Rice Rhetoric

New pictures of Adelina & family

2007-10-06T15:07:00.000-04:00

Adelina's first swing ride

Here are some shots from South Carolina.

Every month we take a picture of Adelina with her pink bear. Here are her pictures from when she was 6 and 7 months.

Adelina is adorable!!

Adelina's mohawk

IL trip, June, 2007

2007-07-07T12:56:00.000-04:00

Adelina and Todd

Todd with his mommy and daddy

Grandpa with Todd

Riddock is such a happy baby!!

Our ladies' tea at Lucille's Tea Room

Swimming in the pool at Grandma & Grandpa's house

The train ride to Chicago was very fun. Maren said that "the 1st train ride was a good idea, but the 2nd train ride was not such a good idea." I guess she had enough fun on the ride in. Maren decided to name our train Robin, and we looked for Thomas, James and Percy while we rode the train.

We arrived at Navy Pier and ate hot dogs at America's Dog, which is famous for having the world's longest hot dog in the 2004 Guinness book of world records.

We had fun walking all over the pier and seeing the skyline. Scott, Amy, Maren, and Riddock went the the children's museum, and Maren got to ride the carousel with Grandma. Dad, Amy, Bonnie and I rode the ferris wheel, so we were able to get some really great pictures.

Grandpa and Todd. I think they look alike in certain pictures.

One night, we built a fire in the fire pit and made s'mores & sang songs while Tim & Donnie played the guitar.

Todd & Tim

I would just like to say thank you to Tim, Bonnie, and Scott for taking these amazing pictures on my camera, so that I can have these wonderful shots until the end of time. Thanks, guys!!

Adelina's 1st trip to Florida

2007-04-19T22:37:00.000-04:00

How cute is a newborn in a swimsuit?! :) This is Adelina's 1st trip to the beach. She loved it!

We went miniature golfing and tried out our new baby carrier.

Donnie didn't really care for having his picture taken like this, but I thought it was too cute.

This is Adelina's new dress--it's the first thing Donnie and I have bought for her! We loved shopping for her.

Visiting with friends

2007-04-03T21:58:00.000-04:00

This was just too cute! I had to add these. Here is Adelina with Aunt Candace & Molly. They are all pooped!!

And here are a couple pictures of Adelina and her boyfriend, Logan.

Adelina and her proud Daddy.

Adelina is growing!!

2007-03-31T12:50:00.000-04:00

Adelina is now 6 weeks old & she has gained about 1 1/2 lbs. At her last doctor's appointment, she weighed 8 lbs., 7 oz. She just keeps getting cuter and cuter!!

This was taken when Adelina was 1 month old. We're going to take a picture with this pink teddy bear every month to show how fast she grows.

Fun with the Family

2007-03-06T14:35:00.000-05:00

Helen & Jose came with the kids to visit us & Adelina. Leandro, Maximo, & Bella loved meeting their new cousin!!

Bella's doll is the same size as Adelina!!

Beautiful Baby Girl

2007-03-05T14:07:00.000-05:00

Adelina is so precious! She's wonderful during the day. Night time is another story. I love her anyway. We have been taking pictures constantly!

Adelina is doing well. Saturday night she was not feeling well. She would not go to sleep and she would only cry, which in turn made Christy cry because she felt bad for little Adelina.

We took her to church for the first time this past Sunday. She just turned two weeks old. Christy placed her in a baby hammock so that people would not try to pick her up and handle her. IT WORKED! I don't think one person actually tried to pick her up. I don't think anyone even really tried to touch her, but everyone did "gush" over her. I was a very proud Papa, and I know Christy was a very proud Mama.

Adelina is getting into the guitar

Man...we're pooped!!!

Daddy's little girl

Mommy's little angel

You like my hair? I did it myself?

Our beautiful daughter

2007-02-23T20:01:00.000-05:00

She is now 6 days old, and she is precious. She is sleeping about 4 hours during the night. She is a gourmet eater (5-15 minutes at a time with a 15-20 minute break, and does that for about and hour or two.) There have been a lot of firsts this week, and life does change drastically. It is exciting to learn her, but frustrating at the same time because of not knowing what she needs at that particular time.

First nap with mama

First bath

First family picture

First time in the swing (not liking it too much)

First nap on mama's lap

First time we let Molly get close to Adelina

Adelina is here!!!

2007-02-20T20:01:00.000-05:00

Christy and I are now proud parents of a beautiful baby girl. She was born on February 17, 2007. She was 7 lbs. 1oz. She has a full head of dirty blond hair, dark blue eyes (so far), and a very pretty face. We are so happy!!!

So far it has been long nights. It is definitely going to take some adjusting.

