This time last year, I was not a part of the dad blogger scene, or even a dad. Nope, I was still anxiously marking off each day with my lovely, pregnant wife until Avery entered our lives.
Happiness, in baby form.
Fast forward to November 15th of 2013 and I became an official father! It’s already been a wonderful ride in these 9.5 months, and I’m trying to make the most of it. I know there’s a lot more excitement to come too!
If you have a moment, I know I speak for all dad bloggers out there by saying it would be much appreciated. Showing support for the dads who put their “dad view” out on the front lines when we are easily outnumbered by mommy bloggers is a huge help.
As one of the Daddy Newbies, I’d be honored if you nominated me for the Best Newcomer of 2014. If you truly think so, I’ll make it easy for you; all you need to do is click below.
Whatever you do, just voting for all of us dads out there would be great. Please let me know who you voted for once done, I promise, I won’t be offended if it’s not me. 🙂
Erin’s baby shower wasn’t until early afternoon, so all of us decided to try and find a better coffee shop than the prior day’s disappointment. Kelley, Avery, and I left for the main campus hangout fully expecting to find Starbucks as our only caffeinated option.
Thankfully, we decided to walk/limp (stupid stress fracture) a small loop before heading inside the largest coffee chain. That’s when we stumbled upon a unique coffeehouse named Second Wind.
Photo Provided by their Facebook Page
Intrigued and eager to find something other than Starbucks, we walked inside and were immediately greeted by a kind barista and the best looking menu ever!
Have you ever seen a place like this? Order anything on the menu and donate if can/want to, but it’s not required. Of course, you’d have to be a big ass to not pay anything to the hard workers, and I actually gave more than I normally would elsewhere.
After the barista filled us in on the business’ history, we ordered our drinks and found a comfy sofa to relax on. I was still in awe of such a fabulous business model and went back up front to pick the barista’s brain. She was really into the place and you could tell she put a lot of effort into every drink she created.
Kelley had a tasty dry, non-fat cappuccino and my first drink was an iced Americano with no cream or sugar. I downed that pretty quick and went back for a double shot espresso with a cup of their drip coffee. Wow, the straight espresso was out of this world fantastic, and after finished this and the cup of coffee, I had a major coffee buzz. Naturally, I had one more Americano and finally called it quits.
Once Sean and Erin arrived with Brooklyn, we all sat and talked a while as we tried to keep our girls contained.
Avery loves eating phones…
Emphasis on “tried”….
Avery was being a bit unruly most of the day and she wasn’t showing signs of letting up anytime soon. Sean tried to calm her with little luck.
I decided I’d take a shot at keeping Avery from getting too fussy, so it was time to use her flexibility to our advantage. Not sure why, but she gets a “kick” out of having her feet in her face.
Not that she needs our help, she puts her legs up like this every day all by herself. It makes diaper changes a blast. Sense my sarcasm…
With our caffeine in full effect, we left the comfortable setting of Second Wind to walk around our old stomping grounds; the OU campus.
Still beautiful as always. I would’ve enjoyed it more if every limping step I took wasn’t so painful. Despite the pain, we made sure to stop and take happy family photos.
Well, at least Avery was looking; that’s a win in my book! Sean, Erin, and Brooklyn posed for a snapshot as well.
The Texas heat had followed us up to Oklahoma, and we were ready to head back to Sean and Erin’s house to relax before the girls went to the baby shower. Sean has been fighting an inured back for months, and with Erin being 35 weeks pregnant and my stress-fractured foot, we joked that Kelley was the only able-bodied person with us. Naturally, she quickly walked ahead and took a shot of her ailing companions…
Back at their pad, we lounged around as Avery and Brooklyn played around the giant dogs. It’s a blurry picture, but I can’t get over how large Hudson is next to Avery. He’s the sweetest dog, but everywhere I turned, he seemed to be RIGHT THERE, staring.
Avery’s dress was adorable on her, and I couldn’t help but take several photos. I like this one; what do you think?
