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!

A Broken Umbrella + Our First Family Movie Experience

Guess we can’t have wonderful Texas weather all the time! Winter reared its ugly head in our direction on Sunday with a big temperature drop, high wind, and pouring rain. Perfect time for a family movie!

Sunday started off like usual with me making a big bowl of blueberries with a little oatmeal and NuttZo (order yours and save 15% with code liley15)mixed in for Kelley and Avery.

In return, Kelley makes the coffee which is perfectly fair to me. I go through coffee like it’s water. Besides the fact that it pretty much is water…..

After my lovely girls ate and I downed a couple cups of coffee along with a big scoop of NuttZo, I was determined to go for a walk. I have a “need” to get out at least a little every day, but the weather was not too inviting.

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I was cold just looking outside, and watching the rain come down harder as the wind blew the trees was all but motivating! But, my determination stupidity stubbornness held strong and I dressed appropriately for a stroll outside.

Shorts with my ProCompression marathon socks, a 20 pound weight vest held together with safety pins (not kidding, they stick me all the time), and gloves with a headband….because it’s cold. For some odd reason, Going Mom and Avery didn’t want to come along. I’m sure just because of the weather and not because of my attire.

Off I went with an umbrella and my cell phone playing a Ben Greenfield podcast in hopes it would help take my mind off the cold wind and rain in my face. It didn’t. The stupid wind only got worse and ended up breaking my umbrella which made for an even colder (and wetter) walk.

Broken umbrella

Glad the girls were smart and stayed warm and dry inside! After drying off and thawing out, we were ready to pick a movie to watch with Avery. This would be our first time trying to watch a full movie with her, and thanks to one of our neighbors for letting us borrow their giant case of animated hits, we had a great selection to choose from. We settled in our front playroom and got into position.

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The movie of choice of Puss in Boots since we didn’t want anything too great for the first attempt. This proved to be a smart choice; Avery was all over the place doing everything but watching the movie.

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Yeah, eating wooden cars is more entertaining, apparently. We tried sitting her in her personalized chair, better know as the “Pooping Chair” in hopes that would keep her still.

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It worked! For a minute. We turn away and look back to see her somewhere else; again, not watching the movie.

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We finished the movie, but I couldn’t tell you much about it. At least she wasn’t too crazy, and maybe next time she’ll be more into it. Maybe the fact that it was right before nap time helped not a bit too!

The DVD collection we’re borrowing has Frozen, and from what I hear, kids seem to like it just a little. 🙂 Think a 15 month old is ready to watch, or should we stick with something like Curious George for now?

The Dad Network

How did your first movie watching experience go with your kids?

What was the movie of choice?

My Top Picks for a Healthy Lifestyle

Hi there! This will be quick. Just wanted to let you know I have a new page (see above) called My Healthy Food, Cooking, and Fitness Store where I listed my favorite foods, kitchen gadgets, and fitness equipment. If you want to start or maintain a healthy lifestyle, check it out, I’ll be adding more soon.

It’s all through Amazon where you can buy my favorites for your home and start enjoying healthy, delicious food that you can easily cook. Add in fitness equipment and you’re off to a new, healthier and happier you!

If you’re not sure what to do with some of the food, check out my other new page with Healthy Recipes your whole family will enjoy. Yes, even those picky toddlers…..

One for me, none for you, dad.
One for me, none for you, dad.

See? You’ll have them taking healthy food you cooked right out of your hands!

Soon, I’ll create a post where I share actual products I use the most along with ideas on how to get started with them. For now, please check out my list of favorites for a healthy lifestyle and let me know what you think.

What is the biggest thing you want to change most? Being more active, better nutrition, both, or something else?

Dear Daughter, Hold Your Bottle! Please?

I don’t know where we went wrong, but our toddler simply won’t hold her own bottle.

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Okay, let me rephrase; she won’t hold her own milk bottle.

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Dammit! Let me re-rephrase; she won’t hold and drink from her milk bottle. There.

Some of our neighbors with kids around the same age said their little ones have been holding their own bottle and drinking without a problem. I don’t know where they all are with breastfeeding and if that matters, but Going Mom is still breastfeeding so maybe that has something to do with it. If that’s the case, so be it, breastfeeding is the best source of nutrition for our kids, even as toddlers, and I’ll support my wife as much as possible!

But still, Avery has no problem with holding, grabbing, and throwing things. She’s even becoming a pro at kettlebell swings!

toddler, kids, parenting, funny, humor

So why won’t she just tilt the bottle up to get what’s inside? We have a sippy cup with a straw that she drinks water out of just fine, but a lot of it ends on the floor too, so we’re reluctant to give her Mommy’s milk that she works so hard to produce.

I’ve tried bottle “training” by just putting water inside and letting her do whatever, but nothing good came of it. Just confusion and spilled water.

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If that was milk, we’d have a sticky mess, and I don’t feel like cleaning the floors more than I already have to.

Kelley and I have attempted to let her hold the bottle with milk inside while we stood guard, and she just tried to drink from the nipple as if it were the straw on her sippy cup.

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We try and correct her by making a motion of tilting something up and drinking, but that only seems to confuse her.

You want me to do what with what now?
You want me to do what with what now?

And then, after several repeated attempts at explaining what to do with the bottle, she gives us this…

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I mean, what the crap?! How do you not just smile, hug, and kiss this cute girl? After holding the bottle so she can drink, that is.

Anyway, we’re talking about weaning her from the bottle all together soon, and then she’ll have to use the sippy cup. Our cup has a spill proof nipple or a straw attachment, and she’s kinda getting that nipple down, but still just spits out the water as she drinks. I picture milk being in there and it sends shivers down my spine. Not out of fear, just because I don’t like cleaning, and I know how hard my wife works to make that milk.

The time to nix the bottle is fast approaching, and hopefully she’ll get the “big girl” cup down good enough to have milk in there.

Do you have a special “go to” sippy cup that you use for your kids?

What age did your little one start holding and drinking from their own cup/bottle?