Our First Christmas as a Family of Three!!

I LOVE Christmas Time. I love everything about it, the lights, the trees, the love, the parties, the special time that I get to think of the Savior and His life and all that he did so that I could be here today living my life! I LOVE Christmas!

This year, Micah and I were able to watch Emily experience the joys of Christmas for the first time and it was wonderful! She is such a beautiful ball of joy and excitement and it was so great, to watch her eyes light up when we read stories about Jesus or looked at our little nativity. As well as play with more toys than she has ever seen in her life! She loved ALL the aspects of Christmas! The only thing she is still not quite excited about yet, is unwrapping gifts! But once we would unwrap something for her she was very excited to explore and play with it, didn't matter if it was a toy, a book or even an outfit! She loved them all!

We decided that this Christmas Season we would spend Christmas Eve traveling to different family members to spend some time together and then on Christmas Day we would spend the day at home, just our little family of 3....almost 4! So that is exactly what we did, and we were so thankful and blessed that the weather cooperated and allowed us to follow through with our plans!

As is tradition, we headed to Mommers and Dooders house for Christmas Eve Lunch at High Noon!! Getting together with all of my brothers and sisters there is always a good time! Especially now that the little kiddos are coming into the picture! Mommers and Dooders cooked a delicious Christmas Eve Lunch and we had lots of time and plenty of room to relax, talk and watch Emily and Eliza play!

Here are a few pictures that we took while we were over having our Christmas Eve Lunch!!

Emily and her cousin, Eliza, spending some time playing on the floor together....but as you can see Emily is about ready to make her move!

We had to let Emily open one present while we were visiting! She hasn't really been into presents very much yet, although she does prefer the presents that are in bags as opposed to the ones wrapped in boxes!!


Emily and Eliza tearing into their matching presents together!!


Here is Emily's Little Cousin, Colton, celebrating his first Christmas in his bouncy seat!! He is only 3 and a half months old, but he is cute as a button! And we loved his little shirt, it said, " Santa is My Homeboy!". He is definitely 100% boy, that is for sure!

Eliza is getting some help from her Mommy to take one of her presents out of its box!!

Just before we left we snapped a quick picture of Danielle and I and our babies.....of course, we switched them for this picture:)

We also made a stop by Mema's on Christmas Eve. We couldn't let the day go by without her getting to see Emily and spend some time with her. She loves our little girl! And Emily loves her Mema too! She is so fortunate to have a Great Grandma around who enjoys spending time with her!

A Family Shot in front of Mema's Christmas Tree! I love the little look on Emily's face, she is planning her next move already!

Mommy with her Precious Little Princess!

Emily sitting on Mema's lap. Notice her pointer finger, this is her new pose! She still sucks her thumb, but now she sucks her pointer finger too!

Emily also loves to play with Mema's cat, Snoopy, although Snoopy is not always a big fan of

the way Emily plays!! We are trying to teach her to be "gentle and soft" to both people AND animals! And sometimes it works!

Emily also got to spend a few minutes with her Great Aunt Sweetie on Christmas Eve too! We don't get to see her too often, but it is always fun when we do!

Our last stop on Christmas Eve was my Dad and Jeannie's house! They always like to have us over to spend some time during the holidays. And this year was especially exciting because they got to spend Christmas with Emily too! They have us over for dinner on a weekly basis and we really enjoy spending time with them! And every loves seeing her Pop, Grandma Jeannie, Aunt Jessie and Cousin Avery so often too!

Here are a few pictures of our time at their house on Christmas Eve! As you can see, Avery LOVES her roll as "the big cousin"! She had a great time showing Emily just how to open a Christmas gift, and she is so caring and gentle and loves to give her "Emmy" kisses and hugs!

Pop and Grandma Jeannie gave both Emily and Haley matching "Jesus Loves Me" blankets! As you can see Emily is already very fond of hers!

