It's been a week since Shane, Gray and I returned from an amazing trip to Belize with our good friends Bobby and Sam. We flew in to Belize City on Wednesday, July 9 and took a puddle jumper over to Ambergris Caye Island. Once we arrived, a taxi picked us up and took us to our resort. We had a "booking.com" moment on the way to the resort as we drove through the town of San Pedro, over a toll bridge and then onto the dirt road that ran in front of our resort. Luckily it was just a gorgeous as the pictures on the internet had depicted. We checked in and ate dinner at the resort so we could get settled into the condo.
Our condo was 2 bedrooms, 2 bath with a nice living area, kitchen and a beautiful patio. We had daily maid and laundry service which was great because we did not have to bring as many clothes with us and were able to pack light. Sam and I went to town the morning after we arrived and bought some groceries to get us through the week. We had our own golf cart during the trip that we could use to go into town to shop or eat dinner. The rest of the 6 day trip was spent hanging out by the pool, walking on the beach, reading, exploring the town, eating delicious food at different restaurants, snorkeling with sharks, sting rays, eels and turtles and relaxing as much as possible. One morning Sam and I were able to relax at this spa on the south side of the island that was on a dock over the water.
Gray had a great time! It was his first time to fly so we were nervous how he would handle the flight, but he did so well. No matter what we did, he sat quietly and just took in all the new experiences. We were so proud of him the entire trip and could not believe how quickly he would adjust to the changes.
I am so glad we were able to go on this amazing vacation and take Gray with us to share in our experience. He was able to get his first stamp in his passport, which is only the first of many to come. We have every intention of showing Grayson and Beckett the world and traveling as much as we can as a family.
View from our balcony
Dinner at Aji Just a short walk down the beach from our resort
Aunt Sam giving Gray a lift back to the condo
Yep, I got a parking ticket in town on our golf cart. I paid a small fine of $12 to stay out of a Belizean prison.
It's been a few weeks since I posted an update, but there has not been much to report. My nausea and vomiting have gone away and it has been replaced with complete exhaustion and an achy back. I can take those last two symptoms any day over the previous symptoms.
We had a check up at the beginning of June and everything looks great! Beckett is measuring about a week ahead, but that is pretty average. He was very active on the sonogram (it might have something to do with the caffeine I consumed prior to my appointment) so there was one photo of the right side of his heart that she wasn't able to capture. Otherwise he looked happy and healthy!
Hi Mom & Dad!
In other news, Grayson is doing really well at Soccer Tots. The first couple of weeks he didn't want to participate too much but he seems to be into it now. We have discovered he is a "watcher". He will sit back, watch what others do and then join in once he's comfortable. This past Saturday he made it through the whole class without a problem and enjoyed every activity. I think he may be starting to enjoy organized classes and activities.
What kid (or adult) doesn't love the parachute?!
He's a natural player. Such focus and concentration during his toe touches.
Shane has officially started summer so he has more downtime now. Gray will be staying home with him two days a week and going to school the other three. I think it will be fun for the two of them to hang out and go do some fun stuff together. I have to admit, I'm alittle jealous. I know my one on one time with him is only going to dwindle once Beckett gets here so I am going to do my best to spend as much time with him on the weekends as I can over the next 4 months. This past week they went to story time at the library, Gymboree (which will be a weekly thing) and came by the pool to swim one afternoon. It is kind of nice to go home at lunch and see him since I usually don't get those extra visits with him during the day.
Father's Day
Sunday we had a nice, relaxing father's day at home then joined my brother and his family for dinner. Grayson bought Shane some pancake shapers since Shane loves to make Gray pancakes on the weekends. One is shaped like Mickey and the others are random shapes like a puzzle piece, heart and square. He also got him a tent so they can go camping together. I think the campouts may start in our living room and work their way into our backyard once the weather is cooler. Grayson is so lucky to have Shane as a father. Shane is a natural at being a parent and does an amazing job with Grayson. Over the last few months he has practically been the primary caregiver since my morning sickness has kept me debilitated. The two of them can have so much fun together doing the simplest of things. I love watching them play and seeing Grayson's face light up when Shane walks into the room. The two of them have a pretty tight bond.
I also need to give a shout out to my father. He is one of the most amazing men I know and I can't thank God enough for him each day. My dad is a hard working, dedicated Christian, that has devoted his life to providing the best for his family day in and day out. He has been a positive role model for my brother and I and I'm proud that my son(s) will get to have him as a Grandpa.
Anniversary
Yesterday was our 8 year wedding anniversary! I can't believe how quickly 8 years has gone by. Shane may think otherwise! :) I'm so lucky to be married to my best friend and experience so many new things with him. Our family continues to grow and our bond only gets stronger. We have been through so much in this short amount of time and I can't wait to see what God has in store for us over the next 50 years.
