each day Mr. Hadley will get stronger and stronger and hopefully be able to come home in just a few weeks! I was lucky enough to get to meet him on his birthday in the NICU. Amorey let me go in with her and it was such an amazing feeling! She and I and baby Hadley had a special few minutes together! What a gift from God!! He is so perfect and is loved by so many already!! I will share pictures of him when I get a few more minutes. Congratulations to my little brother, Brandon and his precious wife Amorey!!

I am blown away as to how fast Summer really went!! It was my first Summer to not have to work and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I know some of you will gag when I say this, but there were many of days that I didn't even get out of my pajamas! Hehe! But now it is time to start buying school supplies, think of ways to improve from last year and to STOP staying up until the wee hours of the night!

Speaking of school supplies, I visited Teacher's Tools on the day they had their big sale to shop for new classroom goodies!! They were having a huge drawing on this day! They had 12 different baskets to give away and it was your choice as to which basket you would enter yourself in to win. My favorite one was the Treasure Chest! So I dropped my slip of paper in and NEVER expected to win. I mean I put 1 slip in there...I figured slim chance of me winning for sure!! A few days later Amorey and I were hanging out and to my surprise I get a call telling me that I had won a basket from their drawing!! I made Amorey drive me to Teacher's Tools (we were close by) to redeem my prize! To add to my excitement I had won the most valuable one!! WOO HOO! It was definitely my lucky day!

When we got back to Amorey's house we dumped it all out on the floor and went through every single thing! We had so much fun!! Here are some pictures of my awesome prize!!