Family & Newborn Pictures

Back in September we had family/maternity pictures taken by my friend, Mike, at Absolute Photography.  We went to downtown McKinney one Friday evening and took alot of pictures as a family.  After Beckett was born, we went to their studio at their house to attempt to take his newborn photos.  I use the word "attempt" because he was not as cooperative as Grayson was during his photo shoot.  We were only able to capture a couple of good photos that morning because he was wide awake the entire time and extremely fussy.  I am still happy that we were able to get some good pictures as a family of 3 and a couple of good photos of Beckett to enjoy.

 Love this photo!

Thought I might include a good outtake.

 Love this one, too.

Grayson was obsessed with walking on this wall.

 That is Shane's Taylor guitar

 He's making a weird face in this photo but look

at his left hand.  Grayson did the same thing

when we took this photo with him.

Both of my boys naturally hate T.U.!

1 Month

Beckett is already 1 month old!  This month has gone by so quickly.  Here are some things we have noticed about Beckett during this first month:

• Beckett rarely cries and when he does, he only lets out a small cry. 
• He may not cry alot but he is fairly noisy most of the time.  He grunts, squeaks, coos and makes all sorts of noises when he's sleeping or lying around.  This is when I am thankful he sleeps in his own crib in his room or we would never get any sleep!
• He sleeps really well.  During the day he takes a few good naps and he's starting to sleep 4-6 hours between feedings at night which this mommy is loving!  
• He already seems to be really strong.  When we lie him on our chest, he can lift his head up fairly well and has also started to push with his legs and put alittle weight on them.
• Beckett is eating about 7-8 times per day.  I'm still breastfeeding him and hoping to do so until he's about 6 months, which is as long as I breastfed Gray.  It seems to be going well because he is gaining weight and growing like a weed.
• He gets the hiccups alot.  He also had them when he was in the womb.
• He loves being on his tummy whether it's sleeping on our chest or on his boppy.
• Weight: 9lbs, 13 oz (50th percentile)
• Height: 22 inches (75th percentile)

I am still in shock how quickly this month has gone by.  I'm sure having two kids has contributed to the whirlwind.  I feel like I took note of so many more things with Grayson than I have with Beckett, which I can only imagine is usual for the second child.  We have noticed how similar Beckett is to Grayson.  They both have a laid back, easy temperament.  Sometimes I feel like we made a carbon copy of Grayson. 

Grayson still loves his baby brother and wants to do anything he can to help with him.  If Beckett gets alittle fussy, Grayson says, "Beckett's not happy."  He will kiss his head or his hand any chance he gets.  I need to do a better job of taking more photos, but it's hard when he's sleeping 75% of the time.  Here are a few I did take this month (note how he is asleep in most of them):

Aspen is enjoying my maternity leave, 

for a second time.

 I caught daddy and Becks napping one weekend.

 Playing on his activity mat during the few minutes

he is awake.

 Meeting his Great Nana

All snugly and warm in his bear outfit.

I bought this outfit for the cute photo opportunities...

definite success!

This is one of the newborn photos I took.

He wasn't too cooperative during his newborn photo shoot

so I attempted to recreate one at home and 

captured this shot. 

2 Years Old

Our little man is two years old!  I can't believe how quickly these last two years have gone by!  It seems like just yesterday we were in the hospital meeting Gray for the first time and attempting to figure out our new role as parents.  Now here we are two years later with a lively toddler and starting over with another little one.

Here are some things we have noticed about Gray as he turns two:

• He has the sweetest, most lovable personality.  Gray loves to give hugs and kisses to just about anyone that asks (assuming he knows them). 
• Gray is such a big helper.  Anytime Shane and I are doing something, he always wants to help.  Lately he has been pushing his chair up to the island in the kitchen to help us with dinner or washing dishes.  Whenever Beckett needs his diaper changed, Gray loves to get us a diaper for him.  It's not uncommon to hear him say "I do-it" or "I try-it".  
• He has been learning his manners which is probably the one thing we are most proud of him learning.  He says "please" when he wants something, he says "thank you" when you give him something and he even knows to say "excuse me" if he burps or farts.  There are times when we have to remind him about his manners, but for the most part he does a great job of saying them by just giving him a look.
• Some of the things he loves to play with are Legos, puzzles, his train set, his kitchen and pretend food, his guitar, and playdoh.  Over the last couple of months we have noticed how much he not only loves to play and interact with us but also how well he plays on his own.  Many times we all sit in the living room and he gets down on the floor and entertains himself.  We also noticed how he is starting to play pretend which has been fun to watch.  
• Gray loves to go for walks or be outside.  Shane and Gray will walk down the street to get our mail and end up taking a stroll around the neighborhood for 30 minutes.  His favorite thing to do on these walks is pick up rocks, look at bugs and collect items in his pockets (which he recently discovered on his pants).  In the front of our house a collection of items has started on the pave stones just outside our front door.  (When this began, I knew for sure I had a little boy on my hands).  
• Here are some of our favorite Gray quotes:
• "Come-on Momma", "Come-on Dadda" as he waves at us to follow him
• "Moo-vie?" as he gives us a sly, sideways smile and touches his finger to his mouth
• "All done" as he wipes his hands and mouth after a meal and carries his stuff to the sink
• "Baby Beckett" or "Beckett" as he points or kisses his little brother
• "Eyes Open" anytime he sees that Beckett is awake
• "Hey Momma", "Hey Dadda" in which we have to respond "Hey Grayson" or "Hey Baby".  If I say "Hey Baby" he will always repeat me with the same inflection.  
• He is getting ready to potty train.  Gray has used the potty before and regularly tries at school, but is starting to transition into the next room at school which is considered potty training boot camp.  It will be nice to have only one in diapers eventually!
• Gray can count and he's also learning the alphabet.  Each day we are amazed with how much he knows and how quickly he retains information or learns new things.  We have read that you are supposed to reward the work and effort and not tell a kid that they are "smart" so we rarely use that word, but I truly believe he is smart for his age (although I may be biased). 
• Weight: 28.8 lbs (50th percentile)
• Height: 35 inches (75th percentile)

