Sweet, sweet boys.

We were watching AFV today as a family and my sweet Hayden was so cute.  He has this gift for being sympathetic toward someone in physical pain.  As Allen and I were cracking up over people flipping over their bikes and falling off trampolines, Hayden was straight-faced.  He loved the animal and baby ones but didn't laugh at all when people got hurt.  At one point they showed a girl hysterical that she was about to get a shot, and I looked over and Hayden had tears in his eyes.  What a sweet, sweet boy!  He has really developed a love for reading lately.  Right now he is reading "The Mouse and the Motorcycle," which he got for Christmas this year.  The other night he said to me, "Mom, I really like video games, but I'm starting to like reading even more than video games."

Torrin is also very sympathetic, but different in that he is very aware of people's feelings.  He is usually the first one to give me a hug when I'm emotional or having a rough day.  Or when I'm (fake) whining that I "never get kisses from (Grayson) anymore" he will come up and give me a hug and kiss.  Torrin is our scrappy man.  He is a tough little guy.  Today he was jumping on Hayden and wrestling him down.  Hayden was laughing as Torrin pounced him over and over again, but he's not one for wrestling.

Grayson is WIDE awake tonight and really wants to play.  (I guess that's what happens when you get a nap at 4:30 p.m.)  He keeps toddling away as fast as he can and laughing--taunting us to "come and get me."  I love my sweet boys!

A little over 2 months until Allen graduates!!!  It's going to be a busy two months, and especially stressful for Allen as he finishes up his Masters project.  I can't wait until we're DONE with school--and hopefully for a looooong time.

Warning. Negative post.

I might have been crazy for wanting 4 kids.  I'm almost 10 weeks pregnant and this pregnancy is hard.  I can't stand to go in the kitchen, which makes it difficult to feed my family and means my kitchen is always a mess.  My boys are living on cold cereal and PB&J (So where are all the dishes coming from!!?).  Allen is grilling big batches of chicken to take to work, which makes me sick to even think about.  And I am EXHAUSTED!  It probably doesn't help that I have 3 busy boys.  Grayson is the worst offender.  He is into EVERYTHING and I literally can't sit still for a minute b/c in a few seconds he's moved on to something else.  Even as I type this, I can hear him getting into the lazy susan, which holds all my baking stuff.  Yes, cocoa powder all over this morning! (My fault for not fully baby proofing.  But is it really worth it for the 3-6 months we'll be living here?).  MY.HOUSE.IS.A.DISASTER. and it's driving me crazy, but I don't have the energy to do anything about it, and I don't have a husband with the time to help more than once or twice a week.  Stupid grad school--when he's home he's not really "home" and when he's gone he's gone ALL.DAY.LONG.  Hayden and Torrin are now entertaining themselves in the bath, which means a tidal wave of mess in the bathroom, and guess who gets to clean THAT up.  Please, let me get some energy back once I get to the second trimester.

Sorry for complaining.  I don't think it'll matter anyway since I don't think anyone reads my blog.  I just needed an outlet.

The story behind Gray.

Allen and I were talking tonight about the name Gray and what it means to us.  I wanted to write this down while it's fresh in my mind, and before I forget the details.  We decided on the name Grayson because Gray is a family name (and should technically be our last name).

Allen's grandpa, Clair Wilcox, was born as Clifford Gray to Harlan & Amy Gray (Jones).  Shortly after he was born, his mother passed away.  When he was 4 years old, his father remarried and his new wife convinced him to give up Clifford (Clair) and his two older sisters to an orphanage.  This was a very traumatic time for Clifford, as you can imagine.  This orphanage split up the boys and the girls, so Clifford was separated from his sisters.  Later, he had memories of being in the yard and holding hands with his sisters through the chain-link fence, crying.  Shortly after, Clifford was adopted the by the Wilcox family.  William Wilcox had no sons and wanted a son, so he adopted Clifford and renamed him Clair Wilcox.  One of his older sisters was also adopted by another family.

I don't know HOW anyone can convince you to give up your own kids! :(  Harlan & Amy were very much in love, and I'm sure it broke him when Amy passed away.  I imagine he had a lot of emotional issues at the time, and was unwell. The Wilcoxes were good to Clifford/Clair and loved him and treated him like a son.

