Category Archives: Going Healthy

Healthy Cooking With Daddy

05/02/2016 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Finally, the time has come to teach our little girl the ways of healthy cooking! In our house, pants are optional….

healthy cooking with daddy, toddler, kids, teaching, food

I’ve thought of this before she was even born, and it warms my heart now that it’s becoming a reality. Oh, wait, that’s my shirt on fire!!

Okay, all better. So she’s not exactly ready to start slicing and dicing ingredients, but with a little help, she can add spices pretty well.

healthy cooking with daddy, toddler, kids, teaching, food

This was us making a lunch for Mommy to bring to work. Now if she calls sweating from a little too much cayenne, I can blame Avery. She knows that we add fresh ground black pepper to all of our meals and made sure she had a “hand” in that part too.

I had to hold the dish lower since her new non-slip Froggie Step Stool is not quite high enough for her to reach the counter. It’s called the Mommy’s Helper Step Up Froggie Stool, but looks like we just changed that to Daddy’s Helper, huh? Time for a product name change!

Product naming conventions aside, our growing toddler is using her stool for potty training and cooking training. Yes, we use a butter knife to stir in this house, but don’t worry, I was supervising.

I usually tackle several meal preps at a time, so I took the time to get her dinner plate ready as she posed for the camera. Or maybe she was watching the cat walk by….

Either way, she gets so excited if I ask her to help me, and even though she has a way’s to go before I can really trust her to do a few simple things, this is how it starts. For anyone who has cooked with kids, I’m sure you know they are more likely to eat the healthy food if they have a roll in helping prepare/cook it. This includes quality control of whatever we make.

And the verdict?

It’s an underwear-iffic win for dinner tonight!

Avery continues to put a smile on our face every day, and she seems to learn/grow more faster than we can keep up with. Soon, she’ll be stating things to us that we never knew. To those with older kids, when should we expect this?

When time allows, get your kids in the kitchen and explore a new food/recipe together. It will pay dividends well into the future in the form of bonding, healthy eating, and cooking skills.

Going Healthy, Going Strong, Parenting

Join Me for the Run Dad Run! Virtual 5k Walk/Run

04/27/2016 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

The National At-Home Dad Network is holding a virtual 5k on April 30, 2016 and I’m asking you to join me. This is their first ever Run Dad Run! spring fundraiser going to the extremely important cause of men’s mental health with the funds going to the operating costs of this wonderful organization.

I had the pleasure of attending the National At-Home Dad Convention last September in Raleigh, NC where I was overwhelmed with hundreds of other supportive, at-home dads just like me. I cannot stress the importance of having a network of other guys to share our thoughts, concerns, laughs, and sorrows enough. The NAHDN truly does play a major role in all of our mental health and helps fathers be the awesome fathers and husbands every family deserves.

I signed up during the Super Early Bird registration back in October, but since it’s only a few days away, there’s no more Early Bird specials. The good news is that you can still sign up now as an individual for $25 (including 1 free medal) or a family (including up to 8 free medals) for $50. For an extra $25, you can get a shirt, or simply donate whatever amount you like.

Register Now

Are you on the edge of registering and need a little push? No problem, they just posted 4 Reason You Should Join For RunDadRun this Saturday. Check it out and hopefully that’s the push you needed to sign up the entire family.

The details that you will find on the National At-Home Dad Network’s site are below. Give them a good read and go register your entire family to run or walk the virtual 5k with us on 04/30/16!

WHAT IS A VIRTUAL 5K?
So glad you asked! A virtual 5K is an organized, co-ordinated event where participants can do their run where they are, when they want, at their own pace. This is an opportunity for dads and families to be active in their own neighborhoods, running with their friends and family and community. Since our organization represents dads and families from all over the country (and beyond!) this is a great way for us to be out and active together without being together.

HOW DOES THIS WORK?
Run Dad Run works pretty simply: just register for the run here — the cost for participation is $25 for individuals, or $50 for families — and on the day of the race you run (or walk!) the 5K at your own pace, where you are. For participating you will be sent a shiny exclusive medal! In addition you will have the opportunity to purchase a Run Dad Run t-shirt to wear during or after your run.

WHERE DOES THE MONEY RAISED GO?
This is the National At-Home Dad Network’s major annual fundraiser, and all registration fees will go to funding the costs of running the organization throughout the year. This includes things like administrative costs and filing fees, web hosting and marketing costs, accounting fees, as well as the numerous expenses related to the planning and execution of the Annual At-Home Dads Convention. As always, we are a volunteer-run organization, and no money goes to paying salaries.

