Ben's eating adventures

Ben has started solid foods! Jeremy and I fed him his first rice cereal Tuesday night. He never spit it out, but sure gave us some crazy looks! For now, we're feeding him the cereal in the evenings. Everything I've read basically says the main source of nutrition during the first year comes from the formula/breastmilk, so the solids are just to get him used to eating with a spoon. We've been having a blast letting him experiment! Here are some pictures of our attempts this week.

6 month photo shoot

Yesterday was such a great day! Ben woke up at 7 am and I told Jeremy some of his mom's homemade waffles sounded great for breakfast. We loaded Ben up and headed over to the grandparents (still in our PJs). Then I got a few hours to myself to go see Anna-Maria. I really look forward to my hair appointments because I know my hair is about to look fantastic, but more importantly because I get to catch up with Anna! Next, I met Jeremy, Ben, Grandma & Grandpa in Lake Wales and we took Ben to Sears Portrait Studio for his first professional photo shoot! He'll be 6 months old April 1st, so we figured this was an important milestone to capture (plus mommy wanted a great picture to use on the Easter card). He was more cooperative than any of us expected! Hats off to the photographer for keeping his attention and getting some good smiles. I don't know where she finds the energy to keep up with that job all day long. The day ended with a great dinner at Olive Garden!

Here are some pictures from the photo shoot.

March Madness

No, I'm not talking about college basketball, I'm talking about the Byrd family! March has been insane! Baseball is in full swing. Jeremy and I have been prepping our kids for FCAT. Ben is teething AND getting over an ear infection. I have been working my butt off trying to finish course work to move from my temporary to professional teaching certificate. Crazy, crazy, crazy!

I haven't been able to blog in forever so I have a lot to write about! The baseball team's doing well. Jeremy comes home with funny team stories almost every evening. He's finally putting on sunscreen before practice (nagging works). The FCAT is finally over! I promised my kids they wouldn't hear me say FCAT again for the rest of the year. I'm excited to focus the rest of the year on reading for pleasure! I am determined to get my students to enjoy reading--maybe they will now that the pressure of passing the FCAT is off (I teach 10th grade intensive reading so if they don't pass they have to take a reading class their junior year in place of an elective). Our little Benny Bear is teething hard core! That poor baby chomps down on anything that comes near his mouth. Thank the Lord for orajel swabs =P We had to take him to Dr. LaRue Monday for what seemed to be just a cold (clear, runny nose & mild cough). We felt horrible because he had infection in both ears! Grandpa stayed with him all week so he didn't have to go to daycare. I couldn't stand the thought of him not getting someone's full attention while feeling so miserable. Thank the Lord for Grandpa Byrd! He is always to the rescue! I submitted my final task to finish my course work Friday. Woo-hoo! I feel so accomplished! Now I just have to wait for it to be graded..................

The Byrd family is looking forward to April!