All posts by R.C. Liley

I'm an ex-mutual fund accountant who left the cubicle world to be a stay-at-home dad to my beautiful little girl, Avery, who entered our life on 11/15/13 and handsome little boy, Wes, who joined our family on 11/19/17. Also happily married to my wife, Kelley, as of 8/17/07. Sorry ladies... :) Fitness and nutrition is of the utmost importance in our family and we strive to reflect this in our daily life. I always prepare our meals at home and only go out if it's a special occasion, and even then I tend to not get much. Food should be fun and a joy to eat, not something quickly consumed from a fast food chain or scarf down before the next meeting. I have come from strictly logging high miles to train for the next marathon to keeping exercise varied and focusing more on strength. I still enjoy going for a run when I can, but nothing crazy, and I prefer hill sprints while pushing my daughter, Avery in the stroller. She loves it and I get a great workout! I want to show the world how to appreciate their body and feed it real, wholesome food while moving more throughout the day. In doing so, everyone would be healthier, happier, and we'd all live in a better place as a result. I blog mainly about my life as a stay-at-home dad and frequently include reviews, participate in campaigns, and share my thoughts on fitness and nutrition. If you ever have any questions or thoughts to share, please reach out as I'm always open to listening or helping others however possible. That is, when I have free time since Avery is and my wife are the number one priorities!

Throwback Thursday

How Much Will A Pumpkin Grow in A Year? #TBT

10/29/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

For her first Halloween, we dressed Avery as a pumpkin, and this year we’re using the same costume again. For one, it saves money, and two, we’re taking advantage before she has a say in her choice of costume.

It’s already happening with her clothes and diapers, and if we pick the wrong color, you’d think the apocalypse had arrived! Just like last year, Going Mom’s work had a fun Halloween event for the kiddos, so Avery and I made a trip to the event to see Mommy and friends/co-workers.

Selfie with my little pumpkin before going in to Mommy's work! — Selfie with my little pumpkin before going in to Mommy’s work!

She might’ve been in the same costume, but a lot changed since the first year. The biggest change was that she could use her own legs to walk around instead of carrying her everywhere. We thought she’d be shy around all the other kids and adults, but she proudly stated “I’m a pumpkin” when people asked, and she was quite playful.

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She even played football with a baby boy.

He was clearly not interested in the oblong ball as his costume makes it apparent he’s into basketball.

We had a few breakdowns while there, mainly because she wanted to go up and down the stairs (just like her dad!), but all in all, it was a great time. I enjoyed seeing/meeting everyone and getting to show off our beautiful, constantly growing pumpkin. Here she was in the costume last year…

….Fast forward to this year and….

Whoa, it takes a totally new camera angle! So, to answer the question of how much will a pumpkin grow in a year, I’d have to go with A LOT!

Our family pic with “the pumpkin” last year looked a little like this…

When compared to this year’s pic….

…..yeah, must be something in the good food and breast milk. Not only did our pumpkin grow more than double in size, she grew in terms of crazy too.

Or, maybe we all did. Who knows? Isn’t that just part of being a parent?

Have you reused the same costume for your kid or yourself before?

Monthly List, Parenting, Photo Journal

23 Month Photo Session: Spooky Fast Halloween Edition

10/28/2015 R.C. Liley 1 Comment

Something spooky is going on here. Since it is October, I blame the spooky spirit of Halloween for our lack of punctuality on the picture post for her 23rd month since birth.

Just like the Monthly Memories posts, these Monthly Photo Session posts have become a tradition. This is the latest I’ve been on a post since the 15th of each month is the true change of age (in months), and for that, I’m making it a quick one.

Okay, Avery is the real reason this is a quickie post since, in typical toddler fashion, she would not sit still or look at the camera for a second! Geez, you’d think she has someone constantly putting a camera in her face and telling her to smile or say something. Oh, wait, she does. Oops.

The pics were taken late afternoon, right after we returned from Going Mom’s work that held a fun family Halloween trick-or-treating event. Avery dressed in the same pumpkin costume as last year since we know she’ll actually have a say by next Halloween. Of course, we didn’t go around collecting candy since we keep that out of the house, but she had fun naming the colors of wrappers to which she considered toys.

Overall, we had a good time going around seeing everyone Mommy works with and some I used to work with before becoming a stay-at-home dad. I’ll add the details to my “things I have to blog about” list for the near future, but for now, lets keep the tradition alive and look at the few pictures that made the final cut.

When this is how things start, we basically expect them to end rather soon.

Yep, to the floor went her bear. By now, he’s plenty used to it.

I tried to bring him back with her “Lamby” as a reinforcement. We got a cute smile, but both animals got the shaft.

This look of innocence only means major guilt!

Oh, hey, my wife was smart and gave her a book! Duh, that actually got her to sit still.