Here I am with my beautiful sister, Jessie, as we pose with our serving trays that Jeannie made for us! What a great and personalized gift!! Ours is displayed on our stove all ready for serving!

Group Shot of everyone at Dad and Jeannie's house! From Left to Right (Jessie, Avery, Nanny, Micah, Jeannie, Dad, Me and Emily). Micah is a great photographer, he is a pro at the self-timer too!

And then came Christmas Day.......I thought I would add this picture of me from last Christmas morning, which was only 4 days before Emily joined our family! And as you can see she was VERY MUCH present!!

Here she is this year all dressed in her Santa sweat suit! And she is squatting here, and playing with her FAVORITE Christmas Gift, a keyboard!! She gets so frustrated when Micah and I are on the computer and we won't let her touch the keyboard, so...thanks to Mommers and the American Red Cross (where she works) we were able to pick up an old keyboard, clean it up and give it to Emily!! And as you can see, she LOVED it!

But she also LOVES books, so she had to take a break from typing her letter, to read her newest book!

I just thought this was a funny expression!! What a little Ham!!

Emily LOVES her Daddy! And here they are laughing together on Christmas Morning!

Here's My Handsome Micah amidst all of the Christmas Morning Festivities!!

Emily is checking out her new Ragedy Ann doll that she got from her Great Aunt Jean! Man, I LOVE this girl's expressions!

Nothing like a back scratch to help Daddy relax while he was opening his gifts!! And Emily was just the person to give it to him!

Another thing Emily LOVES to do is to "read" and so she really enjoyed this card that came from her Great Aunt Gail!

We took a break from opening our Christmas presents to visit with my Josh, Ellie, Emma and Luke.....my oldest brother and his family....it was nice of them to stop by for a visit on their way to Charlottesville to visit the rest of the family!

Here's Emily with Emma and Luke....two of her Blue-Eyed Cousins!! (Didn't realize until now that Emily didn't get a picture with her Uncle Josh and Aunt Ellie, next time!)

After they left and we got back to opening presents.Emily was rejuvenated and was actually excited to open a box! Even though it didn't last long, it was fun to watch her tear into the paper for a few seconds!! Next year I am sure she will be all over those gifts!!

After all of our gifts had been opened we got the chance to snap a Christmas Day Family Photo in front of our Christmas Tree!

Me with my Best Christmas Gifts.....Emily and Haley (who is still inside my tummy!),and of

course, my dear sweet Micah who is the photographer for this one!

Daddy was excited to celebrate Christmas with his little Sweet "P" this year too!

Emily sitting down to inspect one of her new Christmas Gifts!! I love these little serious faces she makes!

Micah and I snapped a picture of the two of us, although Haley was also very present too, while Emily was taking her Christmas Day Nap!

Another one of our Gray Family Traditions that we started 2 years ago....eventhough we decided to take a break from last year, since Emily was almost here and we thought it would be less work to head to town to eat with family instead of making our own dinner.....Micah and I make a yummy Christmas Dinner and we eat together, just our own little family! It is so nice to be able to spend Christmas Day all snuggled in our home together! I am so glad we started this tradition!!

Here's Emily Enjoying Her First Christmas Day Dinner! As you can see, it didn't take her long to fall in love with this tradition either!!

The day after Christmas we headed out around 8:15am, it was supposed to be 7:30am but Micah has a little run in with our icy driveway and our car and turning around, so it pushed our departure time back by 45 minutes or so. But nonetheless we headed out and we were NOVA bound, with just one small stop at Target in Gainesville, VA to pick up some discounted Christmas Cards for next year and Emily's birthday present!

When we got to NOVA we headed straight to Nathan and Sarah's house where they were having a Family Christmas Brunch! As always, it was a fun and memorable time there! It was nice that we were all able to be together! It was a nice treat that Mummis was able to fly Micah's sister, Rachel, home from California for Christmas too and Matt, Ruth's husband, was unexpectedly off for the weekend and was able to come too! So it was nice to have EVERYONE together! We had a lot of fun talking, eating, opening gifts and picture taking!!