Gray continues to be a constant blessing in our lives and I know he will continue to grow to be a well behaved, strong and respectful young man.  

He finally got his own pretend phone.

Thank you Aunt Sandee and Cousin Rowan!

 Serenading mommy

(see video below)

 Playing dress up with his kitchen

Driving his car through the house

Wearing mommy's Oakleys on his head

 School pictures

Such a photogenic little man!

Just another night at the Bybee house!

Here are a couple of recent videos of Grayson doing what he loves most.

Playing "You Are My Sunshine"

Doing the "Hot Dog Dance" after Mickey

I'm hoping to post our family/maternity pictures and Beckett's newborn pictures soon.  The picture of Gray at the top of this post was one of the pictures from our family session.  I finally got to see them last week but haven't been given the actual files yet.  I will also have Beckett's one month update soon, too!  Time is definitely moving by so fast!  

Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year!  My biggest challenge was trying to decide what Grayson would wear.  He's not at an age where he can pick his own costume, and he isn't into much except Mickey, so I did not know where to begin.  My mom and I went to a Halloween shop but I didn't find anything that I really liked.  Plus those costumes are all cheaply made.  I got lucky last year when I came across his pirate costume at Old Navy.  I decided to turn to Pinterest to see if I could get a good idea.  Some of the costume suggestions are fairly elaborate so I definitely wanted to find something simple since I only had a couple of weeks to make something before Beckett was born.  After a quick search, I came across this cute little dinosaur costume that looked really easy to make.  I had already seen the tail a long time ago and pinned it for a future project so I was excited to finally make it for Grayson.  After a quick trip to Target and JoAnn's I got everything I needed to make his costume.  It only took me a couple of hours to make and I think it turned out super cute!  The best part was that Grayson enjoyed wearing it and I think it's something he can wear around the house when he plays dress up.

Costume from the front

Costume from the back

The night before Halloween, Grayson's school had a fall festival so we went up there for Grayson to see some of his friends, play a few games and get some treats.

 Playing games at school

Sporting his trick or treat bag

Cake walk with his friends

Decorating a cookie with daddy

He ate his cookie one sprinkle at a time

Family pic

Beckett was quite content tucked in my Moby Wrap

On Halloween night, my brother and his family came over so the boys could all go trick or treating together.  Grayson loves his cousins and always seems to have fun when they come over.  We all ate dinner together and then they set off around the neighborhood while my mother and I handed out candy at the house.  We didn't realize it, but our neighborhood is a great trick or treating neighborhood.  There were kids out on every street and alot of neighbors participating in handing out candy.  Grayson really hit the jackpot and came home with a bag full of goodies.

Me and my little dino

Daddy and his little dino

Andrew, Grayson and Aaron

Andrew's costume scared Grayson

Beckett got dressed up, too

Side by side comparison of Grayson and Beckett

Shane is headed back to school tomorrow so Beckett and I will be alone.  It has been nice having him home, especially the early part of this past week.  On Monday afternoon, I developed an infection in my uterus that caused me to bleed alot and have very intense pain, swelling and tenderness in my abdomen.  I called the on-call doctor who recommended I either go to the ER or wait until their office opened in the morning.  The thought of trying to go to the ER with Beckett and figure out who would stay home with Grayson worried me so I decided to try to make it through the night.  It was a fairly long night.  I had the chills and Shane would have to bring Beckett to me when he needed to eat since I was unable to get out of bed on my own.  On Tuesday morning I finally spoke with my doctor.  He thinks part of my placenta didn't deliver so it created this infection.  He called a couple of medications in for me that started to work within a few hours of taking them.  After being stuck in bed for 2 days, I finally started to feel human again on Thursday.  I'm hoping this is the last of my issues as this pregnancy, delivery and post pregnancy has been fairly rough on my body. 

So starting tomorrow, Beckett and I will be spending alot of time together and trying to get into our own routine over the next few weeks.  I still have about 6-8 weeks of leave before I head back to work full time, although I do plan to start working from home in a couple of weeks.  Until then, I will try to fill our days with as much interaction as I can and enjoy every moment we have together because I know all too well that it goes by so fast.