Our Little Slugger

Praying, Swinging, Dancing...

2010-03-30T00:06:00.003-05:00

Brice is awesome at praying. I know that lots of young kids say the cutest prayers and Brice is no different. However, there is something about Brice that I believe sets him apart from what I usually see or here. Brice is sensitive to people and will pray for you without being told to pray. Whenever we are not feeling well, Brice will pray for us. Dear Jesus, please help "insert Mommy or Daddy or whoever needs prayer here", be safe and well. Amen. One day I had told him I was not feeling well so he proceeded to pray very similar if not exactly as I said above. Then immediately afterwards he asked me if I felt better. Amazingly, I tell him I do and sure enough I start feeling much better. There is power in his prayer because he prays it sincerely and prays to the point.

Brice loves to be outside. His favorite thing lately is going to the park and swinging. He likes to slide and climb on the other toys, but swinging is probably his favorite. He gets this from him mom. Melanie loved to swing as a little girl and still jumps at the opportunity to swing when we go to the park. Brice will just sit there for hours and swing if we let him. He enjoys watching all the other kids play and just observing the different things they do. He will ask us where different people are at when we go back and they are not there. He likes to mimic the bigger kids that swing on there stomachs.

Another one of Brice's favorite things to do is dance and sing. He loves to praise and worship at church. I will have to get some pictures and even a video or two and post them. He will ask us to play his favorite praise songs at home and just dance around the living room and sing them. He loves for Melanie and I do dance and sing with him. It is actually tons of fun and really helps lift your spirit man up. He uses a couple dance moves that I taught him. There is one in particular that is hilarious. Again an excellent opportunity of some video. Most of all he just loves to worship God. Him and his good friend at church will get on their knees and just worship together. It is an awesome sight to see.

Here are some other fun/sweet/cool things that Brice does and enjoys doing.
1. He really enjoys spaghetti or "fabeggie" as he calls it. When Melanie is cooking it, he likes to feed us the uncooked noodles. Mmm Mmm good.
2. He likes to play ball. He will play basketball or catch with you. He is really talented, and I am looking forward to getting him into some organized sports when he is older. For now he just throws the ball with us or at the tv : ) (Of course he is trying to throw it to the people on tv)
3. He loves to play Doctor Mommy with Melanie. He will act like he is hurt and Melanie will doctor him up, or sometimes he just likes her to do a check up.
4. When someone gets hurt, he will ask them if they need a bandaid.
5. He really enjoys painting. For a while there, he painted every day almost. Melanie has a very large stack of his artwork and many people have been privileged to get a custom painted card (birthday, anniversary, Christmas, Valentine's, and others...)

There is so much more but I will save it for another post. I hope you have enjoyed reading about Brice and what is going on with him lately. I will try to post some more later this week. Have a blessed day!

Brice's first time to play in the snow

2010-03-29T23:02:00.006-05:00

As you all probably know, we got a ton of snow earlier this year. Brice absolutely loved it. We took him out and pulled him around in the drive way in a clothes hamper. He would laugh and say "Do it again Daddy!". Absolutely priceless. Here are some of the snow pictures.

Little feet in the snow. It was actually pretty deep snow.

Melanie pushing Brice around the driveway.

Now pulling him. This is when he really started having fun.

See what I mean. :)

Brice with Melanie.

Me pulling Brice around with my nice gloves!

A few pictures of Brice with his snowman. He held on to him the whole time practically. Then we brought him in and put him in the freezer. He got him out the other day and he melted mostly. I think it might be back in the freezer now. Thank you God for the beautiful snow. It was so much fun to play outside with Brice and see him experience the joys of playing in the snow.

Brice is growing up fast : )

2010-03-27T18:13:00.012-05:00

Here is my attempt of blogging again. I plan to keep his blog current so that people can see Brice grow even though they are not able to actually see him. I will start with pictures from the last few months.

Brice had an awesome Christmas. Here are some pictures from different Christmas get togethers.

Brice loves to read!

He is a big Elmo fan and got some grilling toys too.

He loves to play with his cousins!

He was a lot better at opening gifts this year, but his favorite thing to do is wrap a gift and give it to someone else. He loves to give gifts. He sings Happy Birthday to Melanie and I all the time.

Opening one of his gifts with his Aunt Tina.

Drawing on his Aquadoodle that he got from Aunt Tina.

Ready to drive home for the night : )

More pictures in the next post. Thank you everyone for your awesome Christmas gifts.