So...many of you knew that Adelina was not due till February 22. Christy went to her normal check up on Thursday the 15th and had very high blood pressure. The highest that it reached was 169 over 109. The doctor had Christy go to triage, and they did not let her go home. They decided that she needed to be induced. Things were progressing fine until everything just stopped. Adelina was dropping head down, but in the wrong position. The doctor decided that she needed a cesarean. The rest is history.

Is she not the cutest thing?!?

She is less than 30 minutes old.

Look how small she is. . .ahhhhh.

Adelina's nursery

2007-02-12T21:52:00.000-05:00

These are pictures of Adelina's nursery. Myrril came over and painted a mural of butterflies and dragonflies that match our crib set. Now the nursery is finally ready for our baby girl!! And just in time too. We have 10 more days to go, but I would love it if it were sooner! :)

Some Awesome Guitar Playing

2007-01-30T10:40:00.000-05:00

I have just started taking guitar lessons. I have been playing for almost two years. I needed to learn so that I could lead the youth group in music. I taught myself, and have hit a plateau, now i decided that I needed lessons, so that is what I am doing.

These guys, I found on youtube and loved them. They are truly good at what they do. I hope that someday, I am as good, if not better than these guys!!!

New Car

2007-01-30T10:18:00.000-05:00

We have been searching for a vehicle for a very long time. Ok...it was not very aggressive searching, but we finally found one. We found a Saturn Vue Redline that we liked, and decided to buy. WE NOW HAVE A CAR THAT IS CAPABLE OF CARRYING A BABY! All we had before were two door vehicles that were on their last leg. I did not want my new baby to ride in something that was not very safe. So...we took the plunge! We love it. There are a couple minor things that need to be worked out in the Vue, but it is still under warranty, so I am not really too stressed out about it.

Baby belly

2007-01-11T09:21:00.001-05:00

Christy only has 6 more weeks on her pregnacy to go. It seems as though it has gone by very fast, at least for me!

We have been doing a lot to get ready for the baby. We went through the second room and cleaned it out. We threw out anything that we really have not used in a year. We took about ten bags of clothes to Goodwill. We have moved all of the second bedroom furniture to a few houses for storage (because we have absolutely no storage). Then I painted the walls. We chose khaki for the walls (actually called latte from Sherwin Williams) and white for the trim. When we did khaki (after it was on the wall) we were wondering if it was too dark for a baby's room, but then I went ahead and painted the trim, and now it just looks sharp. It will be good, especially with all the color accents that can be put in a baby's room.

Time to try again...

2007-01-02T14:29:00.001-05:00

I have tried to blog for the last two months, and I think that I just don't know what I am doing, because I keep losing all of my writings. It gets very frustrating when you are working on it for an hour or two, and then you lose everything. So... I decided that I will try this again.

I have some news!!! The biggest news in my life right now is that I am going to be a daddy! Christy and I are expecting to have a little girl on Feb. 22.

This is an old picture of Christy. This is her at about 5 months old.

This is all I am going to write right now, just because I want to make sure that I don't lose all my work!

ARRRRRGGGGGGGGG!!!

2006-12-18T11:39:00.000-05:00

I HAVE JUST TRIED TO BLOG TWICE AND IT HAS ERASED EVERYTHING I HAVE DONE. I AM VERY FRUSTRATED!!! ALL I WANT TO SAY RIGHT NOW IS CHRISTY IS PREGNANT. SHE IS 31 WEEKS ALONG. MORE NEWS TO COME WHEN I CALM DOWN!!!

What a Vacation

2006-09-05T10:08:00.000-04:00

You can speed up the slider on the bottom left by clicking the plus sign.

This past summer was awesome. Christy and I like going to Florida for vacation. We have been back about 4 times, and we have been married for 3 1/2 years. That shows you how much we like going back.

We started going there when it was our honeymoon, and we just fell in love with it. I don't know if it is just the memory that we love, and like to relive it over, but every time that we go back, it gets better and better.

This year we got to go to Universal Studios, Discovery Cove, Seaworld, and various restaurants. For those that do not know what Discovery Cove is, it is a park that is more like a water park. You are in you swimsuit all day, they give you a snorkel and goggles, and let you loose. There is an opportunity to swim with dolphins. You get to pet them, ride them, make them do their tricks. It is awesome! There is also a salt water coral reef where you can snorkel and see tropical fish, and sting rays (stingers are obviously taken out).

Visiting the Family

2006-08-16T09:59:00.000-04:00

I was able to visit the family when we when to High Point Camp with the youth group. I love being able to see my family. It does not happen so often. I have some pictures that I would like to share.

What a Month

2006-08-16T09:17:00.000-04:00

In the past month, I have had to hold six activities for my youth group. In doing so, I have absolutely no life (outside of youth group). It first started with NBT which is like VBS. We had a kick off activity of miniature golf, and then the NBT week was off and running.

NBT ended and I had 2 days to rest up and I left for Utah on a missions trip (if you want to see pictures of the missions trip click the R.U.S.H. link and then the picture link on the R.U.S.H. page.)

