More Gray Family News

Hi all. Sorry about the time between posts, but things seem to be busier at our house these days! Today's installment will be the Gray family FAQs:
1. How is Keaton doing?
Keaton is doing great. He had a check-up with his pediatrician today and he's put on 1 lb. since birth and 1lb 11oz since leaving the hospital. He's really sweet and doesn't fuss hardly at all. We've learned that he really doesn't cry unless he has a legitimate complaint. We're really enjoying him.


2. How are Hudson and Landon accepting the new addition?
They really seem to love him. Hudson wants to hold him all the time and keeps telling him, "You are the sweetest baby in the whole wide world!" and "Of all the babies in the world, I would choose you." Landon is a little less effusive but likes to say "Hi baby," and kiss him. One day when Keaton was on the floor and Kathryn was in the Kitchen, Keaton started to cry and when Kathryn looked over, Landon was standing next to him trying (too hard) to look innocent. But overall, they've been very loving.


3. How is Kathryn doing juggling three boys?
Extremely well. She's got a working schedule that seems to be working well. She's been able to get them out to the library, the store, and the doctor's office already. Not much down time left during the day, though!


4. Are you getting any sleep?
Some. Keaton's doing well. Rick feeds him at 11 p.m. and then we see what happens. Kathryn trys to get to bed by about Most nights 9 p.m. so she can get a few hours sleep before the night feeds. Most nights he wakes up to eat at about 2:30 a.m. or so and again at 5:30 a.m. or so. Some nights he only gets up once about 3:30 a.m. All in all it works pretty well.


5. What's happening with the new house?
The foundation and plumbing are in and framing begins this week. They are still projecting an October or November move-in.


6. When are you selling your current house?
Because of the current slow market and the fact that April is the busiest month for home sales int he Phoenix area, we plan to list our house for sale within the next few weeks. We're not sure if we want to pray that it sells quickly or not! Pray for wisdom for us as we try to figure out the right real estate agent, the right price, and the right strategy for timing.

D.D. visiting at the hospital

Ducky visiting at the hospital

Our friend Ann Chitwood visiting at the hospital

Our friends Paul and Stacey Dickerson with Ethan (who is only about 2 weeks older than Keaton) visiting at the hospital

Hudson visiting at the hospital

Aunt Kerry visiting at the hospital

Papa visiting at the hospital

Grandma visiting at the hospital

Hudson doing his usual snuggling with Keaton

Cool Dudes

Aunt Karen visited

Hudson spent about 45 minutes washing his Mustang in the driveway

Landon thinks chocolate ice cream is pretty great

Landon with Mommy in the hospital bed

Announcing the Arival of Keaton Taylor Gray

Keaton was born this morning at 8:10 a.m. Arizona time. He weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz. and 19 1/4 inches long. He and Kathryn are both doing great and are perfectly healthy. He has blond hair and (of course) blue eyes.

We are thanking God for a safe delivery and a healthy baby. He shows no signs of Down's syndrome (he had a finding on the prenatal ultrasound in his heart that slightly increased that risk) and they did an echocardiogram (ultrasound of his heart) that was perfect.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. More pictures will follow when we get to a point where we can download on a high-speed connection.

Lots of Stuff All at Once

Hudson Playing at Grandma and Papa's Motor Home

Playing in the Backyard Sandbox

All is well in AZ - we've also gone from snow to 76 degrees (hurray). We do have a lot going on all at once. To give you an idea:

This week: Landon's birthday and birthday party, delivery of a new bunkbed, changing Landon to a big boy bed, acclamating Hudson to a little brother roommate, get-together with our home fellowship group, meeting with our pool designer for the new house, meeting with cabinet makers, and interviewing our third candidate for a real estate agent. (Whew!)

Then we only have one more week before Keaton arrives (yep, we've settled on that name). Kathryn's c-section is scheduled for February 27th. Pray for her endurance in the final weeks of pregnancy with all these things going on. Increasing her stress is that the first real estate agent recommended we put our house on the market March 1st. We've already vetoed that, by the way, but nonetheless there is a lot happening around our house.

The boys are doing well. Hudson is staying in the motor home for Sunday and Monday nights while we get his room overhauled. The car bed is going in the garage for now and the bunkbed is coming in.

We hope you are all doing well!!

Funny Hudson quote of the week:

As we were getting ready to drive away from church on Sunday, Kathryn realized she didn't have her sunglasses with her. She asked Rick if he had them or had seen them, at which point Hudson asked if she had lost them at church. Kathryn said that she may have, to which he said:

"Well you know they were your responsibility!"

