Our First Week With Haley Elizabeth!

Our sweet Haley has been with us for 8 Whole Days now! And Micah and I can hardly imagine our family without her! And Emily definitely agrees with that (even though she can't verbalize it yet). She has been a great BIG SISTER so far! She always wants to know where Haley is and what she is doing and is so eager to give her hugs and kisses! It melts Micah and I's hearts every time we see them together!

We are fortunate to have Micah off work with us until this coming Tuesday. He was able to save up enough vacation to take off for TWO WHOLE WEEKS! And it has been GREAT having him here as we all adjust to being a family of four! Plus it has enabled us to travel around town a little bit too, especially since I am not able to drive until this coming Tuesday, since having my c-section.

We have had several fun times together as a family since Haley has arrived and we just wanted to make sure that we recorded a few of them! We have been able to take a few walks, visit Belvedere (our future neighborhood), go grocery shopping, learn new skills that Emily has acquired (climbing up on our step ladder), capture some "classic" Haley moments, sleep in, enjoy many meals from several sisters from church. We have indeed been extremely blessed with friends and family to watch out for us and make sure that we are taken care of during our adjustment period!

Now for a few pictures that capture some of the highlights of our first week together as a Family of Four..................

Our Sneaky Little "Sweet P" getting a little higher up, so that she can enjoy a different view on the world!

A crazy shot of Haley, as you can tell she is NOT a fan of getting dressed quite yet:)


As most of you know who have had newborns....one of the things they LOVE to do is SLEEP! And our little "Honeybee" is no exception! That is what makes this picture so priceless! We get to admire her beautiful eyes!

We have taken several walks over the past week, but this was a picture of 3 of my favorite people all ready for our first walk together as a Family on Saturday March 13th! It was a little brisk out, but it was nice to get out and get some fresh air for everyone!

Here's how Haley spent her first walk in our neighborhood!

I love this picture of Micah and Emily! Emily REALLY loved sitting in the front of our double stroller! She is such a Big Girl now!

This was another funny moment! Micah had made some protein shakes for us one morning for breakfast and we decided to share some with Emily and as you can see she is no stranger to her cup! She enjoyed the shake so much that she didn't take the cup away from her mouth for about 5 minutes straight! She just slurped and slurped until the whole thing was GONE!

Time for another walk. This time we went to Belvedere, our future neighborhood! We have been so blessed with Great Spring weather this week! We love going on family walks! It was a little windy yesterday, so we had to double bundle Emily....that is why she is wearing Daddy's sweatshirt!

A full body shot of Emily in Daddy's sweatshirt! It was so big on her she didn't really know how to maneuver with it on! What a cutie!

Here we are, our first family photo in front of our lot, our future home!! We are getting very excited about all the possibilities!!

Emily is such a little ham! We heard her over in the corner and when we came to look this is what we saw!! I think she is ready for another walk!

Emily has also gotten really good at some "Yoga Moves" lately and this is one of her favorites!

When Haley was down for one of her many naps, Emily and I grabbed the monitor and went outside for a walk around the yard while Daddy was cutting the grass! She really enjoyed exploring in the back yard!

Haley, being only one week old, can sleep almost anywhere doing almost anything! Here she is resting peacefully on Daddy's hand!

What a precious little face! I love the moments when her eyes are open! Especially now that she is starting to focus more on the things around her!

Here's Emily doing her best to hold on to Haley! They are such great friends already! Just imagine the fun they will have when Haley is ready to play!

There's nothing like some love from your sister! Something our girls love to do quite a lot!

One of their first official moments where they were focusing on one another, almost like they were having a quiet conversation!

When Emily was little she LOVED to be swaddled. Haley however is quite different in the regard. We swaddled her up pretty tightly and when we checked on her a little later this is what we saw! She is a squirmer and she enjoys having her hands close to her face when she sleeps!

Since Haley turned ONE WEEK OLD yesterday we decided to dress her up and start her picture log! This is going to be the pink bear that we take Haley's picture with over the next year! We thought this dress was absolutely adorable too, and since it's a preemie one we thought we better put it on her while we still could:)

You can tell that Haley is not amused or affected at all really by her friend the bear! We shall see if that changes over the next year!!