Merry Christmas indeed

2009-01-04T00:32:00.014-06:00

So, I was thinking I should probably put up a new post since I am currently averaging one a month. Christmas was awesome as it always is. We spent this year going from place to place sharing time and gifts with family from both sides. We ate lots of good food, played in a couple of gift exchange games, and even enjoyed a small little Christmas celebration at home before traveling over 150 miles on Christmas day without leaving the DFW metroplex. Brice got lots of fun toys and has been enjoying many if not all of them already. There are too many to lists, and I would not want to leave anyone out. However, he is thankful for all of them as his other toys had seemingly become boring. Brice is walking now. He is much faster if he is cruising (i.e. holding on to something); however, he is getting braver each day with walking on his own. I am sure it won't be long and he will be running. Here are some random pictures of different Christmas celebrations and the holiday season. Enjoy!

Update on Brice

2008-12-06T12:26:00.003-06:00

I am not going to post any pictures right now, but maybe later I will add some. I just wanted to update everyone on how Brice is doing. He is growing everyday in so many ways. He has learned to say a few words, although you might not recognize them without spending sometime around him. He has perfected Dada (and says it in different ways depending on what he wants). He is very good at saying Mama as well, but for some reason seems to say it more selectively. He does a great "quack, quack" when you ask him what a duck says. But it sounds more like "tack, tack". However, it is obvious that he knows what a duck says. He can also say "Bubba", which is what we often call him. He says "Nana" and "Papa". He can also say "baseball", sounds like "bball", but it is very cute. There are other words as well that he will mimic to the best of his ability, but I think those are the most distinct ones.

He is, in my opinion, within days of walking. He actually took his first two steps this morning and then lunged towards me. He walks around the house with his little car walkers without much problem at all. His main issue with those is turning, so we usually accompany him and steer the car when he needs help. He can climbs the stairs without help, although, we are always close behind as sometimes he does seem to slip. I will try to get some video of him walking and climbing the stairs and post that as well.

He is eating well, and growing too. I don't know how much he weighs exactly, but he is between 22-23 lbs. He seems long (tall) too, but I would be guessing to give you his height. He is absolutely amazing, and makes life for Melanie and I a blast. He really makes us smile regardless of circumstances. He is definetely a handful and requires alot of attention. We tend to probably think he needs even more than others would think is necessary, but I guess that is probably how parenting goes for most with their first child.

I hope you are all doing great. I am looking forward to seeing some of yall during the holidays, and for those that I don't see very often when we do cross paths I hope to find you smiling. Happy Belated Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas. This is an awesome time of the year.

Pictures

2008-11-01T11:35:00.013-05:00

I do not really have a specific thing to blog about today. I just thought I would update the blog with some pictures of Brice. I hope you all enjoy. He is doing great and getting closer to walking everyday. He has 12 teeth and loves to be outside.

Texas State Fair - call it a family tradition

2008-10-21T00:13:00.036-05:00

So, this weekend we headed out to the State Fair of Texas. It ended up being my parents, Melanie, Brice, and myself after my sister and family were unable to attend due to illness. It probably worked out best this way though as they had wanted to go early and we didn't get out there until mid afternoon (I think 4 but I can't remember :) ).

Here we are headed up to the gate. We were really blessed with a fairly close on fair ground parking spot. Even after heading down the street that said "No Cash Parking". God's favor is great.
Brice got interested in this area when the dog's were barking. He really like dogs. However, we ended up getting down next to the ducks and I think chickens. Brice also like ducks. When you ask what a duck says he says "Quack quack quack". Of course, you have to speak Brice to know that is what he is saying.
Mommy didn't make the family picture as she was the camerawoman, so here is one of her and Brice. He almost appears as though he wasn't too interested in the camera :)

Here is a picture of us in the food pavillion. I believe the food is argueably the best part of the fair. Here is a list of what all we got while out there. Two loaded potatoes, 1 extra long cheese coney, Dr. Pepper, Ice Tea, Water, Turkey Leg, Corny Dog, Ice Cream, Funnel Cake, and Hot Chocolate. I won't disclose who had what, but one person at least tasted all but one food item.

When we were making our way from the food to the car show, we got to stop and watch a parade go through. Brice really enjoyed it. He was pointing at alot of the different people that came by. You can't tell much from the pictures, but there were a few floats, people on stilts, and other things. Quite catchy for a one year old.
Here is a good family picture with Big Tex in the background. I can't believe I am almost as tall as Big Tex. I guess State Fair food makes you big :)

Free games, free prizes... what's not to like. Above my Dad and I compete to see how fast we can put some boxes in the back of a Ford. Granted we were about 10 seconds slower than the fastest fair time, we had fun and got a free Ford koozie. We also played a rendition of the Price is Right's Plinko and Deal or No Deal. I got some sweet Ford tire valve covers (too bad I drive a Chevy) so Dad ended up with those. Dad got entered into a drawing for Cowboy's tickets. We both opted not to take a flashlight on Deal or No Deal and go for a whopping $11 (maybe $12). We both left that game empty handed. We also threw some footballs in a Toyota challenge. I scored two chapsticks for my willingness to go for a target that had only had 4 successful throws. Earlier we drove some Chevy's and filled out a couple surveys to get the bags you see my Dad and I wearing and the hat he has on. All in all we left with some good things.
Brice was extremely tired by now, but he had some fun playing in the back of a Ford pickup. I was distracted though as a nearby Robot answered a crowd of people's questions. Did anyone else see this? It was kind of creepy, but really cool.

