Baby Gray/shoes/walking

Puttin’ on my Walkin’ Shoes

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Something we haven’t had any real need for the past 51 weeks is shoes. Last week when we were tailgating, it was hard to put Baby Gray down because he wanted to be on his feet on the nasty ground. This weekend, that will not be a problem! 

We headed to the Stride Rite store Tuesday for a new pair of shoes. The associate was wonderful–absolutely wonderful. She helped me find exactly what I was looking for; then she was patient while I decided what colors would go with the most and all that jazz. 

The first pair I put on him was so cute! I really liked almost everything about them; I just couldn’t get past feeling like they were sort of limiting. I know myself well enough to know that if I don’t think they match, I won’t put them on him. 

The next pair we tried on was super clunky. They wouldn’t work at all. 

I meandered down the aisles a few times and came upon these. They are a little less flexible than the first pairs he tried on, but still have a lot more give than a standard sole. They fit him well; they’re antimicrobial; and they are washable. 

We tried on a few other pair before ultimately coming back to these two. Finally, I decided on the navy ones. As much as I love shoes, I can’t imagine that I’ll he’ll last with only one pair for long. 

Shoes for everyone!
Baby Gray/freezer/yogurt

Brain Freeze

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Yogurt. It’s a beautiful thing. Buy a big container of plain yogurt and go to town. You can add fruit or other flavors. You can add the yogurt to salads and casseroles (ha, Mr. Gray, I bet you didn’t know we had yogurt for dinner last night). It’s a wonderful addition to most anything you would normally use sour cream or mayonnaise in. 

Lucky for me, Baby Gray loves plain yogurt. I don’t even have to add to it. Lately, though, he has not been as keen on me feeding him the yogurt. I’m not quite ready to relinquish the spoon yet, so I decided to try freezing some little yogurt bites for him. 

I didn’t have the exact mold I wanted to use; everything I had was larger than I wanted. 
 But, because I wasn’t totally sure how this little experiment would turn out, I went on and used some mini-muffin tins I already had. I just spooned a little yogurt in each section and stuck the tin in the freezer. 

They didn’t take long to set. I was excited for Baby Gray to try them, so I gave him one almost as soon as they were solid.

They’re not even that messy (considering what it could look like if I let him feed himself yogurt). Plus, I think he likes them.
Baby Gray/party/TOMS

Chinese, Please

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I promised all my Twitter followers a funny story on Friday. I don’t like to disappoint. This definitely doesn’t shine the brightest light on me, but it’s worth telling.

In keeping with the camo and red theme of Baby Gray’s birthday party, I decided a couple of weeks ago that I needed camo TOMS to wear to the party. Unfortunately for me, the camo TOMS were one of the earlier styles; they don’t have them available anymore–in the US. I found them on several websites that were overseas. I’m pretty skeptical about international shopping via the internet, but I needed these for the party. 

I found them in three different online stores internationally. I weighed my options and chose the one that looked the most legit (more of a least of three evils situation). Click! I “bought” them. 

It was about 9:30 the next morning when Mr. Gray called to tell me the bank called about fraudulent international charges on my debit card. I called the fraud center back and told them to go ahead and authorize it; I had ordered something from what I thought was the UK. The representative told me the charges had been sent to a phone services company in China. I decided to look into it and call her back. 

In the meantime, my favorite bank teller from our hometown bank branch called me to ask me about the charges on my account. After talking it over with her and trying to locate a number to call on the website, I decided I had been deceived and should cancel the payment and the card. I chalked it up to a lesson learned. 

Mr. Gray and I joked that the shoes would show up the Monday after the party and be total knockoffs. We blew it off and pretty much forgot about it (other than when he felt the need to make fun of me about it). 

Friday, I was out of the house for the morning while the house cleaner was here. When I returned, a package was sitting on my kitchen table. I was on the phone with Annie, and I just started laughing, “They’re here; the TOMS actually came.” 

I hung up and opened the banged up, beat up box. 

Sure enough, the camo TOMS I ordered internationally showed up. 

One cancelled debit card, a little humiliation, and a hand-addressed box from China later, I’m ready for the party. It’s all in the details.


Baby Gray/clapping/walking

And We’re Off!

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I still haven’t been very successful at capturing Baby Gray’s trips on film (you know, or whatever it’s captured on these days). 


This is one of his shorter trips today, but it’s the only one I could catch on video. He has been walking all over the place today; today is the first day that he’s gotten farther than five steps at a time.