This upcoming weekend is giving me mixed emotions. Shane is going to take Grayson to Lubbock to see his family. It will be the first time in 20 months that I will go without seeing Grayson in a day. Although I may not have always been there when he went to bed or woke up in the morning, I have always seen him at some point during the day. We have never spent a night apart. It may make me a crazy mom for never taking time away for myself, but I never had a reason to be away from him. Nor did I want a reason to be away from him. As much as I'm going to miss him, I am looking forward to getting a few things done around the house, possibly sleeping alittle more and enjoying a girl's night with a few of my friends. Luckily we have the most amazing technology so I do plan on getting some FaceTime in while they are gone.
I will close this extremely long post with a few pictures of Gray over the last couple of weeks.
Aunt Cra Cra moved into a new apartment so we went to dinner then stopped by to check it out.
Shane, his sister Sandee and niece Rowan want to take the same photo each time they come to visit to watch Grayson grow.
It's as close to a spa as I'm going to get these days. Does this violate any child labor laws? :)
I only allowed him to wear this because it was Father's Day and Tech was playing in the College World Series.
Gray loves to read. We catch him from time to time just going through his books.
The latest craze in our house is called "Bowling with Grayson".
The weeks seem to be going by faster now, which I can't decide is a good thing or a bad thing. Good in the sense that I am already over being pregnant (sorry Beckett), bad in the sense that we have yet to start on Gray's big boy room and know his eviction notice from the nursery is coming in the next couple of months. We figure we will move him upstairs after we get back from Belize so he has some time to adjust to the new room before Beckett makes his arrival.
As for how I'm feeling....better. The nausea seems to be gone but I still have no energy and the backaches have started. By the time I get home at the end of the day, I'm pretty exhausted and ready for bed as soon as Gray goes down around 8pm.
Beckett seems to be doing well so far. We go to the doctor next week for our official anatomical sonogram and his 20 week measurements. Over the last 2 weeks, I have started to feel him move more and more. Shane felt him move for the first time this past weekend. He seems fairly active and long. At times he is punching on my left side and kicking on my right. I pray he's just long and there isn't another one in there that they keep missing on the monitor. :)
Gray had a nice 5 day weekend at home. On Wednesday, I went to the Ranger's day game with all of my coworkers and got a call around 3pm that Gray had a fever. I was not able to go pick him up so Shane grabbed him after he got out of school and took him home. His fever continued throughout the night and then he developed a rash on Thursday so we made a doctor's appointment for Friday morning. I took him to the doctor and he tested positive for strep. Aside from being slightly lethargic on Wednesday, he was still a ball of energy. We also started to see a glimpse of the "terrible twos" over the weekend. He seemed more fussy than usual, didn't want to fully nap and cried more than he has in over a month. Bobby was staying with us so we hope he isn't regretting his decision to travel to a secluded island with us for a week in July. On Monday, Gray seemed back to his old self and jumped right back into his daily routine.
Despite his diagnosis, we opted to take him to his first soccer tots lesson. We figured he wouldn't be interacting with the kids too much and he really wasn't too contagious. Only 3 kids showed up due to the holiday weekend but it didn't bother the instructor. His name is Coach Mike and Gray really seemed to take a liking to him. He has alot of energy and works great with the kids. Shane and Gray started the class together and then after about 15-20 minutes, Gray decided he had enough and sat in the bleachers with Shane for awhile. Once the next activity started (chasing hula hoops), we encouraged Gray to get back on the field. He had a blast chasing hula hoops all over the field and dragging them back to Coach Mike. When the class was over, Coach Mike gave each of the kids a stamp on their hands. Gray wore his proudly and showed us regularly throughout the day until they washed off. This class meets every Saturday for the next 12 weeks so we are hoping it is something he enjoys since it's really the only organized activity he's doing outside of school (until we do another round of swim lessons in July).
Gotta stretch! Don't want to pull a muscle!
Gray mesmerized by Coach Mike
Kicking over the cone towers
Chasing hula hoops
Getting a soccer ball stamp!
Shane's family is coming to town this weekend so we have another busy weekend ahead of us!
I don't want to jinx myself, but I may have finally turned the corner and put the nausea behind me. Atleast I have not felt too bad the last few days so I'm hoping it sticks around. I'm still completely exhausted at night but that could also have to do with the fact that work is really busy right now so my days are pretty packed.
