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!
Not much else to say today, so I’ll get right to it. Hope you enjoy and have a happy hump day! Big thanks to the host for this week’s WIAW!
Breakfast – We started with the usual morning green smoothie, or most of it, followed by a giant bowl of chocolate pumpkin oatmeal with NuttZo mixed in and a big spoonful on top.
If you think that looks like a lot, that’s because it is, but Avery can freakin’ eat! Guess I’ll take it as a compliment to my cooking…..or NuttZo is just that awesome, which it is.
Snack – I had a pear from our CSA delivery that I was going to use for our green smoothie later, but figured I’d give her a few bites. It was her first time to try and she gave the sign for more in sign language, so it won’t be her last.
She also had a whole sardine fillet from Wild Planet with zero fuss!
I expected at least a head shake, but she ate it and followed up with “That’s good!” #ProudParents
Lunch – Black bean and coconut quinoa balls.
Okay, so I’ll put my foot in my mouth since I just said we don’t do kid menu food, but I’m only half guilty. It’s still the same food, but they formed into balls so easily and made it 100 times easier to feed the crazy toddler we call daughter.
After Nap Snack Attack – There was a little oatmeal leftover from the morning, so I saved it (so close to just eating it myself!) knowing she’d want something later.
Extra NuttZo on top and she had an awesome snack to fuel a little outside playtime.
Throwing balls like a boss. Then I “threw” her a few times for fun flipping action.
Only a few, we didn’t want to lose what she just had for a snack!
Dinner – Black bean spaghetti with homemade salmon salad with mustard, zucchini, and tomatoes on top. The black bean pasta may not look all fabulous….
….but I think it makes a great cold “pasta” dish (I love cold noodles!), and it complimented the salmon salad perfectly.
Avery and I both enjoyed the dish, but the black noodles just weren’t doing it for Going Mom. So that one’s off the list for things to make my wife. Good thing it makes our little one happy since the extra I made will be her lunch!
She’s still surprising us with the good food she’ll eat, and we’re still hoping she keeps it up. Then again, it should come as no surprise since we simply keep the junk out. Half the picky eater problems I hear about can easily be solved it they were given fresh, whole foods from the start. But that’s a whole other blog post novel.
Do you love hot or cold noodles the best? Plain or with something mixed in?
Only two more monthly memories posts after this one until I take a different approach. Much like the memories, I’ll never stop sharing, but we only have a finite amount of time each day, and an increasing number of memories will take more than I’m willing to use. Plus, it’s better spent making new memories with my family.
Our little flower is blossoming more and more, and just like I’ve probably said in the past several all of these posts, growing so fast and doing so much! Well, like I said, there’s only a finite amount of time, so I’ll get to it.
1. Right after we got back from our Colorado family vacation, Mommy had to go on a business trip and was gone for almost a week. This was the longest time we spent apart, and we missed her dearly.
2. In order to get our Mommy/Wifey fix, we utilized Skype each night. It was always late, but I’d sit on the kitchen floor with you as video-chatted together. Of course, you’d hardly sit still, but you did give kisses to Mommy through the phone.
3. Before school was back in session, we made use of the playground at the elementary school nearby. You climbed up the equipment and went down the slide non-stop for the first time and obviously had a blast.
4. Then, as school started and everyone was posting pics of their kids’ first day, we rubbed it in that it was just another fun day together at our house.
5. While Mommy was still away, I brought you over to our friend’s house to try out their trampoline. As active as you’ve become, I thought you’d easily get right to jumping, but it turned out that you must be afraid of being above ground.
Yeah, I’m fine right here, thank you.
6. At least you had fun playing catch with their dog. I think he enjoyed it too!
7. I captured my favorite picture of you to date and had it printed and framed using Pictli. Now we have it right above the sink to enjoy each day.
8. Mowing with you had always been tedious as I didn’t feel safe having you outside as I cut the grass, but with Mommy gone, I decided to give it a try. Turned out to be no problem!
9. Keeping with the “firsts” trend, we walked around our .4 mile loop together in our Soft Star Shoes. That was the most you walked at once and you did great!
10. You wouldn’t keep anything in your crib for the longest time, but this month you finally gave in and accepted the company of your My Happy Pillow bear. Yay progress!
12. Since you did so well on the school playground equipment, I thought I’d bring you to another playground to climb up and slide on. Instead, your fear of heights came out and you wouldn’t even allow me to go through the obstacles with you. Regression!
13. One of our neighbors was giving away their playhouse and swing set with a slide, and thanks to Mommy for seeing the post, we got it! Only problem was, our slightly sloped backyard made it hard to find a good spot to put it. Until then, we just used the slide by itself where I would lift it with you at the top and Mommy caught you at the bottom.
14. It used to be that we had to read a book out loud during dinner while simultaneously feeding you, but now you enjoy reading the books yourself. And you eat much better too!
15. After going back and forth, we finally settled on a good spot for your playhouse. Now that it’s together, Mommy and I wind up pushing you on the swing and helping you down the slide every day. Sometimes you even try to swing by yourself!
