Gray's 2nd Birthday Party

Yesterday we celebrated Grayson's 2nd birthday.  After realizing his love for Mickey, I decided that a Mickey Mouse themed birthday party would be perfect for him.  I didn't want to go too crazy with everything since I knew we would have a one week old at home, but I did want to make sure Gray had a great birthday party.  I think we succeeded.  He ran around with the biggest smile on his face throughout the entire party and seemed to enjoy opening all of his gifts.

I was able to use my new cricut that Shane bought

me for my birthday to make a few decorations.

Grayson now has a bunch of new Mickey dolls

to snuggle with in bed.

More items created by my cricut. 

I ordered these cookies on Etsy to give out to our guests.

Not only did they look good but they were delicious!

This was "take 2" on the candle.  He immediately

blew it out when I first lit it.  He really enjoyed

everyone singing to him, too!

This has to be my favorite picture of the day.  :)

He also enjoyed the cupcakes which

are the best cupcakes in the world!

(courtesy of Ultimate Cupcakes)

 Checking out his ukelele from dad.

He already has the correct form down.

 Grayson's first set of wheels

Aunt Cray Cray really spoils him.

Mommy and daddy bought him a tunnel to

replace the cardboard box tunnel we have been 

playing with the last couple of weeks.

His face cracks me up!

I made sure Beckett was dressed appropriately

for the party so I made him this cute onesie with

a Mickey tie.

Finally!  A photo of all 4 of us!

I'm having a hard time believing my "baby" is already 2 years old.  My life was forever changed 2 years ago when Grayson was born.  He has changed so much in the last few weeks.  He seems to be talking more and retaining so much information.  He is growing into his role as a little boy and no longer seems like a baby to me.  It's also evident he loves being a big brother.  If Beckett needs his diaper changed, he jumps at the opportunity to help.  Helping only consists of handing us a diaper, but he still loves contributing.  He loves sitting next to him on the couch and still enjoys saying his name every chance he can get.  We regularly have a family role call where Grayson points at each of us and says our name, "Momma!, Dadda, Beckett, Aspen"!  

As for Beckett, we definitely hit the jackpot yet again.  He is similar to Grayson in so many ways.  Beckett sleeps well, eats well and is generally one of the easiest babies.  He never cries and always seems absolutely calm.  At night when he's hungry, he just lets out a simple squeal so I will come get him, change his diaper, feed him and then he goes right back to sleep (most of the time).  Beckett loves to snuggle which is something Shane and I can't get enough of.  I know it will not always be this easy, but I am going to enjoy the simplicity of having a newborn as long as it lasts.  

Sadly he is already falling prey to the "second child syndrome" because I have not taken nearly as many pictures of him during his first week of life like I did with Grayson.  Although his first week of life I spent most of the time in bed and he just slept so there hasn't been much to capture.  I will do my best to take more photos.  Until then, here are a few of the boys from the last week or two.

 Gee bought a Mickey pumpkin kit that
Anpa (Gray's name for Grandpa) helped him

put together.

This kid really loves Mickey!

Being a week old is exhausting!

I promise, he was breathing in this photo.

Mickey books from Aunt Sam!

Me and my gorgeous boys

Aunt Nik Nik was in town for work from Miami!

She is moving back to Texas this week so 

we are excited we will get to see more of her!

I get the feeling I'm being watched.

Shane cut a hole out of Gray's tunnel so he

could be a box monster.

Shane and Gray painted a pumpkin together.

If there's one thing this kid loves, it's arts and crafts.

I think it turned out great!

We have a pretty busy week ahead of us.  Shane is taking Gray to the zoo tomorrow for his birthday, Wednesday we are having newborn pictures taken for Beckett, Thursday is Gray's 2 year check-up and Beckett's 2 week check-up at the doctor and then Friday night is Halloween.  Shane is off again this week so he is finishing up some projects around the house and getting some time in with Beckett before going back to school next week.  

Beckett James Bybee

Beckett James Bybee was born October 16, 2014 at 4:26am.  He weighed 7lbs, 12oz and was 20.5 inches long.

