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!

Soft Star Shoes Child Rambler Review: Growing Happy Feet

Soft Star Shoes have become a family favorite in the ‘Going’ household. First, I became a proud ambassador, then I reviewed their RunAmoc Moc3’s, then they sent Avery the awesome pair of Child Ramblers that I’m reviewing today, and I have a review of their Dash RunAmoc shoes coming soon!

All of this, plus Going Mom just received the coolest Mother’s Day gift from the coolest husband ever; a pair of Soft Star Shoes Solstice Sandals. So, yeah, we’re rockin’ the Soft Star life over here and our feet couldn’t be happier!

Soft Star Shoes has a neat design-your-own area for their adult and kids’ shoes, but I went with their Flamingo/Nutmeg color combo since my wife and I liked the colors and figured they’d go with more of the clothes Avery has.

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Before they wear shoes, kids have a natural movement pattern and are able to move around freely. Giving feet freedom is important since the early years of a kids’ life is when their body is rapidly changing.

Shoes that allow freedom for feet to grow and develop naturally is of the utmost importance, and that’s exactly what Soft Star Shoes provides. Check out their informative link with healthy footwear tips and research-based info on why the right shoe is so important for your little one.

The Ramblers have a minimal design that allows feet the freedom to move around, are slip-resistant, handcrafted in the USA with high quality materials, and flexible without arch support that forces feet into a “molding”. How flexible, you ask? This flexible…

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And their rubber soles allow for play on all types of surfaces, indoor or out, without the need to be concerned about slipping.

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The ease of putting them on your child will depend on two big things; their age and the current weather. At Avery’s age, she does everything she can to NOT help you get her dressed, and if it’s hot/humid outside, that only makes it worse.

Thankfully, the elastic ankle closure on these makes it easier to get on and off than most other shoes we’ve tried. Once they’re on, they stay snug but comfortable. She never complained about having them on, even for extended periods. I’d like to think it helps that she looks up to (literally) and wants to wear Soft Star Shoes like her Daddy.

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The Ramblers fit her feet quite well with a little room to grow. When she is ready for bigger shoes, Soft Star has plenty of sizing options including baby (0-12 months), child (1-5 years), youth (5-12 years), and adult (12-150 years). The fact that she keeps them on while in her stroller on the way to the playground says a lot, trust me!

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When playing, Avery can easily run around and even kick the soccer ball without issue.

The shoes we tried before these would all be off in a minute, so it’s obvious these are her favorite, even if she can’t say it yet. Hey, actions speak louder than words, right? And she knows what shoes to grab when getting read to lift weights with daddy.

She sure does make me proud! After wearing her Ramblers outside in the dirt, mulch, and grass, as well as inside our home, they still look brand new. No threads coming undone or huge scrapes, even after climbing up and down the concrete at the playground.

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She tripped on the cracks in those rocks more times than I can remember, but the shoes still stayed on and showed no signs of wear. We love Avery’s Soft Star Shoes, and besides being difficult to put at first (you figure it out fast), these are the only shoes we use now. Avery seems happy to roam about to discover new things in her Ramblers, like how sticks taste.

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Or just what in the world Daddy is trying to show her now….

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The soft natural leather, non-toxic colors, and hardy but flexible soles make for an awesome shoe for kids or adults and will ensure happy feet stay happy.

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A big thanks to Soft Star Shoes for sending our precious girl these lovely shoes. I can’t recommend these shoes enough, and think their entire line has something for everyone. Check out their site and get your family’s feet ready to play hard, play safe, and keep it natural this summer.

After you find your perfect pair, make sure to take plenty of pictures and enter their monthly Fan Photo Contest to win $50 towards your next shoe purchase.

Now, excuse me while I test out my Dash RunAmocs with Avery.

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Have you heard of Soft Star Shoes?

Do you have any of your own?

Try out their Design-Your-Own feature and let me know what style and colors you like best.

