Tag Archives: homemade

No Giant Tortoise for Father’s Day

06/17/2014 R.C. Liley 4 Comments

The sound of my Vibram-clad feet running on a hiking trail with a light breeze whispering in my ears and the sound of grasshoppers flapping to move out of my path. This is how I spent part of my first Father’s Day; alone and at peace enjoying a sweaty run on a nearby trail.

6.5 miles and 31 pushups, air squats, and burpees later, I was ready to go back to my beautiful girls to celebrate “my” day!

Before I left for my run, Going Mom made me a lot of coffee with the French press and gave me my Father’s Day gift.

Pretty sure I drank a full carafe by myself!

I’m a sentimental kind of guy, and gifts from the heart mean more to me than something that can bought and wrapped up. Don’t get me wrong, there are many things you can buy and wrap that do require thought and care, but I don’t “need” those things and would rather have something made just for me.

Kelley knows this and was spending a lot of time in our front room for the days leading up to Father’s Day. She prohibited me from entering the front room for about a month since it also housed my 30th birthday gift. I was clueless what it could be, but instantly loved it when she gave it to me that morning.

A photo book with picture of just Avery and me starting at day 1 in the hospital and having our skin to skin time.

As I looked through, I relived each moment and joy filled my heart; I love it! Even this picture of me wearing Avery in the Baby Bjorn which I will never do again for the potential hip issues it causes babies, put a giant grin on my face.

Now I wear her in an Onya most of the time as well as an Ergo sometimes. Both are great options and seat the baby with their knees higher than their bottom and supports the hips. They are also more comfortable on you, the babywearer.

The time and thought my loving wife put into this means so much to me and (I’m looking at it now and smiling) makes me grateful for our small family. Even the card had to of taken some time and puts my homemade cards to her to shame!

Yep, I didn’t get a giant toolbox from Sears with all of the coolest Craftsmen tools or a new tablet with a super-ultra-mega-pixel burn-your-eyes-out screen and a faster than lightning processor, I got something better; a gift from the heart of someone I love dearly and can’t be duplicated. Thank you, Kelley/Wife/Wonderful Mom!!

For a while, I played with the idea that maybe her and my mom (G-Ma) had gone in together to get me a giant tortoise for our back yard. Why the hell would I think that? It seems ridiculous to me now, but I had mentioned several times how I want a giant tortoise for our back yard. It was always just laughed off (me included) because that would be crazy and I’m pretty sure illegal here in Texas.

But then, my mom’s boyfriend, Paul, recently showed us a picture of his son’s new back yard tortoise. They kept talking about it and how they put a lot of work into their yard to make a great home for the big guy and it was awesome.

Giant tortoise in back yard with their dog having a peek

For some reason, with the enthusiasm my mom and Kelley were telling me about the tortoise, I had thought they had something up their sleeve. Turns out, nope, nothing up their sleeve at all!

As cool as it would be, I was getting worried when I thought this was a reality; what in the world would I actually do with a giant tortoise in the back yard? We have a small box turtle, Tash, and she’s all we need. Plus, she’s the perfect size for Avery to watch and learn about.

After I returned from my better-than-therapy trail run, we spent the rest of the day together just enjoying each other. We did end up with a giant turtle in our back yard, but in the form of an inflatable pool, not a tortoise.

I didn’t take a shot of the pool alone, but you can see it there behind our happy baby. I promise, she really is a girl, it just doesn’t help when we choose blue and green. Oh well, we refuse to overwhelm her with pink!

I couldn’t get a smiling picture of her and me in the pool, but she flashed her rosy gums with mommy!

After getting enough of the outside, we all gathered back inside for the evening. G-Ma was with us to spend the night and we sat around the kitchen with food and drink just enjoying each other’s company. We even had a good Father’s Day brew from a local brewery, Rahr and Son’s, to share a cheers.

No, she didn’t have any beer, but she was really loving on the cucumber we gave her. This was her first time trying, and I’d say it was a hit!

I had a wonderful first Father’s Day and love our small family. Now that I have something to compare to, next year will be hard to beat! Hopefully there’s not giant tortoise then either!

