December!

Holy cow! Is it really December already? I can't believe 2009 is almost over. We went down to Sebring the weekend after Thanksgiving and picked out our first tree together as a family of three. Ben was so happy walking up to the trees and touching them. He likes to pull the ornaments off, so for this year, only the top half of our tree is decorated! We'll try the full tree again next year, haha! Jeremy and I will celebrate our second wedding anniversary next week! I can't believe we've been married for two years! I remember that day like it was yesterday. I'm really looking forward to the rest of this month.....our anniversary, winter break, and spending the holidays with our family and friends.

Thanksgiving and a few random pictures

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving spending time with family that we don't get to see very often. We went down to Avon Park to have lunch with my mother's side of the family. Ben enjoyed chasing after my Aunt Darla's dogs. Jeremy and I made a pumpkin cheesecake to share for dessert and everyone seemed to enjoy it. We had dinner with Jeremy's parents, Uncle Chuck and Papa Stone that evening. It was a wonderful day. Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving:

It seems like the Byrd family has been busy, busy, busy the past couple of months. I've taken some shots of Ben here and there, so I thought I should post them. He seems to grow a few inches every week! Ben now has 4 top teeth to go along with his bottom 2. His hair is growing, too. Jeremy has been pressuring me to cut it, but I just don't feel ready yet. He is growing up so fast that I feel like his hair is one of the last things I have left to remind me of the "baby" days. Here are a few randoms:

Ben's 1 Year Pictures

Here are a few of Ben's 1 year pictures that were taken October 24th at Bok Tower. We used Greenprint Photography (http://greenprintphotography.com). Lexi, the photographer, was so wonderful! She just followed Ben around snapping pictures of him exploring the gardens. We had so much fun! These are some of my favorites. I'll post more later. Enjoy!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Benjamin Byrd!

Well, it feels more like Fall in Florida thanks to some cooler weather and a pumpkin patch! One of our neighbors has some family down in Sebring that put together a beautiful pumpkin patch this year. I hope they do it again next year because it was one of the nicest ones I've seen. Happy Fall Ya'll!

Ben's 1st Birthday!

I can't believe our first year with Ben has come and gone! Wow! Time needs to SLOW down!!! Jeremy and I decided to go a little overboard for Ben's first birthday. We ditched work on his actual birthday and took him to Downtown Disney. We ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, which he absolutely loved! We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around and checking out all of the cool stores. I especially loved visiting Ghirardelli. I think Ben's favorite part of the day might be tied between watching the elephant and gorillas in the cafe and riding the carousel. That night after dinner, we sang "Happy Birthday" to him and let him have his first taste of cake. It was the perfect day and one we will never forget. To celebrate with friends and family, we had a party at our house that Saturday. At one point, Jeremy and I counted 32 guests! We feel so blessed to have had such wonderful friends and family with us to celebrate!

Our baby is growing up!

Our sweet little baby is becoming a toddler. Ben is walking like a pro now and is no longer satisfied with "baby" food. He wants whatever momma and daddy are eating (and even has more teeth to eat with). I've posted some new pictures and videos of Ben eating table food and walking--his two favorite things to do these days! There's also a video of him being entertained by the sprinklers last night. Enjoy!

Back to school!

We have been so busy that I haven't had time to blog! School and daycare started back for us August 17th. Ben did very well with his return to daycare. He didn't rest well during the first week back, but he's starting to get almost two, hour-long naps in each day. Mrs. Janet says he doesn't like it when she has to tend to the other babies. He'll crawl up beside her and pinch her to make sure she knows he's there! They've had to put a gate up at the nursery door because he would try to crawl out everytime someone would open it. What a stinker!!!

Jeremy and I both have a really good group of students this year. My advanced classes are the last block of the day, which has turned out to be very nice. They are so much fun! The first two weeks of teaching have been very dull for me. Lots of "review and assessment" per the curriculum maps. I can't wait to dive into fluency next week!

Ben is 11 months old! I can't believe my little boy is almost 1 year old! He is starting to walk more and more these days. He has two upper teeth that have cut through the gum. I think they'll be all the way down just in time for his big birthday party! He still has the biggest, cheesiest, little grin! I've posted some recent pictures of him below. We're all glad Fall is finally here.....football, Ben's birthday, Thanksgiving......lots to look forward to!