The Bybee Chronicles: 33 Weeks

I have a very casual photo today since it was taken yesterday on my day off. This was the first Labor Day weekend I have had off in over 6 years and it was really nice to be home, rather than at the pool guarding or managing the staff. We are merely 6-7 weeks (or less) away from meeting Beckett! I had my 32 week check-up last week and all is well. His heart rate sounds great and things are progressing as normal. Beckett must be hurting for real estate in my belly because I frequently feel him trying to poke an arm or foot through my belly button or the sides of my stomach. Some of his attempts are pretty painful. With him being so active, I have been able to put Grayson's hand on my stomach a couple of times for him to feel his baby brother move around. Grayson is getting pretty good at saying Beckett's name and points to my stomach when we ask him "where's Beckett?"

Aside from purchasing diapers, we are fully prepared for Beckett to make his arrival. A week ago, my mom and I sorted Grayson's old clothes that I plan to use for Beckett and got them washed and put away in the nursery. I raised the crib back up to its highest setting and reset the car seat to accommodate a smaller size since Grayson's last use of it almost a year ago. It has been much easier preparing for #2. Almost too easy, which makes me feel as if we are missing some major element to this transition we are about to go through. If we are, I am sure we will adapt quickly, as we have to any other event in our lives.

As for our Labor Day weekend, it was pretty low key. I did do alittle baking with Grayson on Saturday afternoon. I love to bake and it has been awhile since I don't have as much free time anymore. I figured it would be a fun activity for Grayson and I do to together so we made Shane's favorite cookies, Snickerdoodles. Grayson really enjoyed standing on the stool near the counter helping mommy put all of the ingredients in the mixer. He was scared of the mixer at first, but once I showed him what it was doing, he was very excited to be part of the process. He also appears to love him some raw cookie dough, too.

Adding the dry ingredients

Watching the mixer do its magic

Mmmmm, raw cookie dough!

Our final product

Our only fun adventure was taking Grayson to the Lego Kids Fest at the Dallas Convention Center on Sunday. Over the last few months he has really taken a liking to Legos and finally figured out how to assemble them. He was free to attend so we thought it would be something fun we could do as a family. The exhibit hall was sectioned off into different areas based on the various types of Legos. One section was specific to Duplo (the bigger blocks for smaller kids) complete with a huge pile and some small side stations for little ones to build objects. They had areas for you to create art projects using Legos that would be displayed on these large walls as well as a place called "Creation Nation" where you could create a structure and have it added to a giant map of the United States. Throughout the entire exhibit hall were Lego creations such as superheroes, animals, Disney characters, etc. Gray loved walking up to them and checking them out. We rode the DART train downtown (Grayson is a pro at riding the train now), walked through the exhibit for a couple of hours, grabbed lunch in the West End and then rode the train back home. I think Grayson had a good time while we were there. Although he was still pretty young for about 75% of the exhibit, I think he enjoyed looking at everything. It's definitely something we will come back to as he gets older.

Grayson attempting to walk into the pile of Legos

In the lion's mouth

Jake is life size!

Gray loved this little monkey and his hat.

He was also obsessed with this car.

The rest of the weekend we spent some time hanging out at home. After walking around on Sunday and carrying Gray, I was having issues with my IT band yesterday so movement was fairly limited for me. I spent most of the day sitting or lying down on the couch. It's still quite sore, but most of the stretches I need to do are hindered by the massive belly I have protruding in front of me. Oh well, it's only 6-7 more weeks, right?

I will try to post updates weekly as we get closer, if I can find the time and have anything to share. September is a semi-busy month for us with Shane and I both celebrating a birthday as well as one of my nephews. I am sad that this will be the first year I am not able to celebrate my birthday with my grandfather. He was my birthday buddy for 34 years and I loved making that call to him on our special day. Shane was lucky and I gave him his birthday present early. It's a Honda mower he has been bugging me about getting for years. On Friday, I had to go talk with a vendor we regularly do business with about an event we have coming up and they sell the exact mower Shane has wanted. They struck me a deal so I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I'm not exactly sure, but I think I saw Shane jumping and kicking his heels together as he mowed the lawn yesterday...

Everyone have a great September and pray for some cooler temperatures! Here are a few other photos and some videos of Grayson from the last week or two.