Did you do anything for Father’s Day? Get anything cool?

What would you do with a giant tortoise as a back yard pet?

Parenting, Pinterest Picks

Going Dad’s Top Ten Pinterest Picks (5): Baby-Led Weaning

05/15/2014 R.C. Liley 11 Comments

Well, it’s here, Avery’s half year mark. I can’t believe our daughter has already been with us for 6 months! So much has happened and there is so very much still to come!

Scratch sitting up off the "to-do" list! — Scratch sitting up off the “to-do” list!

Going Mom was adamant about strictly breastfeeding until the 6 month mark, and true to her word, she has held her ground. So many babies miss out on the best source of nutrition (and free!), and I am glad Kelley forged through the rough patches to make sure Avery was fed well!

Now the time has come to introduce solids to Avery since at this point her digestive system is developed well enough properly breakdown and utilize various foods. Breast milk will still be her main source of nutrition up to her one year mark, but now I get to take part in “producing” food for Avery!

In my last Top Ten Pinterest Picks post, I shared links related to homemade baby food purees, but baby-led weaning is something different. Baby-led weaning (BLW) is simply letting your child feed themselves at the very start of introducing solids.

Many parents stand by this style of teaching their little ones how to feed themselves and love that they don’t have to fret over steaming, pureeing, and storing food in ice cube trays. Of course, things will get messy, and we accept that…..I think.

Although I was all for and ready to puree away, I started to get more and more into BLW as I read about it. So now, I might do a mixture of both, but we’ll be starting Avery with the BLW method this weekend and I hope to have a successful report next week.

I have green beans, baby carrots, and avocado to start with; all organic. I’ll steam the green beans and carrots to make sure they are plenty soft for Avery’s toothless mouth, and the avocado is fine as is. I plan on sticking with veggies and savory fruit like the avocado at first just to try and keep Avery from developing a sweet tooth right away.

If these prove successful, I’ll happily start giving her mango slices and bananas as a nice treat. Big things happening here in the Liley household, and we’re excited to watch our daughter experience another first soon!

Check out my top ten Pinterest picks for Baby-led weaning and share any thoughts/advice you may have in the comments section.

1. Starting Baby-Led Weaning – This is an informative post with tips on what to start with as well as covering any concerns you may have. I felt better after reading this one.

2. Getting started with baby-led weaning – Going with the “always get a second opinion” motto, this is another post on the same site as above, but it’s reassuring to read positive comments from another source, and then another, and another, and…well you get the point.

3. These might start feeling redundant, but I promise, you feel more comfortable after reading about BLW from various authors/parents. This one shares good foods to start with as well as how to properly prepare them.

4. I’m not “paleo”, but I know many are, and I assume they’d want the same for their little one. Just so happens, there’s a parent blogger who felt like sharing their experience. Paleo or not, this is actually a good source of info and is worth the read.

5. I plan on just using single ingredients to feed Avery, but if you feel like cooking, here’s a 100 recipes to get you started!

6. Unless you’re on an all liquid diet, I’m sure you know what happens when you eat solid food; poop with substance. We’re a cloth diapering family, and since we need a way to remove the “big deposits” before putting in the diaper bin, a diaper sprayer is our chosen way. Some people dunk their diapers….no thanks.

7. Since I prefer not to paint our bathroom walls with poop, this Spray Pal will keep the poo from splashing everywhere when you are spraying. I just received one free of charge from Spray Pal to review, and I’ll share my experience very soon!

8. Just another option if you don’t feel like making one yourself. Nothing wrong with it, and this is the one we just purchased.

9. Again, just making myself comfortable be reading about BLW from multiple sources. We’re all different and it’s good to get many different opinions!

10. A simple site on why these parents love BLW and a list of benefits over being spoon-fed.

What are your thoughts on baby-led weaning?

Do you prefer the traditional spoon-fed method or like BLW better?

Life, Parenting

Why I’m Not Giving Flowers for Mother’s Day, or Ever

05/09/2014 R.C. Liley 7 Comments

In all honesty, I have been against giving flowers for years now. Going Mom and my mom both know this and therefore never expect to receive the colorful bee food from me.

