Tag Archives: love

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!

Avery-Photo-Contest-Metroplex-Baby

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.

push-ups, workout, fitness, parenting

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.

playing, parenting, toddler

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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#MySundayPhoto – 02.15.15

Nothing fancy, but I don’t think that’s what #MySundayPhoto is all about anyway. This pic is from my phone while at a playground with my daughter. She’s not able to get on the equipment herself, but I can tell she can’t wait to slide on her own!

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I apologize to those of you viewing from a mobile device. The picture is probably turned the wrong way, but it works fine on a computer. Not sure how to fix it, so please let me know if you have any tips.

OneDad3Girls

My Amazing Wife + Why I Went A Day Without Coffee

Going Mom, aka my amazing wife, has always been ah-mazing since the day we met, and this past weekend was no different. It’s been over 2 years since I’ve been sick, let alone going a day without coffee or fitting in a “needed” workout, but Kelley took care of everything in true awesome wife/mom style.

On Friday, I started feeling a little off, and not like my ‘Going’ self. I had just knocked out 30 reps of heavy-to-me barbell squats followed by high-rep front squats for leg day, so I attributed my weary status mostly to this.

Saturday, we woke up to our almost 15 month old alarm clock named Avery, and went about our normal routine with coffee and breakfast. And of course spontaneous bursts of crying for no reason followed by cute laughs and smiles. You know, typical toddler ludicrousness.

But things still didn’t feel right with soreness across my body. My legs were sore (blamed the squats there), neck and shoulders were tense (must’ve been a bad sleep), and I felt fatigued (again with the bad sleep). But I shrugged it off as I left Kelley and Avery at home as I went grocery shopping with orders to hurry home. The weather has been awesome here in Texas with highs in the mid-70’s, and we wanted to bring Avery outside to a playground.

The sun? I'm ready!
The sun? I’m ready!

Upon my return, I promised to watch Avery so Going Mom could take advantage of the weather for a nice run. While my wife was out running, I brought Avery to the garage for a quick weight-lifting session. I would’ve run too, but I’m still nursing that darned fractured foot! Even though my body was telling me “no”, I pushed through a quick but intense barbell session followed by a tabata-style conditioning workout.

Afterward, I was gassed, more so than usual, and only feeling worse. Kelley put Avery down for a nap and we had lunch, but I just wasn’t feeling up for eating. Actually, nothing sounded appealing which is extremely rare, and by the time Avery woke from her nap, I was only getting worse.

Being the stubborn guy that I am, I pushed through our normal afternoon walk, but little slower than usual. I had prepared my dinner for the night earlier in the day, but as dinnertime approached, I had lost all appetite and was reduced to laying on the floor as Kelley and Avery played.

At least I had prepared Kelley’s dinner beforehand too, so all she had to do was heat it up as her and Avery had dinner without me. I wanted to help, but remained lifeless on the playroom floor as Kelley fed and bathed Avery. And, of all days, Avery went and dropped a “bomb” during bath time….literally, she pooped. But Going Mom was quick to action and “handled it like a champ” as she said on Facebook. I agree, she was more than a champ for this unpleasant Avery first!

It took all I had to be there to read “Goodnight, Gorilla” before Kelley nursed Avery to sleep, and then I went straight to bed. My normal routine of staying up until 1am was not happening; that night, it was 10pm sharp. That is, until I woke up as hot as a furnace and immediate rushed to make friends (or enemies depending how you look at it) with the toilet.

Almost every hour that night, I woke up in a cold/hot sweat and ran to the bathroom with no time to spare. It sucked….big time. Somehow, Avery slept through it all even though I was plenty loud. Silver lining?

All of Sunday, I felt like was a nauseous heap of uselessness with zero appetite and no desire for coffee. What!? Yeah, that bad. All parents know coffee is black gold and a “must” for survival, so missing it is serious business.

Since I felt a little better after the previous night, I joined Kelley and Avery for a nice weather walk to the neighborhood playground to let Avery run around. She can’t play on the equipment yet, but that didn’t stop her from having fun. No shoes needed!

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That amazing wife of mine ran all around after Avery as I just laid there, watching, and sometimes smiling between painful stomach churns. At one point I tried to join in and hold Avery in the tire swing, but that was painful, and something tells me Avery wasn’t too impressed.

playing, parenting, toddler

When Kelley took over, Avery’s mood “swung” the other direction to happiness. I hated being so miserable, but it made me smile to see these two grinning together.

playing, parenting, toddler

We made it back to the house and I tried eating a little but still wasn’t feeling it. Instead, I pureed frozen organic strawberries with coconut milk for a cool treat that we all could enjoy on the warm February day. Avery and Going Mom approved, and even I was able to keep it down.

During nap time, I tried to read as Kelley did yard work, but couldn’t concentrate with my pounding headache, so I laid down for a nap. Napping is something I truly despise and refuse to do, but this day, I made an exception. I woke to my beautiful wife who then came back with a smiling Avery. If kids’ smiles can cure sickness, Avery’s is the best panacea around!

Kelley then broke out the vacuum and went around the entire house with Avery making sure to create several obstacles along the way. As I mentioned on a previous post, I vacuum every day, but missed it considering my circumstances, so her cleaning meant a lot. She does so much going to work for us that I want to take care of the household tasks, so it gets to me when I’m not able to.

My appetite remained absent, but at least I was able to sit with my favorite girls at the dinner table this time. Thankfully, I made our daily green power smoothie earlier in the evening and that provided some kind of sustenance for my body.

After our nighttime routine, it was another early-to-bed night for this sick SAHD. There was no more vomiting, but I did have other “runny” issues. Sorry if it’s TMI, but this is my blog! 🙂 Anyway, I slept a little better and had regained some sense of a desire for food come Monday morning.

Kelley went into work late and I made coffee (yes, one day without is enough!) for the both of us. I think I attempted eating my usual diet too fast and it upset my stomach, but I was happy to be able to move around. Despite feeling tired and not totally recovered, Avery and I made use of the warm weather by going for a walk and playing in the back yard. She even busted a few moves on the porch with the music I had playing.

What does dancing and dropping something hot have in common anyway?
What does dancing and dropping something hot have in common anyway?

And, that night, I had a full meal at dinnertime!

To my wife, Kelley, you always mean the world to me, and I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate all that you do. To be so great and take over everything makes me love you even more than I though possible. Seriously, thank you, you’re a wonderful wife, mom, and best friend.

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How often do you get sick?

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