Tag Archives: family

Simple Elements of Our Thanksgiving Tradition

12/01/2015 R.C. Liley 4 Comments

Yeah yeah, I know, Thanksgiving was last week and Black Friday and Cyber Monday are already in the past. Unless, that is, you count the desperate retailers “extending” Cyber Monday through the week. Ugh……..I love to hate it. Hey, it’s hard to say no to something you want that’s on sale, right?

I’ve enjoyed not worrying so much about getting a blog post out there, but missed it at the same time. Another love to hate thing I guess. Anyway, we hosted a whole two people for Thanksgiving, my mom (G-Ma) and little brother (Uncle Preston).

As you can see, Uncle P was very into the Thanksgiving spirit. He was trying to get tickets to the Cowboy’s game or at least go tailgating at the stadium, but no luck with tickets and the rain stopped any tailgating action. So Plan B (or would it be C?) was our house. Despite being 3rd choice, I’m happy he joined us as I feel we never get enough brother time.

I think it’s best Uncle Preston missed paying to see our Cowboys lose to the Panthers anyway. It was a disappointing game (especially for Romo, ouch!), but that didn’t dampen the spirits of G-Ma and Avery.

These two had a lot of playtime together which, as you can see, made both of them happy. It also wore G-Ma out; it didn’t take long for her to fall asleep that night. So much for watching How I Met Your Mother with us!

I was a little tired too since I wanted to take on making all of the Thanksgiving spread. It’s stressful, but it’s how I like to do things. I looked like this for a lot of the day….

Thankfully, I had these lovely girls to keep me company as they snacked and patiently waited.

Maybe “patiently” is not the best word for Avery. She kept giving me that staredown.

After spending a good hour carving the 14 pound beast of a turkey (hey, it’s a lot for 4 1/2 people) and keeping bones to make slow-cooker bone broth, we were finally ready to eat. If it wasn’t for my awesome wife getting everything heated, set out and setting the table, it would’ve easily been another hour of waiting.

Our Thanksgiving spread, and what I’m hoping will become tradition in our home, included:

A free-range organic turkey roasted in the oven
Goat cheese mashed potatoes
Mashed cinnamon sweet potatoes
Crock Pot cumin black beans
Roasted Brussels sprouts
Sugar-free spiced cranberry sauce (I used a can of Orange Zevia that turned out awesome)
Crustless NuttZo pumpkin pie squares (I used blended steel cut oats and gelatin to thicken)

I was happy with how everything turned out, and judging by how everyone went back for seconds (thirds for Uncle P), I’d say so was everyone else. Can you guess my favorite dish?

Probably a tie between the Brussels and turkey. Although, when paired with the cranberry sauce, I say the turkey was and is my favorite part. Oh, and the NuttZo pumpkin pie squares were up there. So much so that I forgot to take a pic before digging in.

Going Mom had our camera setup with her new tripod and remote shutter release to capture our quaint Thanksgiving gathering.

Oops, that’s one of the 1000 times Avery got a hold of the remote. Here we are actually ready for the shot…..

Avery was a little blurry, but we call it a win just for the fact that she turned around. She kept busy eating turkey and mashed potatoes with her hands on her blue plate.

But she had an important phone call on G-Ma’s phone that she had to take at the table.

Probably already talking to her toddler peers about how to delay going to bed. We’re currently experiencing this part of the toddler phase; I’ll go into more detail later.

It was nothing extravagant, but that’s exactly how we wanted it. Good, healthy food made from scratch being shared with loved ones. I’m forever grateful to be able to spend it with my beautiful wife.

And of course my crazy beautiful daughter, mom, and little (who’s bigger than me) brother.

I’m hoping to do the same spread for the fast approaching Christmas meal with the same loved ones too. The only change we’re considering is making a ham instead of turkey. I love turkey, and the bone broth is awesome, but geez, it sure it time consuming for the entire process! I’m not sure yet, but will have to figure it out soon….after getting my gift buying complete. Ahhh!

Do you have large or small gatherings for the holidays?

What do you think? Turkey or ham for Christmas?

Monthly List, Parenting

24 Memories From My 24th Month Since Going Dad

11/15/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Wow, we made it to the end! Of my Monthly Memories posts, that is. I’ll still think of some way to record our memories, but it won’t always be on or around the 15th of each month as I have been doing to commemorate Avery officially turning a month older.

Before we start, let me just put this right here……

Lamby picked the picture.

We’re taking advantage of her still being too young to fully grasp the concept of birthday parties by keeping it low key at home with a few friends and family. I expect we’ll have plenty of big birthday bash requests in the future, so no need to rush into those, right?

Avery, you have truly transformed in just this past month by talking so much, running all over the place, and being so playful. You’ve given Mommy and me way more than 24 memories for the month, but tradition’s sake, that’s the limit for this post. 🙂

1. Like I said, you’ve turned into a playful tot who frequently joins me in the kitchen where I am cooking meals and cleaning up my mess. But when you stand at my feet with your pretty blue eyes, I can’t help but to take a break and play a little.

She wouldn’t let me cook, so I gave in for a little #playtime in the #kitchen. #daddysgirl #crazykid #toddler #loveher

A photo posted by RC Liley (@going_dad) on Oct 8, 2015 at 12:33pm PDT

2. This month you got your very own fork. And not just any for, AirFork One! 3. Mommy and Daddy took spent the weekend camping for our belated 8th Anniversary celebration (and Mommy turning 31!) while G-Ma stayed with you at our house. We enjoyed our time together, but had a dramatic return where you had us all believing your wrist or arm was severely injured. So conniving at such a young age….turns out you were just fine. 4. Mommy’s work had their annual Halloween event for families to bring their little ones trick-or-treating. We dressed you as a pumpkin (again) and you proudly walked around the place announcing “I’m a pumpkin!” Obviously, a very crazy pumpkin… 5. On Halloween, we carved our first pumpkin together as a family. You helped us take the guts (seeds) out a little, but you were more interested in eating them after I roasted the innards. 6. You walked our little loop on Halloween night to trick-or-treat where your first and only treat was an organic banana our friends kindly had set aside just for you. You wasted no time trying to eat it, and even bit into the peel before we could unwrap it for you. 7. Blue is the color of choice for you lately, and there’s no question about which plate you get for dinner. It’s the Blue Plate Special every night! You even repeat the phrase “Blue plate tonight.” well over 10 times throughout the day, just to make sure we’re clear. 8. Before your beloved blue plate dinner, you’ve also become keen on what time it is before our nightly walk and dinner; it’s smoothie time!

When the #vitamix stops, she knows what time it is. …. #Smoothie Time! And a #cheers to boot! @kelley_liley A video posted by RC Liley (@going_dad) on Oct 29, 2015 at 5:41pm PDT

9. I try to make dinner interesting, but always ends up being the same thing one way or the other. One of these things is quinoa, which you surprised us by pronouncing amazingly well!

10. Another dinner time staple is goat cheese. We always have it in a certain container, and if you see it out, you’ll repeat the words goat cheese and more until we finally say you had enough. At this point, you’ve learned to say “See you tomorrow, goat cheese” in the cutest way possible. It puts a smile on Mommy and Daddy’s face each time.

11. The shin I hurt when climbing up to save you on the slide last month is taking forever to heal. Over the time I’ve had it, you learned about kissing boo boos and now you kiss everyone’s boo boo multiple times a day. I even caught you pulling your foot to your mouth to kiss your own boo boo on your toe!

Healing the booboo my leg with her magic #kiss. #toddler #parenting #daddysgirl #love

A video posted by RC Liley (@going_dad) on Nov 5, 2015 at 8:57am PST

12. Kissing your own feet takes some major flexibility. Must be from doing yoga with Mommy. 13. Your eagerness to help us out with everything you do is cute, but not always helpful. One thing, “helping” with wrapping up the vacuum cord, is one such thing. 14. You actually do help me when putting up your cloth diapers after they are dry. I will ask for a certain color and you grab it from the drying rack to hand to me. 15. On the topic of diapers, you play what seems like a rapid fire session when I first pull them out of the wash and hang them to dry. As I hang each one, I can see your face crinkling trying to quickly call out the color I have before moving to the next one. 16. The blue plate might be your preference for dinner, but for breakfast, you have taken a liking to your purple plate. Banana and pumpkin seeds are the staples on your plate, and once you’re done, you will bring your plate over to me to put in the sink. You learn so fast! 17. After Mommy gives you your nightly bath, I’ve been setting your new friend, Lamby, up on the couch waiting for you to come and get her for bedtime. I’ll be cleaning the dishes and see your naked, wide-grinned self run up to grab Lamby and run back to your room to get ready for bed. It’s cute to hear you giggle with joy as you see Lamby sitting there.

18. My injured shoulder finally bothered me enough to go to a chiropractor which resulted in having to make multiple weekly visits for therapy. Luckily, I found a great husband and wife practice with 4 kids of their own who know a thing or two. They have you setup to watch Dinosaur Train on the kindle as my shoulder gets worked on. You also enjoy the play kitchen area and take it seriously, just like Daddy. 19. I thought I’d take advantage of the better-than-normal weather and run with you to a playground just 2 miles away. Of course the wind picked up, but we made it. And we found out you’re still not a fan of being above solid ground just like when on our friends’ trampoline. 20. Besides not wanting to walk on platforms, you absolutely love the slide part. That’s why we were too excited to wait for your birthday to give you one of your gifts; an indoor slide! It’s nothing fancy, but you are loving it! 21. With your increased playfulness, you’ve begun to initiate foot fights with me randomly throughout the day. Sometimes I’m even holding a knife to chop food, but it doesn’t deter you.

Pre #breakfast foot fight. She started it the first time. #toddler #sahd #growingup A video posted by RC Liley (@going_dad) on Oct 21, 2015 at 7:45am PDT

22. We love, well, everything about you, but how you pick up so quickly on new words and letters. I’ve been playing the show Super Why for you while we have lunch and we’ll try and guess the Super Words in each episode. Mommy and I would love to take all the credit for your increased word knowledge, but that show really has helped you learn.

23. What we can take credit for is your knowledge of good food. You say cottage cheese when you see my container in the fridge, goat cheese when, well, a lot, and even name the colored jar of NuttZo with amazingly great pronunciation for a 2 year old.

Our little @eatnuttzo fan. So proud! #nuttzo #nuttzolove #llymi #toddler #healthykid #myPBjoy @peanut.butter.lovers

A video posted by RC Liley (@going_dad) on Nov 13, 2015 at 8:58am PST

24. It’s probably apparent that Lamby is your current Bestie. She’s become part of our nightly reading and goodnight kisses routine to where you INSIST everyone kisses Lamby after reading the nighttime book, and she even has to kiss my boo boo some nights!

Watching how much you change every day is so bittersweet, Avery, but you make our little family of 3 complete and fill us with joy. So much so we just want to squeeze you all the time! Maybe too much…

Happy Birthday, dear, thanks for giving us so much joy! We look forward to so many more birthdays and good times as a family!

Going Reviews, Promo

Tranquility Labs – Natural Mood Support Supplements

11/10/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Are you someone who gets anxiety thinking about something in the future or spending too much time in the past? Maybe you just have trouble enjoying and living in the moment. Well, you’re not alone, and Tranquility Labs has safe, all natural supplements to help you just like they’re helping me.

That’s right, yours truly easily find himself worrying about petty things like what to make for dinner or how to fit in my next workout, and even whether I should use a fork or spoon! Yeah, it’s ridiculous. I always use a spork for that reason, by the way.

Since I’m not a fan of most OTC drugs out there, I was excited when Tranquility Labs agreed to send me their Tranquilene Total Calm, Sleep Fast Nighttime Spray, Focusene, and CogniDHA Omega-3 Fish Oil supplements to review.

My “worst offender” areas are not sleeping enough and being irritable from stressing over little things. No matter how many times I tell myself those things are not that big of a deal, stress seems to creep its way back into my mind. I’ve even shared my stress issues in past posts including how it hindered our attempts at getting pregnant.

Tranquilene Total Calm

It’s been about 3 weeks since I started taking Tranquilene, and from the first day I noticed a marked difference in my mood. Nothing super powerful, but I felt it, a slight easing of the tension I normally feel. I found I was able to calm my mind and not worry so much shortly (around 30 minutes) after taking two capsules in the afternoon, when my stress/anxiety is at its peak.

