Life

What Happens When Two Stay-At-Home Dads Get Out?

08/09/2014 R.C. Liley 7 Comments

Nothing much, really, we just enjoyed a couple good beers and talked about dad life.

What? Were you expecting some crazy shenanigans with lots of booze and guys running wild chasing miniature horses or something?

I hope not, that’d be weird. And very random….why did I even say that?

Anyway, let us move past that comment and come back to reality. I had the opportunity to meet up with another local stay-at-home dad and fellow blogger on Thursday night to discuss setting up a dad’s group. Just like the last time I was allowed out of the house alone to meet my brother (Uncle Preston), we met in Fort Worth at The Flying Saucer.

Thanks to my wife, yet again, for staying home with Avery on a work night! Avery was obviously not impressed with Kelley’s attempt at taking a selfie. Or maybe it was her cold….

David Kepley is co-creator of Just a Dad 247 who blogs with his long time friend, Pat Jacobs; also a stay-at-home dad. They’ve been in the blogging game for a while and have some great stuff for dads and really anyone. Go check them out, but then come back since I’m not finished here! 🙂

Kepley and I met through the Facebook Dad Bloggers group we are both members of and I have mentioned before. We were both seeking a dads group in our surrounding area and were unable to find anything, so we decided we’d try to start one ourselves.

Lucky for us, we have connected with Lance Somerfeld and Matt Schneider who formed the City Dads Group which is a national organization devoted to supporting fathers everywhere. They’ve helped dads create groups in major cities across the U.S., and we’re hoping to add Dallas to their list.

Our discussion on how we’ll get things up and running went well, and we are hoping to have our first meeting next month in September. Obviously, I’ll share the details here as we get more info and have a solid date/plan. Either way, I’m excited to be a part of something so important and hope I’ll be able to bring Avery to many future meet-ups with other dads and their kids.

Asides from the dad group talk, we shared our thoughts and stories around a multitude of topics; I even gave insight to how I view food and make it a huge priority to maintain a healthy family. Fortunately, while he may not be as ~~crazy~~ strict as I am on what to eat, he agreed with my views for the most part and didn’t just get up and walk out.

Another bonus is that Kepley knows how to pick and choose a good beer. Like me, he won’t settle for the crappy, run-of-the-mill Bud Light, Coors Light, etc., he expects good stuff if he’s going to drink, just as we all should! Plus, we both know how to pose for a picture….

I think we’ll get along just fine and am looking forward to working with him and other local dads to create our own Dallas City Dads group.

Are you part of a parent (mom or dad) group where you live? Any tips or stories?

Friday Food Facts, Life, Parenting

My Wife Wins Again, Our Baby Throws Food, and More Banana Fun Facts #5

08/08/2014 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Why must I be so stubborn all the time? Even if I know I’m (probably) wrong, I still end up trying to stand my ground. This part of me seems ingrained deep within, and I’m sorry to those who have to witness my hardheadedness.

Recently, okay, almost everyday, but still, work with me here, Going Mom and I had slight disagreement about something. It’s one of those small things most couples will argue about at least once; the toilet seat.

As the one who stays home all day, takes in a lot of caffeine, and subsequently pees a lot, I always keep the seat up. It makes it easier for me to go in, do my business, and get out back to Avery. Months ago, I even wrote a post defending my “right” to leave the seat up.

In that post, I clearly thought I won this argument fair and square. Turns out, the dispute was still unsettled. During Avery’s bath time, Kelly asked me in a nice tone to please start putting the seat down since Avery is now mobile and can easily make her way to the toilet. I stubbornly said “Just don’t let her.” as if it is always that easy, and thus our small argument began.

We kind of ended the tiff without further discussion, and I resorted to asking other dads on the Dad Blogger Facebook group I am a part of. The responses quickly came one after another with the majority of other dads taking not mine, but my wife’s side. After several of them mentioned crawling/walking kids getting into and possibly drowning plus just having really “pissed” (ha ha, get it?) off spouses, I realized my battle was lost; just like before Going Mom wins again.

So, to my wife who I still haven’t told that I now keep the seats down, I am sorry. Hopefully you’re reading this post today and can find forgiveness; you always do! 🙂

Now that I’ll be putting the seats down after each use, I’m looking into getting toilet seats with the soft/slow close hinges. I live in constant fear about making a loud noise when Avery is sleeping, and slamming the toilet seat is the last thing I want to do, so it only makes sense. Thanks to all of the dad bloggers who pointed this out!

