Why I Feel Like the Worst Dad + Foodie Fun Facts #7: Coconut

08/22/2014 R.C. Liley 1 Comment

Hello and welcome to the end of the work week! Well, for most people anyway. If it’s not the end for you, then welcome to Friday!

Does your kid have a favorite parent they gravitate to more than the other? Are you that favorite parent, or are you seemingly on similar polar fields as your child causing them to repel from you? I feel like the latter as of late and it’s driving me insane!

For the past few mornings, Going Mom will be holding Avery after feeding her and then tried to hand her to me so she can get ready for work. But, Avery grasps onto my wife’s robe and starts crying making her unwillingness to come into my arms obvious….very obvious.

On one hand, sure, I get it, who would want to leave the arms of such a beautiful lady? But on the other hand, what the hell?! I’m Daddy, a pretty nice guy and her only daytime playmate so far.

It even happens without Going Mom picking her up. I’ll be laying inside the playpen with Avery, and Kelley will just walk by and Avery will start crying (real tears and all) as if my presence means nothing. This makes me feel like I’m the worst dad in the world!

I keep telling myself this is just a phase, as we usually do with a baby, but this has been eating away at me since the first occurrence. Please, tell me this ends soon and won’t last for months. She’s fine when it’s just us, but I want her to be happy to come to either of us when we’re both around.

Of course, I also want her to eat all of the veggies we give her, go to sleep without a fuss, and let us know the instant she poops. But for now, I’d be happy with her not crying when being handed to me. Otherwise, I just might become crazier than a coconut!

Speaking of, I have some coconut facts to share with you for today’s Friday Foodie Fun Facts. How do you like my segue? Hmm, maybe it’s my corniness that repels her….

Coconut Fun Facts

Technically the coconut fruit is a drupe not a nut. Typical drupes include peaches, plums, and cherries.
Coconut oil was the world’s leading vegetable oil until soybean oil took over in the 1960′s.
Coconut oil contains MCT’s (medium chain triglycerides) which are easy to digest and a great source of energy that also helps boost metabolism.
Falling coconuts kill 150 people every year – 10 times the number of people killed by sharks.
In Thailand and Malaysia, trained monkeys are used to harvest coconuts. In some of the countries, annual competitions are held to find the fastest harvester.
Coconut water can be a substitute for blood plasma. It was known to be used during World War II in tropical areas for emergency transfusions.
The coconut does not get dispersed like other drupe fruits which spread through consumption by wildlife. Since coconut is very buoyant and highly water resistant, the coconut palm disperses its seed using the ocean.

I’ve been enjoying coconut a lot lately and love it’s health benefits and flavor! I’ll use organic canned coconut milk for smoothies, mixed with beans in a puree, as well as just milk to drink. Shredded coconut is also great added to cereal or sprinkled on baked goods.

Do you like using coconut? Any recipes/tips you care to share?

Any advice on how to get your baby to like you again?

Life, Parenting

Baby’s First Ride Down the Slide

08/21/2014 R.C. Liley 5 Comments

Going Mom took the Monday after our 7th wedding anniversary weekend off to spend more time with Avery and me and to adjust back to life as a parent. Just one full day without a baby to watch and we get spoiled!

Don’t get me wrong, we missed our sweet girl tremendously, but any parent can relate to the “freedom” I’m sure. Similar to our inability to decide on things to do while downtown together, we were at a loss back home too. Kelley had to get on to me for spending too much time over the sink and in the kitchen in general and not with my two girls.

I’m glad she called me out, I need to be knocked in the head sometimes. Figuratively, please! So, I left my soapy dishes in the sink and joined my wife and Avery in the baby jail a.ka. play pen. She acts like it’s jail sometimes, and even attempts to escape frequently!

Avery crawled around and played with her toys scattered across the floor as Kelley and I acted as human obstacle courses. Avery grew tired of this after about an hour as we tried to keep her entertained. If there were a game called “Indecision”, we’d win, hands down.

Finally, we decided getting outside for fresh air and movement was the best bet, and walked over to the neighborhood playground not far from our house. I’ve been wanting to let Avery go down a slide since she gets excited when we toss her in the air or play airplane with her. This girl is going to love roller-coasters, I just know it!

The trip to the playground was short, but our goal was achieved; Avery had her first ride down the slide! Kelley and I each took a turn going down with her and she only seemed slightly amused. She did give us some cute smiles though, so it’s a win to us!

Monday was coming to an end and we went back home to get our dog, Abby, to go for a longer walk. I know soon Avery will be more excited for the playground when she is running around on her own, so I’m trying to enjoy this stage while it lasts. But, I’m impatient and want to play!

Here are some of my favorite photos from our sliding experience; enjoy!

At what age do you think she’ll be ready to go down by herself?

I’m thinking too far ahead, huh?

Any favorite sliding stories you want to share?

Going Reviews

Embassy Suites Downtown Fort Worth Review: I Slept In My Boxers!!

08/20/2014 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Did you know sleeping naked is actually the best and healthiest way to sleep? I haven’t done it myself, but I used to be a boxers only sleeper before Avery was born. But now that she’s here and could possibly wake at any hour and require either Going Mom or me to tend to her, I have slept fully clothed; socks included.

Only recently have I started to sleep without a shirt again, but shorts and socks remain. I just want to be ready for anything, plus, it would suck if a robber broke into the house and I jumped out of bed fully nude. Talk about being defenseless!

Yesterday, I shared the recap of our 7th wedding anniversary where we stayed the weekend at the Embassy Suites in Downtown Fort Worth. I already shared a lot about our stay in that post, but I’ll summarize again here.

