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!

Our wonderful weekend =)

We finally got to visit with the Bentons yesterday. We hadn't seen them since Hayden's Dedication January 11th. We finally got a picture of Ben & Hayden together!! Hayden kept calling Ben "my baby". It was so cute!!!!! We are so lucky to have such great friends in our lives. I've posted some pictures of the visit below.

So far, our Sunday has been wonderful as well. Ben woke up at 5:30 am, but fell back asleep an hour later and slept until 8:30. I brought him to our room when he woke up and snapped some pictures of him in his new PJs. He looks so big to me. He's growing up way too fast. We had our usual Sunday morning pancake breakfast and have been lounging around ever since! Ben and Jeremy are currently snoozing on the couch =) We'll get dressed and go to Publix later.......

Ben's conversation with Mommy

New Ben pics...

Ben in his new ball cap playing....I mean eating, his dragonfly =)

One of Ben's favorite past times these days is playing in this Boppy gym Grandma & Grandpa Byrd got him for Christmas. He loves wrapping himself around the "vines". He looks a little mischievous in this picture......

I had to "trick" Ben into smiling for this picture. I make this funny sound that he loves, so I did it and pulled the camera up from my lap super fast so I could snap it!

Here is Ben playing with the ridiculously huge bear his Nana brought him for Valentine's Day. He LOVES that bear.

4 months check-up

Ben had his 4 months check-up with Dr. LaRue last Tuesday. He weighs 13 lbs. 2 ounces and is 25.5 inches long. I can't believe he's grown half a foot since birth! He also got his second round of immunizations which was pitiful! His huge, alligator tears made me cry. He slept the entire way home and slept through the entire night that night (nice break for mommy and daddy). Our little boy is growing up.......

Jumpin', Squealin' & Eatin' toes

Since I'm home sick today, I figured the least I could do is update you all on Ben. A few weeks ago we bought him this really cute bouncer from Fisher-Price called a Jumperoo. As you can see in the video, his little feet barely touch the ground so I've learned to put a pillow underneath his feet to help. He'll play in it for 5 to 10 minutes at a time and then gets frustrated because he can't put the toys in his mouth!

The second video is of Ben and his new "voice". He has learned to squeal and LOVES to hear himself doing it!!!! If I show him the video of himself squealing, he'll hear it and squeal some more! So cute!!

Ben has also found his toes! We don't even bother putting socks on him at home because they end up in his mouth. His favorite time for eatin' his toes is bath time when they're all wet & soapy!