shhhhhhhhh.....

macey was crying incessantly and grayson heard her over the monitor. he got off the couch, picked up the monitor and went "shh shh shh shh" like he does when he's trying to calm her. hilarious little boy.

three.

the next group picture will be around christmas. if we're lucky.

married.

today was a big day for supergirl and batman. while i was nursing macey the kids put together this train. on each chair was one pink girl stuffed animal, and one boy stuffed animal. when i asked what this was about, aislyn informed me that she and batman were taking all these kids to get married so they could kiss and get a ring. ya know, whatever keeps ya entertained...

tags.

wanted to remember this, even though it is a sideways phone pic. when grayson gets tired or upset, he grabs his "snugger" and rubs the tag on his face. at night when he sleeps, he sleeps with the tag near/on his face. when he thinks i am tired or sad, he sits on my lap and rubs the tag on my face. i was cleaning the kitchen the other day and i went back into the livingroom and grayson had covered macey up with his very own snugger and made sure that the tag was, where else, her sweet face. i totally teared up. i mean, how sweet is that? he's two for heaven's sake. i need to keep this picture in mind when i want to punch holes in the wall because he won't listen. :)

introducing miss macey kate

3 weeks and 1 day late, but here is our newest little girl. she was born april 6th, 7lbs 10oz with a perfectly shaped heart stork bite in between her eyes.

the transition has been rough. but we're makin' it. i hear the six week mark after your 2nd c section is when you start to feel fairly normal again. i can't wait.

my dear friend sherri took this picture. (and has done 13897219 other things for me.) thank you sweet sherri for capturing her.. um, fifth day, seventh day (oh wait we didn't get anything that day), and tenth day. :) that's right, it took three full days to get pictures of this munchkin. she was not super cooperative for the camera. don't worry. i'll train her.

we have been so blessed by family and friends, who have helped IMMENSELY the last few weeks. (i still haven't left the house by myself. and only twice WITH other people.)

anyhoo, i'll get my camera out someday and post some more. but just this one for now. OH and some hospital ones that ellen took that i need to figure out how to load... will do soon....

happy heart day

hope it was FULL of candy... and attitude.

the update #2 AND a forgotten u/s pic :)

baby grebe #3 (#5 if we're being technical) at 28 weeks gestation (two or three weeks ago)....

totally forgot to post this ultrasound picture, proving that yet again, we will have another kenny clone. :) check out the darling little nose! love it.

when i was updating on grayson, i forgot to mention something i wanted documented. in december, actually the week of christmas, he was diagnosed with asthma basically. we had gone into the doc late afternoon, because his cough was so so bad and his breathing just sounded short and weird to me. his o2 level was low, so they did a nebulizer treatment right there in the dr's office, like a rescue neb, and his o2 went back up to normal immediately after the 20 minute treatment. this was a red flag for the dr that it is likely asthma. that, and the fact that it was his third terrible awful cough since november. he would get a runny nose, and it would turn into a nonstop all night long all day long mind numbing cough. so because of that, they were leaning more to the asthma dx. he is now on a preventive nebulizer treatment twice a day (only 7 minutes each thank you LORD!) and he does really well with it. he hasn't coughed since christmas eve when he started it which is a christmas miracle. :) i can put the mask on him and walk away and trust him to MOSTLY hold it on his face and not move while he watches a program, or i will sit and read a book with him. his favorite thing lately though is having a skittle in his mouth while he does it. which of course, we allow. ONE skittle mind you. :) aislyn loves to sit with him and hates it when grayson does his "mask" without her. kinda weird, but it's sweet that she likes to be with him. we have to do this preventive nebulizer through the cold and flu season, so until march 31st. which is perfect and divine since the baby is coming the first week of april and it will be one less thing to do. he is also off of his nighttime antihistamine officially, and weaning off his bottles this week and taking his formula (sort of) in a sippy cup. kids don't really like elemental formula in a sippy cup for good reason, so we have always bought the munchkin sippy "bottles" for him, but i am ALL done with bottles. especially since we will have an actual baby around here in april. we've got a few more milestones for him to pass and then he will be de-baby'd. which is kind of sad. potty training, toddler bed and the paci. which i'm almost dreading breaking the paci habit more than potty training. that kid loves his paci.

ok i'm done.

the update

i promised i would update, though i can't guarantee that there is anything interesting to report that i haven't already mentioned!

