All posts by R.C. Liley

I'm an ex-mutual fund accountant who left the cubicle world to be a stay-at-home dad to my beautiful little girl, Avery, who entered our life on 11/15/13. Also happily married to my wife, Kelley, for 7 years as of 8/17/14. Sorry ladies... :) Fitness and nutrition is of the upmost importance in our family and we strive to reflect this in our daily life. I always prepare our meals at home and only go out if it's a special occasion, and even then I tend to not get much. Food should be fun and a joy to eat, not something quickly consumed from a fast food chain or scarf down before the next meeting. I have come from strictly logging high miles to train for the next marathon to keeping exercise varied and focusing more on strength. I still enjoy going for a run when I can, but nothing crazy, and I prefer hill sprints while pushing my daughter, Avery in the stroller. She loves it and I get a great workout! I want to show the world how to appreciate their body and feed it real, wholesome food while moving more throughout the day. In doing so, everyone would be healthier, happier, and we'd all live in a better place as a result. I blog mainly about my life as a stay-at-home dad and frequently include reviews, participate in campaigns, and share my thoughts on fitness and nutrition. If you ever have any questions or thoughts to share, please reach out as I'm always open to listening or helping others however possible. That is, when I have free time since Avery is and my wife are the number one priorities!

Life, Parenting

The Bathroom of Solace

04/07/2014 R.C. Liley 3 Comments

Bathroom – A room containing a bathtub or shower and usually also a sink and a toilet.

Solace – Comfort or consolation in a time of distress or sadness

No, I’m not sad, far from, but as a parent, aren’t we all a little distressed? If you said no, what pills are you taking?

As I was minding my own business looking at other people’s business on Facebook, I happened upon this picture from Someecards.com:

I am not a woman, and I only have one baby, but this pretty much sums up how I feel.

One reason I look forward to the weekend so much is that Going Mom will be home and I can sit in peace in the bathroom when the need arises. And shi….I mean sit in peace I do!

For the other five days, Avery gets to hang with me every morning around the same time (consistency is good!) while she stares. Or, sometimes, I get lucky and she’ll just fall asleep…

Poor wife, she has to wait on me to make breakfast on Saturday and Sunday morning, but I usually have an extended “me time” in the bathroom. 30 minutes is usually the max, then it gets uncomfortable; probably like you if I go any more into detail. Sorry.

But at the same time, not sorry. I mean, as a parent, you have to be comfortable with bathroom (i.e. potty) talk. I’ve only been a dad for 5 months, but I have a feeling poop, pee, and even puke (the three P’s) are a big part of raising a child.

If you’re a soon-to-be parent, get comfortable with the three P’s now. Practice by talking about how you need to tend to your “business” with your friends and family.

While at a big social gathering for the holidays or any occasion, just announce when you need to go; add how badly for extra points. Awkward looks will follow, but stand strong and flash a confident smile as you walk to your announced destination!

Many people see potty talk as taboo, but it’s something we all have to do and should be able to speak freely about. You don’t have to go into specifics, I do with certain people, but there’s no reason not to talk about it with others in general.

It’s quite obvious I am comfortable with and even enjoy bathroom talk from some of my previous posts…..

Going Mom and I are very open about our bathroom ventures and I feel our relationship is that much stronger because of this. Hiding anything is never good in a relationship. I mean, amiright? We even all go to the bathroom together! Whoa, not like that, just to clean it….

Protesting the cleaning by slouching and kicking her Firefly toy off... — Protesting the cleaning by slouching and kicking her Firefly toy off…

I don’t want Avery to be scared to discuss her bathroom needs either, so we’ll all be open together. If you ever engage in conversation with us, just be prepared!

I have always enjoyed bathroom time as my peace and quiet time, but now I’ve grown to seriously cherish it. Vacation? No thanks, I’ll just go poop.

What are your thoughts towards talking about the bathroom?

Do you refuge in bathroom often?

Going Healthy

Going Healthy: Low Calorie Coconut Protein Granola

04/06/2014 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Are you sensing a theme with coconut here? Last week was coconut salmon cakes, this week it’s coconut granola, and who knows what’ll be next? I just happened to be a little excessive when buying coconut flour in bulk a while back, so now I’m trying to make good use of it.

This granola definitely counts as good use to me, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it too. High protein, gluten free, no refined sugar, and full of crunchy flavor, how can you NOT love it?

Make sure you make a second batch because the first one will go quick. I speak from experience….

