Parades, Pumpkins & Physicians!

We have had such a fun and busy week! We kicked off the Halloween festivities by attending Bartow's annual Halloween Parade. Jeremy's grandfather, along with his neighbor, decorated his mule to represent Bartow's Dixie Baseball in the parade. Ben loved seeing the police motorcycles, firetruck, and marching band. He got really excited when he saw his very own Papa Stone in the parade. We met up after the parade and had a nice dinner at Fred's.

Ben carved his first pumpkin Saturday morning. He was so funny trying to shake the seeds out! I would get a big wad of pumpkin out and chase him with it, saying "ewww!!!" He just laughed and laughed. We had so much fun. We dressed him up as a doctor for trunk-or-treating Saturday night. He did great! He didn't try to take his coat or hat off all night. We were so proud! I kept calling him my little Doogie Howser!

I can't believe tomorrow is November 1st! I always look forward to this month because we get a week off for Thanksgiving Break. It will be nice to spend some time with family that we don't get to see very often.

He was so excited to see the police motorcycles and firetruck :)

"look at dat!"

Papa Stone and Ms. Sandy in the parade :)

Representing Bartow Dixie Baseball in the parade

Pumpkin carving time!

Picking seeds off his foot, haha!

trying to shake those seeds out :-)

Halloween pictures...

My little Doogie Howser

Dr. Q.T. Patootie

Grandma & Grandpa Byrd with the little M.D.

Aunt Joycie with Ben and Hannah

Ben with his Aunt Joycie :)

Grandpa Byrd's photo club had a fundraiser set up outside of Southside Baptist Church. We got a cute little family snapshot :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Fall Fun!

The Byrd family has had a fun, but busy couple of weeks! The weather has been so gorgeous that we practically play outside until the sun goes down. We took Ben to Bok Tower's "Boktoberfest" last Saturday. It's a huge plant sale, but they have food, games, and pumpkins as well. Ben picked out a baby pumpkin to paint and enjoyed his first snow cone (blue raspberry). Last Sunday we found a pumpkin patch in Winter Haven and snapped some cute pictures. Ben picked out a big pumpkin that we still haven't carved yet!

Ben had his two-years check-up on Friday. He weighs 25 lbs. 5 ounces and is 37.5 inches tall. Dr. LaRue says if you double a child's height at two, that will be his approximate height as an adult. That means Ben could be 6'3"!!! Wow! I'm going to really enjoy his size now, since I'll be looking up to him in no time. He had to have 3 shots and the flu nasal mist. He was such a trooper!

I've posted almost 30 pictures below! I guess that's what happens when I miss a few weeks of blogging. Enjoy!

My Benny BOO!

I promise he's not picking his nose :-)

My boys look great in baby blue :-)

Ben being silly after nap time

This face cracks me up!

Funny pumpkins!

Ben and Daddy at Boktoberfest

I love his smile in this picture!

Ben enjoying his first snow cone

Ben being silly after his bath

Ben and Daddy riding the carousel

and the train...

and the helicopter!

Can't a boy get some privacy? Good grief.

A decent shot of Ben and Momma :-)

Ben's 2nd Birthday!

My sweet little boy is TWO years old! I still can't believe how fast time is passing. We had so much fun celebrating Ben's birthday. His birthday fell on a weekday again, so Jeremy and I took the day off and we all went to Sea World! We had a lot of fun and would like to go back before our free passes expire.

We had our family and friends over Saturday evening for dinner and cake. The weather was perfect! We were able to sit outside and let the kids play all evening. Ben was such a little ham. His personality has really changed over the past year. I remember wondering if he would ever want anyone other than Jeremy and I (or G-ma and G-pa) to hold him. Now, he'll go to just about anyone. He certainly doesn't meet a stranger either. He'll strike up a conversation with the cashiers at Publix! He has certainly come out of his shell :-) He got tons of gifts and we've been having a blast playing with everything. He is a well-loved little boy!

I've posted a ton of pictures below! Enjoy :-)



Ben with our neighbors, Orville and Sandra Dawes. They brought a present over for Ben Thursday evening. We adore them!

Ben and I made cupcakes to share with Ben's friends at Aunt Joycie's house. He loved helping with the sprinkles.

This is first thing Friday morning. We got him a few small gifts to open that morning while his "big" present was in our bedroom charging.

A Pablo beanie baby.

A pack of Hotwheels. I love his face in this picture :-)

Emmies! He was so excited about this bag full of M&Ms.

He really loved this yellow plastic recorder that we bought from Toys-r-Us (only cost $1).

Ben and Momma @ Sea World!

Ben loved the flamingos! He tried to hop the fence so he could play with them!

Ben and Grandma checking out the sea turtles.

Ben and Grandpa watching the sea lion and otter show.

The trainer and sea lion were about 3 feet away from us in this shot! Ben had the cutest look on his face when the sea lion got this close!

This is a picture of Jeremy and Ben that I tried to snap while we were in the shark tunnel. I thought it looked cool even though it didn't turn out.

Grandpa and Ben looking at the sharks and sting rays.

Taking a juice and goldfish break :-)

Ben with his "big" present! It had finally finished charging by the time we got home from Sea World.

One happy kid!

Birthday party pictures!

The birthday boy in his Backyardigans party hat :-)

Ben with Aunt Darla

Ben with Aunt Joycie. He loves his "Jo-cie" :-)

Ben's Pablo cake courtesy of Senora Phillips! I loved it!

And so did Ben!

Ben and Daddy

Ben and Momma

Pablo!

The giant Pablo balloon! Ben has had so much fun playing with this!

Blowing out the birthday candle! I made a wish for him :-)

Singing "Happy Birthday!"

Ben got so many new toys! He is a lucky boy!

Ben and Momma. We tried taking this picture a million times. He is just too busy to smile for the camera!