Tag Archives: family

That Time I Realized She’s Growing Up…..Fast!

When did you first realize your kid was growing up? As first time parents, Going Mom and I never knew what to expect when the realization that our little girl was truly growing up hit us. But now, as she approaches her third year of life, it’s hitting us like Joe Frazier’s left hook to Muhammad Ali in “The Fight of the Century”.

She went from a needy blob of cuteness, to fully functional tot in what seems like the blink of an eye. It felt like forever back then, but now here we are, trying to keep up with her full sentences (including plenty of back talk), constant questioning, and inability to sit still for even a second. No kidding, watching her eat at the dinner table has us stressed out and she falls off her chair several times each night.

This sudden “left hook” has made me rethink what I do each day. I always enjoyed blogging, but it was much easier when our little human couldn’t talk or move that much. Now she’s more mobile than most adults and full of requests to play with her.

Always choose play!
Always choose play!

Before, blogging time was easy to find, but now, between cooking every day, cleaning, working out, and playing with her, there’s not a lot of time left to blog.

When I do find time, I notice that I have lost much of the passion I used to have. I feel guilty knowing I could be doing something else for/with the family or simply reading a book. I miss reading books. Our daughter growing up has helped me to come to a simple conclusion, something’s gotta give. Another stay-at-home dad who blogs as the Sunshine Dad speaks a lot on the same thing in his post, I Was Wrong. Five Kids Is Tough. While I would like to correct “Is” to “Are”, sorry Mike :), and I only have one kid, I share his feelings.

Social media has always interested me, and I plan on sharing plenty of our life experiences on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but full on blog posts will be drastically reduced. I’m always up for sharing a healthy recipe or reviewing healthy food/products, but will not seek them out as much as before. Again, look for all of my favorites on my other social media pages.

Yes, I too feel as if I have some growing up to do, and this precious time with my beautiful wife and daughter means way more to me than blogging. I know I’ve spent too long trying to think of that next good topic to write about or how to spin a story, but for what? Nothing is as important as spending time with loved ones, so that’s what I’m doing.

#mysundayphoto, sunday, parenting, toddlers, cute, kids, dad, family

 

 

You might wonder why, then, I took the time to write this post to the few followers I have. Blogging has always helped me express my feelings, and letting it out there helps tremendously. I feel better after just writing the words above and will leave it at that. This is not the end, just a notice that I’m redirecting my focus on other things/people. Any posts will be short and geared more towards sharing things I’ve ready in the health and fitness world or just a funny pun.

As a side note, I’d like to spend more time designing fun shirts with puns and pictures in my store on Skreened; appropriately named Going Dad. And I’ll leave you with a picture of my little girl and her Daddy (that’s me) rocking my first creation I spent a while designing. If you like it, please feel free to order one for yourself and little ones too!

avery-and-daddy-with-see-you-later-excavator-shirts

Flying Her Spaceship: #MySundayPhoto

The small playground in our neighborhood has a little wooden playset for kids to climb and slide on. Using our imagination, we pretend it’s our spaceship and make frequent trips to the moon and sometimes a random planet from Star Wars.

It’s not a sturdy structure, so I can easily shake our vessel during takeoff as we experience turbulence (from comet fields, obviously). Luckily, the cutest pilot I know keeps it under control and gets us through every time.

spaceship, playground, kids, #MySundayPhoto, toddler, pretend, imagination

Don’t worry, I caught this shot on my phone before takeoff. She promised to wait for me to climb aboard, but only for a minute. We had places to go and things to see, so there’s no time for messing around with pictures!

I’m just happy I got this pic before the 105+ degree heat made my phone shut down. Probably for good reason, I need to focus on living in the moment more anyway. No matter how hot it gets, it always feels cool to play with our beautiful girl.

Thanks to Darren and his #MySundayPhoto linkup. Check out his blog full of beautiful pics and join in on the #MySundayPhoto action!

Photalife

Exploring New Homes As A Family: An Instagram Story

Any Instagram users create their own Instagram Story yet? I’ve never used Snapchat, but from what I gather, it’s pretty similar. At first I thought the concept was dumb (why would I want my pictures to disappear?), but then my curiosity got the best of me.

Last weekend, we decided to go on a little family adventure to explore new homes in the Phase Three Construction Site. This was the perfect opportunity to test creating my first Instagram Story. What’s even cooler is the ability to save the pics you post, so technically, they never really disappear.

Hopefully you’ll enjoy our little excursion and maybe it will spark an idea for you to do with your family. My first Instagram Story pic was Going Mom and I taking a selfie before heading out.

Instagram Story, Instagram Stories, Family, Fun, adventure, exploring, kids

Walking through the first house to explore.

Instagram Story, Instagram Stories, Family, Fun, adventure, exploring, kids

Had to make it clear that we were not looking to buy a new home, despite all the cool upgrades some of them had. Stupid new homes….

Instagram Story, Instagram Stories, Family, Fun, adventure, exploring, kids

I always find coins when walking around the area, and was excited to see this shiny circle. Not money though, boo.

Instagram Story, Instagram Stories, Family, Fun, adventure, exploring, kids

Stopping for a family selfie as we walked to the next house.

Family Team Selfie_08-07-16

Our good friend, Benny the mini excavator was out, so Avery jumped on to say hi.

Standing in Mini Excavator_08-07-16

We found another construction site friend, Spinny, sitting face down inside this home. Avery later gave it a hug and kiss. Yeah, she had white lips.

Avery and Mommy with Spinny_08-07-16

A piece of scrap trim? Nah, it’s a light saber from the old ages!

Avery with Wood Light Saber_08-07-16

Score!

Real Money_08-07-16

Not score. Avery got “the look” and we knew there was no waiting.

Porta Potty Emergency Stop_08-07-16

Back home we enjoyed the afternoon shade in our backyard. Avery had “washed” her Pink Millie Car (Millie is the name of G-Ma’s car) and needed to tip it over to get water out of the cup holders.

Pushing Pink Millie Car Over_08-07-16

After tipping Pink Millie, she brought it back up to park.

Pulling Pink Millie Car_08-07-16

Another family selfie (yeah, we take a lot) in the new hammock we installed. We all agree, our current home is the best for us!

Instagram Story, Instagram Stories, Family, Fun, adventure, exploring, kids

Daddy was kicked out of the hammock. No worries, looking at these two is all I need.

Instagram Story, Instagram Stories, Family, Fun, adventure, exploring, kids

Do you have Snapchat or Instagram?

Have you already or do you want to try creating a story? It’s actually pretty cool. There’s more to come from me I’m sure!