Our Sister in Law, Sarah, is learning about photography and enjoys any opportunity she gets to practice her skills! So here are a few shots from our Family Photo Shoot that morning!

Emily was not so sure about doing a shoot by herself! But she is beautifully debuting her new dress that she got from Mummis!!

Our Little Family...after a crazy morning of ice, traveling, shopping and playing!

Here are all of the Gray Cousins together!!

Here we are! ALL together!! Sarah (and Jacob) did a great job co-ordinating and making this picture happen!!

Our Little Princess in her beautiful new dress! Doesn't she just look like an angel?

Emily hanging out with her little cousin, Priscilla!

Emily: "Stick with me kid, and I will teach you all you need to know"

Priscilla: "Sounds good to me!"

Emily learning to be gentle with Priscilla. Since she is new at it, you can see that Priscilla is keeping a pretty close eye on her!

Emily spending a moment with her Uncle Jacob while Mommy and Daddy were getting ready for some more pictures!

One last cousin shot....probably the last one, before Haley joins the family!! I just though these expressions were so cute!! Emily loves having so many cousins and we are so blessed to live pretty close to all of them right now!

On our way back to Mummis's house after the breakfast, we were able to stop and visit with our friend Raman Dadoo! They are always so nice to welcome us into our home! We all had a really nice time visiting together!!

Here is Raman with Emily and his neice, Minishka!!

Here we are all together with Raman! He is such a great friend, we are so grateful to know him and have him in our lives! Can't wait to introduce Haley to Raman and his family in a few months too!

Our last Christmas visit was to see our dear friends, The Murchisons! We love going to visit with them, they are always such great hosts and make us feel so welcome and loved! They were also especially excited to get to see little Miss Emily again!

Here is Emily and I with Norma! What a wonderful pseudo-grandma she is for Emily!

Emily posing with the Murchison Crew....Eric (back left), Wyatt (back right) and Norma holding Emily!! We sure love this family!

Norma enjoyed holding Emily on her lap as she showed her the Christmas Gifts that they had gotten for her. As you can see, Emily and her reindeer became fast friends! I believe it was Love at First Sight!

Emily was also fascinated with the birds in their bird cage at the Murchisons!!! She could not take her eyes off of them for more than a minute the whole time we were there!

After a nice Christmas visit and some yummy snacks at the Murchisons we headed straight to the Washington DC Temple Visitor's Center to see the Christmas Lights and the nativity scenes! We were excited to run into Nathan and their family their just before we started out....we were coming and they were going!!

Sarah snapped a quick picture of us before they headed out....we were only missing Priscilla who was snoozing away in her stroller by this point of their trip!

This was our favorite Christmas Tree that they had on display this year!!

Emily and I outside near the nativity scene. We thought she might like to sit on the camel, but by the look on her face you can see she was not quite so sure!

I know this post was quite lengthy, but we wanted to make sure to include a little tidbit from each of the special memories that we made over this Christmas Time! Christmas is a time to draw near to those who mean the most to you, and also a time to reflect on our Savior Jesus Christ, to ponder His glorious but humble birth and what that one seemingly small miracle has allowed each of us to be today! I am grateful for a Savior who loves each one of us and knows each one of us personally and I am thankful for the tender mercies that I am blessed with in my life that help to remind me of who I am and where I came from, why I am on this Earth at this time and where I am going. Life is Good, I hope each of you were able to reflect upon some of the tender mercies in your lives that our Heavenly Father and our Elder brother Jesus Christ has blessed you with over this Christmas Season! Happy 2010 from our family to yours!

Day 2 of the Blizzard of 2009!