Snow in Scottsdale?

Look carefully (or click to enlargy) and you can see snow falling in this picture.


Yep, it snowed here. We had about a week-long cold snap that culminated last Sunday with (gulp) snow in Scottsdale. I assure you that we didn't need any snowplows or shovels but there was enough to dust the ground for a while.

We're doing well. They've dug the foundation at our new house lot last week and plan to get the foundation done this week. They are predicting completion in October or November (so that probably means November or December).

Kathryn is doing well. She's to that uncomfortable point in the preganancy at which she's ready for it to be over. She's been a trooper, though; she's still going to the gym 3 times per week. She's had several women approach her there over that last couple of weeks to tell her that she's inspired them to stay active during their pregnancies.

Hudson is spending a couple of nights with Papa and Grandma at the motor home this week. Landon was pretty upset that his brother left; despite his brother bossing him around all the time, he apparently really likes to be around him.

Funny Hudson Quote of the Week:

When Rick told Hudson, "Instead of going to the motorhome with Papa and Grandma, why don't you stay here? I'd like to spend time with you this week."

Hudson: "Well, Daddy, you have to learn that you don't get everything you want in life."

Smart Hudson Quote of the Week:

Hudson asked why a motorcycle was called a motorcycle and Rick explained the "motor" part and the "cycle" part of the word. Then he asked why a car is called a car. Lacking an etymological knowledge of that word, Rick strayed into defining "automobile." To which Hudson replied:

"Then a motorcycle is also an automobile since it is self-moving also."

Guess what our boys like to eat????

Hi everyone. We're doing well. The biggest item here lately, for those that of you that don't know, has been Hudson's teeth. We found out a couple of months ago that he had some teeth come in without the enamel formed adequately. Because of that, they had worn down. He needed a root canal and two caps. As you might expect in a four-year-old, it had to be done with him sedated. He did really well and everything went fine. Kathryn things he would be a mean drunk though by the way he talked when he got home ("I don't like that hat on you; it looks bad.").

The funny thing around here has been that Hudson and Landon LOVE croakins (I'm not sure I know how to spell that). For those that aren't a part of the Gray family of origin, croakins are a tradition in our family. They are really a Swedish dish that are really called something like Cruk-Crockers. They are potato dumpling around a core of salt pork that is boiled and later can be sliced and fried. They are something of a legend in the Gray family because new members (who marry or are born in) get introduced and seem to either love them or hate them (and more seem to hate them). One prospective son-in-law even threw them up.

Well, our boys are not big eaters regardless and they neither like pork nor potatoes very much. So the last thing we expected was for them to love coakins but they do. Hudson has "forced" Grandma to make two more batches of them after the original because he likes and keeps asking for them. Below is a picture of Hudson with his plate full of croakins.



Funny Hudson Quote of the Week:

"Nothing that you'd be into."

His response to Rick asking him after church, "What did you learn in your Sunday School class today?"

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you! We're so sorry that all of you couldn't be here to share a wonderful Christmas with us. We were thankful to have Kathryn's sister, Kerry, with us as well and Grandma and Papa Gray. We had a wonderful celebration.

We spent Christmas Eve together going to Church, having dinner, and swapping stories. The boys actually went right to sleep. Christmas morning started about 7:15 a.m. (not bad!). Hudson and Landon got to see their two unwrapped presents (a battery-powered Mustang for Hudson and a Cadillac Escalade scooter for Landon) and play with them for a few minutes and then we all ate breakfast. Then we opened gifts. Hudson was of course really into it. He ripped apart the paper and couldn't wait to see what was inside. Landon was pretty overwhelmed. He didn't get into ripping wrapping paper and just wanted to play with the first toy and didn't really care about checking out anything else for quite a while. Overall, they had a ball and so did we.

The best part of the day, though, was the afternoon of Hudson driving the new Mustang in the cul-de-sac. Landon decided he'd try being his passenger and ended up loving it. Hudson taught him how to shift for him. He then discovered that at one end of the cul-de-sac if he turned quickly and hit the brakes, he could get the Mustang to skid sideways. The sight of the two of them cruising in that little car together was priceless.

In case you aren't aware, you can "click" on the photos above to view an enlarged version of the image. We love you all.

Christmas is Coming

Hello everyone. Merry Christmas to you all. The Arizona Grays are doing well.