We hope to be able to get some more pictures up in the near future, but for now this is our family and what we have been up to. Life is good, we are blessed. Heavenly Father definitely has his eye on us and for that we are so grateful. We are going to be quite busy over the next couple of weeks as we get our house ready to be put on the market, so posts might be few and far between, but we will do our best to update as we can. We love you all and thank you for all of your help and support and love that you each show to our family in your own unique ways!

Another Gray Hits the Stage

Haley Elizabeth Gray arrived today at 8AM. She was 19 inches long and weighed 7 pounds 13 and 1/2 ounces. Mother and baby are both doing well, and Holly and I are ready for a good night's sleep. We'll let you know when that happens. Here are some pictures from Haley's big day.

Mommy and Daddy admiring the 5-minute old baby.

Haley taking a good look at her new surroundings.

Haley was decidedly against bath time.

The new family of four posing for a photo.

Lots of family members came to see the new arrival, including Great Grandma Meeks.

Haley sporting a nice blue bow... Emily's bow, which Emily stealthily removed.

Haley discovering some of the perks of baby life.

Haley and Mommers getting acquainted.

Our main photographer finding her next target.

Overall, it was a great and memorable day. I'm a firm believer that every baby is a miracle, and Haley is no exception. We weren't sure how Emily would react when she met Haley, but she took it quite well. She gave Haley kisses when they met. We have that on video, but you'll have to wait for our next post for that one.

Last Family Photo Shoot Before Haley Arrives!

It is so hard to believe that there is just one more day left until Haley Elizabeth will join the Gray household! We are so excited to FINALLY meet her:) Of course, I am nervous about having two little ones that are so young, but I am hoping that in time we will figure out how things are supposed to go. But for now I am just enjoying these last few days of kicks and squirms inside my tummy before Haley comes out to put her mark on the world! Pregnancy is such an amazing journey to be on and I am so happy that my Father in Heaven has allowed me this opportunity twice in this lifetime already! I love my girls so much and can hardly wait until they are both here together!!

Tonight is our last night at home before Haley arrives. Tomorrow night we are going to spend the night with Mommers and Dooders since we have to be at the hospital at 6AM on Tuesday morning! And since it was our last night at home, we had to have a little photo shoot! And lucky for us, we invited Mommers and Dooders over for dinner and so they were here to help with some of our photos!

Emily looking adorable in her new little pants suit!

Here I am at 38 Weeks and 6 Days pregnant with Haley!

This Mommy can't pass up an opportunity to take a picture with her little Sweet "P"!

Of course, we can't forget about the love of my life either! I love my Micah Cordon!

Precious Family Photo moment! Emily loves to kiss Haley (in Mommy's tummy) and we were excited to finally be able to capture it on the camera!

Our Latest Family Photo!

A little bit later tonight, Emily was excited to help Daddy to a few things on his laptop. As you can see, she takes her computer time VERY SERIOUSLY!

A Picture of the House

After so many requests, we decided to scan a sketch of the Lexington so you could see approximately what it will look like. The colors will probably be different, but that's about what it will look like from the front

The upstairs will have three bedrooms, two full baths, and a laundry room. The master bedroom will have a walk-out porch, a walk-in closet, and its very own bathroom, which we are very excited about. The main level will have a small foyer, a living room/dining room area with double sided gas fireplace in the middle, and a spacious kitchen that includes a breakfast area that walks out to a deck in the back. We're also getting a free basement, which is the main reason we rushed to get into a contract. We're paying to get half of the basement finished with a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchenette that we will rent out. We are excited to watch it being built, but we're even more excited about having enough space to have company over for barbeques and special occasions - something that our current home makes difficult. -Micah

An EXCITING Saturday for our Family!

Today, being the last Saturday before Haley's arrival, was already set up to be a busy one....running last minute errands, getting a pedicure for me (an absolute necessity!), grocery shopping, a car wash, taking dinner to a friend, going to a wedding reception....but it started with a very exciting event! We signed a contract on our new home!! We are SO EXCITED!

