CLOSE CALL!!

SO we get a brand spanking new playset for Katie the other day. It looks great. Had the guys come out and set it up and everything is good to go. I have been helping out watching the neighbor's daughter, along with Katie (as reported) and we were excited about letting the girls go out and play. So I take them out there to play, relieved to let them get out of the house for a bit and also to be able to let them run a little bit of energy out while I have them both. So we're playing for a while and I notice that the other little girl is not within eye site. Of course I panic because 1) I have become very cautious of making sure I know all things at all times with these two and 2) the playset is close to a wall and I don't want either of them to fall off and break something. I call her and get no response so I run around to the other side to find her playing over there, just fine. AT this same time this is going on, Katie is in the process of trying to climb up a ladder to get to the top section. The moment I race back to check on her, she is approx 4 ft off the ground and loses her grip on one side of the ladder. She crashes to the ground, landing on her back. I start to freak out. She starts to cry. I immediately pick her up, checking to see if anything makes her go "oww" more than normal. Fortunately, these little ones are apparently made of rubber because all it seemed to do is just scare her a little while. I quickly gather both girls up, take them inside and decide that watching Seseme Street is much safer than letting them play on a brand new playset. Hey, works for me and my heart!

BUSY BUSY BUSY

I will try to update this as best I can. First off, thanks for all the support we've been getting since the article came out. It feels good to know that others out there think we're doing the right thing (and we'll be looking for donations in the near future). j/k. :) It's funny because I have had several people come up to me out of the blue and ask if I was "that guy" in the article in the paper. Rather strange feeling but pretty cool at the same time. That's why I'm feeling so bad for not updating this more. Of course, this is a good segue into what else has been going on.

I've been watching the neighbor's 2 1/2 year old daughter a couple of days this week while watching Katie. This helps them out plus it gives Katie the chance to interact more with other little kids. So far so good, although I do have to admit that it has been quite an adjustment on my part having to watch two small children so mobile instead of just one. The other strange world I've entered is the fact that the 2 1/2 year old is potty trained but still needs a little help on the potty. It's cool and all but helping out someone else's child besides my own is still strange. It may sound weird but I don't think twice about changing Katie. I don't know why but any child but Katie kind of puts me back in that place I was before Katie came along. All thumbs and feeling very ackward. I'll get over it I guess.

I've also started doing something for me. Our church has a "bootcamp" class )which is actually no joke. It legitamately is a tough class) that they offer from 5:45 - 6:45 am every M-W-F. My wife took it last 8 weeks and we've switched off in the morninigs so I can start taking it. So not only am I having to adjust to getting up that early and blowing the dust off my bones from a 18 month layoff but I then have to come home and watch 2 small children. Yes, I am tired, thank you very much! :)

We finished up swim class today! Katie is a little fish. We'll probably take one more set of classes the next time they're offered. She really seems to enjoy it and I get a kick out of it as well. See the pictures below. More news tomorrow!

WELCOME...

My name is Mike Miller and I wanted to take this time to welcome you to my site. Some of you may be coming here for the first time because of the newspaper article that ran on the Sunday paper. I figured it would only be fair to say hello and to acknowledge you on the site.. and to say thanks for visiting!

This has been quite an amazing ride for me so far and I know that it's going to be even more exciting. But before I go any further, let me give you a little background about myself and how I became a "stay at home" dad. Back in February, I received a call from my VP at the time saying that because a current account I was working on didn't need as much one on one attention that he wanted me to help out with some other accounts for the company. Seeing that he was the boss and that I was rather fond of receiving a paycheck, I was all too happy to oblige. The first account had me traveling up to Virginia for an overnight, which wasn’t too bad. Then I got the call that I was needed in Tennessee for a top account that was valued by the company. Again, knowing that I needed to keep my job, I said yes. Neither my wife nor I were very happy about it, especially since we had a recently turned 1 year old in the house. But we soldiered on like we were supposed to. She would drop off our daughter at the daycare in the morning. Go to a hectic job during the day. Come home to pick up our daughter during the evening to be able to spend maybe an hour or two with her before putting her to bed and then collapsing on the couch. Meanwhile, I was in a different state, missing my family terribly and wondering for the life of me how long this situation was going to go on. Once I was home for the weekends, life wasn’t much better. You see, we had to run around like a chicken with its head cut off to try to make up for lost time during the week. So we really didn’t have any time together as a family or a life to really speak of. And... Oh boy! We got to look forward to doing it again the next week.