His Arrival Story
Beckett had been planning his arrival for a couple of weeks.  When I went to the doctor at 38 weeks, I had already dilated 2.5cm.  My doctor was sure he would come within 2-3 days, but another week went by and when I went back at 39 weeks, I was at 3cm.  The night before my 39 week appointment I woke up at 11pm with sharp cramps.  I headed out to the living room to time them and wondered if this was the night.  I drank some water and the contractions were coming about every 5-7 minutes.  After about an hour I thought I should probably call the doctor to see if I should come in, but I decided to wait alittle bit longer because I didn't want to wake anyone up, especially my mom since she would have to come over to stay with Grayson.  After another half hour, they were not as intense and I was able to fall back asleep.

At my appointment the next day, we decided we would plan an induction for October 17 if he didn't make his arrival on his own.  I was slightly hesitant to induce for a couple of reasons.  If Beckett wasn't ready to come out, I didn't want to "evict" him regardless of how miserable I was.  Plus I had read that induction could cause a more painful labor since the contractions could be much more intense.  Either way, the doctor had recommended it and I trust his decisions.  And it would have meant that he could guarantee he would deliver Beckett since he was not able to deliver Grayson.  After my appointment, I went home to lie down.  Later that evening I did what every other women does when she is merely days away from giving birth...I went and bought new bedroom furniture for us.  I know it seems like an odd time, but Shane and I had looked at a set a couple of months ago and decided to wait.  The furniture we have is what I had when I bought my house prior to us getting married.  That day I got a sales ad in the mail and the furniture we had looked at was on sale.  I did not know how long the sale would last, and when I would be able to get out again, so my mom and I headed to the store at 7pm that night and bought the furniture.  It's so popular that we won't actually get it until mid November, but we aren't necessarily in a hurry.

On Wednesday I went to work for my last day.  I had designated that Wednesday as my last day a couple of weeks prior so I could have a couple of days off assuming he would come closer to his Sunday due date.  I worked almost a full day and left around 4pm.  We had dinner as a family, bathed Grayson and I put him down around 7:30pm.  About an hour later, I hopped in bed to get a full night's rest (so I thought).

Around 1am, I woke up with a contraction.  It felt similar to the contractions I had Monday night but they were lasting about 1 1/2 minutes and spaced only 3-3 1/2 minutes apart.  After about 30 minutes something told me I should probably call the doctor.  The on-call doctor called me back and told me to go into the hospital.  I then called my mom who made her way over within about 15 minutes.  We headed to the hospital and got there about 3am.  They took me to labor and delivery and began to ask all of the necessary questions and check my cervix.  I was at 4cm.  The contractions then moved to my back and I had flashbacks to my labor with Grayson which was fairly painful until I was given some demerol and an epidural.  The nurse checked me about 15-20 minutes later and I was already at 5-6cm.  She made a call to the anesthesiologist who was in another room but would be down soon.  It was at that moment I knew I would probably be going at this without any medication.  Sure enough, I was right.  Within a couple of minutes the contractions were much more intense.  They had barely hooked up my IV and were taking blood from my other arm for lab work when my water broke during a contraction.  It had meconium in it which immediately changed the dynamic of the room.  Nurses began rushing in and a NICU team came in as well.  She checked my cervix again and I was at 8cm.  Things moved exceptionally fast at this point.  I remember the anesthesiologist coming in the room and the nurses waving her off.  I was about to go at this without any medication, whatsoever.  With each contraction I had the urge to push but every nurse kept telling me not to because the on-call doctor had yet to arrive.  They were having a hard time finding Beckett's heartbeat on the monitor so I was given an oxygen mask.  Within a few minutes, they had a hospitalist in the room who was qualified to deliver babies.  I had been on my side clinging to the bed in pain with each contraction but as soon as she came in, they made me flip onto my back so we could deliver.  To say the next couple of minutes were painful would be an understatement.  The only thing that got me through it was knowing it would be over soon, and I had to get Beckett out for his own health.  After pushing a couple of times, his head popped out and then his body and they quickly took him over to the warmer to begin cleaning out his mouth and throat.  They needed to get the meconium out prior to his first cry in order to avoid it getting into his lungs.  The same thing happened with Gray but it seemed much more urgent with Beckett since he had been in the womb with it longer.  After they cleaned him out, they noticed he was grunting and having a hard time getting to the appropriate oxygen levels so he was given an oxygen mask and the NICU team worked with him.  Shane stayed by his side while they finished working on me.  Again, I have yet to get any medication so I continued to feel everything but the pain I was in was not near as bad as what I had just gone through.