Another “issue” we’ve been having lately is Avery throwing her food on the floor during dinnertime. This is the only time we give her solids since she’s still on breast milk, but she used to actually eat a little before just tossing the food. Before, she’d accidentally drop food on the floor and we’d laugh thinking it’s cute, but now she’s fully aware of what she’s doing.

Going Mom still laughs and does a bad job at hiding it, but it hurts me to see good food go to waste. I realize this is part of raising a baby, and I accept it, but no reason to laugh at her which I think makes her think it’s okay.

What, it's not okay? — What, it’s not okay?

I’m pretty sure discipline at this age is frowned upon, so I just try and tell her that’s not okay to do, and then I’ll take a bite of my own broccoli in hopes that will help. So far, it doesn’t….

Go ahead, laugh at me, you more experienced parents, I know it only gets worse. Oh well, it’s hard to ever stay upset with her for more than a minute; hopefully that never changes!

Maybe we’ll start introducing fruit to see if she likes the sweeter things. We wanted to start with veggies so she wouldn’t get used to sweeter things first, but I know bananas are always a tasty treat! Speaking of, I have some more banana fun facts in continuation from last Friday’s post.

The fastest marathon ever run by a competitor dressed as a fruit was 2 hours, 58 minutes, and 20 seconds—recorded at the Barcelona Marathon on March 6, 2011. The runner was Patrick Wightman from the United Kingdom, who dressed as a banana.
A few varieties of wild bananas include bubblegum pink bananas with fuzzy skins, green-and-white striped bananas with pulp the color of orange sherbet, and bananas that taste like strawberries when they’re cooked.
Banana peels are actually edible if cooked.
A man in India once ate 81 bananas in a half hour.
More songs have been written about bananas than about any other fruit.
The scientific name for banana is musa sapientum, which means “fruit of the wise men.”

I’m off to enjoy the rest of Friday now, hope you do the same! Kelley is having a girl’s night out tonight, so it’ll be just Avery and me for bed time. It shouldn’t be too bad…..as long as she actually eats her veggies!!

Do you have any tips/tricks on how to not let your child throw food? Or should I just give in and accept it?

Life, Parenting

Uh Oh, Our Baby’s First Cold!

08/07/2014 R.C. Liley 7 Comments

Avery: *cough* *cough*

Me: Oh, she’s just doing that for attention and it’s something new she learned.

Going Mom: Yeah, crazy baby.

This exchange of words (and coughs) has happened before and nothing was wrong, but just a few days ago, that coughing only got worse. Followed by the coughs, was a constantly runny nose, small fever, and one very unhappy baby.

Oops, guess it wasn’t just for attention or to make random noise; she was for real this time! Sorry, Avery, us new parents still have so much to learn. Please forgive us.

As I write this, Avery’s symptoms seem to be improving, but keeping her happy all that easy yet. In retrospect, it’s never really that easy. But no complaints here, she’s pretty happy over all, she just has her moments as we all do. It probably doesn’t help when I’m sucking snot out of her runny nostrils several times a day with this handy device….

We’ve had the Nosefrida since Avery was born, but have only started using it now for her cold. Going Mom can’t stand to even watch me use it, so I guess I’m the sucker in the family. See what I did there? No?

By the way, that picture of a happy kid with the tube shoved in their nostril…..FALSE ADVERTISING! Avery screams like I’m pulling off her toes every time I use it and now she’ll start just at the sight of the thing. Using it while trying to hold her arms and head still has been challenging to say the least, but for some odd reason, I derive satisfaction from sucking out a lot of her snot. The more snot, the more bonus points for dad!

Anywho, this is another first for Avery (yay?) and hopefully it’s going away and won’t come back for a while. How many other new parents keep track of their baby’s “firsts”? Surely we aren’t alone here. It’s not like we’re tracking when we had her outside and a wind gust came in from the Northwest for her to feel for the first time.

Poor girl, you can tell she doesn’t understand why she feels so stuffy and out of it, but I’d say she’s doing good at keeping her spirits somewhat high. See that ever so slight smile emerging?

We are against putting over-the-counter drugs like Tylenol in Avery’s body as there are too many dangers associated with these drugs and we don’t use them for ourselves. Plus, all of the children’s brands are filled with artificial colors and sweeteners which makes them even worse! I’ll stop there, but they are a big NO in this house.

Her sleep was less than stellar the first couple of nights with the cold, but she has slept through the past few nights pretty well. I’m sure her body is just so worn out and really needs the rest to help fight off the crap. I’m not an expert, but I’d say she’s on her way to recovery-ville! Mainly because even when she looks like this…