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!

Life, Parenting

A Parent vs Toddler Standoff

06/19/2015 R.C. Liley 6 Comments

So it’s come to this. We have stooped to the stubbornness level of our toddler and now have a standoff at least twice a day. It’s usually us asking her to pick something up, but she won’t budge and neither do we.

We both end up standing there waiting for the other to act, but nothing happens. Well, my wife or I will repeat ourselves more than any parenting book would recommend, and Avery will usually let out a series of whines and/or a cutesy “hi” with a cheesy grin.

Seeing as to how Kelley and I are both pretty stubborn already, and Avery is, well, a toddler which automatically equals stubborn, these standoffs can be quite time consuming. As a matter of fact, I was able to take pictures during one of our said standoffs and figured I’d go over how the event went down here.

The scene begins right after Avery dropped her almost finished green smoothie. Instead of picking it back up, she walked away to a corner in the kitchen despite my request to hand me the bottle.

I ask her to pick it up again but only get that “I’m innocent” look.

Going Mom and I have both been through this several times, so I knew it was going to be a while before one of us caved. I asked once more trying to keep a straight face as her turned all puppy-dog-eyes on me.

Meanwhile…..

Ummm, can't someone at least just stand me up? — Ummm, can’t someone at least just stand me up?

5 minutes have passed at this point, but it felt like 30. I just kept busy with food prep and dishes for the day while she stubbornly stood in her favorite corner. Just as I was about to give in because we had plenty more to do that day, she walks over to the bottle.

I freeze, try to be nonchalant and keep away from the camera, but all she does is stand it up on the floor and step away.

My relief that our standoff was over quickly turned into anguish as I realized she was going to continue dragging it on. Her smile said it all, “I won’t give in that easy, Dad!”

It was on, there was no way in hell I would give in now! All chores could wait. Kelley just might come home from work hours later to see us staring at each other with the bottle still standing on the floor. I would win this standoff, dammit!

Several minutes slowly passed as I looked around for something else to do while asking her to pick up the bottle a few more times. My angst about how long this would last kept growing deeper, but finally a glimmer of hope emerged; she bent down to get the bottle!

Was this the end of our impasse? Would the household chores and a workout actually get done? My anxiety eased up a little with each progressive move she made.

Yes, contact! Keep going…..

We have liftoff! I think even Avery felt relieved as she held the bottle high in celebration.

I was about to hold my hand out for her to give me the bottle, but I guess all of that time in between made her thirsty.

Ummm, Avery, can I have the bottle now? I’m pretty sure she was telling me to hold on a minute here.

Finally, after finishing what was left, she relinquished the bottle and most importantly, our standoff. But she didn’t want to act happy about it…

I took the bottle with a giant grin and praised her for doing good. I think that turned her mood into something better and she even gave herself a little round of applause.

How can you be upset with that face for more than a minute? Not easy, I’ll tell you that much.

Although, this is only one of many occurrences that have happened and will happen, I guess it’s just a part of parenting.

Do you find you and your kids in standoff situations often?

What are some of the ways you deal with these trying times?

Parenting

Daddy-Daughter Flipping Fun in Slow Motion

06/18/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Tropical Storm Bill might keep us inside, but it’s not keeping us from a little daddy-daughter fun! Who’s raining on whose parade now, Bill? I thought it was funny, except that there’s no parade…..*sigh*

In lieu of spending time writing out a blog post, I thought it would be fun to record Avery and her Daddy (that’s me) running around the house and me flipping her on a pallet I made in the living room. She gets high and sometimes I let her land a little too hard, but she keeps coming back for more.

I figured slowing down some of the flipping action would make for a fun video to watch for everyone. Make sure you have your audio on as that should make for a good laugh.

If you’re wondering, yes, I will do sound effects for your audio or video project. I know, it’s just a gift. 😉

But seriously, is it just programmed in everyone’s head to make sound effects when playing with kids? I can’t think of a time I don’t make stupid noises when chasing/throwing/tickling Avery, or any kid really.

Hope you enjoy the video as much as I did making it. For the record, this helped wear her out for a much better nap time than the day before…..

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What kind of sound effects do you make when you play with kids?

Are you being affected by Tropical Storm Bill?

Life, Monthly List, Parenting, Photo Journal

19 Month Photo Session: Four “B” Word Rejects

06/17/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

We actually had her monthly photo session on the day she turned another month older! The past few months have taken a few days, but we’re back on track and even did it early instead of right before bedtime.

We started with the same setup as all of our sessions, sitting her in the rocking chair with her favorite bear. Whoa, unplanned rhyming is the best!

It looked like she just might cooperate for the pictures at first, but then….

…off with the bow clip! Okay, that’s normal, maybe she’d enjoy reading a book instead.

Hey, look at that, she’s calm and reading! This might turn out to be the best session we’ve had in a lo…

Whoops, spoke too soon. But the bear is still there and he’s usually the first to go.

Oh, okay, solved that…errrr, problem? How can you get upset with that angel face though? Not possible. After a few rejections of the bear, we thought maybe her big bunny would have better luck at staying on the chair.

One look at the plush gray bunny was all it took before he went the way of the bow, book, and bear.

“Uh oh” is a word she’s been saying a lot lately, and it was used frequently throughout our 10 minute photo shoot. That made four things that start with “B” that she rejected; her bow, book, bear, and bunny. Maybe we should try a different letter next time. In an effort to get some pictures of her smiling, we tried the “catch the fly” game she’s been loving lately and got one pretty good shot.

After that, she seemed a little bored of our multiple attempts.

So she wandered around her room for a minute. Almost looks like Beavis acting as Cornholio. If you’re in your 30’s like me, you should get this reference.