Too bad 24 months is when we plan on stopping the monthly pic tradition, a book would replace her bear for sure!

Maybe not. She lost interest and found something more exciting, her blue (a favorite color right now) cloth diaper. Apparently she needed a second diaper to go on over her pants.

Look at that long, wavy hair back there! And the face bursting with cuteness; you just can’t stay upset with this girl for more than a minute. Okay, maybe two minutes, depending on the severity.

And, since October 27th was Black Cat Day (who comes up with this stuff?!), my wife took a great shot of the black cat I don’t care much for.

He’s an indoor cat, but I think he needs to be made into an outside mouse catcher to earn his keep. Trust me, Kelley has heard enough of my thoughts, and although it’s a losing battle, I still fight it.

Hopefully the final Monthly Photo Session, her 24th month (aka 2nd birthday) will turn out with a few more good pics, but only time will tell. Which, thanks to this post being overdue, isn’t that far away now. Yikes, we almost have a 2 year old on our hands!

Do you have traditional memory-type things you do with your kids?

Do you have a black cat or even know that it was Black Cat Day?

Life, Parenting

Weekend Camping Trip Part 3: A Dramatic Return

10/27/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

We didn’t hang around too long the day of our return from camping. Our time together without a kid was wonderful, but we were ready to see our little girl….and take real showers. Yeah yeah, only one day, I know.

Besides, if you read Part 2 of our Weekend Camping Trip, you’d know it’s not like we were free from kids anyway. Obviously, our kid is way better than any other, so if we’re going to be surrounded with little tots, it may as well be our own.

We did take advantage of not having Avery with us to *gasp* go to Costco and grab a few essentials, but then it was straight home from there. The trip home was uneventful and fairly quick compared to driving through Friday rush hour to get to our site.

Upon our return home, G-Ma and Avery greeted us at the front door. Avery yelled “daddy”, which warmed my heart, but she wore a frown on her face, which cooled my heart down a little. At least my wonderful mom had a big smile as she held our sweet girl.

As it turns out, Avery was playing on the couch and happened to get her arm stuck between the cushions somehow and twisted it. G-Ma came to the rescue and got her unstuck, but Avery went into a dramatic crying frenzy. This happened just before we arrived home. Weird, she never jumps on the couch….oh, wait….

Once we were there, Avery had put a hold on the scream fest and just had her unhappy face on. But, when Kelley tried to hold her, Avery wouldn’t let up, only G-Ma could hold her. No one could touch her hurt arm without sending our tot in another screaming frenzy (which happened a lot), and even when giving her snacks, she made sure to use her good hand.

I’ll be the first to say that I’m quick to waive things off as a non-event, including this one, but my darling wife is always quick to the rescue, no matter the severity. I think it’s sweet, usually, and feel it helps balance my naivety. Without her, Avery’s staph infection could’ve been a lot worse. Mine too for that matter!

Eventually, G-Ma had to get home and the switch was made from G-Ma to Mommy. Yes, crying was involved, a lot of it, but things eventually calmed down. Then they got bad again, then calm, then…well, you get the picture, she was an extremely moody toddler (is that how they all are?) and she continued to nurse that once stuck arm.

Going Mom was worried as any loving mother would be, and I was starting to feel as if something was wrong too, but still not that worried. I wanted to wait and see how it looked the next day since there was no swelling or any other physical sign of injury yet, but Kelley was ready to but a wrist brace on her immediately. I unsuccessfully debated by wife (guys, you always lose, just accept it unlike I seem to do) about the need for a wrist wrap, and found myself in the devil’s lair of grocery stores, Walmart.

After explaining to the little employee boy how to use that plastic thing with numbers to pay for my items since the self-checkout wasn’t working, I finally made it out and back home. I spent 10 minutes trying to decide between two kinds of wraps and ended up getting them both….just to be safe.

I despise Walmart and just driving by one puts me in a bad mood. It didn’t help when I returned home to find Avery sitting with mommy in a slightly chipper mood and using both arms as if nothing was ever wrong. Gahhhhh!! She even fell sound asleep right in mommy’s lap.

I mean, yay, glad all is well, but geez, what kind of timing is that? In her defense, Kelley tried to call but I left in such a hurry that I left my phone at home. So that’s that, our little toddler pulled a quick one on us and made everything think her arm was about to fall off. Even G-Ma was worried sick and feeling guilty once home and remained that way until the next day.

The rest of the day was spent unpacking and eventually getting ourselves clean. We were both relieved nothing serious was wrong with Avery’s arm, if only she would’ve let us know before I went to hell Walmart. At least we knew she would be in good health for Kelley’s 31st birthday the next day, 10/19.

Her actual birthday was fairly relaxed, but I’ll fill you in next time, along with another update.

Has your toddler ever made you feel like they broke something when nothing was wrong at all?

Is your kid a drama king/queen, or mainly calm?