Click Here To Register Now!

Going Healthy, Life, Parenting, Promo

Nerves, Needles, and Stress: Our Story of Trying to Conceive

04/19/2016 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

While I have received compensation for this post from Fertility Planit, all opinions are my own.

Before we had our daughter, my wife and I never considered that becoming parents would be so complicated. Once we were ready to start trying to conceive (TTC), she would just get off birth control, wait several months, and we figured pregnancy would come easily and naturally after that. My wife tracked days/cycles, took her basal temperature you do as you begin trying to conceive.

Almost a year later and we were still not pregnant and becoming a little upset. It didn’t make sense, we never went out to eat, cooked all of our meals with fresh, whole foods, drank only in moderation, and always kept active. What were we doing wrong to that was keeping us from getting pregnant?

We decided to make our first of many visits to a fertility clinic to see what was (or wasn’t) going on. After running the usual tests on both of us, the doctor found several factors working against us. Kelley had endometriosis which was surgically removed, and my blood labs showed several abnormal readings including low testosterone and thyroid.

I didn’t want to accept the results as true. I strive to live a healthy and active lifestyle, and this is all I have to show for it? I felt defeated. HCG injections were prescribed twice a week to combat my low levels. Self-administered shots in the lower abdomen at home became the norm every Thursday and Sunday each week.

Time passed and my blood tests showed my levels were barely up. The doctor suggested we try intrauterine insemination (IUI) as it seemed like we had a good chance with the procedure. I was prescribed natural thyroid, and Kelley was given several prescriptions which required injections. She cringed at the thought of giving herself shots, but luckily she had a husband who had become proficient with the task.

After 2 failed cycles of IUI, the doctor suggested In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), and we both agreed to give it a try. To stimulate the growth of her ovaries, Kelley needed 2 daily shots in her stomach. One to help her eggs grow, and another to help keep them from over-growing since Kelley was expected to respond well. The eggs grew just as needed and were ready to be retrieved.

After retrieval, Kelley needed a progesterone injection to prepare her uterine lining for egg implantation. Instead of her stomach, this one had to be given in her rear-end.

I’d have to work within a specific area of the buttocks, use enough force to get through to the muscular region, make sure the needle went in straight, not angled, and make sure no blood came into the syringe as that meant I did something wrong. This was to happen every day precisely at 7:00 p.m. for several weeks. After this, I figured I should be a pro at giving shots!

Several injections later and we were ready for implantation. We had many high quality embryos to choose from and picked just 1 since 1 kid was our goal. The first round IVF was a success, be we still had to do the shots to keep her uterus in good condition for the newly implanted egg.

The first positive pregnancy test Kelley took was almost missed. She woke up at 5:00 a.m. since it’s better to test after not using the restroom for a while and took a test. She didn’t see anything, so she tossed the stick in the trash and came back to bed upset.

Later that morning, I was going to throw something away and saw the stick and what appeared to me to be a faint line. I had no clue how to look at a pee stick or what it meant, so I kept it to myself. Kelley did the same double take at her trashed test and noticed the line too. She mentioned it to me, I grinned, and we both gleamed with excitement.

Today, we have a precious little girl who means the world to us. I can’t believe how fast she’s growing, but we’re glad that part of our past is over. It wasn’t fun, but so worth the outcome. We had never heard of the Stork OTC by Rinovum Women’s Health home conception kit back then, but now I wonder if it would’ve saved us a lot of time, money, and stress.

The Stork OTC is an easy to use, drug-free, non-prescription conception kit that couples can use in the comfort of their own home while trying to conceive. It is the only at-home conception device cleared by the FDA and is a great cost-effective option for those just starting out on the path of trying to conceive. The Stork OTC collects semen into a cervical cap with a condom-like sheath worn during intercourse. There is the option of using donor sperm with the device as well. The sperm is then delivered to the opening of the cervix by way of the applicator. The cap remains in place for up to 6 hours, after which it is removed with a simple tampon-like pull chord.

My wife and I both agree that we could’ve tried the Stork OTC as our first option and avoided many doctor’s visits had worked out. If you or someone you know is trying to conceive, check out the Stork OTC as great option to use in the privacy of your own home and avoid numerous doctor’s visits and tests.

Be sure to follow The Stork OTC on Facebook and @StorkbyRinovum on Twitter as well as checking out the Stork OTC website to learn more. For a chance to win your own Stork OTC device join the #StorkStories Twitter Chat on 4/21 at 9pm EST.