Good Times with The Gray's

Hello friends!

Josh and I have been super busy getting ready for Cooper's arrival. Here is what we have been up to... working on the pirate themed nursery (I will share photos with you upon completion), scheduling a 4d sonogram (May 15)-we cannot wait to see how much he has changed since we last saw him (March 3) :), finding a photographer, filling out paperwork...lots of paperwork (cord blood, hospital registration, insurance info and maternity leave forms), trying to coordinate the 3 showers we will be having not including one at school...yes 4 a tad ridiculous I know, we have lots of family and friends! We feel VERY blessed!

I am also enjoying every single moment of this pregnancy! I have been feeling wonderful and I am still going full speed ahead. Cooper is definitely getting bigger, when I get out of bed or bend over I feel like I am carrying a ton of bricks, he will only get heavier I know! Last week I was on my way home from work when I felt a baby body part shove itself into my ribs. It did not hurt, it was just a different feeling than what I have been used to thus far. Also I was able to experience a butt or head (something smooth and round) roll and push out my stomach. SO COOL! I have been wondering for some time what it feels like to be pregnant...well I can tell you I LOVE this feeling, it is like none other. A few other joys about being pregnant: I can no longer see my feet unless I lean over, the bath towel is getting close to not being able to fit around my body, and my bladder is full ALL the time, or atleast it feels that way. When I feel like I cannot wait any longer I will rush to the bathroom only to realize I didn't really need to go at all. Cooper is constantly pushing down on my bladder! Take it easy dude!

Oh and Josh is in love with my growing belly...he thinks it's adorable and I love him for that! He talks to Cooper and we are enjoying feeling him move. Although when I tell Josh to put his hand on my stomach to feel him move, it's too late, Cooper is a tad bit shy!

I have to take the glucose tolerance test this Friday...crossing my fingers I pass, so that I do not have to take the 3 hour test! We go for my 28 week appointment next Wednesday and after that my visits will be every 2 weeks! Holy Cow! Where has the time gone?!

Amidst all of this I am counting down the days until summer break!! 6 more weeks is all that is left! Woo Hoo! However the calendar is FULL! Less time more things to do, of course that's how it goes! Oh well, I will gladly do whatever it takes :)

Will update when I have more news!
Much Love,

Bron

That is the name of the company that is going to bank Cooper's cord blood! We are thrilled that the precious life growing inside me will be ready to make his debut in just a few short months. During the last 27 weeks we have begun to think about things that we never have before ie. childcare, the latest baby trends, recalls on baby products, baby products (in general), breastfeeding vs. bottle feeding,cord blood banking, etc.

We have heard about cord blood banking and knew that it was pretty costly, but we looked into it and asked around and decided we couldn't not do it! We had a family friend pass away of Leukemia on March 31, 2006. Kourtney was 16and was unable to beat such a viscious disease. It is our hope that if Cooper were to be diagnosed with something like that that the cord blood that we saved would help to save his life.

If you want to know more about Viacord visit www.viacord.com, if you would like to donate to Cooper's cord blood registry visit www.viacord.com/giftregistry.

This is the day Josh and I began dating 10 years ago!! We now like to refer to it as our dating anniversary. I absolutely cannot believe we have already spent 10 years of our lives together and we are both still so young. 10 years together today April 10, 2010

Our relationship officially began April 10, 2000 but we had known each other for years. Lacy Eaton and I were inseperable through our elementary school days and it just so happens that Josh and her brother Billy were pretty tight as well. Josh, Billy and a few other of their friends would tease/pester us. Let's face it we were the younger more obnoxious little girls and they were the cool older boys. Years went on and I had not seen, heard, or talked to Josh since we were practically babies. Then about the time Josh was a sophomore in high school my mom, brother and I saw him at the donut shop. I made the comment that he had a cute butt. He was all dressed up in his baseball uniform. My brother then took that information and shared it with a friend of his, Lauren Parker, who was friends with Josh's sister Amy. Anyway the comment made it back to Josh and he liked me but I was too young. An eighth grader...yeah he was too cool for me, still!

Well a year rolled around and I was finally a ninth grader. It was fate because Josh and I rode the school bus together and I just drooled over him every day on the ride home. I was WAY to shy to talk to him, but somehow we connected around the middle of March 2000 and began to talk on the phone A LOT! There was only one problem now...we were both dating someone else. There was no stopping us, we both cut ties with our bf/gf at the time and decided to give our relationship a try.

We were still a very new couple when Josh's junior prom rolled around. He asked me to go and I told him No! I told him no because I was still in shock that this sexy older guy was interested in ME! I was sure that I was a bet between Josh and his friends and that he was just trying to get with me on prom night. He showed up in his tux and everything still thinking I might join him. I stuck to my guns and said no once more. He went to prom alone :(, but returned early to spend the rest of the night with me. I guess you could say the rest is history!