Our new home will be built in a neighborhood called Belvedere, which is in Charlottesville! So that is exciting that we will be closer to town again:) The style of our home is called a "Lexington." We don't have a picture yet because our lot is just an empty lot with a dumpster sitting in the front of it - not too exciting - and there aren't any Lexington's built yet in Charlottesville. So the picture below is of me (and Haley) in front of a different home on the street where our house will be built. But trust me there WILL be pictures to come:) The dumpster will be gone soon, and the pictures will start rolling!

One of the things that attracted us to Belvedere is that all of the homes built there will be Earthcraft certified. That means they will be more energy efficient and use more earth-friendly materials and methods of construction. We're also excited about the sidewalks, trails, and parks in Belvedere. There are already lots of families with children, and there is a great feeling of community there. Here is the Belvedere website: http://www.belvedereneighborhood.com/

Our Second Baby Shower to Celebrate Haley's Upcoming Arrival!

This past Saturday, February 27, 2010, my mom got together another baby shower to honor our sweet little Haley Elizabeth. We had it at my Mema's house. Mema was very excited to be able to be the host of such a special occasion too! And it was nice to have a few more guys join us for this shower too....in addition to Micah we also had Dooders, my uncle Mike and my cousin Brody! It was a very fun afternoon spent together!

My mom is a great party planner for events like this! She made sure the food was delicious, the decorations were so cute, and the games were tons of fun! And of course she couldn't have done it all without the help of several of my aunts and my cousin, Terri, who we are so excited is around for Haley's arrival! She is back home from living in North Carolina and it has been fun having her back! My cousin, Brody, is also back from living in Hawaii for a year and a half although he is moving to Pennsylvania in the next week or so to go to school for a year and a half. At least he will only be a couple hours, driving distance, away so that he can come and visit!!

This shower was another Diaper, Wipes and Ointment shower. So we are pretty much set on all of those types of things now! The trick was bringing everything home and trying to find a place for it, but with a few days to think about where to put things we are finally getting organized again, which is nice!

Again we just feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many people who love and support us, especially during this exciting time in our lives! We are very excited to meet our newest little girl and can hardly believe that she will be here ONE WEEK FROM TOMORROW!! Time sure does fly! But we love our little Sweet "P" so much and are excited to have another daughter to smother with love and hugs and kisses too!

Here are a few pictures from Saturday's shower...

The Front of the Living Room

Emily with her Great Aunt, Tede, as she is stylin' in her new hat, with her puppy dog!

Emily spending a little time with her Mema!

Okay, so like I said before the games were really fun! But I think Charades was my favorite one! Because I got to be the judge of who was the best actor and I didn't have to act out ANYTHING! But Micah wasn't so lucky!! Here he is giving the game is all!! I love him so much!

More Charades.....Samantha (Brody's Girlfriend) trying her best in front of Brody's family! What a trooper she was!

Charades was definitely made for people like my Aunt Debra!! She LOVES stuff like this!

I LOVE this picture!! Brody is so serious before he begins his turn!!

Then it was time to open the gifts. In addition to cash and diapers and wipes, Mema made Haley this adorable pink blanket and got her this cute pink pajama set too! Miss Haley is going to be stylin' when she arrives!

Now for a few group shots to end the afternoon with! Here is Emily posing with my Aunt Sweetie and Aunt Debra....but as you can tell Emily is DONE with Pictures!

Bummer that Emily got a little chopped out of this one, but it is a 4 generation shot! Me with my 2 girls, My Mom and Mema!!

Emily also got this adorable little hat and the shower and enjoyed wearing it around and hearing people tell her how cute she looked! I love this pose, you can tell she is very intent on trying to tell someone something very important!

Still going at it with these group shots....here's Emily with her Great Aunt Sweetie and her Great Uncle Mike!

Emily was good as long as her new bear was close by! So here she is with some of her second cousins....Brody, Samantha and Terri!!

And of course, we can't let a fun event like this go by without getting a picture of Emily with Mommers and Dooders!

And last, but certainly not least, our family photo! I feel so fortunate to be able to spend my days and nights with my wonderful family! I waited a long time for my Micah Cordon, but I am so glad I did! Because here we are today and I am loving being a wife and a Mommy!