A Half Marathon In My Garage On Mother’s Day

Our original plan to start Mother’s Day off with a half marathon and 5k race followed by coffee and brunch and Brewed never happened. Guess that’s what I get for writing and scheduling a post ahead of time.

Due to inclement weather with tornadoes, heavy rain, and lots of lightning, the even organizers figured running in the stuff may not be the best idea. If only they would’ve called it off before I was half-way there, hydroplaning on the highway, that would’ve been nice.

With the torrential rain and lightning already rearing its ugly head at 5am, we had already nixed the plan of having G-Ma and Avery come watch Going Mom and I run. My wife was sure the race would be canceled, but since I didn’t see anything posted, I said I’d just go alone and come back to celebrate Mother’s Day after the wet run.

As I was driving through nasty weather thinking how much it sucks inside a car and how much more it will suck when running 13.1 miles, Kelley called to tell me they finally called it off. Actually, it’s now going to be next weekend on Sunday, the 17th. So, I turned around and picked up Grande black coffees at Starbucks for the 3 of us. And then I stopped again and made use of my free refills with the Gold Card to make a total of 6 coffees.

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This is the only way I can justify paying for coffee since it brings the cost down to only $1 per Grande. Not bad, eh?

When I arrived back home, I found my mom and Kelley asleep on the couch in the living room. We never woke Avery up, thankfully, and I’ve learned to never wake a sleeping lady……especially when they’re pregnant!

Since they went back to sleep, it would only make sense to join them (I only slept 5 hours) and get a little more rest, right? Wrong! When I have a certain thing to do in my head, I have trouble letting it go. Since the rain and lightning wasn’t letting up, I decided to make use of my indoor rower and row the half marathon distance in my garage.

13.1 miles / 21.08 km is a half marathon, and I ended up rowing 90 minutes with a distance of 22.2 km, or 13.8 miles. Talk about a sore butt! I listened to a great Ben Greenfield podcast to help the time pass while staring out at the rain which ended up not being that bad. I know being fueled by NuttZo (as the shirt says) helped keep me going since I had nothing to eat or drink before or during the stint.

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All three lovely girls woke up and greeted me just before I was finished, and Going Mom took a few finishing action shots for me. Right after, I stood in the rain to cool off as we all sipped guzzled our coffees. I made Mother’s Day NuttZo Oatmeal for the girls by request which was better than what we would’ve had at Brewed anyway.

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The secret, besides the obvious delicious and healthy addition of NuttZo is, add a crap-load of blueberries!

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This was the smaller bowl for my mom, but Kelley would send it back for more “bluebs” if I seemingly skimped on tiny tart fruit. Hers looks more like this….

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With bellies full of coffee and oatmeal (perfect combo for a rainy day), I gave my Mother’s Day gifts to my wife and mom.

Accompanying the personal letters I typed to each of them, I gave an old photo to my mom of her and me after my high school graduation. She had dyed blonde hair, I had earrings, and we both had 13 years back.

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We have more to give my spectacular Mom, but need it to come in the mail first. Although she liked her gifts, she deserves so much more than I could ever give. Raising me alone was not an easy feat, but she did it, and she did it well. I’ll just forget about those times we had fast food. 🙂

For Going Mom, I gave her a new pair of sandals from Soft Star Shoes which was received with great delight. Score one for me!

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I got the size right and a color she loves. Not an easy task a style-impaired guy such as myself. They looked great on their website, but even better in person, and absolutely wonderful being worn by my wife.

Besides the pair of sandals, I also pulled a few strings to get her a pair of these water mugs…

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Yep, they’re from the Baylor Health hospital Avery was born in. Kelley has been drinking religiously from the same one ever since Avery was born on 11/15/13, and we aren’t even religious!

After e-mailing and talking to a nurse on the phone, she said she’d give me two new ones for my wife. Avery and I made the trip up there one day as I took a trip down Memory Lane and voila!, we have two new mugs! Good, because the original is cracked and had water collecting inside.

After visiting and playing with Avery a while longer, G-Ma had to leave while there was a break in the storms. We said our farewells and she was on her way.

