December

December has been a crazy, busy month for the Brown clan. I know it has been a long time since the last update; I'll try to provide a lot of pictures to make up for it.

First, a big congratulations to Derek for graduating from NC State with his Electrical Engineering degree!! It has been a long time coming, but it is well deserved. He was able to take a few short breaths over the last few weeks, but now is dedicating his time to looking for the perfect job. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the engineering field isn't too adversely affected by the economy....

Our friends Mike, Dana and Paul made the trip down from Michigan to join us for the graduation ceremonies. (Thanks again guys!!) It was a great visit. Paul and Beckett became fast friends (again).

While they were here we made a visit to Northgate mall to see Santa and take our first carousel ride. Yes, I know it isn't the best mall, but it certainly the closest and least crowded - there wasn't even a line for Santa.

Because we had to wait so long for the carousel attendant to return from his "smoke" break, he gave us a free balloon. This turned out to be the best toy Beckett got all Christmas, he is still playing with it.



Gamma and Pap Pap came for graduation as well. They were smart and brought the presents with them so that we didn't have to carry them back from TX with us and our heavy bags. So, we were able to celebrate a little early. To Pap Pap's enjoyment, Beckett took plenty of time to examine and play with each present. He definitely didn't get that from his mom.


After graduation, we all traveled to TX for Christmas. Despite all of the travel issues with the airlines, Beckett was perfect on the plane rides as well as during our 8 hour delay on the way home. We had a good time visiting with everyone including Beckett's cousins Hayden and Zachary. We also were able to fit in a quick visit with Brian and Dawn. Congratulations again to them for their marriage. We also got Bracken family photos during our trip. Stay tuned for some super-cute photos of our little man.

And, I guess I'll throw in the 8-month update as well...we are still a little behind on all of our gross motor skill progress. We aren't crawling or pulling up yet, but we are rolling all over the place. Remember we have a whopping 24 pounds to haul around. We did get our first tooth bud earlier this month, but it still hasn't come all the way in. The best thing that has happened is that Beckett has perfected a new funny face that he uses to make people laugh. See what you think: