A Good Day

Henry had a good day last week.  He got his haircut at the best salon in town: Style Up Hair Studio.  Then his Abuelo stopped by with a blueberry muffin!

Cheese please

Tonight's dinner menu: made from scratch fluffy pancakes, real maple syrup, scrambled eggs, bacon, and ice cold milk! The only thing Henry wants: the stick of butter that he keeps calling cheese! 

Won't be the last dinner he or Evelyn doesn't want to eat. 

I can still fit in that bathtub

As soon a Evelyn was done with her bath tonight, Henry just had to have her bathtub in with him; and, climb into it. He thought he was so cool!

Writing this post from bed. We will both be asleep before 9:30. Can you say parent of two. 

How great it feels in Heaven

The sun is shining-it is literally the perfect day out! I'm cleaning my bike and getting it ready for my race this weekend! My two girls are relaxing on the porch! This would have to be pretty close to how great it feels in Heaven!

What? Did I do something wrong?

Someone wasn't suppose to climb over the bench that was blocking the stairs. I guess nobody told him...

Everything and everyone for your pleasure

While at Manhattan Park, Henry met some new friends. While on top of the jungle gym, a 17 month old girl walked up next to him. Without any hesitation, Henry leaned right in and planted a big kiss on her! A little later on, he grabbed a bottle that another girl dropped and put it right in his mouth. Yeah, that's right Henry, everything and everyone is here for your pleasure!!

If it's too loud, you're too old

He figured this out in about a second. He would repeatedly turn the radio on and off.  Every time he turned it on he would turn the volume up all the way and dance!

His uncontrollable passion for the Detoit Lions comes from me

Annie told me this story after I got downstairs from changing Evelyn's diaper.

Henry was crying and clearly wanted something. Annie had Henry show her what he wanted: it was Evelyn's pink headband. Once he got the headband on his head he was ok, until he saw the Lion's clip that Evelyn had in her hair earlier, so, he lost it again. Annie clipped the Lion's clip in his hair. He was happy as could be!

I like to think his uncontrollable passion for the Detroit Lions comes from me!!

Honolulu Blue

Last week Henry and I didn't wear lion's shirts and they lost. This week we both had our lion's gear on and they won. I wonder what will happen next week if the whole family is decked out in Honolulu Blue!?!? Oh the possibilities...

Sunday morning style

Henry put up a fuss an wouldn't stop until he had his shoes on his feet (over his sleeper footies) and his sox on his hands!

Oh how blessed we are

Life is full of moments. Today was full of moments from God showing me how blessed I am.

Had my dad, mom, and Annie up at 6am to come out to South Haven to cheer me on in a triathlon in CRAZY wind and cold.  Have the physical ability just to simply compete in triathlons.  Finished well, without injury.  Was able to spend some time with my cousins Amie and James, Unlce Mike and Aunt Terri, and Pastor Todd Dykstra of Maranatha Bible Church. On the drive home, I got to enjoy seeing Annie get a much deserved nap, and watch Henry and Evelyn sleep almost the entire ride back - which is 100% innocence personified and incredibly addictive to watch even though nothing is happening.  Once home, I enjoyed a long, hot shower, but not before having Evelyn sleep on my chest and Henry demanding to cuddle with us.  Finished the day with pizza, playing with Henry, and watching football!!

Another heal poke

Off to the doctors again for another heel poke and blood draw. Have to represent!

Life is good

Annie gets up this morning and takes Henry to get some treats at the store, which allows me to put Evelyn on my chest and sleep in! 

Awesome wife and mom! Life is good!!

Someone wants all the attention

After lunch today Henry started to walk toward the other room (where all the toys are) but kept whining and coming back into the kitchen. Annie said, "what do you want? Show mommy."  Henry grabbed her hand and started to walk into the toy room, but then stopped and walked over to me with his hand up. Whatever he wanted to do, he wanted both mommy and daddy. So, holding both our hands, he led us into the toy room. In the room is a blanket draped over a baby play pad, so it kind of makes a mini tent. Once we reached this he let good our hands and dove under the blanket with a big laugh! I think someone misses having all of mommy and daddy's attention!

What ensued was a good, long play time of wrestling, hiding, climbing, and throwing balls. Now, it's nap time!

Neck massage

While out and about today (had Henry in a back pack), Henry all of a sudden decided to give me a neck massage. I thought, "oh, that's nice. Maybe this can become an on demand thing?" So after he stopped, I tested it out and said, "thank you Henry, can you give me a neck massage?" Right away, he proceeded to rub my neck. His "rub" was more of a tickle, but I don't care, it felt good either way.

I definitely will be dragging this out and making it seem really cool to give your dad a neck massage! Unless he get too old and it just gets creepy...how old is too old?

Off to South Haven

Off to South Haven for a little relaxation and to check out daddy's tri course on Saturday!

Evelyn seems less than enthused...

Henry couldn't even last half way to South Haven.

Typical

Changed and rocked Henry around 1:00 because he soaked through his diaper. Woke up to soothe Evelyn a couple times. Been up since about 3:30 due to an Evelyn wardrobe change that took both mommy and daddy. Now holding Evelyn on my chest while she's glowing neon green from the billy-rueben (spell check) blanket and I'm trying to stay awake on my phone - yeah - pretty typical night. Love the smell of Evelyn's hair. Hoping to put her down soon and get some sleep before Henry wakes up. 

Is there a changing table in that bathroom?

One of the things that I already knew going into this adventure of being a stay at home dad was that I would be of the minority in this profession. Yes, I very much look at this as a profession. This is my job and I take it very seriously...well...not too seriously, you have to have some fun!

When I am out running errands or off on a daddy adventure, there are two very specific looks I get: 

1) 'That is awesome, he must be a stay at home dad. Good for him! What a great dad!' I appreciate the praise and acknowledgement, but being a stay at home dad doesn't automatically make me a great dad, it makes me a dad; period. How I raise my kids, the lessons and morals I teach them, and being able to show them the love God shows us - this will determine if I'm a great dad. 

2) 'Oh, isn't that cute, the dad is trying to go out in public with his kids.' Getting this look is interesting. The pride and competitiveness in me thinks, "I'll show you, I'm going to be the best parent in the world and prove you wrong!"  Then I kind of feel guilty that it isn't teaching Henry and Evelyn a good lesson by thinking that - but not too guilty.

There are two other things that take place that still surprise me. I can't believe how many places I go into that don't have a changing table in the men's bathroom! Luckily the only times I've come across these are when I'm with Annie. I read a story about a dad who got so frustrated by this that he changed his kid's diaper right on a store's customer service desk - I don't know if I'll ever do that, but we did have to change Henry's diaper in the middle of Central Park once!

The second thing, which I think is clearly sexist is at our church, and from what I've learned, at many daycares. This summer we volunteered in the nursery. If a baby needed a diaper change I was not allowed to change it. I had to find a woman who was 18 or older. You mean to tell me an 18 year old high school student is more suited to change a baby's diaper than me!?

I'm not really too terribly upset by any of these, but it does give me more of an understanding of what it is to be discriminated against. As with everything that happens to me, hopefully I can use these experiences as a teaching moment with Henry and Evelyn.

Bright Beginnings

Henry and I were at the library this morning for our weekly story time, but when we got there we found that they weren't having it. Instead there was Bright Beginnings - which I will happily promote - It was a pleasant thing to stumble upon as it is a free program put on by the public school system! They have one of these every day throughout the various school districts. Henry and I showed up after they were already 30 minuetes in. Normally, they spend about 40 minutes just having free time for the kids to play, then they have a snack and read a story. In total it last about an hour, but you are free to come and go whenever. I think we will be adding this to our normal routine of fun stuff to do! If you have pre-kindergarten kids I encourage you to check this out at www.kentisd.org. They have a schedule under Bright Beginnings.