16. We knew it was coming, and this was the month it happened, you started saying “No” to us. Let this mark the beginning of the backtalk. I hear it ends right around after college….
17. With all of the outside playing, we think you were bit around the diaper lining area which seemed like nothing major at first, but turned into a staph infection. We spent our Labor Day at the ER having it drained and cleaned. Thankfully you’re all better now, but that means all 3 of us have had a bout of MRSA this year. I think Mommy’s love helped your recovery a lot!
18. Randomly, I took your diaper off at an attempt to start potty training you with a method I read about. Several pee puddles later, that was the last attempt for now. We’ll try again once you’re 2 years old. 🙂
19. Feeling confident that you were ready to attempt the trampoline again, I brought you to the Urban Air Trampoline Park. You started off timid, but with the help of the bigger kids, you finally warmed up!
20. Every time we try to comfort you after a little fall, because you’re upset, or something big like staph, we always say “It’s okay.” by habit. Well, you picked up on it and now you say it all the time. When you’re really frustrated or scared, you’ll say itsokay really fast with a strained voice. It’s funny, sad, and, well, funny again.
21. Mommy taught you how to be even more adorable (how is that possible?) by putting your hands to your cheeks. Cuteness galore!
22. And finally, one of the best animal noises you’ve done up to this point is the bear/lion sound. You make the best (and cutest) roar ever!
Time can be a real jerk for never slowing down, so it’s up to us parents to make the most of our time together. Getting hugs from Avery is the best feeling in the world, unless, that is, it’s getting hugs from Avery and my wife. We have a family hug almost every day that I wouldn’t trade for anything else.
Now I’m off to make more memories, see you back here in another month!
What is your kid currently doing or recently done that you absolutely love/hate? Please share, I’d love to hear!
The 2015 NFL Football season has arrived! This means it’s time to gather round and sit in front of the TV to watch the big game….or a small one if you haven’t upgraded to an 80″ LED 2160p TV. 🙂
Going Mom and I enjoy watching a good game, but we don’t schedule our weekend (or a Thursday / Monday night) around it. For us, a new football season is exciting because of the changing weather and seasonal produce starting to sprout. We still care about football, but we don’t care about all of the excitement from the 1st week of the season. I was involved with sports betting a few years ago, and hated how much it ruled my life, so no more betting or fantasy leagues for me. Although, a lot has changed in the betting world since I dabbled in it. For example, now that sports betting tennessee websites are up and running, this would make it a lot easier for me!
Every year, as the football season approaches, you can feel the excitement all around with stores stocking their aisles with “the essentials”, new TV deals suddenly seem more abundant, and Fantasy Football drafts going on everywhere. And that’s completely cool, but over the years, I’ve found that I’ve lost interest in football hubbub.
Yep, years ago we used to chime in with the excitement, but with each passing season, my wife and I shared the dying of the football flame. Like I said, we enjoy watching football, but most certainly can not sit through an entire game, and will only watch if doesn’t get in the way of whatever else we’re doing.
Take, for example, this past weekend with the first week of the NFL season, we totally forgot because we were focused on cooking, exercise, landscaping projects, and enjoy the outdoors. When we weren’t pinned down by our crazy toddler that is.
Besides, we are more college football fans, and follow our Oklahoma Sooners more than any NFL team. We missed the game against Tennessee (see above reason), but got the highlights, and wow, sorry we didn’t see it! Go Sooners! Although, Avery’s reaction to Mommy’s OU jersey isn’t very promising that she’ll be a fan of our alma mater.
I grew up with a step-dad who sat around watching TV a lot which didn’t leave a good impression. Now, as a father myself, I don’t want Avery to see me staring at a TV when we could be playing together as a family or just sitting and reading to her.
We actually turned on part of a game this weekend and Avery fell silent and just stared at the TV. Our fun, rambunctious little girl turned into a zombie locked in on the bright screen with no awareness of what was going on around her. That was the end of TV for the weekend.
Again, we don’t hate football, and as I said already, enjoy watching a good game, but what I’m saying is that I don’t care that it’s the first week of the season. Probably won’t think much about the second week either. I’ll still root for the Cowboys (just checked and saw that was an awesome win against the Giants) since, by default, they’re our home team, and follow the Sooners a little more, but no matter the outcome, life will go on for us. I was involved with sports betting a few years ago, and hated how much it ruled my life, so more betting or fantasy leagues for me.
What did we do for the 1st week of the NFL season? Well, my wife planned out and started her next backyard landscaping project and I started a new strength routine along with cooking multiple meals including our local, pastured chicken from our CSA. I’m severely deficient with gardening and landscaping, so I helped in the form of manual labor. I see it as an extra workout, Kelley gets my help, it’s a win-win!
In sum, I feel it’s too easy to get wrapped up into the games as I have done in the past, and find it much more rewarding to keep away and be productive around the house. Then, once everything’s done, maybe we can sit down at night to catch the end of a good game.
Did you watch any football this weekend?
Excited about Monday Night Football tonight?
Do you like NFL or College better? Or, like me, don’t get too wrapped up in either?
An at-home dad on a mission to keep it real when it comes to food, fun, and raising a healthy, happy family.
