8 Months

I feel like I blinked and another month went by already.  Beckett is growing so fast and developing quicker than I expected.  Here are some things we noticed about him this month:

• This kid loves to be on the move.  We joke that we are going to make a wind up toy piece to attach to his back because as soon as you set him on the floor, he takes off!
• Beckett still loves to stand.  Anytime he can pull himself up and hold onto something, he does.  Sometimes he lets go while we have a light hold on him and he can stand for a brief second.  It's only a matter of time before he's standing on his own and maybe even walking.
• He's a talker.  Right now his favorite, and only, word is "Da-Da".  He doesn't seem to say much else.  He has even mastered the high pitched squeal as well as this deep grunt that is pretty funny.  Usually he does it when he wants our attention.
• I think he is beginning to understand the word "no".  Since he's into everything we have to use that word quite frequently.  In true Bybee boy fashion, he looks at us after we say "no" with this sly sideways smile and laughs.  
• He eats pretty well, but lately he hasn't eaten alot since he isn't feeling well.  Typically he has 5 bottles per day, cereal in the morning, a container of food around lunch and another about dinner time.  We might be ready to drop one of the bottles soon.
• He only sleeps about 9 hours at night but we think his sleep is also affected by how bad he feels lately.
• He is still wearing size 3 diapers.
• He wears mostly 9-12 month clothes but some 6 month pants.  Beckett is so tall so some 9 month pants are still too big for his little waist.

I guess our biggest observation with Beckett this month is his ears.  He is currently on his 5th double ear infection in less than 3 months, which is why he feels so bad.  On Thursday he is scheduled for surgery and his first set of tubes.  Two weeks ago there was a 50/50 shot he might need them, but after a follow-up visit last week, he had a pretty bad infection in both ears and the ENT felt tubes were absolutely necessary.  He gave us some more antibiotics to keep it from getting worse prior to surgery but Beckett has been in alot of pain the last few days.  I made a trip to urgent care on Sunday  night because he would scream out in pain throughout the day and night.  They were able to prescribe some numbing drops for his ears and also a motrin regiment that appears to be helping him.  Shane and I have also had him sleep with us in bed at night.  He seems to sleep better and it saves us from going into his room every hour or two to comfort him and get him back to sleep.  You can tell he has little bags under his eyes in the photos we have taken of him lately.  We aren't getting much sleep these days either, so hopefully there will be relief for all of us on Thursday!

 Another cute photo from his 8 month photo shoot

 DJ Becks droppin some beats

 Having fun at school

 Guess I need to make another dino tail

 Reading at school with his teacher

Playing with the stacking puzzle from Aunt Sam

 Gray's school had a summer kick-off party.

Once Eleanor showed up, the two were inseparable.

 Playing in the bubble pit

He had to clean off the bubbles on the splash pad.

Young love!

 Gray had to take a sack lunch to school one day.

He took Shane's lunch box.

 The thrill of the little carts wore off at Kroger

once he realized they had cars he could ride in.

He usually requests the police car so he can be like

Anpa, but sometimes we get stuck with this...

 Oh well!  Real boys ride in pink cars!

We went to cheer cousin Aaron on at his baseball game

 The A/C upstairs went out one night so Gray had to sleep

in our room.  Luckily my uncle fixed it the next day.

 Helping daddy build Beckett's chair

Brothers in matching chairs

Beckett loves his chair!

 They love taking a bath together now.

 Our new patio is complete!  We think it turned out great

and we love the addition of the stone wrapped columns.

There is one other reason that makes this day special.  Merely 9 years ago I married my best friend and one true love.  How did we celebrate this momentous occasion, you ask?  Well, I came home late from work after the boys had eaten, we bathed them, watched USA beat Nigeria in the Women's World Cup and now I lie in bed next to Beckett while he sleeps soundly and Shane works in the other room.  In all honesty, I wouldn't change a thing.  I don't need a fancy night out to celebrate our marriage.  Spending time together with our boys day in and day out is a constant reminder about how lucky I am.  I love you, Shane!! 

Rain, Rain, Go Away

The month of May has been a wet one.  I think there was rain on record for about 25 days out of the month and this past weekend really set us over the top.  The lakes are all well above capacity which has caused extensive flooding in the area.  The worst many of us have seen in years.  One statistic stated that we have had enough rain to cover the entire state of Texas in 8 inches of water.  This past weekend was when our sports complex saw the worst of it.  When Lake Ray Roberts releases water, it flows into Lake Lewisville which releases into the Trinity River, which runs adjacent to our largest sports complex.  Saturday when I got police clearance to go check on our facilities, we discovered 22 of the 27 fields at that complex were completely submerged in atleast 6-8ft of water.  We are still waiting for the water to recede so we can assess the damage.