Grandma and Papa (Gray) arrived in Arizona two weeks ago. We have enjoyed having them over as have the boys. They also traded in their old car for a Honda CR-V and Hudson went with them to the dealership to make the final deal. He was really helpful.

We're excited for Christmas. Rick will have the whole week off (sort of) and we're looking forward to spending a lot of time as a family. Kathryn's birthday is next Thursday, too.

We had a recent "snow day" in our neighborhood park. They hauled in a truckload of snow and the boys and other neighborhood kids had a blast.

We love you all and wish the blessings of CHRISTmas for you all.

Funny Hudson Quote of the Week

Hudson likes to have the whole family pretend we're other people or things. When we're the Oppers, Hudson consistently wants to be Callie. We've also been praying a lot lately for Aunt Bonnie's herniated disk and Uncle Steve's kidney stone. Hudson suggested that the family pretend to be the Oppers, and Kathryn (to tease him) said, "OK, I'll be Callie and you be Uncle Steve." To which Hudson said:

"Hey!! I don't want to have a kidney stone!!"

We're slacking on the blog!

We have really been slacking on blog updates - I can't believe it's been almost a month since we've posted here. Sorry to those who check regularly! We really do have the goal of updating the blog once per week so don't give up on us!

We're doing well. Kathryn's belly continues to grow but she's feeling well. Rick is in the middle of interview season for the new surgical residents at Mayo Clinic. It's a fun but busy time. Hudson is doing well. He is still a stickler for rules and order, as any good firstborn would be. He's become pretty sweet to his little brother instead of just trying to annoy him most of the time. Landon continues to be our little ham. He never hesitates to put food on his head or do anything that will draw the attention of the crowd.

We've been doing a lot of decision-making with our house we've contracted to build (probably part of the reason we've been lax in keeping up the blog). We've now finished the planning of all the appliances, the lighting, the flooring and counters, the cabinetry, the color schemes, and the wiring. It took us seven 2-3.5 hour appointments to get all that done, so we're happy to take a break for a while. It's been fun, excrutiating, exciting, and frustrating all at once. We're happy how the plans are coming along.

Grandma and Papa arrived in Arizona last Sunday. The boys (and us) have been really excited to have them here. They've been able to spend a few afternoons with us and we've had a great time.

We're excited for Christmas. We love you all very much and wish God's blessing for all of you in this season.

Trip to Michigan

We had a great trip to Michigan. We loved connecting with family, especially seeing Hudson and Landon with their cousins. We also had a great time connecting with old college friends of Rick's. We built a lot of great memories, and these pictures do it just partial justice:

With some Opper cousins in a leaf pile


Papa with Hudson


Papa comforting Landon

Trip to Michigan

Caleb, Callie, Hudson


Papa reading "Rainbow" to Hudson


Caleb and Landon

Caleb and Callie reading to Hudson


Grandma Hunting Squirrels


Arizonans trying our hand at snowballs


Hudson four-wheeling with Grandma

New Baby Photos

Hi everyone - well there he or she is. We had an ultrasound on Friday 10/6/06. Everything looked good. We decided to not have them show/tell us the baby's sex during the ultrasound. Everything looked good overall. I'll explain the above pictures:

The first photo is with the head at the left, facing up with the body going to the right curling up with his/her rump curling to the top right and legs coming back toward the left.


The second photo is a shot of both feet.

The third photo shows a profile with the head/face at the left and the chest on the right. The dark areas in the chest are the heart and stomach and the white sections toward the bottom are the vertebrae.

The final photo is a close-up profile of his/her face.

We are blessed an thankful that everything looked good with the baby. The only finding of note was an intracardiac echogenic focus (click to follow link to more information). This is a "white spot" on the ultrasound in the heart. In the absence of other ultrasound findings in a woman over 35 (as is our case) what it means is that the risk of the baby having Down's syndrome is 0.5-1% instead of 0.25-0.5% without this finding. It's actually a not terribly unusual finding on an ultrasound in the second trimester. We are simply praising God and trusting Him in every way for this baby.

Thank you all for your prayers. We love you.

Expensive Baby

Hi everyone. We're doing well. Well, the big news is that this third baby on the way is already the most expensive one by far - because we're moving. Yep, we've decided to get a place with more bedrooms. Actually there are several reasons for us to move but this baby is certainly a prominent one. Kathryn is doing well. We go in for an ultrasound tomorrow.

