The Justice Family: Practice Makes Perfect

This weekend, Travis and I had a crash course in parenthood! Forget the whole newborn little girl thing - we had a 9 year old boy!! OK, we didn't have one, we borrowed one. Travis' nephew, Braxton, came to stay with us for the weekend. The main purpose of the trip was for Braxton to go to his first NFL game ever today. Travis' Dad came in town today and took Braxton to the game (and we won!! go Panthers!). But this weekend also got us an opportunity we've really never had - to spend alone time with Braxton and just hang out.

Truth be told, I was a tad bit nervous because nine years old is a tricky age, especially for boys. I know how to play with a little girl. I can entertain a young boy pretty easily too. But nine years old? That's not a little kid, is it? Do you talk to them like a kid, or will that insult them? You have to find that fine line of being the cool aunt and uncle, without letting the child walk all over you. I also found out on Friday evening that he had never spent the night away from home, except at his grandparents. And there, he shared a bed with someone in the family. So this was a BIG deal for all of us!

This morning Braxton said, "I like it here in North Carolina", so I'd say we did great. :) Braxton spent all of Saturday down at the stadium with Uncle Travis. For anyone who doesn't know, Travis works for the Panthers. So Braxton got to spend the day helping Uncle Travis get the New Orleans Saints locker room ready. What a cool experience for a little boy - or anyone for that matter! Uncle T then took him to the Panthers locker room. They tossed a football, went out on the field, checked out the equipment for all of the big name players - just some seriously cool male bonding! Braxton was a little shy about it at first. But once he realized what a big deal it was to be able to be in an NFL locker room, he got really excited about it.

We learned some coping mechanisms for picky eaters. We took him to McDonald's on Friday night - it took three different chicken sandwiches to finally order "the right one." And who knew just one bite of "the wrong one" could make a child gag. :) Proof that little boys are not without drama!! Travis and Braxton spent a lot of time playing Wii together - he showed us things we didn't know existed on our games. I took him to church with me this morning, and was surprised when he said - I'll try the kids church, see you later! So I dropped him off, and he apparently had a great time stomping balloons and crushing cans. I assume there was a message behind this, and I drug out of him that they were studying "perseverence" this week. He was in a small group of third grade boys, and I could tell when I picked him up that they were rowdy and loving it. He said we had a really cool church, I agree.

We were glad to be able to show him a good time. Now we can go back to focusing on babies!!

Below are some great pictures of Braxton's NFL experience. Apparently some of his friends back home in West Virginia didn't believe he was even going to an NFL game this weekend. Wait until they see these pictures!! We also heard that some of his friends think Uncle Travis PLAYS for the Panthers. He said he didn't lie and tell them that, he just didn't correct them when they assumed it. :)