 Aerial view of our complex on Monday that was taken by a drone

 Entrance to our facility

Top photo was Friday morning, bottom was Saturday afternoon

 Entrance to our back soccer complex

Top photo was Friday morning, bottom was Saturday afternoon

Areas of our neighborhood also experienced some flooding, but our street is fine.  The sad part is the playground we have always walked to with Gray is under water.  I guess we will have to make the trek over to the playground near my parent's house until the water recedes and this playground can be inspected and repaired.

During all of the rain, I tried to find different ways to keep the boys entertained since we were stuck inside most days.  I found a few ideas on pinterest that they seemed to enjoy.

 Paint in a ziplock baggie for Beckett

 My heart

 I feel like he looks so grown-up in this photo.

 Paint and shaving cream art for Grayson

 I love his face.  I think he dropped a toothpick in the 

shaving cream and he didn't want to put his hands in it.

 I made some roads out of masking tape so he could 

play with his cars.

 Lining them up in the parking lot.

Not sure where he gets his OCD...

 Of course we baked some cookies.

 One afternoon it dried up enough to hang 

out on the patio.

Beckett is doing really well and on the move.  This kid should enter some sort of crawling competition because once he hits the ground, he is off!  His other favorite past time is standing and holding on to things.  Anytime we are on the floor or the couch, he is standing next to us.  We made another trip to the doctor a couple of weeks ago and he recommended we go see our ENT.  Last week we went to the ENT and he said one ear looks good but the other does not.  He added a few days of antibiotics to our current regiment and we are taking him back next week to recheck.  As of now, there is a 50/50 chance he will be getting tubes.  

 Watching and waiting for a storm to roll in

 First visit to the ENT

 Ready to move over to the next room.

He officially started in there this week.

 Mommy trying to entertain herself.

 Gray loves to play with Beckett and is so great

about sharing his toys with him!

 Someone is sitting up in the tub now!

 Sitting up means joint bath time!

 I think he looks grown-up in this photo, too.

I think this little boy loves his momma!  ;)

This is what happens when mommy and daddy

aren't paying attention and they think their son is 

just crawling around on the tile.

Looks like we have to put the other gate up now!

Grayson is doing great, too!  He is doing so well with potty training.  There are accidents from time to time but we never thought it was going to be a seamless process.  We are always so proud of him when he lets us know he needs to go and just how quickly he picked up the process.  Last Saturday he took his last gymnastics class and this weekend he is going back to soccer.  His gymnastics teacher was leaving to go back to school and it was the last class of the session so we felt it was a good time to change things up and make the transition back to soccer.  The guy that taught his class before is still there so we are excited about that.

 Cute little tushy running through my house in undies

 Aunt Cra Cra went with us to gymnastics

 Little daredevil jumping off the mat into the pit

 A future Olympian!

 Such concentration and great form

 Grayson and Miss Whitney

During all of the flooding I had to go to work over

the weekend.  Gray and I were out running errands so I 

dropped him back off before heading to the complex.

Looks like 2 of my boys were sad to see me go.

In other news, Shane has a big announcement.  He has officially resigned from teaching to run his own business!  It's a company he started a couple of years ago that he ran alongside teaching, but it has really taken off lately.  After alot of discussion and number crunching, he decided it was something he wanted to pursue full time so we are making the leap.  I won't lie, it's nerve racking to make this transition but I know it's something he's passionate about and I have seen how hard he has been working to get things in order.  What's the business you ask?  It's called Bybee College Prep (click to view his website).  He will specialize in preparing students for the college application process as well as test preparation skills for the PSAT and SAT.  Over the years he has been offering PSAT and SAT tutorials after school and they have always maxed out.  Being able to do this full time will allow him to expand and offer more classes.  We know there will be an adjustment period for awhile but I know over time this is probably the best decision for our family as it will allow us to provide more opportunities for our boys both physically and financially.  

I am gearing up for summer and apparently assessing flood damage.  On top of documenting all of the damage from the floods, I am also in the process of building my first dog park!  We finally broke ground late last week and I hope we can open it to the public by the end of June.  My next project is constructing some practice fields and then I will also help design and build a second dog park by the end of this year.  I also have a baseball complex renovation that we will start this summer and hopefully finish by the fall.  Needless to say, my work days are packed full of meetings and facility walk throughs.  

Summer starts next week so I am sure I will have photos from the pool and other fun activities to post over the next couple of months.  Only 2 months until we go to the beach with my friends and their families!  Here's to hoping the rain will hold off for alittle while so we can get our heads above water (no pun intended).  Haha!