Well it is Sunday afternoon and Micah, Emily and I are still at home and doing the best we can trying to dig out from this historic Blizzard of 2009! We didn't do much shoveling yesterday since it snowed ALL DAY! We figured there wasn't much of a point, since our efforts would literally be "snowed over". So Micah got up this morning and once the sun was shining went out and started shoveling!

Of course since it is still SO COLD, he has had to take many breaks. One of our cars is free....meaning we can get inside of it, but it is nowhere close to making it down our driveway. He is working very hard though, and plans to continue shoveling all day tomorrow if he has to until he can get down the driveway and off to work. As of right now we haven't seen a plow truck on our street, and no one has been driving it today. Although one of our neighbors recently left on foot ~ in attempt to walk to Sheetz ~ he hasn't returned so hopefully his journey is a safe one and we will see him later this afternoon!

But for now, Emily is still napping, I am getting ready to fix some Chicken and Dumplings for dinner and Micah is gone to return a shovel to one of our neighbors. Here are a few more pics that we took today!

Here's a silhouette of Emily peering at the snow out the window!

We wanted to take Emily out to stand in the trench Daddy shoveled!! The snow is about 2 feet deep here in Ruckersville!

She's not really sure what to think of all the white snow that is surrounding her!

Just appeasing us, as we stood her up amidst the snow to snap a picture....you know one day this will be a memory she will be happy to have recorded!

Emily's favorite new spot to play.....in her cupboard!

Checking out all the cool things inside her new play area....just to make sure she approves!! Love the expression on her face!

Just realizing that we have the camera out!

Blizzard of 2009!

This weekend has definitely turned out a lot differently than we thought it would. Originally Micah and I had planned to go away on Friday to Staunton, VA to spend the night at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel in celebration of our 4th Anniversary. But as the weather forecast began to pour in on Friday morning and after many calls from concerned parents we decided to postpone our getaway for a month and stay home!

And this is definitely one of those instances where we were glad we did! It started snowing here on Friday afternoon around 4pm and now it is 3pm on Saturday and the snow is STILL coming down in Ruckersville - we have close to 2 feet of snow already!! Hence the name of this post, Blizzard of 2009!

Last night we left Mommers and Dooders around 4pm and then went to Kroger for a little while to kill some time, we were waiting to go to Micah's work Christmas Party at 5:30. But when we got back in our snow-covered car and started heading to the party with ALL THE TRAFFIC I started to get pretty nervous, and together we decided to just head home. And it is a good thing we did. Because even though we started heading for home around 6pm...after a stop at Kmart to pick me up some snow boots....we didn't get into our driveway until 9PM!! Traffic was CRAZY!! We didn't see any accidents but everyone was creeping along. It was an interesting trip home! We made one pit stop at a gas station across from Sam's to change Emily's diaper and get her out of her car seat for a while and then we were back on the road for another 2 hours!

We started to get nervous as we got closer to home and the snow was coming down harder and harder so we said a prayer and put our trust in Heavenly Father that he would help us get home safely! We thought for sure once we got to our house that we wouldn't be able to make it up our driveway, but Micah backed up and got a good head start and our car took us right up the hill! And we have been nestled in our home ever since, with the exception of getting out for a little while this morning to take some fun pictures!

That was our last 24 hours in a nutshell and the fun continues as the snow continues to fall! We are just getting ready to make some yummy cookies and we have chili in the crock pot for dinner! Hope everyone is having a good weekend and staying safe!!

The View from our Front Door

Our Porch Chairs with snow to rest your arms and feet in.

Emily and I were excited to be outside in the blizzard!!

We couldn't just stay up on the porch!! We had to venture down the steps...once Micah made us a path!

Family Shot in the Snow!

Emily standing in the snow....she wasn't actually reaching the ground in this picture...but if she were we wouldn't have seen her head!

Another Priceless Shot of our Princess!

Emily Eating Snow for the Very First Time!!

Daddy outside "sweeping" the snow off the porch for us!

Our Cars....Caked with Snow!