Avery ran around the house and threw things at our feet until it was nap time. Going Mom nursed her to sleep where, at one point, she was in a flying bird position.

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How that’s comfortable, I haven’t a clue, but that’s how she slept for a while. Kelley and I relaxed together to enjoy each other’s company over one of my home brews.

Homebrew Cheers with Kelley

I love her, obviously, and am so happy to share this life with her. Sharing beer with her is just icing on the cake good because, beer and love.

The rest of the day had storms come and go, but we were able to fit in a walk with Avery with only a little be of rain. Now I just need to make it through another week and prepare to run 13.1 miles next Sunday. Hopefully the weather will hold out this time!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day!

Are you stubborn/determined when it comes to having your mind set on something like finishing a race?

Do you like cards or handwritten letters when giving gifts?

How was the weather for you on Mother’s Day?

Happy Mother’s Day! Letters to my Wife & Mom

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you wonderful Moms out there!

If you’re not a wonderful Mom, this doesn’t apply to you, but hopefully that’s not the case. It’s well known I’m not giving flowers for Mother’s Day (or ever), but I’m good at creating handmade cards for special occassions, just like the one I made Kelley last year.

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Well, I guess “good”, is giving myself too much credit, huh?

This year I opted to type my letter and nix the whole “thumbs up” cut-out.  This not only saved me time since I was writing with toddler pulling on my shorts (not kidding) and needed someone to push her toy plane, Tilly, as mentioned in the letter to Going Mom.

At the time of this being published, my wife and I should be done with our runs and hanging out with my mom and Avery at Brewed where copious amounts of coffee will be consumed. I’m sure Kelley and I will be the winners of the race happy to be done so we can relax and enjoy spending time with each other on Mother’s Day.

Speaking of, I’m cutting this short and will leave you with the letters I wrote to my wife and to my mom. So much better than words from a mass produced card!


 

Kelley,

I’m standing here, at my “work station” with our crazy little girl at my feet demanding my attention as I write this. Oh, hold on….

Okay, had to make Tilly go takeoff, I’m back now.

Anyway, there are times when I feel like I could go absolutely insane from these things. You know the feeling since she does it to you too. But, despite the madness, when all is said and done, I unquestionably love it!

If it weren’t for you, none of this could be a reality, and I am forever grateful to you as a beautiful, magnificent, and loving mother and wife! You’re my best friend with whom I can share all my thoughts and feelings, and although I admit I don’t do it enough, I feel instant comfort when I’m in your arms.

You’ve rocked at being a mom and are still going strong with giving Avery the best stuff ever. I know it will come to an end eventually, and I support whatever choice you make, but the sacrifice you have made will live forever in our healthy little girl.

I could go on raving about your awesomeness, but Tilly needs to takeoff for the sixth time, and I have 3 half books piled up to read. Basically, I love, I love our life, and I appreciate you as a mother to our beautiful girl and as my stunning (sexy vixen?) wife.

Happy Mother’s Day, dear, I love you forever!


Mom,

I’m writing this at the same time as Kelley’s, with Avery dancing around me for my utmost attention. You know, just like I was. 🙂 Thank you, by the way, for always giving it to me!

You’ve always been there for me, even when on your own and going through so many stressful times. To have a mother like you is rare, and I love that you are now giving all of your love to Avery without hesitation. She has the best G-Ma ever and it makes me smile seeing you two together. Even when she’s tugging at your hair.

I found this picture from after high school graduation and since it’s not being used here, hopefully you will have a place for it at work or at home. It makes me think of how much we’ve all changed, but never made us distant from each other. Again, thank you for always being there for me and now for Avery. No one could ask for a better mother than you, especially one that puts up with my crap!

Sorry for the lack of gifts, you deserve so much, but instead I ask you watch our kid so I can run. Which, by the way, thank you for that!

I hope you have a very Happy Mother’s Day, and we spend it all together enjoying each other’s company.

 

Do you create a lot of handmade gifts or prefer to buy your gifts?