An aside, we’ve been trying to get Baby Gray to clap forever. For. Eh. Ver. Today, out of the blue, he started clapping. I have been unsuccessful at videoing it, but he’s got it down now. It must be the magic of the 51st week!
Baby Gray/bubbles/play

Super Trooper

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For a while, I didn’t know how much fun some of the activities at The Jumpy Place or the gymnastics gym would be for Baby Gray. A couple of weeks ago, we went with friends to The Jumpy Place, and he loved it! This morning, I needed to kill some time out of the house while the house cleaner was here, so I too Baby Gray to Playnastics at the local gymnastics place. He had a blast. 


Basically, it’s open gym for preschoolers. He enjoyed “playing” with some of the other kids and loved the balls they had out. Since he’s always bouncing, I tried to let him hold my hands and jump on the trampoline. He wasn’t too into it. Soon. He had a blast crawling over the different heights on the floor. It’s not really set up for that purpose, it’s just the nature of the layout with the equipment. We’ve practiced going off the couch at home backwards, and he applied it to each level when he tried to go lower. I love watching the wheels turn in his little mind!


At the end of Playnastics, they get a bubble machine out and blow bubbles. Baby Gray liked them a lot. The big kids kept bumping into him; he fell over a few times. He was a trooper, though. And, according to the other parents, so was I. Apparently, it’s not normal to let you child get bumped into and figure out how to cope with it on their own–especially when it’s your first child. Who knew? I thought I was teaching problem solving skills and fostering independence.
Baby Gray/walking

Seeing is Believing?

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Sunday when we got home, Baby Gray started taking a few steps. He’d cruise along the wall or a piece of furniture, then we he got to what he wanted, he’d take a step or two before plopping down. He’d “walk” between Mr. Gray and I a few steps at a time. Sunday evening, the farthest he had gotten was three steps. 

Since, he’s gotten to four and five steps, but always ZERO when I have the recorder ready to capture these steps on film (or whatever videos are captured on these days). He’s always either walking to me, and too close to video, holding my hand (he can go a really long way like that),  or he plops himself right down and crawls. I’ve been trying for a video since Sunday. I’ve got nothing. And by nothing, I mean I have lots of short clips of him plopping down and crawling; I have one clip of him putting toys under the rug in the living room; I have a clip of him trying to reach the light switch to turn it on and off. I do not, however, have a clip of him taking any steps.

For now, just trust me. He has taken a few steps. When he gets going a little farther and a little steadier, I’ll be standing by with the camera. I’ll catch it all on film (or whatever videos are captured on these days).
chicken/Recipes/spaghetti

Anything Goes!

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We had chicken spaghetti for dinner last night, and after the lasagna cupcakes from last week, I decided to try chicken spaghetti cupcakes as well. 

I mixed up my ingredients for chicken spaghetti as usual, with the exception of the pasta (this is after I used it to make the casserole we had last night).
To make filling, you will need: 
  • Chopped, cooked chicken (I used chicken breasts; I don’t care for dark meat)
  • 1 can cream of mushroom
  • 1 can cream of chicken
  • 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 can Rotel, drained
  • Mushrooms, chopped
  • Grated cheese, save some to top casserole–or cupcakes–wtih (last night I used Italian blend and sharp cheddar; I use others depending on what we have)
I greased my muffin tin (my good one was dirty, so I had to get it good and slick).

Then I started layering: wonton wrappers at the bottom, chicken spaghetti (sans pasta) mixture in the middle, a few more pieces of wonton wrapper, and cheese to top it all off.

I threw them in the oven for about 25 minutes. I didn’t take a finished photo (on purpose this time) because these are going in the freezer for a quick lunch or dinner.
dancing

Wobble

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We were in Port A this weekend, and some girls were doing an organized dance to some hip hop song. Our group of friends is so hip that we had no clue what was going on. I had to YouTube it from Bernie’s to find out it was The Wobble. 


Today, a friend posted this. It’s at A&M. I’ve always secretly wanted to be a part of a flash mob; the fact that this is at A&M gives me hope that one day I might really get to. I’ll be practicing all the dances now–just in case I happen upon a flash mob.

By the way, check out the guy in the blue shirt–he’s near the front on a lot of angles. He’s got some moves! (I won’t be dancing near him when I get to be part of a flash mob.)
blog/life/memories

My Domain

Posted on by Mrs Gray / 2 Comments
Obviously, I haven’t always had this wonderful outlet for letting others know what’s going on in my life. I read this blog a few days ago, and decided I could do a psuedo-blog, catch-up post. So, even though I didn’t think of it, here is the abridged version of the past 26 (way too close to 27) years.
How’d I get to where I am today? What shaped my life, values, and beliefs? Why didn’t I start writing all this down sooner? What’d I do before the domain name?

