MERRY CHRISTMAS

It is hard to believe that Grayson is 6 1/2 months old and that tomorrow is Christmas. Grayson is experiencing many of his firsts this holiday season. His first Christmas card picture, Christmas eve service, Chrismas morning, Santa experience etc.. But, one of my favorites will be the reading of the Christmas story with his aunts, uncles, grandma and grandpa on Christmas Eve. How thankful I am that we get to spend this holiday together. How blessed we are to be with our families. I never want to forget how God sent his son into this world. What a beautiful still and quiet night it must have been. Mary comforting a crying little one, Joesph asleep trying to recover from a long journey and the rest of the world clueless of the miricle that has just taken place. In that still and quiet moment, peace reigned supreme. God's gift to his children. One I am excited to share with Grayson this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!

Love - Ryan, Andra and Grayson

One month and growing

This last week we turned 1 month old! It is hard to believe how fast my time off is flying by. Grayson weighed 7 lbs. 10.5 oz at his two week appointment. So, we are somewhere in the 8 lbs. range now. However, we still can not fit into our 0-3 month clothes. As you can see they are just a little too big!

Hold you...

Over the last few days we have been so fortunate to have Ryan's family and my mom in town. Elliot, almost two, has loved visiting her new cousin Grayson - even if she calls him "Baby G". (The name we gave Grayson in the womb.) We can all see them in their 20's and she will be yelling across the college campus 'Hey - Baby G.' No doubt, he will turn bright red and run the other direction. But, it makes us smile to know she loves her cousin so much!

Mom and Dad's Favorite

Going home...

Our "going home" outfit was a little big! Thankfully, he didn't care. :)

One day old...

Here are a few more pic's from the hospital! Enjoy!

Grayson George Schwenk is here!

On Friday, May 30th we had one of our final doctor's visits. During the visit we scheduled the induction date for June 8th and went home expecting to wrap up a few projects and enjoy the weekend. Less than two hours later, my water broke and we returned to Duke Medical Center. I was admitted and shown my room shortly after my arrival. Grayson George Schwenk was born Saturday morning May 31st, 2008. He weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz. and was 19 inches long. He is healthy and beautiful, even if he's just a little small for his clothes.

A few months gone by...

Well, you could say that we have been a little busy! So, I will try to keep this entry short and sweet! :-)

May:

Well, our deadline for finishing the house came and went and we were still in boxes, until the 18th. Over the last few weeks we made real progress, but with my due date around the corner - we had to begin to put things in perspective. It will not all be done. :( So, as we began to make our game plan - we got a little surprise!

April:

I finally took the first part of my NCIDQ exam. I just have to wait to hear if I passed. (I should hear any day, seeing that we are currently in June.) I will take the 2nd part this fall in Savanna, GA.

We took a road trip home to see family. While we were there my home church, Southern Hills Baptist Church, threw Ryan and I a baby shower for our little boy to be. It was such a special time. As always, we are remided of how blessed we are to have such a wonderful family and great friends! PS: If you live in Oklahoma - you have to check out Cheyenne's Cakes! http://70.184.39.124/cakes/cake.htm They are awesome!!

I traveled to NYC for training and then went into NJ to visit our friends. They also threw us a baby shower. I had such a great time seeing everyone. We really miss everyone in NJ. Over the last 5 years they have been our family away from family. We can only hope and pray to find such a wonderful church and group of friends in NC.

From NY/NJ I flew to Florida for sales training. We stayed at the Marriott - TPC Sawgrass in Jacksonville. If you are a golf fan, I would highly recommend visiting TPC Sawgrass! It was so beautiful and if we could have played the course, I would have. (Even at 35 weeks pregnant!) However, they had closed the course for the upcoming Player's Championship. So, I settled for the view from the clubhouse and a rental car.

March:

My family came to visit during their springbreak! It was great to see everyone, even if we worked like crazy on finishing the basement. We could not have done it without them. :)

Ryan went to Vegas with his Dad, brother (Evan) and brother-in-law (Tylan) to celebrate Evan's birthday. They had such a great time! I think they all wish that they had a few more days together.

Ryan also accepted the offer from NC State to attend their MBA program this fall! Go Pack!

We were still working on the house and living out of boxes. I think everyone should have to move at least once in their lives. I truly believe that it shows you just how much "junk" we all tend to hold on to.

A few belly pic's!

The first is around 21 weeks, the 2nd is around 26 weeks and the 3rd is around 32 weeks (I finally lost my toes. :) )

February:

We bought a townhome in Durham, NC. (The beginning of the craziness.) It needed a little TLC, so we started working hard with dreams of finishing by May 1st.

I started my sales job with Designtex! Hooray! I am so thankful for the Lord providing for us on so many levels. The glory truly belongs to him!

And Ryan is still waiting to hear from Duke, UNC and NC State about starting his full time MBA in the fall.

Perfect Birthday

So, my birthday was over a month ago. Can you tell I am a little behind in my postings? Oh, well. I still wanted to share!

Ryan surprised me on my birthday with flowers, amazing sugar cookies and a bowl full of cherries! It was perfect and extremely yummy!! I will always prefer an awesome sugar cookie or cake over chocolate any day!

Hands and Feet

After staring in amazement over these tiny hands and feet, I could not help but think of a song that I loved when I was growing up. It is "Beautiful Feet" by Sandi Patty. I googled Sandi Patty, Friendship Company (the album) and Beautiful Feet to death. The album is not even on Itunes, which is so sad because of all of the memories it has for me. However, in my search I remembered another wonderful song that I also love. It has various artists, but the title is "How beautiful". I can only pray that this little boy will one day be able to use his hands and feet to serve his Creator.

How Beautiful

How Beautiful the hands that served
The Wine and the Bread and the sons of the earth
How beautiful the feet that walked
The long dusty roads and the hill to the cross
How Beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful is the body of Christ

How Beautiful the heart that bled
That took all my sin and bore it instead
How beautiful the tender eyes
That choose to forgive and never despise
How beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful is the body of Christ

And as He lay down His life
We offer this sacrifice
That we will live just as He died
Willing to pay the price
Willing to pay the price

How Beautiful the radiant bride
Who waits for her Groom with His light in her eyes
How Beautiful when humble hearts give
The fruit of pure lives so that others may live
How beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful is the body of Christ

How beautiful the feet that bring
The sound of good news and the love of the King
How Beautiful the hands that serve
The wine and the bread and the sons of the Earth
How Beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful is the body of Christ

"How, then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!'" Romans 10: 14-16

Profile of our little Boy

Everything looks good! We found out that our little one is a Boy!
It is pretty amazing that to see pictures of him growing strong and healthy.

Wii or not to Wii....

Well...

Ryan and I have been looking for a Wii for quite some time. I have never looked for a "game" with such vigor. I know every customer service rep in the electronics department at Walmart, Circuit City, and Best Buy. As for EBay and the Internet - I look several times a day and have signed up for Wii alerts (which sends you email's and text messages when the Wii's are available online - even at 3 am!) The crazy thing is I am not even for sure if I am going to be able to play this piece of machinery. The last time I really played video games regularly, is when my family first got a Nintendo and Super Mario Brothers was the game to beat. It was so easy! 4 buttons, 2 dimensional, simple plot. Now, I just look at the controller, hit a whole lot of buttons and pray that I am actually going in the right direction. Ryan assures me that the Wii is very simple and that I will enjoy games like Guitar Hero, Tiger Woods Golf and the new version of Super Mario Brothers. He said they are similar to the real thing, which is what makes it so fun. So, I am trusting him and thus looking for this console like crazy. All I have to say in the end is, it better be worth it! :)