Shortly after I married Allen his family contemplated changing their/our name back to Gray.  Obviously, we didn't, but we wanted to honor the name Gray by naming our son Grayson.

"Little" Gray.

Is getting so big!  I can't believe how many milestones he has hit in the past 2 months!  At about 6 months he learned to sit up, crawl, and pull himself up on furniture (or whatever he could reach).  Between 7 and 8 months he has learned to stand without support (for up to 7 seconds), clap, dance, wave, and sign "milk".  He got his first two teeth (bottom middle), and it I swear he has said a couple of words--"yuck" and "yeah."  But they could have just been perfectly timed, random noises.  :)  WHY does he have to grow so fast? :(  He will be 8 months old tomorrow.

Torrin

We had Torrin's speech evaluated (again) with the school district, and he passed.  They said he is using all the sounds they want him to be using by 4 years.  The problem is, we can only understand what he's saying about 70% of the time.  A few weeks ago it just dawned on me that the problem is his tonsils.  They are huge, and even when he says everything correctly, it still sounds like he has marbles in his mouth.  The ENT doctor agreed, and he will have them removed on Thursday.  I'm so nervous, but hoping that this is the "fix" we need to be able to understand him better.

First "Book Report"

Since Hayden can already read well, his teacher, Mrs. Hinckley, gave him a special reading journal to take home.  I think this is great since he needs more practice writing and drawing.  I'm amazed how how far he has come since starting school 3 weeks ago.  It used to be that he wouldn't even TRY to draw something.  (Because he always wanted it to be perfect and would freak out if it wasn't).  Now he is able to draw and write!

He finished his first his first "book report" today and is learning to sound out the words and write what he hears.  (Mom is learning a good lesson in patience with this.  The English language is difficult!  ay/eigh/ai? ow/ou?  ee/ea?  It's all very confusing.)  Anyway, here is a picture of his "book report".  

In case you can't read it:  "Custrd Supris is ubwot tuw chkns whth a restront.  The goat ate the menu.  The fox trid to eyt the chkn.  The animls dmpd custrd supris on him."
  
Translated:  "Custard Surprise is about two chickens with a restaurant.  The goat ate the menu. The fox tried to eat the chicken.  The animals dumped custard surprise on him." 

And here is a picture of the fox with custard surprise all over his head.  Isn't he cute?  

I love that Hayden loves to read.  He is going through chapter books like crazy.  (Pretty sure he can finish a book faster than I can!).  He is reading the Lucy books right now.  There are only 4 books in the series-- "Absolutely Lucy," "Lucy on the Loose," "Look at Lucy," and "Lucy on the Ball."  He is reading the 3rd book now.  The first book is about a shy boy who gets a puppy for his birthday (Lucy), and she helps him make friends.  I think we need a Lucy around here for our "shy" Kindergartner.  :)  

I had to add this picture he drew for me in the doctor's office.  It says, "Hayden loves Mom."  :)  

Kindergarten!

Hayden:  Gosh, I love this kid.  Yes, he causes me a ton of stress, and I wish he didn't "have" to do everything in his power to annoy his little brother; BUT I sure am proud of him.  He started Kindergarten a few weeks ago and he LOVES it.  He is still struggling a little with making friends.  He is afraid to talk to the other kids. :( This is something new within the last year or so, and I'm hoping that it changes as he gets to know the kids in his class  (Though, I somehow doubt it because he still has a tough time talking to the kids in his primary class, and he's known them for 2 years).  


This week his teacher said this to me about Hayden in an email:  "Thanks for all you do for him.  I can tell that he has someone working with him at home.  He's a great kid!  He's always so respectful and polite."  Aww.  That made me feel really good.  I know I can't take all the credit, though.  For one, he is VERY smart and has an excellent memory.  I haven't had to "work" much at all.  I have seen him with other adults in situations outside of home, and he really IS very well-behaved.  He's not terrible at home, but I wish he was as quick to listen to me as he is other adults.  I think part of that is that he is a little shy, but he also has a strong desire to please.  It makes me feel good that I don't have to really worry about him getting into trouble (yet).  It's kind of scary to send him "out" into the world, but it's nice to get little reassurances that he's doing ok (and not causing too much stress for someone else).