November 1984: Hello, world!
June (or July) 1994: I accepted Christ and chose to be baptized. We were Methodist at the time, but I wanted to be baptized by immersion like Jesus. Our pastor arranged to use the baptistry at the neighboring Baptist church to do just that. 
January 1995: My first nephew was born. I was young, but this was the first time I learned how to love someone more than myself. 
February 1997: Second nephew. Love grows.
July (or August) 1999: My parents separate. Lots of confusion ensues.
August 1999: Hello, high school.
December 2000: Mr. Gray and I started the whole dating thing… 
January 4, 2001: Mr. Gray and I make it official. We were “going out” as he called it. 
July 2001: I knew Mr. Gray was who I was supposed to marry. (Yes, I was 16.)
May 2003: Grammie passed away. This was huge for me. I had never had anyone close to me die. It changed my college plans (that, and some encouraging wise words from my brother).
June 2003: I started summer school the Monday after I graduated from high school (I didn’t stop going to school until my first break during the summer of 2006). 
July 2004: Third nephew. I could actually drive, and I lived in the same town as them–I was in heaven! 
August 2004: Mr. Gray started playing baseball at a community college south of Houston; this was the farthest we had ever been from each other. It was tough. 
July 2005: Mr. Gray popped the question. I answered. The wedding planning commenced.
May 2006: I graduated from Texas A&M University-Kingsville. 
June 2006: Mr. Gray & I tied the knot!
August 2006: I began my career as a Fightin’ Texas Aggie as well as my career as a teacher. The same day I started school, we went to pick up the Rooster dog–we were officially a family of three! 
November 2006: My first trip to New York. I loved every minute. I’ve been back three or four times since. 
May 2007: I found out I was going to get to teach kindergarten the following school year–I was so excited! 
August 2007: I started my first year as a kindergarten teacher. This was the closest class to ideal I will ever teach in public school in Small Town, Texas. It was fabulous. They’re fourth graders now. 
February 2008: Fourth nephew. He’s sure cute! 
April 2008: We got our Aggie Rings. Whoop! 
May 2008: Mr. Gray and I graduated from Texas A&M. Lucky for him, he graduated on Friday (I was on Saturday); otherwise, I would technically have had two degrees before he had one!
June 2008: We closed on our first home and moved back closer to our hometown for Mr. Gray’s job. 
August 2008: I started working in our hometown as well. We question the decision not to live there. 
February 2009: Granddaddy passed away. I was glad I was working in my hometown and able to go see him multiple times before he died. I would not have had the same opportunity otherwise. 
July 2009: I was hired to teach in the actual town we lived in–for the first time in my teaching career. Good-bye, commute! 
December 2009: We attended a preview service for Revolution Church. Little did we know… 
January 2010: We found out we were expecting Baby Gray. Nursery and office makeover commence. 
July 2010: Papa passed away just a few short months before Baby Gray’s debut. Baby Gray is the first boy on that side of the family in 85 years.
September 2010: Baby Gray makes his entrance into our world! 
The rest of the story is pretty well documented throughout the site. What about you? What are some of your highlights? What shaped you?
9/11/memories

Where Were You?

Posted on by Mrs Gray / 1 Comment
Mr. Gray and I took a quick trip to the coast with friends this weekend. We had a blast! I’m just particular enough about not getting sand on stuff that I didn’t take a single photo. Ugh. I think Honey or Cookie took some. I’ll try to get them at some point. 

On the way home yesterday, we were talking about where we were when the planes crashed on September 11, 2001. I was a junior in high school, and, to be very honest, I did not see any importance or implications from the attack at the time. I remember being at school; I remember it being morning; I remember the principal coming over the intercom and asking teachers to turn on the TV; I remember which classroom I was in at the time. I don’t, however, remember a feeling or a tugging or an urgency like most people describe. I don’t remember what I was wearing. I didn’t cry. I wasn’t scared. I didn’t realize there was any reason at all I should have been.

That day, Aunt B, Mr. Gray, and I went to lunch at a local place that does not have a TV. A TV was there that day. The news coverage was on when we came in; we didn’t sit at our regular table that day. We sat close to the TV so Mr. Gray could watch. Aunt B and I complained about the coverage and wondered when regular TV would resume. 

Looking back, I feel so silly and immature. I mean, I was. I was 16. I didn’t know anyone on the east of Houston. I had never been to New England or anywhere near there. I had no clue what the attacks meant. None. Every year, I think about my selfishness. My silliness. My clueless-ness. 

I know I have grown; I know I am different. I am a mother and wife. I am a daughter of the most amazing and unconditional Father. I have grown as a person. I can rest confidently in the fact that I would react differently if I were faced with the same situation today.