Time to leave now. Brice is not asleep in this picture, but he is willingly laying down. This is a sure sign of his tiredness.

One last picture with Mommy and Nana before Brice surrenders himself to dreamland. He was so cute. He just layed his head on my shoulder and went to sleep. By then it was near 10:30 and he had been awake for a lot longer than he is used to. However, despite him being so tired for the most part he was in a great mood the entire fair. And as Brice called it a night, I too must do the same. It is almost 2am, and I need some sleep. Goodnight all (all = the 4 people that read this blog).

Big Shoes to fill?

2008-10-20T23:56:00.004-05:00

So the other day, we were at my parent's and Brice decided that he wanted to try on my shoes. Either that, or maybe his mommy thought it would be cute. Either way, it makes for some great pictures. However, it brings up a more important aspect of life. Fatherhood... it is easy to see that my shoes are much larger than Brice's feet. However, I hope that I do more than just wear bigger shoes. I hope that I can show Brice the best example to live by as a man and a father. I know that I defintely have my shortcomings, and areas of needed improvement, but I can already tell how Brice truly looks up to me. He already mimicks alot that I do.

Example: The other day I turned the Pringles upside down to get the remaining crumbs and now he does the same with his cherrios and other food. Except he hasn't grasped the concept of only needing to do that with the remaining crumbs and he often spills alot of cheerios :)

God is our Father in Heaven and has given us the ultimate example of Fatherhood. Love unconditionally, be patient, allow your child to grow but always be available for counsel and guidance, and so much more. I know that there will be more tests as Brice grows older, and he will be molded primarily by Melanie's and my parenting (along with God's guidance and will for His life). I just want to do the best I can, so he can be the best that he can be. The responsibility is great, but the reward is worth it.

On a less serious note, check out those kicks.

Just some pictures

2008-10-20T23:42:00.005-05:00

Well, I was going through some pictures while waiting on some newer pictures to upload and decided I had to post these. Brice was wearing some pajama pants and a John Deer "Got Dirt" t-shirt. As you might of noticed, he usually just sports a onesie around the house. I had to post these because I think he looks adorable and also looks more like a little boy than a little baby boy.

Pardon My Posting

2008-10-14T23:06:00.019-05:00

Well, I have not done a very good job of keeping up with blogging. It is pretty time consuming as fellow bloggers probably already know. I guess I need to just post short blogs (oh wait, I already do that). Ok, well I will work on a plan to blog more often, but in the meantime here are some pictures from Brice's 1 year check up. We took him to a new pediatrician, and he did a great job. He is doing great. He was more interested in the paper than anything else.

TV's are for Toddlers

2008-09-30T02:25:00.006-05:00

Brice has recently learned how to stand up with something to hold onto. One of his latest discoveries is how to turn off the tv. Melanie captured this one really well.

Now if I can just teach him to turn it on ESPN. :)

Climbing is fun!

2008-09-30T02:14:00.007-05:00

Brice has taken a liking to climbing. He climbs up the stairs. He likes to climb the side of the bathtub. He even was climbing up onto his Nana and Papa's coffee table. Here are some pictures.

Here he goes!

"Um, maybe I will just rest on this comfy step."

Sometimes a little help goes a long way.

Here Brice actually crawled up to the first platform. I was there just to make sure he didn't fall.

I wish I had some pictures of the other climbing, like the coffee table. He does best when there is something that he wants. If you notice in one of the pictures, there is a little stuffed animal he is going after. It is alot of fun, and maybe it is even helping him sleep better.

Tia Tina

2008-09-30T01:56:00.016-05:00

Tina,
Here are a few pictures of Brice playing with the toy you got him. He misses you and is looking forward to learning some Spanish from Tia Tina.

Step 1: Get Toy

Step 2: Put Toy in Compartment

Step 3: Close lid

Brice really enjoys putting toys in the little compartment of this toy. Isn't he sooo smart?!

Been a while

2008-09-30T00:38:00.008-05:00

Ok, I am sorry, but I have not blogged in a long time. I will try to blog a little more frequently; however, "try" is the keyword. So, I guess I will start out with Melanie's birthday. Here are some pictures of Brice playing with some hair clips Melanie got for her birthday. Also a picture of Melanie and Brice on her birthday. Finally, some pictures of us outside of Mardel. We intended on going to a restaurant, but Brice needed to go to sleep so we settled for Taco Bell. Woo Whoo. We still had a lot of fun though.