Yes, of course we had our break-ups and drama that any young couple would normally experience, but there was something more between us. An unexplainable love that has grown so deep over the years! My emotional side is coming out a bit more now that I am pregnant, but as I look through pictures and all of our love notes, cards, etc. this morning I began to cry. I have such a wonderful man in my life and I am so incredibly lucky to be able to call him my husband and soon he will be the father of our little guy,Cooper. Time has flown by, but we can truly say we have lived a fairy tale love! I know we will live Happily Ever After! My life is perfect and I could not ask for more. I love you Josh Gray and I look forward to the next decades of our lives.



Headed to prom-Josh's senior year! 2001


Prom-my junior year 2002


Operation graduation photo-my senior year 2003...we were ready to take the plunge way back then!


Random pic around 2003-2004


Megan and Rusty's wedding- 2005


San Antonio 2005


Mayfest 2005


December 24, 2005-He proposed!


Engagement picture- June 2006


Wedding Shower-Fall 2006


Wedding Day! December 30, 2006

This is what our bedding looks like, and my four legged daughter absolutely loves it. Or maybe she hates it, I can't decide. She is 3 years old and totally potty trained, so tell me why she insists on peeing on it?!! We have had to take this comforter to the cleaners 3 times in the last 8 months! I am not sure what it is about this particular one but she does not do this to any other comforter we have. Just a few weeks ago we picked it up from the cleaners, had it on our bed for one night and the next night it was back off! Oh we could have KILLED her! She has her occasional accidents in her sleep just like a 3 year old child. But please tell me why on this comforter?! The comforters should smell the same, we get everything cleaned at the same cleaners. Not sure but it is back on tonight and hopefully it will last a lot longer this time before its trip back to the cleaners.

One day last week my kids were getting packed up to go home and of course they were talking amongst themselves. Talking is their absolute favorite thing to do, as I know this is true for most children. There was a conversation that caught my attention between two kiddos and I had to tune in for the rest of it. Here is what they said..."McKenzi said yes, your mexican." And Jose fired back with "No, I'm not I live in Joshua". I burst out in laughter, the whole class looked at me wondering what I was so cracked up about. It was a great way to end the day.

Yesterday Paula and I took a team of 2nd and 3rd graders to participate in Joshua ISD's third annual Battle of the Books competetion. The primary level (2nd and 3rd graders) were the first to compete, so the rest of the day was spent attempting to keep our kids quiet. While I was working on a Sudoku puzzle and listening to the quiet conversation around me I heard a group of girls talking. They were discussing how old their parents were and one of the little girls said to another "I thought your mom was younger than that" The girl said "No, she just wears a lot of make-up". HAHAHAHAHA!! I laughed to myself, but she was dead serious.

Josh and I are laying in bed watching t.v. about to go to sleep, and suddenly I feel Cooper move. I put my hands on my stomach where I felt him move and sure enough I felt a push back. I immediately told Josh to give me his hand, so that I could guide him to where I felt the movements. Cooper gave us another good push and we were both able to feel him at the same time! Such a sweet moment for us! We are looking forward to many many more of these miracle moments!

On Friday I will be 23 weeks pregnant. Time is flying by, but you can bet we are treasuring this whole entire pregnancy experience. I know my hormones may be a bit out of whack, but I have to say Josh melts my heart every day. He is a fabulous husband and he is SUPER excited about this pregnancy and the arrival of our son! The look on his face when we talk about Cooper is just adorable! He does anything and everything for me and I know he will do the same for our little man! I am so blessed to have such an amazing man in my life! Sorry for the sappy post but I don't brag on him enough for all that he does! Love you babe!

I can't believe I am telling on myself, but I can't help but share the totally dumb stunt I pulled tonight! Josh and I decided to go to a movie at 4:30, we saw Brooklyn's Finest. I thought it was a good movie, but I do not think the typical girl would enjoy the sex, drugs, violence and just plain gore that this movie entailed.

Now to the point of the story, we planned to cook a frozen pizza after we returned from our movie. I preheated the oven and read the box for directions, it said remove plastic from pizza and tray and place on bottom rack. LOL, I removed the plastic and the tray and placed the pre-sliced pizza on the bottom rack. A few minutes later I checked on the pizza and noticed that the pizza was falling through the rack. Yes I placed the pizza on the rack with no pan or tray!! OH NO! I yelled for Josh to come help me! We desperately tried to save the pizza...and we did however, it did not look like the picture on the box anymore. It was a doughy mess. I then let the pregnancy hormones get to me as Josh was laughing hysterically at me in the middle of the kitchen. I began to cry, storm off to the living room and tell him that I will just order us a pizza. It took me a few minutes but I then saw the humor and started to laugh at myself. What a moron! As I look back at the box it clearly says place frozen pizza in TRAY on LOWER RACK. DUH!! We carefully put the pizza back together and finished cooking in on a pan. It turned out to be delicious! I am normally a decent cook, but I guess the frozen pizza was too complicated for this fake blonde.