our pregnancy is going great, we have 9 weeks from tomorrow until our scheduled c section date, april 6th. we are undecided as to whether or not that's what we will do, but it's on the calendar. aislyn was an emergency c and grayson was a very hard labor, and if this baby is any bigger than he was, i would likely end up with a c anyway. i'm feeling good, just big and hindered in movement. aislyn told me i wouldn't be able to reach the pedals soon. and she is right. this one feels like its gonna be the biggest yet. we'll see. we still have not found out the sex of the baby, nor have we picked a name for it. it will really just all be one giant surprise. we are praying for wisdom and safety during delivery, as i have to be honest, i'm a little nervous. i'm sure that the anxiety will soon be replaced with "get this baby out of me however you see fit" in the near future. :)

grayson is doing really well. his skin continues to look creamy white almost all over, which just a couple trouble spots here and there that we stay on top of. we cut down on his antihistamines, he no longer needs them to sleep which is also huge. we have added green beans to his diet and when sauteed in his special "butter" the boy will eat a whole can. fresh green beans, however, he does not care for. not sure why. so canned it is. we have gotten several emails from the wall street journal article. what i mean by that, is that the editor at wsj has gotten several, and emails them to me for me to reply to the parents. some of them are moms who have kids who sound like grayson and i am willing to help in anyway possible, so i am trying to write all of them back. he still gets a bath (soak) a day in plain water, and then lotion all over. we haven't done any wet wraps in a LONG time and i rarely have to use the steroid ointments on him ever anymore. we are still trying to introduce new foods to him that were on his "trial" list, but he doesn't seem interested. i even got him a soy hot chocolate (dairy free of course) at starbucks and while he LOVED the idea of it and carried around forever (in his hands AND on his shirt) he really didn't drink much of it. i might have ruined his taste for chocolate since he hasn't really had it. so all in all, he is great. happy. sleeping 12 to 13 hours at night without scratching. (he finally started doing that in october i believe and we could not be happier about it.)

aislyn is doing really well too and developing new attitudes daily. there isn't much to report on her since she has never had any health issues. she loves kids express and brings home countless projects twice a week for me to guilt strickenly throw away. ;) she wears at least 4 outfits a day, one is usually a princess dress. i do two extra loads of laundry a week because of it. she is preparing her room for the baby and has put an extra blanket in her doll cradle, right beside her bed, so that the baby can sleep there... probably NOT where the baby will be sleeping. but we have decided to put it in her room nonetheless i think. i don't really trust my son with a baby in his room. not sure what he would try to do with it. it's likely it would wake up with cars in its diaper and on its head, and vaseline all over it's face. because sweet grayson thinks that's what you do to babies. you grease 'em up! anyway, all that to say, aislyn is so excited that there are only 9 weeks until the baby comes. she tells me frequently with a frown, "mom, this baby is taking TOO. LONG. all the other babies in the world are coming out but NOT YOURS. why will your baby not come out mom?" oh the patience of a 4 year old. it resembles the patience of this 33 year old actually.

that's about all i got. i think i will attach our christmas card and letter in this post somehow... and then that will OFFICIALLY be all i got. :)