After about 10 minutes, they let me give Beckett a quick kiss and they took him to the NICU to put him in an oxygen tent to see if he could begin breathing better on his own.  Shane continued to stay with him to make sure he was ok.  It was at this point that I found myself alone in the room for the next hour.  It was sort of surreal since I had merely walked into the hospital only an hour and a half prior, gave birth to a baby and now he was being cared for in NICU.  Luckily Shane was texting me while he was down there letting me know that he was doing great!  About 8am, they moved me to my own room where Beckett and Shane met me.  Right before they handed him to me, the pediatrician had called and requested to see him.  They took him down to the nursery and quickly brought him back about 8:30am.  Finally I was able to hold my sweet baby boy!  Immediately I noticed so many similarities to Grayson, except Beckett had much darker hair.  I then spent the next 2 days in the hospital cuddling with him as much as I could to make up for the 4 hours we were apart right after his birth.

Life Since His Arrival
Beckett has been an absolute blessing.  Although it is still early, he is so much like Grayson.  He eats well, he sleeps well and has been extremely easy so far.  Grayson came to the hospital the day Beckett was born to meet his little brother.  He was alittle hesitant at first, but I think he is warming up to having him in the house.  He loves to see him and say, "Baby Beckett!  Baby Beckett!"  When Beckett cries, Gray will come over to help me, and usually hands me a diaper since most likely he needs to be changed.  We knew Grayson would be such a great helper and he truly is.  He is all about helping anytime we ask him.  We are still adjusting to life as a family of 4 and find that a "man to man" coverage is best.  Gray will continue to go to school during the week so it will give me time to focus on Beckett during the day and allow Gray to keep his normal routine.  We are doing everything we can to make sure his routine is not disturbed.  Shane is home the next two weeks, too, to help me and spend some time with his new son.

Shane and I could not be happier about our growing family.  I am truly blessed to be surrounded by handsome men!  Our next adventure will be Grayson's 2nd birthday party this weekend.  I can't believe my "baby" is going to be two already!  I'm going to have a 2 week old and a 2 year old.  Our Octobers will never be the same!

Baby Beckett got his big brother a few gifts.

Gray was alittle freaked out by the room.  He 

went into his "shy" stance where he holds his hands

and stood by the door.  It was pretty cute.

 Seeing his brother for the first time!

 More interested in his new Mickey book than his 

little brother.

This photo warms my heart!

 Being a day old is exhausting.

 I plan to get as much tummy time as possible

with this one.

 What does every little brother need...stickers!  Gray had

just "slapped" a sticker on Beckett.

Shane's face is priceless. 

Finally headed home!

 Such a proud brother!

Aunt Cray Cray came by to meet the newest addition.

39 Weeks

I'm finally at the home stretch and merely days (or hours) away from meeting Beckett!  Last week was a crazy week at work with a big event so I wasn't able to update the blog, but as you can see, there was not much to update.  I'm still pregnant and miserable.  We thought for sure Beckett would have come this past weekend because last Tuesday I was already dilated 2.5cm when I went in to see the doctor.  He didn't think I would make it 2-3 days, let alone through the weekend.  But alas, I still find myself pregnant an entire week later!  I go back today so I'm hoping he will have a better estimate on Beckett's arrival.  I went ahead and brought my hospital bag with me in hopes that he will say, "You're ready to go!  Let's get you admitted!"  If that isn't the news he has for me, we may talk about an induction date, but at the same time, I don't want to push it and evict Beckett before he's ready to greet the world.  No matter what, he should be here early next week because we will not go too far past the due date.  Worst case, we induce on October 20.

On the home front, we have been spending alot of time at the house.  Moving around alot is hard for me so I usually do a few things, take a break, then get up and do alittle more.  I'm trying to run errands to get everything ready for Gray's 2nd birthday party and also put his Halloween costume together.  I finally figured out what he's going to be so I ran to a few places this past Saturday to get everything so I could make his costume (to be revealed at a later date).

