Tag Archives: family

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.

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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?

#MySundayPhoto – 02.22.15

Avery got her See N Say as a birthday gift back in November, but she’s just now really getting into it. She’ll immediately find it in the room and pull on it to make the various animal sounds. Her favorite is when the song “Old MacDonald” starts playing. She’ll start dancing to the music as you can see below.

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Credit to my wife for snapping this shot of our little girl in action!

OneDad3Girls

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!

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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.

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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.

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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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