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!

15 Memories From My 15th Month Since Going Dad

Another month and numerous memories has come and gone with our growing toddler. Here are 15 to celebrate the number of months she’s been making us smile.

Avery, you give us more than we could ever count, but here are 15 memories that stand out….

1. You finding out just how fun it is when you wave a string around a cat. Even fat ones like ours will chase a string around, and you were cracking up at fatty Lou.

2. For most of the month, during nap time and nighttime, you fought sleep with a burning passion. Instead of calming succumbing to your tired state, you’d kick your legs wildly and talk to yourself for up to 45 minutes before giving in. Or it was because you pooped, and then we of course came in to clean you. Remember that when we’re old!!

3. I entered you in a local baby photo contest put on by Metroplex Baby and Kids and you won! Thanks to all of our friends, family, and followers for supporting you and your infinite cuteness!

Avery-Photo-Contest-Metroplex-Baby

4. This past month I announced that am a proud Nuttzo Ambassador for 2015, and couldn’t of made it without you. As a result, there’s been plenty of NuttZo powered meals around here with many more to come. I think it’s safe to say you don’t mind one bit though.

5. I mentioned just last month that your jumper days were numbered. Shortly thereafter, we said goodbye to your jumper and I made a nice space for you to roam around in the garage. Now I can work out and so can you! And you still enjoy my weight belt just like when you were in your jumper.

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6. Speaking of working out, we got you your own kettlebell and you’ve been a rockstar at doing swings, squats, and even dancing! You get the biggest smile on your face when you pick it up, and it makes me beam with happiness!

toddler, kids, parenting, funny, humor

7. Apparently, your confidence level has sky-rocketed since you’ve been swinging your kettlebell because now you act as a personal trainer for Mommy and Me. We’ve worked out inside several times and you make sure to push us by climbing all over as we grind out HIIT-style workouts.

push-ups, workout, fitness, parenting

8. The February weather has been brutal to the North, but here in Texas, we’ve been graced with a lot of beautiful, sunny weather. We made full use of the outdoors and took you to the playground and right in our back yard many times. We’ve confirmed you love the outside, and we’ve also confirmed you HATE going inside.

playing, parenting, toddler

9. Papa had his 60th birthday celebration at a nice restaurant and many friends and family were there. You wore everyone out just running around the entire restaurant and received a lot of praise on your cuteness. You have your Mommy to thank for that! I think you can also thank her for your crude hand gestures at the restaurant too!

Steve's 60th

10. Speaking of Mommy, you also take after her love of goat cheese. You can outright reject a plain carrot, but top it with goat cheese and you can’t eat it fast enough!

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One night we even made mini goat cheese sandwiches with my homemade bread that you easily devoured.

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11. On the topic of eating, you surprised me when I offered my raw fermented veggies and you loved them. So much so, you cried after I stopped giving more. Between Mommy with her goat cheese and Daddy with my fermented foods, you make your parents super proud!

12. You have become quite the chatterbox all day, and even when you should be sleeping! No full on real words yet, but every day now, you point up, usually at lights, and make a slushy noise with your mouth as if saying something. Mommy and me just nod and say yes, those are lights. Sorry if that’s not what you’re really saying, but at least we acknowledge you.

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13. Mommy started asking “where is Avery” when you were rubbing your face one day, and now you do it to play hide and seek. Every time we say a key word like “boo”, “where are you”, “hide”, and others, you cover your eyes as if you’re tired to play along. Sometimes you keep them on there really long and it’s hard to tell if you actually are tired or still playing. Either way, you’re cute!

14. Yes, cute even when you do something like throw up. Your first real food puke happened in the middle of the night when G-Ma was staying over after watching you for Mommy and Daddy’s date night.  You ate really good for G-Ma, a little too good,  and it all came back up. We could hear the noise the first time you did it in your crib, and after cleaning everything up, I heard it the second time when you did it all over Mommy while nursing. Despite the sickness, you gave us plenty of cute, flashy smiles right after expelling your food. We could resist but to smile back at you.

15. And for the final memory this month, it’s another bodily function first. The night I became ill and was lying on the playroom floor, you decided to squeeze out a stinker as Mommy was giving you a bath. She said it scared you and definitely surprised her, but she handled it smoothly and cleaned things up quickly.

Avery, you’re growing up fast, too fast, and we enjoy watching your see and do so much every day. You’re constantly learning and hopefully that trend continues for a very long time! We love you, happy 15 months, dear!

I’d say, if there were a major theme for the month, resisting sleep and confusing Going Mom and I would be it. Seriously, the “terrible twos” really do start at 1!  But of course, we wouldn’t change it for the world!

Do you have any favorite memories from your kids for the month? Please share as I’d love to hear!

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Getting “Down With the Sickness”, Literally

Something doesn't feel right.....
Something doesn’t feel right…..

You know that crappy feeling when you get sick? Yeah, I wrote about my experience here. And then the awesome feeling once you recover? Of course I wrote about that, and you can read it here. Well, that crappy feeling is back, but not because I am “Down With the Sickness” (old song by Disturbed), it’s because now my family is.

Probably no thanks to me. Before I turned ill, all was honky dory in the house, and then Blam-o (or some other weird word for a noise), my body hurt and I was decommissioned. Several days and excellent spousal support later, I was feeling better and ready for a pint night date night with Kelley.

Not so fast, the sick bug or whatever it is/was must’ve grown tired of my old carcass and wanted to move on to something better. Like, for instance, my wife and Avery. Damn you, bug/virus/whatever you are!!!