You have nice veins

The goal for Henry this morning: pick my leg up and try to grab the veins in my foot. He is bound and determined!

We have a spitter upper

It's 1:00AM, I'm on my phone, in a rocking chair, and Evelyn is on sleeper number three. I can't blame her, I'm upset the Lions lost too...

Lady's Man

If there was ever a question that Henry is a lady's man...

While at the grocery story today Henry got upset (I wouldn't let him eat the plastic rapping off a trash can I bought).  We were near the end of an isle and around the corner walked a woman in her mid to upper 20's.  As soon as Henry saw her he smiled, waived, and said, "hi!"  She smiled, waived, and said "hi" back.  That was the end of his little tantrum.  He was in a good mood the rest of the trip.

He already has the looks and the charm...we are nervous parents...

Go Lions

Henry and Evelyn dressed in their Sunday best ready to cheer on the Lions!!

Miss Evelyn

The last week of Miss Evelyn's journey into this world was an adventure. This will not be the last time out daughter gets our hearts racing, forces us to tears, and has us praying what seems like constantly! 

Thursday: Annie went in for her regular doctor's appointment. While listening to Evelyn's heartbeat, the nurse noticed an irregular sound and called the doctor in. After listening for a little bit the doctor said we needed to head to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital around noon. After a non-stress test, ultrasound, talking to nurses, residents, medical students, and a specialist who came in we were heading home around 11:30pm. Evelyn had a disrhythmia and a flutter in her heartbeat. The disrhythmia was of no real concern, but the flutter was something that needed to be monitored, and, if it became something that was constant we would need to do a c-section. 

Friday: We went to the hospital for another non-stress test. Evelyn's heart was still erratic, but was better than it was on Thursday. 

Saturday: We went back for another non-stress test. Evelyn's heart was about the same. We got another ultrasound to make sure her heart wasn't going into failure and that everything was getting oxygen and developing properly. 

Sunday: We went back to the hospital for another non-stress test. Her heart sounded better. 

Monday: We went back for another non-stress test. Her heart was a little worse so we had another ultrasound to check that everything was ok. 

Tuesday: We went back to the hospital for another non-stress test. Evelyn's heart looked better. Annie had a doctor's appointment set for Wednesday. We were told her doctor would probably want to induce Annie on that day or the next. By this time we got to know many of the staff, nurses, and residents by name and had gotten to develop some pretty good relationships with them.  This was the one of, if not the only, silver lining to all the visits.  Every person we have met at St. Mary's has been awesome!

Wednesday: Annie missed a call and got a voicemail about an hour before her appointment that the doctor she was going to see got called into the hospital so we would have to reschedule for another day.  Annie called back and, using her powers of persuasion, got them to fit us in immediately for an appointment.  We rushed to the office and saw the doctor right away.  He was unaware that we had been in the hospital every day.  He said, "well, lets get you induced and get this baby here."  We were all in agreement!!  At 6:00AM we had to call the hospital to see if we could come in at that point or if we had to call back in a few hours.

Thursday: 5:55AM Annie called the hospital.  They couldn't fit us in then.  We were told they would call back, but if we didn't hear from them by 11 to call.  Annie and I decided to get out of the house to help pass the time - a visit to Kohls and then the mall for some Starbucks and Auntie Anne's did the trick!  At about 10:00 Annie got a call that we could come down at 11:00.  After getting to the hospital and getting all set up with IVs and pitocin Annie was dilated to about 3-4.  Not much happened for the next 11 hours or so.  Around 11:00/11:30PM they came in and broke Annie's water.  Over the next 1-2 hours the contractions got a lot stronger and we ordered an epideral.  They checked Annie after the epideral and she was dilated to about 6.  The nurse entered some things into the computer, asked if we needed anything else and left.  About 2 minutes later Annie's eyes widened and she said, "Brad, I feel like something is coming out of me! You need to call the nurse!"  The nurse came in and checked Annie and immediately said yup, she's right there!  I'm going to get the doctor!  In came the doctor and other staff. Three pushes later Miss Evelyn was here at 2:16AM on Friday morning!!!!  8.7 pounds 20.5 inches!!

