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 and handsome little boy, Wes, who joined our family on 11/19/17. Also happily married to my wife, Kelley, as of 8/17/07. Sorry ladies... :) Fitness and nutrition is of the utmost 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!

23 Month Photo Session: Spooky Fast Halloween Edition

Something spooky is going on here. Since it is October, I blame the spooky spirit of Halloween for our lack of punctuality on the picture post for her 23rd month since birth.

Just like the Monthly Memories posts, these Monthly Photo Session posts have become a tradition. This is the latest I’ve been on a post since the 15th of each month is the true change of age (in months), and for that, I’m making it a quick one.

Okay, Avery is the real reason this is a quickie post since, in typical toddler fashion, she would not sit still or look at the camera for a second! Geez, you’d think she has someone constantly putting a camera in her face and telling her to smile or say something. Oh, wait, she does. Oops.

The pics were taken late afternoon, right after we returned from Going Mom’s work that held a fun family Halloween trick-or-treating event. Avery dressed in the same pumpkin costume as last year since we know she’ll actually have a say by next Halloween. Of course, we didn’t go around collecting candy since we keep that out of the house, but she had fun naming the colors of wrappers to which she considered toys.

Overall, we had a good time going around seeing everyone Mommy works with and some I used to work with before becoming a stay-at-home dad. I’ll add the details to my “things I have to blog about” list for the near future, but for now, lets keep the tradition alive and look at the few pictures that made the final cut.

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When this is how things start, we basically expect them to end rather soon.
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Yep, to the floor went her bear. By now, he’s plenty used to it.
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I tried to bring him back with her “Lamby” as a reinforcement. We got a cute smile, but both animals got the shaft.DSC_0799

This look of innocence only means major guilt!DSC_0814

Oh, hey, my wife was smart and gave her a book! Duh, that actually got her to sit still.DSC_0819

Too bad 24 months is when we plan on stopping the monthly pic tradition, a book would replace her bear for sure!
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Maybe not. She lost interest and found something more exciting, her blue (a favorite color right now) cloth diaper. Apparently she needed a second diaper to go on over her pants.DSC_0805

Look at that long, wavy hair back there! And the face bursting with cuteness; you just can’t stay upset with this girl for more than a minute. Okay, maybe two minutes, depending on the severity.

And, since October 27th was Black Cat Day (who comes up with this stuff?!), my wife took a great shot of the black cat I don’t care much for.

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He’s an indoor cat, but I think he needs to be made into an outside mouse catcher to earn his keep. Trust me, Kelley has heard enough of my thoughts, and although it’s a losing battle, I still fight it.

Hopefully the final Monthly Photo Session, her 24th month (aka 2nd birthday) will turn out with a few more good pics, but only time will tell. Which, thanks to this post being overdue, isn’t that far away now. Yikes, we almost have a 2 year old on our hands!

Do you have traditional memory-type things you do with your kids?

Do you have a black cat or even know that it was Black Cat Day?

 

Weekend Camping Trip Part 3: A Dramatic Return

We didn’t hang around too long the day of our return from camping. Our time together without a kid was wonderful, but we were ready to see our little girl….and take real showers. Yeah yeah, only one day, I know.

Besides, if you read Part 2 of our Weekend Camping Trip, you’d know it’s not like we were free from kids anyway. Obviously, our kid is way better than any other, so if we’re going to be surrounded with little tots, it may as well be our own.

We did take advantage of not having Avery with us to *gasp* go to Costco and grab a few essentials, but then it was straight home from there. The trip home was uneventful and fairly quick compared to driving through Friday rush hour to get to our site.

Upon our return home, G-Ma and Avery greeted us at the front door. Avery yelled “daddy”, which warmed my heart, but she wore a frown on her face, which cooled my heart down a little. At least my wonderful mom had a big smile as she held our sweet girl.

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As it turns out, Avery was playing on the couch and happened to get her arm stuck between the cushions somehow and twisted it. G-Ma came to the rescue and got her unstuck, but Avery went into a dramatic crying frenzy. This happened just before we arrived home. Weird, she never jumps on the couch….oh, wait….

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Once we were there, Avery had put a hold on the scream fest and just had her unhappy face on. But, when Kelley tried to hold her, Avery wouldn’t let up, only G-Ma could hold her. No one could touch her hurt arm without sending our tot in another screaming frenzy (which happened a lot), and even when giving her snacks, she made sure to use her good hand.

I’ll be the first to say that I’m quick to waive things off as a non-event, including this one, but my darling wife is always quick to the rescue, no matter the severity. I think it’s sweet, usually, and feel it helps balance my naivety. Without her, Avery’s staph infection could’ve been a lot worse. Mine too for that matter!

Eventually, G-Ma had to get home and the switch was made from G-Ma to Mommy. Yes, crying was involved, a lot of it, but things eventually calmed down. Then they got bad again, then calm, then…well, you get the picture, she was an extremely moody toddler (is that how they all are?) and she continued to nurse that once stuck arm.

Going Mom was worried as any loving mother would be, and I was starting to feel as if something was wrong too, but still not that worried. I wanted to wait and see how it looked the next day since there was no swelling or any other physical sign of injury yet, but Kelley was ready to but a wrist brace on her immediately. I unsuccessfully debated by wife (guys, you always lose, just accept it unlike I seem to do) about the need for a wrist wrap, and found myself in the devil’s lair of grocery stores, Walmart.

After explaining to the little employee boy how to use that plastic thing with numbers to pay for my items since the self-checkout wasn’t working, I finally made it out and back home. I spent 10 minutes trying to decide between two kinds of wraps and ended up getting them both….just to be safe.

