contest Archives - Page 5 of 5

Hey there! How’s your weekend going?

Pretty fan-freakin-tastic here; it helps that it’s my 30th birthday and I’m celebrating with the ones I love so much! Yeah, no more life in the twenties, but I can’t fight it so I might as well embrace it; right? I think those are lyrics to a song….

Luckily, I was able to make use of the last days in my twenties by running a 10k and placing first in my (then) age group, and second overall! I might be a little boastful, but why not, I’m proud!

And then, just yesterday, I ran a 5k with Avery; our first race together and my last race before turning another decade! We came in first overall, but I’ll post more on that later. Today, I want to share an exciting giveaway for a new Onya Baby Outback baby carrier and a set of Chewies!

As a dad, I felt like I had some catching up to do when it came to bonding with my daughter, Avery, when she was born. From the start, Going Mom had a generous head start; around 9 months to be exact! Avery and I had our very important skin to skin time at the hospital and soon after we brought her home, I started wearing her.

I didn’t have an Onya Baby carrier at first, but thankfully I connected with Diana who graciously agreed to send their Outback carrier for review. I haven’t looked back since; Onya Baby is my top choice and fits perfectly into my active lifestyle. Avery seems to enjoy it as well!

There's a smile hidden in there; promise! — There’s a smile hidden in there; promise!

Almost every day, I will go for a walk with Avery around our neighborhood, and when she’s not napping, I’ll describe the things we’re passing. These are mostly ducks or geese from the neighborhood lake, a donkey from a connecting ranch, or just some of our neighbors out and about.

But, since we live in a developing neighborhood, there is a lot of construction going on around us. And with construction, comes trash from building materials and from the workers themselves. Oh, and the port-a-potties don’t help either. Here’s one with a pleasant message; that’s our yard to the right.

I try to find the humor in things and just laugh, but it doesn’t always work. But that’s not the issue, it’s the trash that gets blown down the street and in people’s yards that gets under my skin. Each day I go for a walk or run, I see bits and pieces spread around our otherwise beautiful neighborhood.

Maybe it doesn’t look like much in one spot, but collectively….

….it can add up quickly and….

….turn a peaceful walk into one of disgust.

Most of our neighbors, myself included, take pride in where we live and hate to see so much litter spread across our community, so I want to take action and clean it up!

For the rest of this month, I will be posting photos of the piles of trash I collect while walking, and if it can be recycled, I’ll recycle it. This will be a great activity to do with Avery to show her how to take pride in where you live and how cleaning up even just a little each day can make a huge impact. I know our wildlife friends will appreciate it too!

When I mentioned to Diana at Onya Baby about my latest endeavor, she thought it would be perfect to incorporate into Onya Baby’s Father’s Day giveaway. So I’m thrilled to announce that I have partnered with Onya Baby to offer my readers (that’s you if you’re reading this) a chance to win an Onya Baby Outback and a set of Chewies. If your kid is like Avery, they will love to have these to chew while being carried, and they help soothe teething gums!

How do you take part in this incredible chance to win your own Onya carrier? Simply follow this link and enter their RaffleCopter giveaway.

Complete the action steps as listed to earn entries and you’re all set at having your own Onya Outback to wear your baby in style and comfort!

I’d love for you to also take action and clean up your neighborhood or community with your kids and post a photo (with your Onya carrier if you have one) of the piles you collected. Share these photos on Twitter and tag @OnyaBaby and @Going_Dad with the hashtags #onyalove and #goanywhere. You can also share on my Facebook page or Onya’s page.

If you aren’t sure of just how awesome Onya baby carriers are, Paul from The Outdoor Adventure has an awesome video of it in use during his many….err, outdoor adventures!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKlqbXpFe8U&w=560&h=315]

Make sure to check out Paul’s blog and Amelia from Tales of a Mountain Mama, to see what they are doing with Onya Baby for the Father’s Day giveaway.

I’m looking forward to seeing how much you are able to clean up around where you live and hopefully your kids will see the good you’re doing and even help if they are old enough.

Being one who loves activity, this is a great way to get some extra exercise and bonding time with your children. Have fun setting a good example with your kids and good luck on the giveaway!

How do you feel about the cleanliness in your community? Could it use some cleaning?

Do you have an tips/advice on how to best approach the clean up?

Have you ever worn your child in an Onya Baby carrier?

Does that come off as boisterous? Well, maybe it is…..a little, but if you’re a parent, you already know the answer; because your baby is always the top model!

Furthermore, I’d say us parents think of our offspring as the best for anything! If I’m wrong, I hope your little one gets self confidence somewhere.

This past weekend, Going Mom and I snapped ~~a few~~ ~~a lot~~ hundreds of photos of Avery and they were the best baby pictures we’ve ever seen! I took a few of her sitting in her Mamas & Papas chair as she gave a softer version of the Blue Steel pose from Zoolander. If you haven’t seen the movie, watch it!

Then Kelley shot a few pics while Avery rolled around on our bed. I swear, she furnished smiles that would melt the hearts of even the scroogiest of scrooges. But that’s a daily thing…

She was even good and tilting her head and giving that “I want to play” kind of smile. Maybe not knowingly, but she is the best at everything afterall!

And I mean c’mon, what baby knows to just look straight out the window and be still so mommy can take a picture? What? Oh, that many? Well, I’m pretty positive Avery is a better window looker outer than those other babies.

So maybe I’m biased, but what parent isn’t? I’d feel downright ashamed if I’m like, “Wow, those people have the cutest baby, I wish our baby was that cute.” And I hope Going Mom would slap me across the face if I were to say something like that.

Luckily, I will never say that, so my face can rest assured it won’t be slapped…….at least not for that reason! By now you get my point, most parents think the world of their own baby just like they should, and by giving them this love, I feel it helps build a healthy self-esteem.

Kelley and I tell Avery how much we love her and how beautiful she is multiple times a day, and I hope you do the same for your little one(s). If you haven’t, go right now, and with a smile on your face!

I’m lucky enough to have two beautiful ladies under my roof and I need to make sure I tell them both how wonderful they are and how much I love them.

Admittedly, I did try to submit a few of these pictures to an online photo contest of sorts where agents can see them, but never went through with it. Not because I don’t have confidence in our beautiful baby, not at all, but because the site was trying to charge just to submit photos!

I get they are “helping” Avery be seen by agents and whatnot, but I’m not trying to get her in the modeling business, I just wanted to show my beautiful baby to the world and maybe enter her in a little contest. So, I cancelled the submission once I saw the signs to enter credit card info.

I asked Avery how she would like to have an early career in the modeling industry, but I don’t think she was too interested…