I had originally reached out to Embassy Suites a month prior to our stay asking for a complimentary room in exchange for a review. It was a long shot, but I felt I had something to offer and figured it never hurts to try. Instead, I received a reply from Michelle who, a sales coordinator for Embassy, whom kindly declined a complimentary stay, but offered champagne and fresh berries on the house.

First off, I was just happy to see a reply, and with the offer of champagne, Kelley’s favorite beverage, I was ecstatic! I booked the room and waited for the day to come.

Fast forward to our arrival and we were kindly greeted at the check-in counter which only took 5 minutes. Michelle hadn’t left for the weekend, so I asked to meet her and not long after I was shaking her hand and introducing my bride of 7 years to her. She was full of smiles and offered several suggestions on things to do while we were there.

After a little small talk, Kelley and I eagerly went to our 7th floor room (#712) as if the celebration didn’t start until we walked through the door. Kelley was surprised to see the champagne and berries setup and it didn’t take her long to figure I had something to do with it. She’s a smart one!

Embassy made sure to treat us right and gave us quality brut champagne, not some cheapo brand we never heard of before. The TV was already on when we walked in, and since we haven’t had the TV on at our house for weeks, we stared in awe for a moment.

Champagne and TV aside, the room itself didn’t scream “romance!” or really even feel all that clean. The green carpet’s old age was apparent with dark spots in high traffic areas and a dull appearance all over. The chaise and sofa were nice to have, but again, they had seen better days and weren’t as comfortable as I would like.

One of the benefits of Embassy Suites is, as the name implies, each room is a suite. Each guest has their own fridge and microwave along with another sink area separate from the bathroom. This proved very handy for a breastfeeding mother like Kelley who still needed to pump and store milk. She had plenty of space to clean and dry her essentials.

After settling in our room, we walked to the Manager’s Reception that Embassy offers its guests every evening from 5:30 to 7:30 with complimentary food and drinks. Most places with free food and drink that I’ve seen only offer low quality junk you couldn’t pay me to consume, but here they had a nice selection of fresh veggies and plenty of alcoholic beverage options.

It was an odd mix, but Kelley and I both had the fresh veggie assortment along with our alcohol; beer on tap for Kelley, and scotch for myself.

We brought these back to our room to enjoy in peace and even made use of the old couch. Hey, it’s not so bad when we are together and have something good to drink!

After finishing our drinks and snacks, we spent the evening walking around downtown and enjoyed a craft beer from a local brewer. By the time we made it back to the room, we were pretty tired and ready for sleep. That night I did something I hadn’t done in a long time; took off my socks to sleep!

Sleeping in bare feet was wonderful, but the A/C that rattled periodically during the night was not, and the king-sized bed was not as comfortable as we had hoped. Kelley seemed so far away from me and I felt as if I could do a full barrel roll to make my way to her.

I should note that we have a very firm Tempurpedic mattress at home, and do not like soft mattresses like what we had in our room. So, if you like them, you probably would enjoy it more than us.

The next day, I visited the complimentary (I love that word) cooked-to-order breakfast offered to all guests and brought back tasty egg white omelettes and coffee before Kelley was awake. We both enjoyed our breakfast and even had seconds!

I also made use of the in-room coffee maker and coffee to enjoy another cup. I love when the provide green tea and coffee as I have them both every day! The tea and coffee in our room was of good quality and provided the perfect caffeine fix.

The rest of our Saturday was spent kayaking and venturing the streets of downtown, but we made it back to enjoy another round at the Manager’s Reception. I have an obvious addiction to free things as I wound up with several glasses of vodka, scotch, and bourbon, all on the rocks. Those plus my free refills at Starbucks and the champagne easily satisfied my free addiction!

I hardly drank much of the liquor, but it was just the fact that I could get it that made me order more. Kind of like in Las Vegas, you know? Okay, I admit it, I’m cheap.

That night, we setup my laptop to watch videos on Netflix and then went to bed. This time, I slept in just boxers! Wow, it’s been a long time and I forgot how wonderful and less restricting that can be! The A/C still rattled and the bed was still too soft, but I was happy about my boxer-only sleep.

I took advantage of the cooked-to-order breakfast once more the next morning, and Kelley joined me to go back for seconds. The omelettes were just as good as the day before and wish I could have them every day!

Check-out was a breeze and was taken care of without the need to visit the front desk. Besides the aging features of our room, we still enjoyed our stay and were sad to have to leave so soon.

I understand the hotel itself is old, so the carpet and sofa were not a big surprise, but it might be time for a refresh soon. One area that Embassy surpassed my expectations is service. Everyone we spoke to had a smile on their face and helped us if we needed it.

Mark, one of the staff tending the Manager’s Reception made a point to remember my name and we had a decent conversation where he actually sounded interested. Even as the day grew more demanding, he’d help me out if he could and I fully appreciated his assistance every time.

Same for the cooks who made our omelettes every morning. Per my request, they left the oil off the pan and cracked fresh eggs to separate the yolk from the white for our platters. They had a container of egg whites from the factory, so this is not a normal thing for them to have to do.

Although it lacked luxury, that wasn’t what we came for, and the Embassy Suites in Downtown Fort Worth was good enough. For a conveniently located place to stay, it was great, and I thank Michelle and everyone else who helped us for the wonderful hospitality.

If you’re ever around the Fort Worth area, check out Embassy Suites for good place to stay. The Manager’s Reception and breakfasts are reason enough, especially if you have kids!

Be sure to like Embassy Suites Downtown Fort Worth on Facebook and stay in the loop with any updates.

Disclosure: I was not compensated for this review in any way and all opinions are strictly my own.

Have you stayed at an Embassy Suites before? What did you like or dislike?