March Madness A Deux

Okay, March is not quite as crazy this year as it was last year. There are, however, a few similarities. Jeremy and I have been getting the kids ready for FCAT. It starts tomorrow. I've been baking muffins and am actually waiting for the last batch to cool so I can pack them up and go to bed! I finished all of my course work so that I could apply for a professional teaching certificate last March.....Jeremy is working on his this march :) We got a lot of homework done yesterday afternoon. It was fun sitting around brainstorming math lessons with my husband. Are we nerds or what?

Ben has had another great week with Cassie. He can now say Hannah, Peyton, Cole, and Hayden. These are his playmates from Aunt Joycie's house. The big kids all love him so much. They ask to give him hugs before he leaves. Ben and Uncle Randy have been bonding, too. Aunt Joycie says he'll crawl up and down in the recliner Uncle Randy sits in. She says he looks forward to getting to see Ben on Fridays :) Ben has a new, super-cheesy grin he poses when Mommy's camera is in his face. Take a look for yourselves....it's in almost every picture!

14 work days left until Spring Break. Yahoo!!!!!

Good-bye February!

Tomorrow is March 1st and Ben will be 17 months old! We went to Macy's last night for some new clothes. Ben has just about out-grown his 12-month size clothes. It always makes me a little sad when we have to go up a size in clothing....it's a very tangible reminder of how fast he is growing up. We've also had to switch to a booster seat for eating. Ben decided he was no longer happy in a high chair and wanted to be at the table with mommy and daddy.


We have had a great week. The baseball team won two district games last week. Jeremy has a winning record for the first time in his coaching career. Way to go hubby! If you're out riding around, check out that baseball field.....it is looking mighty sharp!


I also want to mention (and celebrate) the fact that Ben has been healthy for an entire month! We love Dr. LaRue, but it sure is nice to go a month without a visit to the doctor. Now more than ever, I am sure we made the right decision in taking him out of daycare. I realize we'll have to deal with the germs and sickness when he goes to pre-K, but I'm so thankful for the break right now.


I've posted some pictures of our week below. We got to spend the entire afternoon with our Godson, Hayden, yesterday. Ben and Hayden had a great time playing together. I didn't get any good pictures of them together, but I snapped a few of Ben, Shannon, and Corretta. I've also uploaded the cutest little video of Ben telling the camera some of the different animal sounds and body parts he knows :) Enjoy!

Helping Shannon find his eyes

Fascinated with Corretta's ring

Ben and his Godparents

Coloring with cousin Lauren

Cheeeeeese!

Playing with some pine bark

Our week in review...

The Byrd family had a good week. The baseball team played Santa Fe Tuesday night and won 10-1. The team played in a tournament yesterday. They lost the first game, but won the second. Ben and I had fun cheering Daddy's team on. Several of the parents have younger children and Ben attracts them like a magnet! It was so cute. They all wanted to play with him. I've posted some pictures from the ball park below. In the first picture, Emily and Maxcy are trying to carry Ben......he was not liking it! Other than not liking to be carried, he was very friendly. He let the kids roll trucks back and forth with him. I had fun trying to keep him out of the dirt and ant piles :D

Ben's physical growth has definitely slowed down, which I am thankful for. That first year's growth just amazes me! Intellectually, he is still growing like a weed! I haven't stopped to count how many words he can say, but I know it's over the 50+ words the baby book says he "might be able to" at the 18 month mark. The new words for this week are fox, box, Cass (for Cassie), two and five. I'm sure there are more, but these are the ones I can recall right now! He is also starting to recognize letters. He knows T, B and Y. We bought LeapFrog's fridge phonics to go along with his fridge farm. He is such a little sponge!

I can't believe we are starting our last week of February. Ben will be 17 months old March 1st. Holy smokes!