I got back from the missions trip, and 3 days later was off to High Point Camp with the teens. I am back and things are slowing down (thankfully).

I had a lot of fun on everything! Christy was not able to join me everywhere I went, and I wish she could have, but you have to do what you have to do.

By the way, the puppy is doing well. Getting big!(for a dachshund)

My Crazy Family

2006-07-11T09:33:00.000-04:00

So my brother and sister are living at home right now because of the summer.
My brother just got a digital camera, and the next thing I know, he sends me and e-mail with these pictures.

This is my family, not all of it, but definitely the crazy ones.

Notice my brother poking his head out from behind my mom and dad.

Getting Sentimental

2006-07-11T09:14:00.000-04:00

For those that know me, you may recognize this house. This house is the house that I spent most of my growing up days in.

I moved into it when I was about 11 years old and moved out when I was 23. So...most of my growing up days.

I LOVE THIS HOUSE!!!

I love this house because of so many memories. We lived right next to the camp and were able to have camp counselors over often on the weekends.
We spent a lot of time on the patio. Christy and I
got engages on the patio early in the morning. I was able to have many conversations with my dad when working with him all around the house. I sat in the kitchen talking to my mom. I played around with my brothers and sisters.

That is why I love this house. There are so many good memorize that are connected with it. And my parents still live there.

Dog Video

2006-07-09T21:48:00.000-04:00

The dog that we bought is on the right side, the one that likes licking the food in the can.

Doggie Visit

2006-06-27T12:54:00.000-04:00

This past Friday, I was went to pick out a puppy, specifically a dachshund. Both Christy and I are very excited. The only thing is, we can not take it home for a couple more weeks. She has to be approximately 8 weeks old before it can leave her mother. I figured I would post a couple pictures of her.

I picked the one on the right.

This Is My Family

2006-06-22T10:40:00.000-04:00

I went to Kentucky this last weekend to celebrate my Grandpa's 90th birthday. It was so great to see him because he does not act like a 90 year old man. I still has a sharp mind, and can hold a good conversations. He has lived a long time, and has many stories that I wish I had time just to listen too. Happy Birthday Grandpa!

My family was able to go to Kentucky; everyone but José. We all wished that he could have been there!

Matt (my brother) with

Leandro (my nephew)

Helen (my sister)

with her son Maximo

This is my neice Isabella

Me and My Baby

2006-06-21T09:23:00.000-04:00

So...here is a most recent picture that I have. It was taken last summer a year ago. I know I have not seen many people for a long time, and so that is what I have become!

Ok, I found one that is a little more recent, but still the recent. This is during the winter months sometime between Thanksgiving and February. I decided to grow a beard. I am surprised that it lasted even that long.

I now only have sideburns, like the pork chop style. Christy loves them, and they are here to stay!

Where Is Everyone?

2006-06-20T14:40:00.000-04:00

I feel like I am so busy that I don't have time to spend with my friends. There is the phone, but I HATE THE PHONE. Nothing against Mr. Alexander Graham Bell, but I hate communicating over a device and not being able to see who I am talking too.

Summer is flying by! I feel like it hasn't even started, but surprise, it is already a month into it (close enough to a month). Have so much to do, so little time.

Enough with my ranting! I'm outta here!!!

How Much Is That Doggie In the Window?

2006-06-20T14:13:00.000-04:00

Christy and I have been wanting a dog for some time. We tried to rescue a dog that we named Piedmont. That did not go so well. He destroyed our bathroom, tipped over our tree, chewed my favorite winter coat and destroyed the cage we bought. He was a Houdini. We could not keep him in his cage. Other than all of that he was very cute.
unfortunately I was not able to take much more of the destruction. We had to take him to the humane society.

We have been now looking a long time for a dog that would not be so hard to take care of, preferably one that was not found in the wild (I forgot to mention that we found him in South Carolina).

Christy grew up with a Dachshund, and I grew up with a Dachshund, so we figured that the logical conclusion would be to get a Dachshund. So...that is what we are planning on doing. I will tell you, there is not a lot of breeders in Michigan. I have found many in the south, but not anywhere near me.

I stumbled on a website of someone who breeds them here in Michigan. I called her and talked to her for about 45 minutes. I learned a lot about dachshund. I am planning on driving up and seeing them, and purchasing one of them.

That is the one I am planning on buying. A smooth red mini-dachshund.

The Beginning

2006-05-05T21:24:00.000-04:00

So...this is the first time that I have even sat down to do anything like this. I have a hard time keeping in touch with people. The fact is not that I don't have access to a phone, or e-mail, I have just come to the conclusion that I am just very lazy. I will try to keep this up, just so everyone can know (if they wish) what I am up too. It is time for me to move on right now, but this is only the beginning.