our 2009 christmas letter update

Christmas 2009
Dearest Friends and Family who we are so blessed to have in our lives,
What’s this? A Christmas letter? After a few years of no words, we decided it was time!
We have nothing bad to report, we are all doing well! This Christmas finds us just a few months away from welcoming a third little Grebe baby to the family! We have chosen to kick it old school and be surprised with the sex of this one, which makes Amy a little crazy, but also keeps her from buying endless amounts of gender specific things we probably don’t need. We have also decided to keep the name a secret until the big reveal. This should work out just fine, since this baby will likely not have a name until it’s a few months old.
Aislyn is four years old, and sports an attitude much like her mother’s at that age (or now). She is beautiful, very imaginative and cannot wait for mommy’s baby to come out. She insists that it is taking far too long. We had one ER visit with her this year (we try to go once a year), just a few weeks ago, which will leave her with a nice little scar on her forehead! When she is older, I think she will wish there were a better story to tell in regards to the scar. Because it goes like this: Aislyn was walking in the driveway, trying to take her coat off, tripped on her own feet and fell forward on her head. That’s it. Perhaps we should make something else up. Aislyn did ballet this year and LOVED it, and danced in a recital in which Madagascar was the theme. She also started a preschool at Hoffmantown Kids Express this year, just two mornings a week and has made lots of friends there and adores her teachers. She even got to meet Santa Claus (her biggest fear) who told her all about baby Jesus last week. She loves all things princess and has a great princess tomboy balance going on. Listening to her have conversations with her dolls is one of our favorite things to do. She is so nurturing with them, yet not afraid to discipline. It’s hysterical.
Grayson is two and a half, unbelievable. This has been a BIG year for him. Before June, his diet consisted of chicken, rice and sweet potatoes because of his allergy blood and skin tests. As many of you remember, we took him to National Jewish Hospital in June, a week after his second birthday. His stay there was two weeks long. They cleared his severe eczema within four days and began food challenges with him to determine real allergies. We added nine foods to his diet and learned how to manage his eczema so that Lord willing it will never be out of control again. We are SO thankful to God for his orchestration of our entire visit. The things that lined up for us to be able to go were completely divine. National Jewish’s Annual Report even includes a story on Grayson! He does not LOVE all of his foods yet. We are being creative in our introduction of them. He doesn’t yet eat enough to be off of his calorie providing hypoallergenic formula, but we are hoping this will be soon. He is VERY into Batman and Spiderman, even though he has never once watched an episode of either on TV. And if it has wheels, it’s his best friend. As we drive along the roads, Grayson labels every car he sees. “Bug car momma! Blue truck momma!” His vocabulary is coming along nicely and it’s so entertaining to have a conversation with him!
Amy is taking a break from photography until after the baby is born (but will gladly take newborns until then…you don’t have to chase them around!). She is loving being at home with the kids, dreaming of being a minimalist and never quite knowing how to pull it off. Maybe this year? She is also doing the books for our landscaping company in between diapers and snacks.
Kenny is enjoying running Red Shovel and even had a news story done on him this year, involving the Christmas Décor part of our business! It is posted on our blog if you’d like to watch it! The kids adore their daddy and so does their momma (and yes, Amy wrote that part. ☺) He is so excited to be surprised about our mystery baby, which makes it more fun for all of us! Minimalist Kenny hopes to rub off on Not Minimalist Amy this year.
We hope this letter finds you resting in God’s peace, understanding His sovereignty and learning how to delight in Him and only Him through this upcoming year. This is our goal for the year, so that we may teach our children more and more about God’s love for us.
We love you all and Merry Christmas 2009,
Kenny, Amy, Aislyn, Grayson & Baby Grebe
(keep up with us at www.grebefam.blogspot.com)

litte miss aislyn's 4 year session

4 months late? yes, but that's how i roll.

aislyn and i went out yesterday, just the two of us, with a bag of hats, a couple chairs, a giant white poster board and a camera (cramera is how she says it.) we stood out in the cold trying to perfect our shots for a good 40 minutes, and then went to have an ice cream cone at mcd's because she was so good. little did she know, i needed to take her BACK out to practice my backlit shots. luckily she was a sport and we got some fun stuff. she was quite proud of herself actually for being so good. i wonder how grayson's shoot will go...

here are some from our session. some of them are glistening with beautiful sunset light and some are lit by dark clouds. it was fun to work with all kinds of situations. :)

grayson and the wall street journal

a few days ago, national jewish contacted us and asked if the wall street journal could interview us for an article on food challenges. she noticed my email said amy grebe photography, and asked if i had photos. of course i had photos. so in the article they even did a little slideshow. the actual article will be in the actual paper tomorrow, but here is the link to the online article with slideshow. anything to spread the word about false positives to allergy blood testing!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703808904575025013194645130.html

(i have five more days to do an update, you know, so that it's in january. ha.)

spring fever.

i'm gettin' it pretty bad.

and yes i'm due for an update. christmas, aislyn and grayson stuff, baby stuff, i know. maybe this month. :)

happy thanksgiving!

a couple weeks late.....

RED SHOVEL MADE THE NEWS!

my hard workin' man caught the eye of the people at channel 13 and they did a story on our business, the christmas decor part of it. here is is!

and just so we never forget....

well, aislyn is up to two ER trips now. shouldn't that be grayson instead? he only has one so far. just so we remember, sweet girl was just walking to the door. ian had picked she and liam up from school. they were in the driveway of our house and aislyn was walking while trying to take her coat off and just fell. with nothing to stop her fall. her head hit the concrete, ian said it sounded like someone dropped a cinder block. i heard frantic knocking at the door and screaming and looked through the window to see she and ian COVERED in blood. it was just pouring down her sad face. her nose was also bleeding because of how hard she hit, but we didn't even know that until we got to the ER, because I couldn't tell where the blood was coming from. after much discussion and a couple doctors, the original plan of sedating her and stitching it was bagged and we decided to glue it because of where it was cosmetically and because the second doctor thinks that all the skin might still be there. just really damaged. she is a trooper. they numbed it at the hospital, i gave her motrin when we got home, and have given her nothing since, because she says it doesn't hurt, which is great. anyways, here's the nastiness....

my little superheroes.

i love them. have you EVER seen a cuter batman? or a spunkier supergirl? and aislyn picked out her shoes and socks herself. she loved the way it looked with the outfit. :) grayson has about two or three layers underneath his costume, he really didn't just gain thirty pounds.