After several months of this, both my wife and I had had enough. We had been praying about what we should do because we both knew that this was not working. We both had great paying jobs. We had “stuff”. We even had a little extra at the end of the month to play a little bit. But what we didn’t have was a life. And, more importantly, what we didn’t have was control of our time and our family. So after much deliberation, we collectively decided that one of us needed to “pull over to the side of the road” so that at least one of us could take care of our daughter and instill the morals and values that we felt were important to us growing up. We also knew that our daughter may have the advantage of being more connected to her family by spending more time with at least one of them throughout the day, hopefully giving her an extra emotional foundation that so important to children at this age. Finally, we knew that with at least one of us home, we’d be able to get more done during the day, thus allowing for more “family” time during the evenings, as it really should be. So after much deliberation, we both decided that it would be me that steps down and takes the new challenge of staying home with our daughter.

We knew that it was going to be difficult financially to adjust from going from two paychecks to one. But we were given hope when we were introduced to an incredible business from the company called Reliv International by our neighbors. Let me state for the record that this is in no way a shameless plug for what I do. The reason I mention this is because we feel that the decision to have me stay home and us being introduced to this business happened roughly around the same time. It just seemed that everything was happening as if it was preordained from above. I will say one thing about this company. I have personally seen tons of people get results both with their health and finances with this company and I had the opportunity to study up close and personal how the corporate leaders operate with this company and I have never seen a stronger company when it comes to ethics and integrity than with this company. That and the opportunity it brings for so many “normal regular” people like you and I out there to do something special with their lives and the lives of others around them, gave me a greater since of purpose about my own life and career over anything I have ever done. So I wouldn’t be saying all this if I strongly didn’t believe in it. If anyone ever has any questions about what I do while being able to raise my daughter at home, I would be happy to talk to them about it. It’s an opportunity that I feel everyone should look at. It may not be for you, but you at least deserve to see it and decide for yourself.

So we have started feeling some what of a pinch financially but it’s really not as bad as I had thought. Sure, there are times in which things have already been tight but we are learning as we go. The word “budget” has really been reintroduced into our vocabulary, which is actually a blessing in disguise because it had made us look at the things that we have been wasteful on and make adjustments. But I cannot begin to describe the sheer joy I get every single day with the ability to be able to stay at home and experience life through the eyes of an 18 month old. We play. We learn. We go out and do things together. Oh yes... I have already discovered that staying in the house all day long makes Mikey a dull boy. The great thing is that the older she gets, the “easier” – I say that now. Wait until she doesn’t want to hold my hand any more and goes screaming across a store, leaving a wave of destruction in her wake. But for now, she likes to hold dad’s hand, look around at everything, make comments every now and again, and take it all in. And of course dad gets the “oh how cute” comments everywhere we go (for the baby, NOT for poor dad). 

Life is good. Long gone are the days of the corporate hypocrisy, where you have to be a “yes man” to the corporate line or else be on the chopping block. Now I just have to deal with a lot of no’s and a few tears every now and then. No longer am I dealing with the day end day out “crap” that you have to listen to in meetings where people just talk to hear themselves talk. I just deal with dirty diapers. But most importantly, I am making the biggest impact in my daughter’s life right now. And to me, all the money in the world and all the machismo in being a man couldn’t come close to how I feel and what I’m doing. So I hope you enjoy the journals. It may seem boring at times but I can honestly promise you that each day is completely different than the next and I never know what to expect from both our lives and from her. And, not that I didn’t have it before, but the respect for all stay at home, whether it be mom or dad, is there from me completely. But I am humbled to be the few, the proud….the STAY AT HOME DAD.

Thx –

~Mike

MILESTONE..........