Friday: Annie and Evelyn got cleaned up and taken care of, Evelyn nursed, we got moved to postpartum, and at about 4:30 AM we all took a nap. 

After that, the hospital stay was pretty normal. Well, normal apart from me walking around with Evelyn and setting off an alarm over the entire floor because I got too close to the elevators!!  No, I was not trying to kidnap my baby!

Evelyn is a napping and nursing champ! It's Saturday and we will be on our way home soon; ready to start our lives as a family of four!!

Double Rainbow

Not a bad view from our hospital room! A good sign of things to come?!?!

Full on, double rainbow!!

All our bags are packed

On our way to the hospital! Hopefully miss Evelyn will be here soon!!!!

Reasons why my kid is crying

He couldn't turn the handle to open the window...

Burn the Mail

We don't have a shredder, so when something comes in the mail that has our personal information on it, I will just burn it in the fireplace.  Henry loves this - anything dealing with starting a fire I can't help but think of my late Grandpa Gordon - so I love this too!  Well, today was the first day in a few that there was nothing that needed to be burned, just junk that I threw away when I got inside.  Henry has apparently associated getting the mail with automatically burning something in the fireplace.  As soon as we got inside (yes - we, Henry has to come along to get the mail.  And, he has to get the mail while being pulled in his wagon with his three basketballs in the wagon with him!) Henry ran right over to the fireplace and sat down.  I didn't want to break his heart so I just grabbed a random piece of paper and burned it.  He sat on my lap and watched with a huge smile on his face.  I hope I haven't created a pyro!

Double Crossed

He said he wouldn't do it...he lied

This game went on for about 10 minutes an then turned into dad being a climbing wall and trampoline!

Cleaning the Bike

It doesn't matter what I'm doing, Henry wants to help. Sure, it takes about twice as long to get anything accomplished when he's helping, but one of my goals as a dad is to always welcome Henry's (and soon Evelyn's) help. I never want them to feel as if they are bothering me. The look on Henry's face after he "helps" me with something is priceless. You can tell he feels such a sense of worth and accomplishment, and that he is looking to me for recognition and praise for the hard work he just did. I want him, and his soon to be sister, to always know: Yes, you are valued, loved, and always appreciated!!

In this picture Henry is helping clean off my bike after a long ride.  He "cleaned" the pedal for about 2 seconds then found it fun to bang his hand on the chain.  Cleaning grease off a toddler's hand...fun!

It's Been That Kind of Morning

I've been asked, "how will you handle having a girl once your daughter gets here?"  Well, I think I'll have plenty of practice in dealing with the experience of getting ready for school and her having "nothing to wear" and changing her outfit a number of times...before 8AM and Henry is on outfit number 3...it's been that kind of morning!

Homemade Curtains

You can't be a stay at home parent with out doing some DIY projects; and, being a stay at home dad is no different.  It wasn't too long into my new endeavor of staying home that I figured I would give it a try.  My first project: DIY Curtains.

I found a website with easy instructions (sorry, I can't remember what the site was).  I will try my best to explain how I made them.

1. Started out by measuring the window the curtains would go on and buying enough fabric to cover.

2. Cut the fabric to the appropriate size to cover the window and hang down as far as you would like.  When cutting keep in mind you will need to fold and sew each side so measure and cut extra.  The vertical sides each have a 1 inch hem.  The horizontal side each have a 2 inch hem.  I thought this looked nice and it ensured the top hem was large enough for the curtain rod to slide through.