The blend all natural ingredients that have shown to battle anxiety in men and women are designed to work synergistically over time. Having taken Tranquilene consistently every day for a weeks now, I notice that my overall levels of stress have decreased a good amount and I am even able to stop and just enjoy the moment more often.

This is extremely important as someone who stays at home with his precious daughter all day and needs to be there for her with a big smile on my face. Same for my hardworking, beautiful, and deserving wife, she needs a husband who is supportive and not a drag to be around. Tranquilene has helped in both areas.

Of course, I still have stress, and Going Mom will attest to my irritability still popping up every now and then, but this is a supplement, not a panacea, and for that, I love it. For the decreased feeling of stress and anxiety, I feel Tranquilene is well worth it and plan on continuing my daily use. Knowing that the ingredients safe and non-addictive is more than perfect for the health-minded person such as myself, just one less thing to stress over!

Sleep Fast Melatonin Spray

Sleep Fast Melatonin Spray with B6, Valerian Root, Chamomile, Lemon Balm and 5-HTP is the natural answer to my insomniac ways . Some days are worse than others, so I love the fact that I can control the dose with each spray.

I always avoided flavored liquids because that meant sugar or artificial sweeteners were added, but this is free from any nasty stuff and full of good, all natural and proven herbs that help calm and relax a racing mind. As I already revealed, I’m known to be a worrier about what’s to come, which always affects my sleep. Now, with 6 – 10 sprays of Sleep Fast 30 minutes before bed, I’m better able to relax and fall into a good night’s sleep.

I’ve had zero side effects besides waking up feeling refreshed and energetic. As a stay-at-home dad to a very active toddler, this is a MUST! The flavor is pleasing, it’s convenient for travel, and best of all, there’s no artificial ingredients to be concerned about like most OTC sleep aids. It also compliments Tranquilene extremely well.

We all need/deserve a good sleep, but shouldn’t become lab rats to get it. Try Sleep Fast and avoid all worries while getting to sleep….fast. See what I did there? 🙂

Focusene

I’d love to go back in time and give this to my younger self while in college. An awesome alternative to prescription drugs, sadly all too commonly used by college students, Focusene is safe, non-addictive, and packed with scientifically formulated, all natural ingredients designed to increase concentration, support mental performance, memory, and clarity.

This stuff is great! Some days I feel completely out of it with my mind in another world as I try to cook 4 different meals while keeping Avery entertained, but since taking Focusene, I find that I’m better able to maintain my sanity and get everything done. Even better, it’s helped me manage time during the day a little better so that I can still fit in a workout on really busy days.

Speaking of, I use Focusene as a good pre-workout supplement on heavy lifting days. You never want to lose focus when you have heavy weight over your head or on your back, and Focusene helps ensure that doesn’t happen. Even when Avery yells the color of each passing car out from behind me when I’m doing heavy squats, I somehow manage to keep my focus on the task at hand.

Again, is it the answer to all my issues? No, I still struggle on some days, but my mental clarity is much improved after having taken this for several weeks now. This is another supplement I feel offers enough noticeable benefits that will have me keeping it on hand.

CogniDHA Omega-3 Fish Oil

CogniDHA is now my go to fish oil both for what it has and does not have. Too many pills are filled with things that do zero good for the body, but not this one. No unnecessary fillers, the fact you don’t get fish breath (the pills are odorless), and how much better my brain and body feels since taking these has me giving two thumbs (and cerebral hemispheres) up!

I am taking one pill each morning and felt better after just a few days of taking them. If you don’t take a fish oil now, start with these, and if you do, replace them to see for yourself

Not that I think taking any supplement will solve everything, but after using the quality products from Tranquility Labs, I can confidently say they help. And well, whether we like to admit it or not, I know we could all use a little help, right?

Check out Tranquility Labs to see what they’re all about and learn more about their full line of all natural supplements. Which supplement do you think you would benefit from the most?

Tranquility Labs agreed to reimburse me for my honest review, i have not been compensated in any other way. All thoughts and opinions are my own.