After returning home from our date night, we had just enough time to read a book to Avery before she went to sleep. A few hours later, in the early morning, we woke to the sound of our daughter crying. Nothing new there, but it was worse and lasted longer than normal.

Kelley and I were both in her room and it was confirmed; poop. She had just let a hefty poo out for G-Ma while we were out, so we figured we’d be safe for the night. Ha ha, rookie parents, you’re never safe from poo!

This has happened before, so we cleaned her and Kelley nursed her to sleep. Done, problem solved. Ooooorrrr, problem just starting, rather.

Not long after getting her back in her crib, no baby monitor was needed to hear a hacking cat sound throughout the house. At first I thought is was our cat, hacking, but instead is was Avery, throwing up. Oh yeah, another first! She’s spit up plenty of times, but this was a first for real food to appear.

Poor girl, it was all over her sheet, blanket, and pajamas. Off with everything dirty, and replaced with clean items, Going Mom, looking a little weary (besides the fact is was 2am), nursed Avery to sleep yet again. Or so we hoped. Instead, she had round two, all over her new pajamas and Mommy.

More cleaning ensued while Avery seemed unusually happy as she flashed us smiles while we scurried around in clean-up mode. Kelley needed to take a shower and was only looking worse, so after we finished cleaning, I took a shot at just holding and rocking Avery to sleep. Milk seemed to not be what was needed anyway.

Upon finishing her shower, Kelley needed to get some sleep and went to bed after checking on Avery and me. Luckily, after tossing and spinning around my lap, Avery found a suitable position to fall asleep and we stayed like that for around 3 hours. I was in and out of sleep, and after G-Ma (she stayed the night since we’re close to her work) got ready and left, I laid Avery in her crib and made it back to our own bed.

Our freakin’ nursery chair doesn’t recline, so laying in our bed was like having giant pillow hands gently lifting me off my feet and soothing me into a nice sleep. I woke up to find Kelley still in bed and found out she turned even worse and was staying home for the day. Time for me to pay her back for helping me so much!

I cooked pumpkin teff for her and Avery in hopes they would keep it down, which they did, and tried to help them relax. Avery had several “runny” messes through the day on Thursday, but seemed to get over her symptoms by night came around. Kelley was weak all day and not up to much, but thankfully she’s kept everything down, unlike yours truly.

At the time I’m writing this, both of my lovely girls seem to be on the mend. Mommy has an extended weekend with us, so I gave her strict orders to get better so we don’t have another weekend of sickness!

How do you feel after giving your illness to others in the house?

What can we do differently to limit this happening, or is it just something that must “run its course”?

Welcome Back, Hunger and Happiness!

After a weekend and a couple days of being ill, I am grateful to welcome hunger and happiness back into my life! No, not the book, never heard of it until I wrote the title to this post.

hunger and happiness

 

 

 

And hey, I’m having dinner with the family now! That’s beyond silver, it’s a platinum lining!

I woke up Wednesday morning with an actual appetite and body that felt normal again. Geez, it wasn’t that long, but sure did feel like for-ev-er. Bonus points if you get the reference. Sandlot, anyone?

Eating was not forced and I happily made a Nuttzo Banana Omelet for Avery and me to chow down on for breakfast.

It was good freakin’ delicious and so easy to make! A hit with daddy and daughter that will be repeated many times for sure!

You know that euphoric feeling you get after recovering from sickness or simply feeling down? Well, that’s how I felt yesterday and it seemed to rub off on Avery too. I took advantage of my rekindled energy and walked/jogged almost 2 miles with her to a nearby playground.

Getting ready to go down a slide!
Getting ready to go down a slide!

 

Stocked with swings, slides, and a bigger area to run around than our small neighborhood playground, it was a nice change.

Where to first?
Where to first?

Still full of mulch that stuck all over her pants and socks after taking her shoes off, but she loved it. Or at least this makes me think so…

Giggles and crazy legs everywhere! I’m sorry those up North are getting such a beating with snow on top of snow on top of more snow, but we’re living it up here in Texas and making full use of the great outdoors!

Sorry about the snow, Northerners! I'm happy!
Sorry about the snow, Northerners! I’m happy!

I was worried about having cryfest 2015 when it came time to take Avery back home since she usually hates leaving. But, after about 40 minutes of  playing, she actually walked to her stroller and had no problem getting in and making the trip back. Phew!!

Hump Day was a great day to be back to my old self and just in time for what Kelley and I had planned for the night. G-Ma said she would watch Avery so we could go out for drinks for a few hours and have much needed together time. Drinking right after getting over being sick? Sure, why not?

We each had two beers on draft and shared another. The one we shared was a Texas seasonal from Shiner and it tasted very much like liquid cake. Probably why it’s chocolate stout called Birthday Beer. We felt it was similar to Bailey’s Irish Cream. Tasty, yes, but one too sweet to drink a full one alone.

The night was full of stouts, including the featured pint for Pint Night, Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, where you get to keep the glass. Win!

It was a nice glass....
It was a nice glass….

But, I left it there like I had something inhibiting my brain processing correctly. Loss!

We were worried I might not be ready to go, but I felt ready enough! Plus it was nice to get out with my beautiful wife, high-water jeans and all!

Ginger-Man-Feb-2015

Thanks again to my mom/G-Ma for watching Avery. She’s been a major help since Avery was born (actually, since I was born) and I love that Avery enjoys her company too. So much so, that she peed on the carpet after bath time upon our return home! #Toddlers

How do you normally celebrate getting over being sick?

Have you ever done something ill-advised (like drinking) right after recovery?