It fits just right and she’ll grow out of it within weeks if not sooner, so I’m glad we captured the moment now. Kelley had her looking snazzy in the dress and she said Avery received many compliments at Erin’s baby shower.
Sean and I hung out in the living room with Brooklyn while the baby shower was in full swing, and once prompted, we jumped in the car to catch the end and reunite with our wives. From there, we were heading back home to Texas, but first we asked for a group a photo. After several attempts and a very moody baby, we settled on this as the best picture….
Hmmm, everyone smiling but Avery. That’s our daughter!!
In her defense, she had a very short nap and was probably tired from all of the day’s activity. Her drowsiness was apparent the instant we began the 2.5 hour drive back home as she fell asleep right after getting strapped in. That is, until, less than an hour later!
Yep, she woke up earlier than we thought and decided to scream, cry, yell, and just be loud. We normally don’t have the radio on when driving together, and even if we did, it would be pointless trying to listen over the screams.
2.5 hours seemed like an eternity with Avery’s crabbiness and immediately after turning into our driveway, Kelley brought Avery inside to feed her in hopes of calming her down. My wife, being the wonderful mother she is, gets very worked up when Avery is crying with an apparent need, so I know it was driving her crazy for the entire ride.
We planned on catching an episode of Orange is the New Black that night, but it was almost midnight by the time we were settled, and Kelley knew she wouldn’t stay awake. So we pushed it off for the next night and called it a day…..a very long day.
I’m not sure what caused Avery’s extreme fussiness that day, but we can see a new tooth that has pushed through. So, obviously, like any parent would do, we’re going to say teething is to blame!
Have you ever been to a “donations only” type of restaurant?
As a parent, to you find generic reasons to blame on your kid’s moodiness?
Most weekend recaps occur on Monday, but I prefer to mimic the “muscle confusion” ideology of P90X and confuse anyone reading. You know, to keep your brain more alert by throwing it off every now and then. Stupid analogy? Yeah, sorry….
Brooklyn is growing so fast and is such a pretty girl!
Both of our little girls have grown so much in just 6 months and it was fun watching them kind of play together.
I say kind of, because Brooklyn, is in the stage of not wanting to share things, so when Avery would go to a toy, she sometimes tried to push her away.
I guess this was a good foreshadow for what’s to come! No big deal though, she was quick to allow Avery access to her toys and even say sorry.
The 2.5 hour drive was full of Avery’s pleasant, and not-so-pleasant screams. I thought she’d take a nap since the 10 minute drive to Costco usually has her asleep within minutes, but she slept not once the entire drive. Instead, she’d make her presence known with coos and yells followed by crying fits for no reason.
Kelley eventually climbed in the back to soothe her the rest of the way to our friend’s house. This worked for almost the remainder of the drive, but even Mommy couldn’t qualm our upset baby. But alas, we arrived, exchanged hugs, and brought everything inside to the room we’d be staying in for two nights……with Avery!
We shared the same room with Avery once before at G-ma’s for the 4th of July weekend, but this setup was different, she’d be right beside Kelley instead of at the foot of the bed.
It was weird, but really not as bad as I expected. We were able to sneak into bed without waking Avery fairly easily, but she did wake more often versus when at home. Oh well, just part of parenthood, right?
The past few times we’ve come up to stay with Sean and Erin was for the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon in April. This always meant my nerves were high and I wasn’t a fun person to be around, so it was nice being there without a major race to prepare for. This time, we were there for Erin’s baby shower. Yes, this beautiful family of three is about to have a little boy in a few weeks which will even out the genders.
They have yet to decide on a name, but have a few one their mind like Ian or Barrett. Care to offer a suggestion?
We had zero plans for Saturday, so we played everything by ear. Going Mom, Avery, and I drove to local coffee shop we enjoyed before in hopes of enjoying again. This time, we were not impressed and a little sorry we didn’t just go to Starbucks.