I despise Walmart and just driving by one puts me in a bad mood. It didn’t help when I returned home to find Avery sitting with mommy in a slightly chipper mood and using both arms as if nothing was ever wrong. Gahhhhh!! She even fell sound asleep right in mommy’s lap.

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I mean, yay, glad all is well, but geez, what kind of timing is that? In her defense, Kelley tried to call but I left in such a hurry that I left my phone at home. So that’s that, our little toddler pulled a quick one on us and made everything think her arm was about to fall off. Even G-Ma was worried sick and feeling guilty once home and remained that way until the next day.

The rest of the day was spent unpacking and eventually getting ourselves clean. We were both relieved nothing serious was wrong with Avery’s arm, if only she would’ve let us know before I went to hell Walmart. At least we knew she would be in good health for Kelley’s 31st birthday the next day, 10/19.

Her actual birthday was fairly relaxed, but I’ll fill you in next time, along with another update.

Has your toddler ever made you feel like they broke something when nothing was wrong at all?

Is your kid a drama king/queen, or mainly calm?

Weekend Camping Trip Part 2: Not Quite Kid Free

Part 2 of our weekend camping trip brings us to our only full day of “roughing it” in the wilderness park with full facilities. This was our time for freedom from all parental responsibilities, time to spend time talking to each other without interruption and just enjoy one another’s company.

There was only one caveat; the campground was full of families with kids running around. Yep, the site next to us had a brother and sister close to Avery’s age, we could tell from the loud crying around nighttime (and we actually talked to the parents who are both really nice) but they were cute and had us missing our little girl back home.

Other, older kids around the site were not so cute and spent wayyyy too much time fishing right in front of our waterfront tent site as they screamed at anything and everything. It was okay during the day, but when it’s 9 at night and we were trying to get some rest, our patience dwindled. But we didn’t let that ruin our time together, especially not with a site like this.

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Our day started by venturing out to the urban jungle nearby in search of black gold (aka coffee). After trudging through a few rough areas (construction) and dodging wild animals (people), we found our prey at a Starbucks. Yeah, so the coffee scene is lacking around this area, but we wanted caffeine dammit!

We made it back to camp and vowed to not drive again until we left the following day. With that, we took off to explore the area around Lake Lavon on foot while talking about how we missed our little girl and what we need to bring for our next trip that we forgot this time around. I was also searching for a large rock or other heavy object to get my squatting out of the way. Yes, I’m still squatting every day, but think I’m close to the end.

Finally, I found my rock of choice. It wasn’t the best, but it’s as if they don’t leave rocks laying around just for visitors to pick up and squat with. Ludicrous!

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My squat variation of choice was front squats holding the rock up to my chest and did 5 rounds of 20 front squats.

Front Squat with Rock

I finished with a little conditioning by doing 4 rounds of 50 seconds on, 10 seconds off of split squats with foot elevated on the rock, push-ups on the rock, running in place, and bent rows using the rock. I felt like that was good enough, but geez, there were some sharp edges on that thing!

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Meanwhile, my lovely wife (who actually knows how to relax) cheered me on and kept me motivated with beer and an empty chair waiting beside her.

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I was ready to join her, but had to get something out of the way first. A cold jump in the lake.

Running into Lake Lavon

Apparently, lakes in October are not very warm. Brrrr! I was pretty muddy after slogging out of the lake, so I made use of the shower on site before claiming that empty chair. Oh, and when they say warm showers in campsite amenities, that really means cold. Here I am afterward, obviously tense and covered in goosebumps.

After cold water jumping_Camping 2

I quickly changed into dry clothes and made use of our car as a clothesline. Note to self: bring clothesline for our next camping trip.

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By this time, I was ready to settle down and just enjoy our surroundings. I grabbed a chilled can of Zevia Tonic Water to mix with vodka to enjoy in that empty chair Kelley had waiting for me.

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Good thing my bride of 8 years has such a warm heart, she definitely helped to defrost my still shivering body from the cold lake and shower. Just seeing her smile can warm me inside and out on the coldest days! Yeah, I sound all gushy, but I tell no lies!

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We made it a point to sit together to watch the sun set on the lake that evening. Our view was magnificent with the silhouette of this tree beside us.

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But, as beautiful as it was, it seemed as if something was missing. Maybe just a little of….

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….and a touch of…

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…and topped off with…

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Yeah, that’s more like it. Fun and romance captured on our camping trip. Oh hey, you can see that rock that cut my hands down there too.

We finished watching the sun on its descent with more drinks in hand as we listened to kids run around and scream all around us. Even with the screams, I wouldn’t trade that semi-peaceful moment with my wife for anything, it’s something we don’t get to enjoy enough. Not to mention actually being able to hold a conversation without the common toddler interruption.

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Once it turned completely dark, we spent the remainder of the night in our tent doing what any couple would do with no kids around; watch more How I Met Your Mother. Thank you, Verizon mobile hot spot!

Our data is almost out for the month and we just started a new cycle, but it was soooo worth it. We both had trouble sleeping that night. Mainly from the screaming kids and parents fishing right next to our tent, but the sloped ground didn’t help matters. But, alas, we made it through the night and didn’t spend much time before heading home to G-Ma and Avery.

The drive back took only half as long as it did there, and we were glad to get back home to our little girl. Only problem was, something just happened that had her in a very bad mood for almost the rest of the day.

I’ll fill you in next time, but for now, be sure to check out the sponsored giveaways I posted for Purina Beneful and family games from Spin Master.

Ever plan a getaway with your significant other and no kids only to have kids all around anyway?