In from the cold....Emily snuggling with her bear, in her precious new hat!

Another Cute View of our Princess in her New Hat!

Love this one! Getting close to nap time!

A Night of Christmas Entertainment at Michie Tavern!

Last night we were invited to attend the Christmas Dinner that they have at the Michie Tavern, near Monticello, each year. It was the first time we had heard of it, hence the first time we had gone. I will have to say, it was definitely a night to remember! There was entertainment, food, shopping and lots of great company! But the best part for me, as a Mommy, was to see what a GREAT time Emily was having! She thoroughly enjoyed her time there. She was enthralled with all the people, the Christmas Cheer, the Singing....the guys in "period" attire were very mesmerizing for her! She enjoyed watching the entertainers play their violins. And it was so great to be able to sit back and take this small moment in time all in.

Another great thing, was to be able to spend some extra time with Jacob and Tiffany. We don't get to see them too often, so it was nice to get to visit and talk with them a little more than usual. However, since things were so busy we weren't able to snap any photos of all of us together, but we did the best we could with what we had!

Our evening was exciting and very memorable and now for a few pictures to highlight those memories......

Me, Dooders, Emily and Mommers inside Michie Tavern when we first arrived!

Had to get Micah for a photo too! Jacob and Tiffany had already gone outside to stand in the dinner line at this point or else it would have been the perfect time to grab them too!

Here's Emily all ready for dinner! As you can see she is very "Serious" about her food!

But before eating she must warn everyone that the candles that are burning on the table are "Hot!" I love how she looks out for our safety at such a young age!

We forgot her sippy cup, so she had her own goblet for the night! And as you can see, she thoroughly enjoyed it!

Intently listening to Mommers and Dooders conversation!

While she was waiting for "dessert" she went down to the other end of the table to spend some time socializing! Her and Uncle Jacob had a nice talk!

As you can see they are both deep in their conversation...so deep that they are both using their hands to communicate the messages that they are trying to get across!

Taking time out for a Kodak Moment!

Here we are at one end of the table!

Everyone else at the other end of the table!! As you can tell Emily is wondering who Uncle Jacob is talking to on his cell phone while a picture is being taken!

Our Little Bookworm!

One thing Emily has LOVED since she was born is to be read too! She could listen all day long, I think. Since we are preparing our house for some minor painting and new carpet in a couple of rooms we have moved a few things around. And one of the things we did was to put the Papasan in Emily's room until our carpet comes. Since we have done that she absolutely LOVES to cuddle up in the papasan while I read to her. She gets all comfy sucks her thumb and just listens to story after story. It is definitely a fun time for me too. I will take any opportunity to snuggle with my princess!!

Today before her nap, we went into her room and sat on the floor by her bookcase and she went over, pulled out a few books, and sat down to look through them! She was too cute for me not to grab the camera! She is so fun to watch and to play with!! I can't believe what a big girl she is becoming!!

Here are a few pictures of our little bookworm........

The Look of Contentment!

Looking through one of her favorites!!

Next she had to read it!!

And then move with it to a new location...just to make sure it was still the same, not too mention just as comfy of a place for reading!!

She was tired after all that reading!! It can really wear a little girl out, ya know?

Here's a little video of her reading!! I thought it was so precious!! I sure love my little princess! She amazes me more and more with every new day!

A Winter Wonderland in Ruckersville!

Saturday was our First Big Snow of the Season! And for us it was one of those "perfect" days. You know the kind where you have nothing actually planned and your whole family can just stay home together! And what made it even better was that it was a December Saturday! December Saturdays at our house imply Christmas Saturdays! Saturdays where we think, plan, play and sing about Christmas!! So we were able to do just that!!

We woke up, had a yummy breakfast of French Toast and Sausage that Micah prepared for us....Emily had oatmeal and Bananas that Daddy made special for her, which she LOVED....then we got all dressed and went out into our Winter Wonderland to take a nice LONG walk. We were participating in a service project, but I can't say any more than that right now! But it was a walk to remember, that was for sure!!