For a comparison, here I am at 18 weeks with Grayson:
I am definitely much larger with this pregnancy, but I can't blame all of that on Beckett. I think the big contributing factor is never having lost all of the weight after I had Grayson. :) I did not see the point of working so hard to lose the weight if I was just going to put it back on again with another kid in the near future. Although right before getting pregnant I was meeting with a trainer to start working out. Maybe after Beckett comes I will push myself to get back down to my "college" weight.
We spent this past weekend at home hanging out and some of Sunday afternoon at our pool's soft opening. The water was alittle chilly so Gray spent most of the time sitting at a picnic table entertaining anyone that would stop by to visit with him (and eating whatever mommy and daddy had in their hands). The weather was really nice so we tried to spend some time outside playing with bubbles (Grayson and Aspen's favorite) and practicing kicking the soccer ball around. He starts Soccer Tots this Saturday so we wanted to be sure he had alittle practice before the first class!
This weekend Uncle Bobby is coming to visit with us so we can wrap up some of our final plans for Belize. It looks like rain is in the forecast so it may be another weekend hanging out at home. Everyone have a great Memorial Day Weekend!
A few more recent photos of Grayson.
That is our son sitting on a table at daycare. Mommy happened to log in and catch him right before the teacher told him to get down.
Grayson had school pictures taken in April. We never buy them but thought I would share the proofs.
Grammie bought Grayson a mower for Easter. It is actually a bubble mower but he plays with it inside, sans bubbles.
Cheese!
Daddy helping us to get moving so bubbles will come out.
As soon as the bubbles come out, Grayson has to check them out so he stops and bends down to look for them.
Another couple of weeks down, but not much to report. I go back and forth between feeling bad and good each day. I'm keeping food down more regularly, but I have moments where I get sick. I'm trying to watch what I eat because some foods do not settle well with me. So far I have not gained any weight so watching my diet is the least of my worries. Afternoons and evenings are typically when I feel the worst. I'm still taking medications to control the nausea but they do not always seem to help. I can only hope the worst will be over soon, but each week it just seems to drag on.
I had a doctor's appointment last Tuesday. It was just a normal check-up and all looked well. Initially he wasn't going to let me get a sono, but I sweet talked him again and asked if we could do one as a mother's day gift so I could possibly see the gender. He likes me so much and felt bad that I had been so sick that he caved and had the sonographer check me out.
She started looking around and I immediately saw something. Alittle "boy" something. She said it could be the umbilical cord but I knew it wasn't. Sure enough, she found what I saw and we confirmed we are having another BOY!
We are both pretty excited to welcome another boy into our home. I know Grayson will be such a great brother and good role model to his little brother. The two of them will be such great friends. Many of you may be thinking, "Do you have a name picked out yet?" And we do!
Beckett James Bybee
We decided on it awhile ago as it was one of the only boy names we liked and both agreed on. We also have a girl's name but I guess we will hold on to that one for now in the event we get daring and decide to attempt for a third. Although with my luck, I will pop out twin boys. :)
As for Grayson, he is officially 18 months old. I have been meaning to do a post for his 18 month milestones but have yet to take any 18 month old photos. Hopefully this weekend I will get around to taking some so you can all see how much he has grown and changed. He truly is becoming a little boy right before my eyes. But he is one of the sweetest, most caring, and polite boys I have ever known.
I had a good mother's day this Sunday. Given my new position, I didn't have to work so I was able to spend the whole day with Grayson. My parents were in town since they watched Grayson while Shane and I went to a wedding on Saturday night so we had them and my brother's family over for lunch on Sunday. All of the men prepared the meal so the ladies could have a "day off". It was a really good meal and time spent with family.
I only have a few photos to share and a couple of videos. I have not taken as many pictures lately as I should and realize there are things I need to document or fear missing out on them later. I will do my best to take more over the summer as Gray will be pretty busy with school, hanging out with Shane a couple of days a week and starting Soccer Tots in a couple of weeks! Gotta get him started early so he can be ready for select in a few years! ;)
We opened a new playground so Shane and Grayson came to be one of the first to try out the new equipment.
This kid loves a good slide...especially one that was recently waxed! Our marketing department is using this photo on one of their park posters coming out soon.
The evening of the playground opening we also had an event at our museum so I took Gray for alittle while and got a couple of photos with him in the bluebonnets.
I love looking down the hall to see Shane and Gray brushing his teeth. His little butt and legs are so cute!
Gray "brushing" his teeth
Playing soccer with daddy!
Starting to figure out our tricycle.
Playing with cars. Right after I took this photo, I told Shane he was starting to look like a little boy and not a baby anymore.
Someone is going to be a guitar player just like his daddy
and grandpa!
Daddy may have taught us some not so great tricks.
