The Bybee Chronicles

We had a great Christmas this year! Earlier this month we took the boys to go see Santa in Allen. It's the same Santa we have seen since Grayson was born. I think he is the best looking Santa but their check-in process is amazing. You basically make a reservation online, pay a deposit and then show up at your scheduled time. We waited in line maybe 2-3 minutes before the boys saw Santa and then waited about 10 minutes to get their photos. Gray was really excited to see Santa before we got there and then froze when it was time to finally sit on his lap. Beckett cried but they were able to capture a couple of photos where both boys seemed happy.

I love Gray's sweet smile and

how Beckett is looking at Santa.

After we saw Santa, we headed back to Carrollton to take some family photos. We tried to take them in November but we weren't able to arrange a time with our photographer. I'm hoping to get family photos every year at the end of October since it's around the boy's birthdays. The sun started to set fairly quickly but he was able to capture some great pictures of us.

A few outtakes of Gray...this kid has some crazy facial expressions.

(He has a plastic snake in his hands.)

I took these photos of the boys while we were waiting for the photographer. The park was covered in leaves and they had a blast playing in them.

The following week Gray had his first Christmas program at school. His class sang Frosty the Snowman and Feliz Navidad. For weeks leading up to the program, we had those songs going in our car and at the house. We sang them with Gray just about everyday and he knew the words really well. We knew he might freeze up on stage as he tends to get shy, but were hopeful he might perform. They sang Frosty first, and he froze up, but during Feliz Navidad he belted out a few lines. It was so cute to see his class up there singing! After the program ended, the kids were able to stay around and take pictures with Santa and enjoy some cookies and juice.

They had these playing on the screen before the program started. It was different questions they asked the kids at school. Below were two we saw with Grayson's name on them.

He got tired of his scarf and handed it to his teacher.

Here is the video of him singing Feliz Navidad. I won't bother posting the one of Frosty the Snowman since he does not sing one word. (This is a three minute video.)

Gray had a milestone this month. He went to the dentist for the first time! Anytime we try something new with him, I am always happy to see how well he handles the situation. We talked about going to see the dentist for a few days leading up to his appointment and he seemed excited. I found a place by the recommendation of a friend that takes their kids there. It's very kid friendly so I hoped he would like it and feel comfortable. Per the norm, he was amazing. When they took him to his station they asked him what movie he wanted to watch (they had every movie you could think of) and he chose Cars. They laid him down, put some headphones on him and sunglasses so the lights would not bother his eyes. The lady started to work on his mouth and he never made one peep. Anytime she would try to explain the next step, he would just open his mouth wide and let her do her thing. After he was done he was able to pick out a sticker and he also got a coin that he could use in a toy dispenser to get a special prize (he loved that).

Breakfast with mommy and daddy before his appointment

Shane and I spent just about the entire week of Christmas with the boys since they were out of school. I went into work for a couple of half days but took a majority of the time off. The weather was amazing leading up to Christmas so we were able to spend a lot of time outside going to the park and playing in the back yard. Shane's parents and grandmother came in town one weekend to have Christmas with the boys and then Shane's sister and nieces were here one day the week of Christmas to see them. A couple of days after Christmas we celebrated with my family at my brother's house. We continued our usual Christmas Eve traditions this year which I'm hoping the boys will begin to get excited about as they get older. Santa paid a visit to them but we made sure he didn't go overboard. I think Shane and I have a good plan in place to be sure the boys have a good Christmas and provide them a well rounded amount of gifts. I definitely didn't feel overwhelmed by the amount of gifts we got them this year.

Opening their Christmas pajamas and books.

This will be a Thanksgiving night tradition

starting next year so they can wear the jammies

and read the books the month leading up to Christmas.

Opening gifts from Gramme & Granddad

Opening gifts from Aunt Sandee and Cousin Rowan

Gray with the tree in his room

Playing outside on Christmas Eve

Making sugar cookies for Santa

Putting out the reindeer food so they can find us

and have something to eat while Santa

delivers our presents

Opening their Christmas ornaments.

Each year we plan to get them an ornament that

represents something they were into that year.
They will open them on Christmas Eve.

Gray got two minion ornaments

Beckett got a guitar ornament.

He's actually trying to play it in this photo.

Cookies are out for Santa

(Beckett didn't want to pose for a photo)

Santa came!

Their big gift from Santa was a workbench, tool belts

for both of them and a plastic Bosch drill/tool set from

Pottery Barn Kids.

All of the boy's gifts had special tags from Santa

that I made.

Beckett playing with his new toy

Hot Wheels track

This is what he really wanted and actually

asked Santa for this year.

A dinosaur placemat.

Christmas at Uncle Jay Jay and Aunt Kissy's house

My parents with all four grandsons.

This is the first time we have been able to get a photo

with all of them cooperating!

Here are a few other random photos of the boys from the last month. We are looking forward to 2016 and all it has to offer for our family (including a new look to the blog)!