January

Last night I realized it had been awhile since I posted anything.  I have taken some photos over the last few weeks but we have not had anything exciting to share, nor have I had the time to post any updates.

Shane is back at school and gearing up for his spring session of PSAT tutorials.  What was once his project for his master's degree has become quite a business.   He has 80+ students enrolled this spring for his class as well as a class that a friend is offering at another high school.  He is in the process of making it a legitimate business which will be called Top Marks Test Prep.  I think we finalized the logo but he still has the website and a few other things to finish.

Work has been super busy for me.  I am slowly learning some of my new responsibilities while also juggling my old job.  This week I should have a replacement hired so I can take some of the workload off my plate.

Gray is still growing and starting to talk more.  I took him in for a check-up on his ears last week and the ENT reported they are perfect!  He passed all of his hearing tests with flying colors.  I am really glad we went through with the surgery and did not wait any longer.  It really makes me wonder if his speech development was already delayed with how bad his ears were prior to the surgery.

Since I do not have much to report, I will close the post with the much awaited photos.  Most of these photos were taken with my new camera that Shane bought me for Christmas.  It's the Canon SL1 which is the lightest DSLR camera on the market.  My other camera was still going strong, but I was looking at getting a new one that had a higher mega pixel count along with a few other features.  I have been playing with this camera for a few weeks and love it.  The coolest accessory I purchased for it is the SD card which has Wi-Fi built into it.  I can literally take pictures with my DSLR, open an app on my iPhone and load the photos directly to my iPhone or load them onto my computer.  No need to remove the SD card or plug the camera into my laptop.  It may seem unnecessary but it has been pretty handy and super convenient.

We introduced Gray to Ranch...and thus
created a monster.

Playing peek-a-boo in the curtains.

Green bath!  He got bath drops for Christmas
that change the water into different colors.

Aspen is his new best friend.
We are so glad that Aspen is so patient with Grayson.
As you can see below, he is very tolerant. 

"Riding" our tricycle to get the mail.
His feet are still alittle short so mommy and daddy
have to push him.

Milk coma before bedtime.

Gray's favorite toy is this ball popper.

Gray also loves to read books.

I finally took him to get a haircut by a professional.
He looks so handsome now!

His first lollipop!

Here is a video of Gray's dance skills at school.  I have seen it a thousand times and it still makes me laugh each time I watch it.  I'm not sure where he picked up these moves...

Christmas

We had another great Christmas this year at the Bybee house!  I'm glad to report it was fairly low key and we were able to enjoy some time at home together.  Shane and I were both off work last week so we spent alot of time with Grayson and tried to find some time for ourselves on the two days we were able to take him to daycare.  

On Christmas Eve we started some of our new family Christmas traditions.  Gray may be alittle young for them, but we wanted to get started on the right foot and do some things that he might enjoy as he gets older.  We baked cookies for Santa and had a nice family meal together.  Then we had him open his Christmas Eve gift that included some new pajamas and a Christmas book that we read together that evening.  This year we selected a classic, "Twas the Night Before Christmas".  Then we sat down and watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (the original Dr. Seuss version, of course).  

Christmas morning all of the gifts from Santa were sitting in front of the tree waiting for Grayson to open.  We were not sure how he would handle opening gifts but he did a great job.  He figured out he needed to rip the paper and work his way into the box.  Each time he saw what was beneath all the brightly colored wrapping paper, he let out a big "Ooohhhh" and his eyes got real big.  He took the time to play with each gift and we almost had to force him to go to the next gift.  Each one captured his attention so much that he didn't seem to care about the other packages that still needed to be opened.  Shane and I had to stop ourselves from trying to push another present in his face because we want him to really enjoy each gift as he opens it and not try to rush through them.  His big gift this year was a Radio Flyer Tricycle that was sitting in front of the tree with the presents.  Between opening gifts, he kept going back to the tricycle trying to get on it. From his expressions and interest in all of his gifts, I would say Santa did a great job this year.  We spent the rest of the day playing with his new toys and preparing for his surgery the next morning.

