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!

Life, Parenting

Popular at Papa’s Party and Giving the Finger

01/19/2015 R.C. Liley 1 Comment

This past Saturday, January 17, Going Mom, Avery, and I met friends and family at Kona Grill to celebrate Papa’s (Kelley’s dad) 60th birthday. Nana had two large tables reserved and arranged the get-together for her loving husband’s big “Six-Oh”.

The party started at 4pm, which meant something all parents to babies and toddlers fear the most…..Nap Time Disruption! Despite this fear, Avery had a somewhat good nap before we made the drive down to Papa’s celebration.

We were the last ones to show, no thanks to a wreck on the highway and our own non-punctuality (c’mon, we have a baby!), but we weren’t that late.

The two tables were lined with family and friends along with a variety of appetizers to choose from. Kona Grill serves a mix of American fare along with sushi. Weird mix if you ask me, but the do serve quality food and cook from scratch. Then menu was set, but the servers kindly had a lobster sushi roll made just for me with no creamy sauce on top.

One of the pros of family gatherings is that everyone has to hold the baby, Avery, and it gives Going Mom and I a short break. The moment we arrived, before we could take our seats, Taylor and Ashlee, Avery’s cousins, rushed over to take her away.

Just hangin' with the girls — Just hangin’ with the girls

We enjoy a little free-from-baby time, family gets to hold our precious baby, and we all win! The infatuation with holding other peoples’ babies, I don’t totally understand, but our baby, it’s a no brainer, she’s the prettiest one EVER! Biased Parenting, we all do it, right?

Avery behaved better than expected for getting passed around all over the restaurant and also running around all over the restaurant as everyone took turns chasing after her. Well, there was one moment when I think Avery got a little annoyed with the constant too close for comfort attention. She didn’t say it, but in this case pictures really do speak louder than words!

Cute, huh? How's this for "cute"?! — Cute, huh? How’s this for “cute”?!

It was great to see my mom (G-Ma) there, and despite Avery flipping the bird, she took part in the baby holding/chasing experience.

Two beautiful ladies!

Speaking of, Nana and Aunt Lindsay along with a good friend all got the memo to wear white and looked fabulous as usual.

Left to Right: Friend, Nana, Aunt Lindsay

I was lucky enough to have my picture taken with two beautiful ladies as well. One with my wonderful mom….

….and another with Going Mom/my stunning wife!

Everyone complimented Avery on how precious she was and repeatedly told us how they adored her. We love hearing compliments about our awesome baby, and we couldn’t agree more with each bit of praise she receives. There was one instance, when someone tried to tell us Avery doesn’t have baby fat and that we need to give her sugar. I laughed for a second, then put my serious face on to get ready for battle!

Luckily, they finally gave up and Going Mom and I were able to contain ourselves (kinda) as we clenched our teeth. Phew, never challenge our parenting, especially when it comes to what we feed our daughter!!

Anyway, as the party neared the end, Papa was presented with a big carrot cake as we all sang “Happy Birthday” to him. Nana made sure to cheer him on as he drew in a big breath to blow out the candles. Luckily she didn’t have a candle for each year, he’d need a big breath and fire extinguisher to put those out! Sorry, Steve, just had a give you a good ole son-in-law jab at your age! Will you still let me keep your daughter as my wife? Okay, just one picture with her, but seriously, I want her back! 🙂

After opening gifts and the cake presentation, Avery had made several rounds with everyone holding and playing with her and we were still proud at how well she held up. But, she finally started getting cranky and wound up back with us.

It didn’t take long for us to catch on to Avery’s cues of being tired and ready to leave, so we said our goodbyes and made the trek back home.

Since we didn’t have much of the appetizers, we were hungry, and despite it being late, we still went for our evening (fast) walk before dinner. Avery slept well that night, and for that, so did we.

Hope you had a wonderful birthday, Steve/Papa, we all love you!

Do you have events that require a disruption from normal nap time procedure?

If so, is it hard for you to find an alternative?

Ever catch your kid giving the finger to the camera? To you?

Life, Parenting, Pinterest Picks

What Happens When You Put Ivory Soap in the Microwave?

01/17/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Have you tried this easy experiment that only requires a bar of Ivory soap, a microwaveable plate, and a microwave?

Simply put it in the microwave for a minute and a half and watch as the rectangular bar of soap transforms into something 6 times its size! I first saw it on the Happy Hooligans website and have been itching to try it myself.

I have yet to try the experiment, but I did track down the science behind why the Ivory soap. Read the how and why here.

As the site explains, Ivory soap is one of the few brands that float in water because it has air pumped into it during the manufacturing process. If you didn’t want to click on the link, here’s the part about why it expands in the microwave:

This is actually very similar to what happens when popcorn pops or when you try to microwave a marshmallow. Those air bubbles in the soap (or the popcorn kernels or the marshmallow) contain water. Water is also caught up in the matrix of the soap itself. The expanding effect is caused when the water is heated by the microwave. The water vaporizes, forming bubbles, and the heat causes trapped air to expand. Likewise, the heat causes the soap itself to soften and become pliable.

This effect is actually a demonstration of Charles’ Law. Charles’ Law states that as the temperature of a gas increases, so does its volume. When the soap is heated, the molecules of air in the soap move quickly, causing them to move far away from each other. This causes the soap to puff up and expand to an enormous size. Other brands of soap without whipped air tend to heat up and melt in the microwave.

– See more at: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/soap-souffle#sthash.GgEOxeIG.dpuf

And here’s his video if you’d rather just keep it safe and watch online…

This is definitely something I’ll do when Avery gets just a little older and doesn’t try to eat everything she touches. Part of the fun is getting to feel how the soap has changed after being nuked. Apparently, it easily crumbles and can even be used to make homemade laundry detergent!

If you haven’t already, try this with your kids and have the guess what will happen after the 90 seconds is up.

As a side note, this will fill your room with a pleasant, soapy smell, so try it right after cooking fish or when you just need to freshen up the kitchen! Maybe at your workplace?

What do you think of this easy experiment?

Have you tried or heard of it before?

Avery Talk, Parenting

How to Remove Your Sock: A Toddler Pictorial

01/16/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Ahhh, c’mon, I know I put that thing in here somewhere!

This is preposterous! Socks don’t just “disappear” like when mommy or daddy have my nose!

What?

Oh, well hello there, fellow bambinos! Are you tired of your parents putting socks on you when you have a hard floor and you’re just learning to walk? Slip much? Geez, I sure do! So I made a quick tutorial on how to remove your ~~socks~~ sock.

Yeah, it would’ve been “socks”, but I already took one off and lost it in that box. Oops….not my proudest moment. I’m typically good about keeping track of things. For instance, my wooden duck walker and Catch Me Kitty are strategically placed behind me to make sure either mommy or daddy trips over here. It’s only fair if they put things on me that make fall, no?

All you need to know is how to take off one, and then you do the same with the other anyway. So, first thing you do is grab your sock-covered toes and start pulling up. Sometimes you have to pull hard and it might even stretch your leg more then you’d like.

Okay, by stretch I mean hurt, but we have to remain strong. No crying!

Crap, panic is setting in, this thing won’t budge! Just bare (ha ha, get it, “bare” as in bare feet?) with me, use both hands, and keep your composure. See? Like me with my face of fortitude!