We're going to be building so we won't be moving for about 15 months. We're just moving about 8 miles north. We're pretty excited. We have a lot of items to pick out and decide on in the next couple of months.

We're flying to Michigan on October 23rd. The whole family is excited about that, too.

Hope you like the new pictures.

Happy Birthday Hudson

Well, we have a four year-old in the house. We had a fun day of celebration. Hudson had really been looking forward to it. Showing remarkable confidence in her son's restraint, Kathryn stored the wrapped gifts sent via mail as well as the gifts from us at floor level in Hudson's room for several days leading up to the 16th.

We let him choose two gifts to open on his birthday morning (before the planned party at dinner time.) He played all day with those two gifts. Sometimes I think two gifts are enough for any child, but it didn't stop there.

We had a party at Peter Piper Pizza. D.D. and Ducky, Aunt Kerry and the three of us all got together for Pizza, Games, Cake, and presents. It was a blast. Hudson loved all of his gifts as you can see in the pictures. Although his parents bought him a musical instrument set: a drum, drumsticks, a tambourine, maroccas, and a harmonica, no one else is allowed to give him noisy gifts in the future! :)

We wish you all could have been here and so does Hudson.

Monsoons are here

Hi everyone. We're doing well. It's monsoon season here - for those that don't know about the Sonoran desert, summer is when we get some humidity and we get some rain. We've had a lot of good rains this summer so that's great for the AZ water supply.

We had a recent bout of brief sickness in our house (again). Landon developed a fever for a couple of days without much else for symptoms (except feeling punky). A few days later, it hit Hudson, but for him it was only about 36 hours and then it hit Rick and Kathryn, each also for about 36 hours. We are grateful to be done with it and that it was brief. Kathryn is otherwise doing pretty well with the pregnancy.

We wish you all could see how the boys are growing and changing. Hudson is still all boy - into cars and trucks and wants to be a garbageman when he grows up. Despite that, he still likes to play a game during which we all pretend to be other people. He almost invariable chooses to be one of his female cousins or a female character of some type. Understandably this practice over time began to concern Rick who finally asked Hudson, "Why do you usually want to be a girl?" To which Hudson replied, "Because I like girls." (Still not much help).

"Why do you like girls?"

"Because I'm a boy and boys like girls." [whew! We think:)]

Landon is our version of a "strong-willed child." Not in the usual sense: He is consistently obedient and compliant. But the child wants to do things himself and usually refuses help. Having trouble getting a bite of food on the fork? If we help him stab it with the fork, he will take the bite off the fork and start over - by himself, thank you very much!

Hudson continues to have a very sensitive spirit. When we picked him up at his Sunday School class a couple of weeks ago, they had a stack of what we thought were CD's. They were labeled with an ad for an upcoming animated movie about the donkey (colt) Christ rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Thinking it was an audio CD, we took one and told him we'd listen to the songs, but it turned out to be a DVD. With all the build-up, Rick decided to show him the DVD which at this point he believed to be a short trailer for the movie. But when he put it in, it turned out to be a 15 minute movie! And we started at bed-time. Hudson was fascinated and it seemed to be a cute story so Rick left him watching it while Rick went to change Landon into his pajamas. While changing Landon, Rick heard Hudson walk into the room and turned to see him with a face soaked with tears saying, "No one is helping him. They threw him down the well and no one is helping him."

Rick ran back with him to the movie. It turns out the story of the Colt loosely follows Joseph's life at first: mean brothers who tease him and eventually throw him into a water well to get rid of him. What a boo-boo to leave him alone watching his very first DVD movie - even if it was tacitly endorsed by the church! Rick sat and watched the rest: the rescue from the well, the disciples coming to choose him, and the triumphal entry. But boy was Hudson ripped up for a while while that little donkey was in the well singing his sad song! Lesson learned.

Funny Hudson Quote:

During the Saturday breakfast ritual of going through the car ads in the newspaper, Kathryn was asking Hudson what cars were shown. Upon turning one page, though, several Motorhomes were being advertised. Kathryn asked him if he knew what kind of Motorhomes they were.

"No, I don't know many kinds of motorhomes...except that Papa and Grandma's is a Residency."

Impressed that he could remember their Motorhome model, Kathryn tried to jog him memory for another by asking, "What kind of motorhome does Mr. Mike and Miss Sally [friends of Papa and Grandma] have?"

To which she was quickly corrected, "No, they don't have a motorhome; it's a park model."