When we got back inside, we were all SOAKED and COLD! So we changed clothes and Micah and I had some hot chocolate and Emily had some warm milk, so everyone got a much needed rejuvenation and we were back at it again!

Here are a few pictures we snapped before taking off on our walking adventure, as you can see it was snowing and it continued to snow!! This was Emily's 2nd snow, her first was in January just a few weeks after she was born. At that time, we just brought her out long enough to snap a picture and then we hurried her back inside! This time she definitely got more of a feel for the snow!

Here I am with my little princess. She was snug as a bug and ready for a ride in her stroller amidst the white snow!

Here she is with Daddy, so curious about all of this white stuff falling down around her!

After our walk, and after we came in and warmed up and dried off it was time to decorate our Christmas Tree. We got our tree from the Boy Scouts this past Tuesday, but we had a few issues with it falling over, so Micah had to fix a few things and we waited until Saturday to make sure it was finished falling over! But here is Micah and you can see how excited he is to be strung with lights and ready to put them on the tree! He is such a good husband!!

Ahh! The finishing touch, putting the star on top of the tree! Always a favorite part for me!

Here we are in front of our newly decorated tree! Decorations really personalize a tree and make it a part of your family instead of some tree that you brought inside for a couple of weeks!

After our tree decorating Daddy had to take care of a few other things and so Emily and I came in the kitchen to have a snack and take a few pictures with Santa Hats!! You can see Emily tried to pull hers off as fast as I put it on!

Once I got in the picture with her she stopped trying to figure out how to pull her hat off and started wondering just how crazy her Mommy really is. First taking pictures of her in her Santa Hat and now taking pictures of both of us in our Santa Hats!!

For dinner we all decided to have Hamburgers on the George Foreman Grill! It was Emily's first time having a hamburger and she seemed to enjoy it! (Note: this picture was taken after we had barely started cooking the burgers...we don't actually eat them PINK!!)

Saturday night before Emily's bed time, we decided to pull out a Christmas Cartoon to watch as a family. Emily lasted for about 3 minutes, about long enough for me to snap this picture, and she was done! She was ready to crawl around and explore. She is not much of a tv watcher yet, which I definitely count as a good thing! Although she was definitely excited about it when it came on!

That was our Saturday in a nut shell. It was laid back and full of Christmas Joy and Excitement, but the best part for me is that we all got to spend it together! May this Christmas Season bring many opportunities for you and your family to just BE together! It's all about the simple pleasures in life and these are some of ours!

And Last But Certainly not least, here is a pictures of our Beautifully decorated Christmas Tree! Another one of my favorite Christmas Joys!

Here's a video that we snapped of Emily pushing her box around the kitchen floor. Another one of her new favorite pass times!!

Emily Meets Santa!

Last night Barracks Road hosted a little celebration to get people more into the Holidays. We heard about it on Z95 a few days ago and decided to go. It was a cold and blustery night last night, but it still made for a good time.

After we went to my OB appointment, Haley is looking great and measuring well by the way, we went to Mommers and Dooders' house for a quick dinner and then we all headed to Barracks Road. We had no idea that the line for Santa would be so short, but since it was we decided to give Emily an opportunity to meet him, an opportunity that I think she would have gladly passed up, by the way:)

She was impressed with his beard for about a second and touched his face and then she realized he was different and a little more strange than she was used to and started to cry! But luckily in that 30 second time period we were able to snap a picture and take a very short video clip! Enjoy being a part of Emily's first experience with Santa!!

Here they are together, just as Emily starts to realize that we are farther away than she would like!

She enjoyed the blow up Christmas Decorations near Kroger....which was FAR AWAY from Santa, much better!

Here's Emily and Santa!! I am glad Santa was a good sport about it, he even offered us a candy cane!!