While in town, we picked up a few groceries for breakfast and since there was a liquor store nearby, I figured I’d bring a few craft beers back. Kelley was trying to eat her long overdue breakfast, so I carried Avery inside with me. Or, at least I made it to the front door with her, but then I was stopped by the owner who let me know no one under 21 is allowed!
This seemed ridiculous since obviously, a baby isn’t going to run around drinking their stock, but the law is law. As I wore a frustrated frown on my face, the owner kindly offered to hold Avery as I perused their beer selection. Ha, a stranger holding my baby while I bought beer? I accepted…
But only because she was non-threatening, gentle woman who obviously worked at the store and I wouldn’t expect to run off. Yeah, yeah, “it’s the least suspecting”, I know, so sue me. Please, not really.
Meanwhile, as I shopped for beer, Kelley was trying to have breakfast in the car when she noticed a woman holding Avery. At first she thought maybe we knew the woman, but after a few minutes, she realized the lady was a stranger and quickly walked out to get our daughter. Luckily only kind, understanding words and a few laughs were shared as Kelley brought Avery back to the car.
Sorry, my dear wife and daughter….Daddy did bad. But, we did get some good beer! Silver lining?
As we returned to Sean and Erin’s, Sean was jumping in his car to search for one of their dogs that escaped. They have a Great Dane, Hudson, and a 100lb mutt, Polly; the latter being the escapee. I changed vehicles to help search and left Kelley with Avery.
I’m not escaping anywhere…
Our search by car yielded nothing, so Sean hopped on his bike and I took to going for a run around their neighborhood. My foot was hurting from a run I did with Avery before leaving the day before, but I planned on doing some running anyway, so this worked out okay in my mind.
Thirty minutes of running and several hill sprints later (plus my daily dose of “must do” 31 burpees, push-ups, and squats), I was limping with severe pain in my left foot. The pain hasn’t subsided yet, and I have concluded it is a metatarsal stress fracture with the pain and swelling to go along with it.
As a guy who can’t stand sitting (ha, I love that saying), this drives me crazy! As I write this, I’m still standing on one leg with the other propped up on a stool. #stubborn
Sean and Erin continued their search driving to and calling neighbors with no luck. Polly was a stray dog in poor health that Erin nursed (just so happens she is a nurse!) back to health almost 8 years ago. I remember seeing Polly as a pup, and she didn’t look good. But now, well, she’s a sweet, giant, dog in good health.
Polly competing with Avery for attention from Kelley
Needless to say, Erin was distraught at the thought of having lost Polly, and Sean wanted so bad to make his wife happy by finding her. Having exhausted himself with several hours of searching, he was inside trying to recoup when someone knocked on their door.
Yes! It was a neighbor who found Polly and was generous enough to bring the 100+ pound dog back to their house! The mood was instantly lightened in the house, and a very happy yet still pretty pissed Erin, took Polly out back to wash the burr-covered mutt.
With more action than expected on our “no plans” Saturday, we kept it calm the rest of the day and just hung out engaging in conversation. Plus, we kept tabs on the pay-per-view OU vs Louisiana Tech game where the Sooners ruled the game with a final score of 48 – 16! Hopefully they’ll have the same luck with ranked teams this season too!
Supporting OU with preggo Erin.
Kelley and I made it a late night and took over the TV to watch an episode of Orange is the New Black on Netflix after Sean and Erin went to bed. We just started this season after not having our TV on for a few months, and now we’re hooked.
Our Saturday with good friends had come to a close, but we still had most of Sunday before heading back home. Look out for my next post with our Sunday events including a coffee shop win and another long drive fail.
Do you have any road trip with baby stories or tips to share?
Ever inure yourself and go crazy being limited in what you can do? I’ve still found ways to lift weights in the garage and reel mowed as I limped across the lawn. Now my daily 31 burpees are done on one leg which definitely makes it harder!
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An at-home dad on a mission to keep it real when it comes to food, fun, and raising a healthy, happy family.