3. The website suggested using double sided tape (if you weren't too adept at using a sewing machine).  Sewing is not a skill I have mastered, so I figured I would give the double sided tape thing a try.  Tried, and failed.  At least now I know to never try that again.

4.  I ironed each hem so it would make it easier to sew.  It did - I was very happy that I thought of this before I started.

5. After ironing and getting the sewing machine all set, the sewing is super easy.  Everything is straight stitches from end to end.  Be sure to sew the vertical sides FIRST and the horizontal sides LAST.  This will ensure you don't sew over and close the top loop so the curtain rod can slide through the curtain.

That is all there is to it!

I'm sure all you master seamstresses out there will be laughing at this post, some of the terminology I use, and...this part:  One thing to make the sewing go A LOT easier - make sure you put the foot down!  I sewed the entire curtains with the foot up!  Thanks for pointing that out to me Annie :)

Henry just had to photo-bomb!!

Father and Son Bonding

One of the benefits of being a stay at home parent is having some alone time at night when the working parent has a late meeting.  I do feel bad that Annie has to work late, especially being pregnant, but getting to enjoy some pizza and Monday Night Football with my guy is pretty awesome!

We are definitely getting some good bonding time in!!

Henry dressed in his hipster best!  He posed like this all by himself.  I don't know, we might have a hipster model on our hands!

Curious to see if his sister is the same way...

At least it's not poop or pee

The one constant of being a stay at home dad - while I am doing something that isn't taking a whole lot of concentration, I constantly find myself thinking, "what else could I also be doing right now?"  For example: while I give Henry his nightly bath.  After I finish washing his body, face, and hair, I will clean the mirror and sink, or floss my teeth.  Hopefully setting an example of a good teeth cleaning regiment that Henry will follow - kids always follow the good examples you set as a parent, right? :)

Well, sometimes while trying to maximize every second of the day it backfires a little, like tonight.  While flossing my teeth I can see Henry behind me in the tub through the mirror.  Henry looked at me with that look.  Parents know what I'm talking about.  It's that look of "I'm going to try something and I know it's wrong, but I am just so curious to see what happens."  In slow motion and fast forward, all at the same time, Henry grabbed his cup full of water and threw it out of the tub.  Unable to get the floss out of my teeth and remembering that I don't have the Flash's super speed, I found myself accepting the inevitable and thinking "well, at least it's not poop or pee".  The cup hit and water flew all over.  Henry, with and look of pure joy and a little excitement, gave a laugh of complete satisfaction.  I guess the cup did what he was hoping.  While cleaning up the water I found myself thinking two thoughts: "I guess it's time to teach the lesson of no throwing toys out of the bathtub" and once again, "at least it's not poop or pee!"

Football Saturday

I don't let Henry watch tv usually, but when football season comes around it's hard not to enjoy a game and a snack with my little guy! 

Henry even fancies it up a little bit...note the pinky.

This truck's too big!

After straining, grunting, and pushing with all his might; Henry finally came to the dreaded conclusion that the truck was too big to fit in his shorts! It ruined his morning...for about three seconds...then he found a ball to play with!

The ball wouldn't fit up his shorts either! Only comforting from dad would ease his broken heart!!

Another Wide Receiver

This is an old one: Henry was about 2 months old.  He was dressed in his Sunday best ready to cheer on his Detroit Lions in the 2012 NFL draft!

He lost it when they took another wide receiver when there were still plenty of other options available!!

No shirt no shoes - no problem

Henry's (and daddy's) preferred way to eat spaghetti - no shoes and topless!

The Beginning

It was where God started, and where Julie Andrews started, so I guess it's where I'll start too!  We had our first kid, Henry, in March of 2012.  Annie's job paid more than mine, provided awesome benefits, as well as, our house and food, so it was a no brainer that I would stay home with Henry.  Thus began my life as a stay at home dad!

After a year and half of learning on the fly and seemingly never ending laughs and questions, our second child, Evelyn, was on her way - and - after some prodding by family and friends, this blog was born!