i love them. they are my heroes.

happy fourth birthday sweet girl...

our girl turned four at 2:15ish this morning. hard to believe! here is the post where i posted her first day pics. check out the one where she's smiling! and could she look MORE like kenny?

http://grebefam.blogspot.com/2006/04/youre-supposed-to-start-websites-like.html

and then this is from a few months ago... sweet little three year old attitude face. :) i will do her four year session soon..



anyway happy birthday aislyn. we love you now more than ever!

blue

a sweet lady who came across my photo blog sent me some hats for free if i would get her some kid model shots to use in her advertising. i am obsessed with hats, knit beanies, etc. grayson agreed to pose for a couple today. is he not darling?

grayson in action

no words for this video. i mean, what is he doing? and who taught them this?

http://braidynandmali.blogspot.com/2009/09/best-buddiesor-butt-buddies.html

9.5 weeks

and all is well so far. still a heartbeat. still complications, bleeding, subchoreonic hemmorhages, etc. but they have not proven to be a big deal so far. another ultrasound (the FOURTH) will happen next friday. so for now, they will just watch me. and that's that! our approx due date is april 13th, which i can't remember if i mentioned in the last post or not. we will be optimistic, as is our dr., that this baby will keep growing!

aislyn's name for him/her this week? mara. like mare-uh. she makes up a new name at least once a week. i think she REALLY thinks she gets to name this one. maybe i should stop telling her that.

thanks for the prayers. :)

THUMP thump. THUMP thump...

went our new baby's heartbeat this week. :)


we found out, MUCH to our surprise, that i am pregnant almost four weeks ago. i thought i had begun my cycle (way too much info but this is where i document things i want to remember:)), but three days later, when things were just a little too weird, i took a test on a whim when we got home from church. i was immediately devastated, knowing that there were already complications and that has never boded well for us in the past. our first miscarriage seemed to be a replica of this pregnancy. (yet our second seemed like a perfect pregnancy). i knew something was wrong. i called right away to get on progesterone, started it an hour later (i got people ;)) and started the roller coaster of emotional HCG level checks. our first number was 30. SUPER duper low. last time i bought a new robe as my "miscarriage gift" to myself to make me more "comfortable". i was already thinking, what can i buy this time... two days later, they had gone up to 68. good, not great. two days after that we were at 195. ok, now we're getting somewhere. we waited five days and they shot up to 3020. way more than doubling every other day which is what they are supposed to do. i was thrilled and started to relax about it all. that lasted a week and then satan took over. he filled my head with awful thoughts and convinced me that everything was wrong, that there would be no heartbeat. i could not distinguish this awful feeling from that of the enemy, or from that of God just preparing me for His plan. because i know that sometimes His plan is just that.. it's pregnancy loss, it's infant death, it's all of these things that we see as bad, but He is using them for His glory- to Him they are not bad things at all. i know that. so i prepared myself for the very worst, and if you asked my mom, i talked very pessimistically for about a week. ok, actually you could ask anyone who knew our secret and they would tell you the same thing.

finally, the day for the ultrasound came. our dr's office has this handy little roll around ultrasound machine, which is FABULOUS for moms who have had miscarriages and are jaded each time they go to the doctor. at your first appt, she does a quick ultrasound just to find a heartbeat and put you at ease. i walked in there just bracing myself for a large man to punch me in the stomach as hard as he could. i know i looked so downtrodden, my doctor even said that actually. the ultrasound began, she was silent for thirty seconds, no expression on her face. then without looking up, she said "everything looks great". i said "WHAT? you're kidding right? there's a baby in there? with a heartbeat? and it's not in my tube? or there isn't one in each of my tubes (which is one of the scenarios i played out in my head)." "no, look for yourself." she was right. a tiny little baby shaped blob with a heartbeat was visible on the screen. i really really could not believe it.

i know that God is teaching me to trust Him, but i also know that trusting Him means being at peace with His will for my life, whether we get to meet this baby or not. we are not out of the woods. i am just shy of 8 weeks, a month away from my second trimester still. anything can happen. but what we will do, is find joy in Him and nothing else. and if we meet this little one (who kenny predicts is a boy), awesome. if God decides to take him/her home before that time comes, then that has to be ok too. i'm done with the "everything will be fine" theology, meaning don't worry, everything will go your way, just have faith. i'm onto the "everything will be according to God's will, and i will rest in the fact that He knows best." that's my attempt anyway. i need accountability for sure.

so for now, we are expecting, due in april (right around tax day) and very excited at the prospect of a new little grebe, who kenny would like to name ritter. really?

thanks for your prayers. we covet them.