I'm also trying to spend time with Gray when I can.  It's not easy for me to pick him up and carry him around, but if we can snuggle on the couch and watch football or do something fun, I try to make the time.  Last weekend while Bobby was here, my mom and I took him to a pottery painting place.  He loves arts and crafts so I thought it was something he would enjoy.  He picked out a dinosaur and some random color selections of yellow, green and red and began painting.  We had to help him alittle but I think he enjoyed dipping the brush in the water and the colors and lathering it on his dinosaur.  It took a week for it to be completed because they had to let it dry then fire it, but the finished product is sort of cute.

Getting his paint brush loaded with paint

 

We had to direct him where to paint or all of 

it would have been concentrated on the dinos back.

All shiny and glazed!

Well hopefully my next post will be about Beckett's birth!  Everyone is on pins and needles waiting for him to get here.  My mom is on constant standby so she can help us with Gray so I'm not the only one stressed out.  They get possession of their new house today/tomorrow so I know she's eager to get a few things done so they can move in later this month.  So many great life changes happening this week!  Stay tuned....

37 Weeks

Another week down, and nothing to report.  I had my weekly check up yesterday and Beckett does not appear to be making an arrival anytime soon.  My doctor and I are discussing my options but no definite plans have been made yet.  We will talk again next week and see if an induction date needs to be set.  For now it looks like I'm going to be in this for the long haul!  It's good news for me work wise so I can spend the next 2 weeks getting things in order and also getting prepared at home.  This weekend I plan to make some meals to freeze like I did prior to Grayson being born.  It was nice to have some food in the freezer that I could easily pull out in the morning and then pop in the oven or our crockpot.

This past Saturday was a busy one for us.  We noticed Gray did not seem to be feeling well that morning so Shane skipped out on soccer tots but I left to go to a vintage baseball game and BBQ for work.  Gray perked back up about lunch time so he got his nap in and then they joined me at the BBQ so Shane could judge the ribs competition.  I was asked to sit on the panel but my ability to eat large quantities of food right now is limited.  Shane had to step up and take one for the team.  As you can probably guess, it didn't take much arm pulling to get him to agree to sit in my spot.  Right after the BBQ, we headed to another birthday party at Gymboree.  The party was for a boy that was in both our soccer tots and Gymboree classes this summer so we had sort of gotten to know his parents.  Gray loves Gymboree so he had a blast.  He also had no problems eating the cupcakes that were provided to all of the kids.

After the party, Shane and Gray headed home and I went out to Western Days in Lewisville to spend some time with my friend, Kevin Fowler.  If you don't know who Kevin is, he's a Texas Country Musician.  I met him in college when he first got started and now he's pretty popular.  I remember going to his shows when there were only 5 of us in the audience and no one knew who he was.  Now there are 50,000+ in the audience all singing his songs while he puts on this amazing show.  We spent a couple of hours hanging out on his tour bus catching up then I went home to grab some dinner, take a nap and headed back out for his show that started at 10pm.  I had just planned on sitting backstage during the show, but he pulled up a chair and sat me right on the stage behind one of the sponsor screens.  I definitely had the best seat in the house!  That night I didn't get home until midnight which is WAY past my bedtime.  I can't remember the last time I had been out that late, even before I got pregnant with Beckett.  I had not been to one of Kevin's shows in a few years, and it's rare that I get to see him when he's so close, so I couldn't pass up an opportunity to go to this one since it was literally 10 minutes from our house.  We have kept in touch all of these years so it was nice to spend some time with him and see how much the show has changed with all of his success.

Cupcakes are finger licking good!

Me and Kevin

The view from my seat.

Aunt Nancy sent Grayson and Beckett some

Halloween gifts. The hat is actually Beckett's

but Grayson felt he should break it in.

Eventually we will break him of his schnoolies, 

but until then he will continue to play with them.

He is only allowed to have them at night and during nap

time so he isn't too attached anymore.

Uncle Bobby is coming to visit this weekend but things never get too out of hand while he's in town.  We have not seen him since our trip to Belize so it will be nice to catch up with him.  Everyone have a great weekend!  We will keep you posted!