Plus, I enjoy trying to be creative and making something personal/sentimental to give. Sometimes it’s just a note with my crappy handwriting (okay, a lot of times) and nothing more, or I’ll have a small gift I made or purchased to go along.

My reasoning was simple; they just die. Why pay for something that was living and then cut and put in a vase to look pretty for a few days before it dies? Don’t say it’s the thought that counts or for symbolism, there are better thoughts and symbols out there!

Now, I have given flowers in the past, but they are ones that I picked and put together myself. Did they look good? Not really, but it was the thought that mattered. See what I did there?

Anyway, now I have a bigger and better reason not to give flowers for any occasion; most come to us from Columbia under harsh labor conditions.

Yeah, most flower bouquets are put together by workers being treated poorly in Columbia just so some guy in desperate need of a gift for his demanding wife/mom/grandma/male lover? can quickly pick one up and avoid confrontation! That’s just an example, I know some people actually enjoy getting and giving flowers, but I was going for dramatic effect here.

I just read this article depicting a Colombian woman’s struggle to provide for her family by working under harsh conditions in the cut-flower industry. I never would’ve put the words “harsh” and “flower industry” together unless talking about those darn thorny roses, but sure enough, it’s a serious and sad story.

Here are a few parts of the article that stood out to me:

…..pulling a minimum-wage salary of $333 per month. Years of difficult and dangerous work have wracked Lorena’s body, leaving debilitating injuries in their wake.

The National Retail Federation estimates that this Mother’s Day weekend, Americans will purchase more than $2 billion worth of flowers. Almost 80 percent of those flowers come from Colombia…..

Work in the cut-flower industry is notoriously dangerous. …To protect their investments, companies pump highly toxic pesticides and fungicides into the greenhouses where flowers are grown. Twenty percent of these chemicals are so toxic and carcinogenic that they’re prohibited in North America and Europe. …. workers often suffer from rashes, headaches, impaired vision, and skin discoloration. Women, who make up 70 percent of the cut flower workforce in Colombia, report substantially higher instances of birth defects and miscarriages.

“Women are chosen to work in the flower industry because they have agile hands—they can go through the motions smoother and more efficiently,” Fuentes explained. “Their hands aren’t as heavy, and so they can manage the flowers and arrange the bouquets faster.”

But in exchange, they’re often taken advantage of. “Women are regularly paid less than men for the same jobs,” Fuentes said….. Companies commonly require female employees to take pregnancy tests in order to weed out workers who might be eligible for maternity leave. A 2008 International Labor Rights Forum report suggested that more than half of all women in the industry have suffered from sexual harassment.

“There are so many mothers in this industry who have to work all day and can’t take care of their children,” Alejandra told me, her young daughter cradled on her lap. “Kids go to school and get out at 1 or 2 in the afternoon, and their parents don’t come home until 1 in the morning.

I could keep going, but at this point, it’s best to just read the article.

I understand not every bouquet of flowers in America comes from these poor conditions, but then I go back to my original reason; they just die.

Really, unless you absolutely just love flowers sitting in a vase for a few days before they turn their bright heads down and wilt, I’d be mad someone didn’t put more thought into a gift. It doesn’t take much, just a simple handmade token to show you care will mean more than flowers to most of us.

I’m a sentimental guy, Going Mom knows since I can never let go of anything, and I love even the tiniest of notes she leaves for me. The point being, it’s more personal.

So, for your loved ones, you should know what they really like and work off that. Write a poem about something they like or how much you love them. Use Pinterest as a guide for handmade, inexpensive gift to give.

If you’re a parent, your kid can be the one “giving” the gift and you get off without guilt! Even a picture and a card should mean more to your loved ones than flowers.

Am I getting my point across? What, you got it a few paragraphs ago? Sorry, I just want to really hammer it in. I’m not saying anyone should feel guilty for getting flowers because of how most of them get here, but maybe try something different and see how the mothers in your life like it.

It would be weird if I didn’t post a picture of the love of my life, so I’ll leave you with this to enjoy; both loves of my life!