Low Calorie Coconut Protein Granola

Ingredients

2 cups puffed corn cereal; I used Arrowhead Mills
2 cups puffed millet cereal; again, Arrowhead Mills
1 T Cinnamon; I like it very cinnamon-intense, add only 1/2 a tablespoon if like
2 scoops vanilla protein powder; I use egg white protein sweetened with stevia
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup oat bran
1/2 cup pumpkin puree; mashed ripe banana is excellent too
2 T milk of choice or water
1 T coconut oil
3 packets of stevia powder or 25 drops of liquid stevia; I don’t like it too sweet, so if you want add more to taste
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325.
Mix the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl using a wire whisk.
In a separate mixing bowl, add the pumpkin puree with 2 T milk or water.
Melt the coconut oil and mix into pumpkin mixture.
Add the wet to the dry and stir until well combined; this takes a while, be patient
On a parchment lined cookie sheet spread the mixture out evenly and bake for 30 – 35 minutes. Every 10-15 minutes stir and break up the granola for even baking.
Remove from oven once you see granola turning a deep golden color.
Allow to cool and enjoy however you would. The clusters make excellent portable snacks and smaller pieces can be used for your milk/yogurt “dressing”.

If you don’t care about the gluten free part, feel free to substitute rolled oats in place of the puffed cereal. Or you can use certified gluten-free oats. The oats will actually make for a crunchier granola.

I hope you try and love this healthy recipe, and maybe even share with others if can! Have a great Sunday!

Do you like granola or try to keep away?

What’s your favorite treat that you wish could be healthier? I might have a way to make it better if you share.

Parenting

What Happened to Nap Time?!

04/05/2014 R.C. Liley 4 Comments

Are you someone who counts on having things planned at least for the day ahead? With food, I drive my wife crazy by constantly trying to plan ahead, and this goes for most other areas in a day. As a stay-at-home dad, for instance, I think and strategize my day according to Avery’s nap time.

Since I’ve transitioned from the office to a stay-at-home dad, I have learned to count on her long morning naps to get most of the things I can complete. Working out, cooking for myself and Kelley, cleaning myself (most days), and internet time if I can.

Lately, Avery stays up longer before her morning nap, so now I bring her with me to work out and maybe get some food prep out of the way if she allows. Well, today, after working out and taking cues from her rubbing her face with heavy eyes, I figured nap time was imminent.

Bottle in hand, lights off in the nursery, and white noise on, I proceeded to help Avery fall asleep. She wasn’t having the bottle, so I gave up and tried singing (keyword: tried) to soothe her, but she just started smiling. Crap, what happened to that sleep, face rubbing girl five minutes ago?

Eventually, she dozed and I laid her in the crib. But, instead of three hours later, it was twenty freakin’ minutes later and she was already screaming! She’s done this before, and on most days, she gets herself back to sleep. Not today! Nope, she started kicking the side rails of the crib with the vigor of a UFC fighter!

I watched the monitor in hopes of things calming down, but eventually had to go in and try to console her. Still, she just cried louder when I offered the bottle, and even louder if I set her down. I felt the top of her head for tiny horns because I was convinced she was replaced by a demon child. No horns were found; phew!

Over the span of two hours of trying to get her to sleep, I just brought to the kitchen with me while I finished my daily food tasks. Avery seemed content in her jumper for a while, and even flashed me smiles when I’d look over at her. For the most part, she was keeping busy.

I kept trying to offer the bottle to her, but I think this look says it all….

So I carried on slicing a jicama to put in the dehydrator to make chips.

I was concentrating pretty hard on making sure the slices were thin enough, when I noticed it seemed quiet……a little too quiet. I looked up at Avery in her jumper and, well……

Oh sure! She won’t sleep in a perfectly nice crib, but being suspended in a jumper is no problem! I went over to see how out she really was, and I’d say like a college freshman on rush week!

My hear sunk when I saw this, and I picked her up in hopes of laying her down somewhere better. Wrong move. She never went back to sleep, just cried instead. We fought with the bottle a while, and then it was time for a walk. When all else fails, I can count on our trusty Onya Baby Outback to help Avery take a nap.

Ten minutes into the walk and she was out. The weather was cool and comfortable, but I covered her with the integrated hood just to keep the sun off her head. Plus, it’s becoming a universal sign that I’m walking with a sleeping baby and most of my neighbors know just wave; no talking! Thank you, neighbors!!

An hour later and Avery started squirming from under the hood so I took it off to say hi.

We were in a new phase of the neighborhood where a lot of construction is going on and I’m sure the noise woke her. The previous night, we had very high winds with rain and hail, and the port-a-potties around the sites had blown over. Being one who likes to turn random things into fun, educational games, I decided we’d count the port-a-potties that were tipped.

Hmm, seemed like more than that. Oh well, counting is counting, and who doesn’t love turned over port-a-potties? Oh, that many, huh?

Avery continued to be stubborn on taking the bottle back home, and finally Going Mom came home from work. Yay, another non-demon to join forces! Kelley happily held her dear ~~demon~~ daughter for a while and then fit in a work out for the day.

All in all, Avery’s longest nap was in the Onya (I seriously love and depend on this thing!) for around 45 minutes. It’s nighttime as I’m writing this and Avery finally conked right out after her bath. Fingers crossed for a good night!

I figure it’s the first signs of teething and feel like we’re in for a long, painful, and sleepless ride. Oh wait, that’s parenting in general, huh?

Have you ever had a really “off” day with your baby?

What’s the longest your child has gone without sleep?