I thought this was a great smile from Brice and Melanie.

Before going into Mardel

After Mardel

You can tell in the last picture that Brice was not too interested. I think that was because he was tired. I look pretty tired myself. Also if you look carefully, you can see the Taco Bell that we picked food up from in the background. Happy Birthday Melanie!

(Addition to original post) This is the birthday card Brice and I made for Melanie.

1st Haircut

2008-09-09T23:36:00.006-05:00

I don't know if you have noticed, but Brice's hair was getting pretty long. In fact, the other day he was laying down and stretched out his hair reached his shoulder blade.
We have been wanting to cut it, but just haven't gotten around to it. Well, Sunday morning before church we finally gave him a little trim. He did pretty good considering he was getting a haircut.

He was pretty interested in the clippers.

He checked out the comb as well.

He did a great job and let me cut his hair enough to where it is off of his neck now.

His hair still curls in the back, but at least for now it is off his neck and probably much cooler. I think it makes him look older. Here is one of him in his car seat with a new shirt he got for his birthday. He really is growing up.

Isn't he cute with his radio and drink? I hope you enjoy the post.

Friday Night Lights

2008-09-06T13:25:00.005-05:00

Last night Brice got to experience his first Texas high school football game. We decided to take him to the Royse City Bulldog football game against Atlanta. It was the first real home game in their brand new stadium. Brice only took one nap during the day and had been awake since about 2:30. He ended up falling asleep on the way to the game. However, he must have known that football was being played since he only slept for about 30 minutes. When I went out to get Brice and Melanie once he woke up, Brice kept pointing at the field. He was so ready to get to his first game. Once inside the game he hung out with Nana and Papa and loved every minute of it. We were a bit concerned of how he would be with no sleep and with all the noise. He had so much fun. He was clapping when the fans clapped. He even threw the football some with a friend of ours kid and Uncle Kevin. The Bulldogs won 35-7, and we all had a great time. We are looking forward to the next game. Here are some pictures of B at his first game. Hope you enjoy!

Estudias Espanol?

2008-09-05T00:33:00.008-05:00

Yo queiro escribir un nota para mi cunada(had to look that up), Tina. Pero, yo queiro usar espanol que yo recuerdo de mi dias en escuela. Es muy dificil (sp?). Tina, B te ama mucho. El piensa que es muy listo. Tiene una buena dia en escuela manana. Nosotros (ok, gotta google), rezamos para usted. Sabemos que usted es mas listo que cuando sale Los Estados Unidos.

Ok, that is about the best I can do. Tina, we know that what you are doing is tough but we believe in you and know that you will be stronger and smarter when you get back. Keep up the good work and enjoy some pictures of you and Little B. He loves you and misses you.

Tina heads to Antigua to learn Spanish

2008-09-02T00:24:00.009-05:00

Last Thursday we met up with my sister-in-law, Tina, and some other friends and family members to see Tina off to her journey to learn Spanish in Central America. We had a great time eating some steak at Saltgrass before heading to DFW to see her off. Here are some pictures of the event. Brice's favorite thing was the escalators.

Here we are on one of our many trips on the escalator.

Brice is actually feeding Aunt Tina a Cheerio.

In about 3 1/2 months Tina will be coming back on this side of the security checkpoint, but this time fluent in Spanish and ready to take on her new job. Study hard Tina and have fun!

1 Year Old

2008-09-01T13:39:00.022-05:00

We recently celebrated Brice's birthday with a party at our house. Lots of family and friends showed up for the occassion. Brice had an excellent time. The theme was sports. Here is a picture of his cakes.

Other than sticking his hand in the baseball at the beginning, Brice was not really into his cake.

Brice got a ton of great gifts and enjoyed opening them. He really likes to play with the tissue papers. All the kids gathered around and helped him. It was alot of fun. Thank you to everyone that attended and participated in Brice's birthday celebration. I will leave you with some pictures of Brice opening his gifts. Along with some random shots including the bounce house that even the old "kids" enjoyed using.

Guess it is time to start blogging

2008-08-28T23:53:00.002-05:00

So, a few months back my sister began blogging. Check her out at www.jc-originals.blogspot.com. I enjoy the occasional read, but was not too interested in creating my own. However, we have had different requests to join social networking sites to post pictures of our Little Slugger for others to see. And just today my sister-in-law, Tina, headed to Antigua to learn Spanish. She absolutely loves her nephew. So here I am, blogging. Now, everyone that likes can keep up with our Little Slugger Brice and what is going on. I hope you enjoy.