I just wanted to take the quick acknowledgment that my daughter turned 18 months old today! I am so freakin happy!! We didn’t do anything terribly exciting but I was able to go to the grocery store with her without a buggy and hold her hand the entire time while we picked up some things we needed. She was really good. All the cashiers of course thought she was “so cute”. Hey, one great thing to do to really win points with your daughter is to take her to the grocery store where they have a million “bal – short for balloon – that’s all she says of it but I know what she’s talking about” and promise her one if she’s good. Then go the front and as you check out, have them prepare one for her. I kept it tied to the back seat and she just kept pointing at it the entire way home.

Funny story though about the “bal”. We have a foyer in the front of the house that’s 2 stories. The “bal” got lose and of course floated to the ceiling, leaving Katie in a very unhappy place. So “super dad” at first tried using a broom to swat the string in hopes of moving the balloon over. Fat chance. What I ended up having to do is to take a balled up roll of duct tape and throw it up to hit the ballon, knocking it over to the edge of the 2nd story where I could grab it. Fortunately this was both highly entertaining for my daughter and quite effective after I got my aim down. See? The problem solving skills are still in full effect.

IT'S OFFICIAL!!

Just found out today that the newspaper article is going to be in next Sunday's paper (so everyone in the local area pick you up a copy!).

Sorry again for the long delays. I've been trying to find the charger to the camera so I can take some pictures of what's been going on and have only just recently been able to find it again. Of course it's in the most obvious place (isn't it always??)

Here is the latest and greatest in my world. It's hard to believe that it's been since the 2nd week in June that I've started this journey. I was realizing just today how much I've changed and how my new "position" has changed as both a man and as a dad. I've already become accustomed to being at home and I do find it rather strange now when I'm not with her during the day. It's so much more refreshing and honest to be with her than to have to play the corporate "game" that I used to play and that so many people still play every day. Now my games consist of "giving the stuffed animals kisses", seeing how quickly I can change a dirty diaper before little naked butt scoots off the bed and runs away and the all-time favorite "let's see if I can sneak out of the room when she's only half asleep only to get busted (see earlier post for that story). But all in all, things have been going well.

I do have to tell you about one incident that happened this past week that was quite funny in hindsight. As I mentioned, we have a bedroom that is used primarily as a guest bedroom/catch all room/changing room for Katie. I think most people have one form of this room or another in their household. I was in the process of changing her when she decides to do her little, "I'm not going to hold still long enough for you to finish putting the diaper on me" routine. So here I am, looking at a half way dressed/half naked 17 month old at the top of the bed, laughing at me (Honestly, I think she was mocking me but I can't prove it!). The next thing I know, there is this dark spot suspiciously starting to form right in between her legs. OH NO!!

I quickly pick her off the bed, take her to the bathtub right next door, do the rest of the strip down of her all while desperately trying to strip the bed of the dark pee stain that had started forming on the bed. Fortunately, the sheets could be washed and nothign got on to the mattress. Unfortunately, the comforter could not be washed by me and I'm picking it up from the dry cleaners tomorrow. Oh, and BTW - never have your 17 month old have their bottoms off while in the bathroom but not in the bathtub with the water running. I may have well have had her hand in warm water... Again, the reaction time to this is crucial when attempting to minimize the damage. :)

But ya know what's really great about being at home with Katie? At least when she starts acting like a child, she has an excuse. And the only office politics I have to deal with is which book is going to be the reading book of choice for that day. Life is good!

GROUNDED FOR A WEEK

Sorry for any delays on the blog. I was in St. Louis for almost a week, checking out the corporate HQ for a company I'm working with now. ... Not work FOR but with. More on that in a later time.

Katie has been taking swimming lessons at the YMCA and I've been there the whole time. Again, I stand out like a sore thumb being the only dad in the group but I am able to share in these times and will be able to look back at the first moments that she was able to enjoy the water. The good news is that my daughter is a fish! She loves the water and I'm proud to report that she has even been dunked a few times without complaint (other than a sputter or two). Right now she's sleeping off the busy morning. We have been looking at a few places that she might be able to spend half-days at just for the social interaction. There are a few churches in the area that seem to work. I feel it's important for her to be able to have that social interaction while still being able to have a base at home. We'll have to let you know where we decide to put her. Hopefully the article will be coming out soon. I haven't heard back from the newspaper but am hopeful it should be any week now.