February Update

Gosh! I can't believe I haven't updated this thing since January 21st! We have lots of news to share. I'll tell you guys the best news first.....Ben isn't going to daycare anymore!!! YIPEE!!! He was getting sick every other week so my wonderful cousin, Cassie, is keeping him for us until the end of the school year. His new routine is so much better. He is getting to sleep in, which means his bedtime has been pushed back to 8 o'clock instead of 7. Jeremy usually gets home from baseball practice around 6, so he actually gets to spend a few hours with Ben this way. Cassie and Ben hang out at the house for a couple of hours in the morning and then they usually go spend a couple of hours with my Aunt Joyce. My Aunt Joyce is keeping 4 kids right now that are 3 to 5 years of age. Ben gets to hang out with the big kids and is also getting used to Aunt Joyce, who he will be staying with in August. He will be with her until he starts school. Yay!!! Ben just seems so much happier being at home and around family all day. He loves playing outside so he gets to do much more of that now (even more if this stupid cold weather would go away!)

Baseball season has begun! Jeremy's first game was Thursday night against Lake Gibson. His second game was Saturday against Bartow. Ben and I actually got to go to that game and we had a blast! I forgot my camera, though, so I don't have any cute ball park pictures to share.

We had a relaxing Valentine's Day yesterday. We hung out and played at the house. We also went to Publix and got most of the cleaning done. Jeremy and I pay per viewed Couples Retreat last night, which was really cute. I can't believe February is almost over. We've got FCAT next month and then Spring Break. This school year is flying! I'll leave you with some new pictures of my little valentine and some oldies of me and my big valentine :D

Recent Pictures

2010's not so hot start....

Ben and I have had a rough start to the new year. Ben started the new year in a new room at daycare. He has been in the baby room since December of 2008. He got quite attached to Mrs. Janet. She's a very grandmotherly person and Ben really bonded with her. His first morning in the toddler room with Mrs. Stacy was pitiful. He looked up at me with big alligator tears streaming down his little cheeks when we tried to leave. Jeremy had to make me leave the room because I was crying at this point, too. It was a hard day to say the least. Jeremy dropped Ben off the rest of that week so I wouldn't have to witness that scene again. I just can't stand to see him cry and know that I have to leave him so upset. He seemed to be adjusting by the end of that week, thank goodness!

That Friday, January 8th, Ben had an appointment with Dr. LaRue for his 15 month check-up. The visit went very well. Ben now weighs 22 lbs.! He is still taller than he is heavy, which Dr. LaRue says is a very good thing. He had to get another round of vaccinations, which he did NOT enjoy. We also talked to the doctor about Ben's recent sleeping patterns. Over Christmas break, Ben started waking up several times during the night and it got very hard to get him back to sleep. On several occasions, I put him in the bed with us just to get some sleep. BIG MISTAKE! Dr. LaRue said once they learn that crying will get them momma or daddy, they will keep doing it! He said to pick a weekend and let him cry it out. This has always been tough for me, but we powered through and Ben has been sleeping through the night again for an entire week! YAY!!!

That weekend, Ben started having a runny nose. We tried treating it with Dimetapp, but it got worse and he had a fever Thursday night. We took him back to the doctor today and he has a touch of bronchitis. I've caught it, too, so we're all on antibiotics. I'm hoping we all get well over this three-day weekend! Baseball try-outs start next week for Jeremy, so life for the Byrds is about to get hectic! I am hoping the next few weeks go a little smoother :) I've taken some random pictures of Ben over the past few weeks that I promise to post later.

Happy New Year!

It's Two Thousand Ten, I love my little Ben....(I came up with more to this little rap, but Jeremy begged me not to share my cheesiness with the world, haha)

Here is a picture of my favorite little guy ringing in the New Year:

Some of my New Year's Resolutions:

1. Get back to exercising 5 days a week. Not because I need to lose weight, but because I feel better when I do and I will be around longer to care for my family.

2. Be less of a control freak (i.e. stop cleaning the house so much and let go of the compulsion to keep everything in a certain spot)

3. Keep my family as the #1 priority in my life and let everything else fall into place.

Sounds simple, right? I got this neat little card along with one of my birthday cards and I'm going to try to remember this all year long:

"Lord, I have too much to do, but it's all important. Help me to set priorities so that I don't feel lost in the pace and the pressure. Give me the wisdom and energy to accomplish what's necessary without wasting time or effort. And help me to make the best use of my day, remembering that time is a precious gift from You."