The day after Christmas we woke up early and took Gray to Cook's Children in Plano for his tubes.  I was not too nervous because I knew it would be an easy procedure but I was not all too excited about seeing Gray disoriented and confused when he woke up from the anesthesia.  After waiting for an hour, they took us back to a room where they gave Gray some silly juice to relax him and a pain reliever.  Within a couple of minutes, he was asleep in my arms.  The nurse took him from me and Shane and I were sent to the lobby for about 5 minutes before being put in a consulting room.  While the nurse was writing our name on the door, telling us the doctor would be with us shortly, he came around the corner and said he was all done.  The doctor said Grayson did great and there was alot of fluid and mucus in his ears but he was able to clear it out.  He told us Grayson was starting to wake up so we should be able to see him shortly.  We continued to sit in the room for a couple more minutes and we heard Grayson's cry.  The nurse was wheeling him by our room so she knocked on the door and we followed her.  Grayson was lying on the bed with his schnoolie just sort of looking around.  Once we got to a post-op area she picked Grayson up and handed him to me.  Not once did this kid cry.  Everyone kept telling us how their kids cried for 10-30 minutes when they woke up from anesthesia.  The nurses kept referring to him as "not normal" because he handled everything so well.  After a few last minute instructions we were free to go and headed home to give Grayson some breakfast.  The rest of the day he was laughing and running around as if nothing happened that morning.  We have to administer drops in his ears twice a day and was also told this will make him uncomfortable.  Needless to say, he isn't phased by it and just lies there.  We feel like we can already tell a difference.  It seems like he can hear better and I feel like he has been talking more and saying more since the surgery.  

Friday night we had Christmas at my brother's house with my family and then Shane's family came in on Saturday to stay the night.  Shane's sister flew down from Oregon and stayed with us until Monday so we got to spend an extra day with her.   Overall we had a great week and a memorable Christmas!

 

Bybee Christmas Card 2013

My son has an appreciation for gifts...

Just like his momma (circa 1984)

Making cookies!

And eating raw dough...oops!

Can you tell which cookie Gray decorated?

Opening his Christmas Eve gift

 

Cookies and milk are ready for Santa!

Someone got a new tricycle!
(His new thing is to pull his pant legs up and walk around.)

 

Yay!  Snack Containers!

 

Oooohhhhh!  A new swing for the porch.

Waiting to be buzzed for surgery.

Silly juice is fantastic!

Post surgery

About 30 minutes after surgery.
Fruit Loops and bananas make anyone happy.

Opening gifts at Uncle Jay Jay and Aunt Kissy's

 

Climbing the stairs with Grammie

Listening to daddy play with Uncle Jay Jay's new guitalele

Playing with the buddha
I actually think he has discovered his belly button
and likes to poke at it.  

Opening gifts from Grammie D and Granddad

 

A new train!

Shannon & Colin

Last weekend I took some pictures for my friend, Shannon, and her brother, Colin.  They wanted to get some recent photos together to give to their mom for Christmas.  We went down to Deep Ellum for the pictures since there are some different murals and neat backdrops that fit both of their personalities.  It was alittle chilly but the sun was out so it made for some great lighting and kept us from getting too cold.

Shane and I are getting ready for Christmas next week and I think our shopping is done.  Yesterday my mom and I took Grayson to see Santa.  We took him to the same Santa as last year.  He is a really great Santa so I have a feeling we will make the trek to Fairview/Allen every year.  It appeared as though Grayson was going to have a meltdown once he got up in Santa's lap, but alittle reassurance from me and a squeaky toy by the photographer made him perk up and provide us with his signature grin.  Grayson is definitely on Santa's nice list this year! 

This visit to see Santa came immediately after our visit with an ENT.  Grayson is on his 7th ear infection since April so our pediatrician thought it was time to seek further medical advice.  As soon as the ENT looked in his ears, he said they looked really bad and recommended he get tubes for both ears.  So Grayson will be getting tubes next Thursday, the day after Christmas.  Merry Christmas to Grayson!  We are hopeful they will make him feel so much better and not be living with pain anymore.  It breaks my heart to think how tolerant he has been to the pain for all this time and yet he still keeps a smile on his face and appears to be just as happy as ever.  I told Shane I can't imagine how much happier this kid could be so we may be in for happiness overload after he gets these tubes.  :)

Aside from the ear infection, Grayson has been doing really well.  Over the last couple of weeks we have noticed so many great developments in him.  The one we are most proud of is that he knows the signs for "please" and "thank you".  It means so much to us that we can raise our son to be respectful and courteous to others.  We have been trying to teach him the different signs in order to reiterate what they are teaching him at school, but we were not sure he was picking up on them.  Out of the blue we started to notice he would make the signs during dinner and realized what he was trying to say.  "Thank you" is very similar to his way of blowing kisses so it's always a tough one to catch, but either way it still makes you appreciate his effort.  

We are looking forward to a relaxing weekend at the lake with my parents this weekend and then next week Shane and I will be off work together.  Monday will be filled getting some errands run and things done around the house before the holidays.  I really love this time of year and I'm excited to be able to start our own family traditions each Christmas as Grayson gets older.  

I'll end this post with a couple of pictures from the weekend we were iced in the house.  We had to find interesting ways to pass the time...

Mom builds Lego towers...

And Grayzilla tears them down.

Gotta love some playdoh!

There is an advantage and disadvantage to a large,
sloped driveway when it ices over.
Getting your car out: Disadvantage
Entertaining child with laundry basket: Advantage

Always having fun!

Aspen loves the cold weather and enjoyed lying
on the patio surveying his kingdom.