Happy Birthday Levi!!

3 years ago today, (well, today when I was writing this) I was lying in a hospital bed at Huron Valley hospital, nervously awaiting the arrival of our first baby. We knew he would be a boy, and we knew his name would be Levi. We never could have guessed the joy this sweet boy has brought into our lives.
He was born at 6:07pm on November 3oth, 9lbs 10oz. A big chunky, healthy, beautiful boy. It does not seem like 3 years have passed since that day, but I'm sure it never feels that way.
In October, I posted 12 things I love about Mason, because he was 12 months old...so here are 12 things about Levi that I love (I thought about doing 36, but who wants to read that many??)
1. He loves to sing...he sings all the time, "As the Deer", "You're Enough for Me", the alphabet song, the list goes on and on...
2. He loves to play instruments. He makes drums out of anything he can, and he loves the drummer at our church, Mr. Matt. He plays Chris' keyboard whenever he can
3. He never crawled until his 1st birthday party. He did an army crawl for 12 months and on the day of his first birthday party, he picked himself up and crawled around the house.
4. He's only 3 years old and has already been in Oregon, Washington, North Carolina, Missouri, and all the states in between..he is a well-traveled little boy
5. Levi is a 100% daddy's boy, and I love that! (OK, sometimes I am slightly jealous of this fact)
6. He recognizes Michael Phelps when he's on Tv, even if he's not swimming...we were olympic obsessed this summer
7. He was in the 90th% at birth and is now in the 10th!
8. He's 3 years old and wears size 18month clothes!!
9. For the most part, he's a great big brother...for the most part
10.He can say the entire "Pledge of Allegiance"...which I can't even spell
11.He loves to read books, his favorite is a book called "HO HO HO Tucker", which is about a dog named Tucker (which is our dogs name)
12.He leaves a lasting impression on people...sometimes good, sometimes bad, but always memorable.

I leave you with some pictures of my sweet Levi, I love this boy!!! I can't wait to see how God will use his love of music, or even if that love will stick around.

How God's working on me...

I have been convicted over the past week about the words I speak. I mean, majorly convicted. In one of those things that only God can do, our message on Sunday was all about the words we speak! Saturday night I was asking Chris where the passage that says "out of your mouth your heart speaks", or something. Can you imagine on Sunday when up on the screen pops Matthew 12:34 "...Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks..." can you just see me slinking further down into my chair as I feel God working on my heart?
I do not keep a close reign on my words, I hate to admit this, but I love to gossip. I am also extremely sarcastic, and I love to get a laugh (you're not surprised, are you?). The combination of gossip, sarcasm, and "humor" sometimes lead my words to be less than desirable.
One of the best examples of this is the way I talk about my children. And a very specific example comes from our small group on Thursday night. Someone asked me how the boys were and my immediate response was "annoying, but good". A while later we were marveling at how cute another group baby is and I said, "Oh I love this stage, then they get to my boys age and YUCK!"
I don't really mean those things. I love being a mom, I really do. And I love my boys, and all that they are. When I say things like that and hold it up to Matthew 12:34, I feel a need to do a heart check. If what comes out of my mouth is truly a reflection of my heart, then "change my heart O' God.
Another example of this is the way I talk about Chris. So often I say things to get a laugh or out of pure sarcasm, but they in no way show him respect or are uplifting to him. I always assume that people know I'm being sarcastic, but lately I've found that's not always the case. Again, I love my husband, I'm proud of him and proud to be his wife. But my words aren't always showing that.
I don't know if you've ever experienced a Sunday where you just know God is speaking to you, but oooo it is uncomfortable. And after that experience I feel so much more accountability to think that what I'm saying is a reflection of what my heart is, and to keep my words in check.
If you want to read more about this topic, some other verses that have been speaking to me are:
Matthew 12:34-37
James 3:1-12
James 4:11-12
Ephesians 4:29

November?

Yes, that's November with a question mark. How in the world did we get into the middle of November already? Time is flying, and I know that by me saying that, it makes me "old", but I can't seem to wrap my mind around how fast time is passing (or seeming to pass, I guess).
Things have been quite busy in the Gray household. We went Trick-or-Treating with Chris' brother and his family (that is so not the accurate description for them...it should be with my best friend and her family, who happens to be Chris' brother and his family) and the kids loved it. Levi was a dinosaur and Mason was a frog. Levi went right up to the houses and said "Trick or Treat" and thank you, it was so fun watching him do it. I thought it would be so over his head, but he got it. Mason just stayed in the stroller and observed, but he looked good doing it.
Chris has been doing a lot of traveling for work, which makes for long days for me and the boys, I don't realize how much I depend on him until he's not here. For conversation, for a break after dinner, for bed time help, etc... We always manage, but I prefer him home...well, mostly I prefer him to have a job, so I won't complain.
I am just short of hitting 35lbs. lost! I don't know who even reads my blog anymore, so I've been hesitant to blog about my weight loss, but it's my blog, so if you don't like it, stop reading! My hope is to stay between 30-35lbs through the holidays and then in January try to loose the last 15-20...well, not all in January of course! I'm kind of addicted to exercising, which I never thought I would say. I exercise 5 times a week, doing cardio one day, then sculpting the next. I love it, I love how I feel after especially.
I've been working with a team of awesome women to put together a Christmas Outreach event for women. It's been so fun getting to know these women at our church and seeing how God has made us all so differently, with different talents and passions, yet together we can put together something so cool! (Ummm...I'm pretty sure that's in the Bible somewhere :D )
I hope things are going well for you during this busy time. I still haven't heard about that baby, Mel...is he here yet? And what is his name? And how are you? And how is big brother?
Enjoy these days, they're going fast! (Maybe that's because I've been going to bed at 9:00 every night...I'm so old!)