Adventures in Parenthood

2007-10-12T10:42:00.000-07:00

Welcome friends!

Yes, I know. Time does have a way of slipping up on you. Little did I realize that I would slack so much, but so much has been going on. The biggest news is that we officially have a new Miller in the household! Maggie Miller was born September 16 and is home with us now. It didn't seem so long ago that we were just getting used to having Katie around but now we have two precious little girls in our house. So now we are in the adjustment period.

Things are good. We've been doing this stay at home thing for over a year and a half now and even though there are tough times, it's still very much worth it. Katie is in pre school 5 days a week now and Maggie is growing like a weed already. I'm sure I'll start writing again, just because of all the new changes that are going to happen in our life with two (not to mention the fact that I'll have to figure out how to take care of two instead of one now.) So stay tuned local viewers. Things are about to pick up!

2007-02-15T20:08:00.000-08:00

LONG TIME NO WRITE

Okay. So I know this has been a long time. Sorry. Between the holidays, my ankle surgury and life in general, it gets hard sometimes. I'm not as dedicated nor as addicted to blogging as some folks but I do what I can. We just found out today that we're going to be having our second child. I can't tell you the myriad of emotions that are going through me right now, least of which is a combination of both excitement and perhaps a little honest fear. I mean, I think a little fear is human. If you don't have it, you lose your edge and your willingness to respond to situations. Call it primal, I suppose.

Katie is also gingto be turning 2!! this Sunday. Wow huh? Just seems like yesterday (but I'll spare you the chiches).

Hopefully this will continue again. I'm sure there's going to be a lot more to talk about in the future. Out for now. :)

2006-10-28T12:39:00.000-07:00

Funny thing about parenting. I never truly think you ever get used to something because the child is always changing. Katie is now 20 months old now and learning something new every day. She is learning her colors and shapes and more and more words seem to come out of her mouth every single day.

One thing that I do seem to have to watch myself doing is trying to compare Katie to every other child out there. I think that's a trap a lot of parents fall into and then the guilt monster kicks in. "Am I spending enough time with her? Should we be working on "x" more with her? Why does that other child seem so much smarter than her?" Goes back to the glass is half empty mentality that most people have, I suppose. I tell ya though. Every day I am so thankful that my wife and I made the decision to do what we did and have my come off the road to spend time with her. Don't get me wrong. There are still a fair share of challenges that we face every day (and finances are a big part of it) but the overall "payment" we get in being able to be more involved with her life is priceless.

Speaking of finances. It's really funny how we've started adjusting. Again, I'm not saying that it's easy but you can really stop and look back and how much you really piss away money at stupid things when you're not paying attention. At the very least, this will keep us humble and thankful for everything we have (as it should be). In any event, I hope that we never take any moment we have with her for granted.

2006-10-18T06:32:00.000-07:00

Side Note:

Just wanted to say that Katie is doing exceptionally well at her colors. We've been working on colors using both crayons (she has only tried eating the black one. Much to her surprise, it didn't taste as advertised) as well as color puzzles, which she does well at. Slowly but surely we're trying to introduce more and more letters and numbers but she's picking things up great.

2006-10-18T06:30:00.000-07:00

Funny thing happened in the small town of Winston Salem. We felt 3 minor earthquakes the past two nights. Katie and I both slept through them. I don't think that many people know that we're somewhat near a fault line. Nothing major. Just wanted to be noted.

2006-10-06T19:13:00.000-07:00

We went to the fair today. It's actually the 2nd time for Katie but the 1st time since she was tee tiny. It seemed I had as close of a grip on her this as the next. We were able to get a few digital shots before the camera went dead. She loved the pony ride and actually cried when we took her off the pony. Needless to say, there was lots of hand washing after visiting the animals.

2006-09-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL??!!

Even little Katie is getting into the act of rooting on her daddy's favorite team, although she is just probably wondering why he's making her wear something that's still just a little too big for her at the moment. She'll grow into it.

The neighbors just had their 1st baby (congrats guys). I saw the baby today and it just reminded me of how tiny Katie was 18 months ago. I hope they enjoy every moment like I have with her. They do really change so quickly. It's truly amazing.

Things are going well in Katie's school. She's playing well with the other kids, finger painting, dancing to songs about body parts, etc. I know it may sound silly but I'm more excited than I think she is (obviously) but things are going great.

Still doing the swim lessons for one more session. I had her in the pool the other day for over an hour. Needless to say, she had two naps that day. I think I wore her out. :)

2006-09-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

WOW!

Katie started her 1st day of per-school today. I don't know why I'm so giddy but I was elated to hear that she had a great day and that she got along well with the other kids and went with the flow. There were other children in there that wasn't handling the separation quite as well as others but Katie seemed to do fine. Don't get me wrong. She was very happy to see me when I picked her up but things went well in both dropping off and picking up (and the good news is that I didn't get caught up in the line of parents waiting for their kids). These times will allow me more to focus on taking care of things at home plus will give me time to work on the business more (which I have been neglegent on).

In other news, the playset is completely up and after I get a chance to wash it down from the workers climbing all over it to finish it (yes, it was a great investment to have someone else put it together. No shame in my game), it should be good to go. Now if I can only get the grass and the landscaping around it finished.. :)

2006-08-28T15:51:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-08-24T18:49:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-08-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-08-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-08-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-07-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

LOTS TO REPORT...

Okay, so the weekend caught up with me and lots have been going on so I apologize to anyone who may be reading this on a daily basis (the few.. the proud).

Two major news events to report in the life of my daughter. The first was last Saturday when we attended the birthday part of a neighbor's child up the street. They had farm animals. Lots of farm animals. I saw my next door neighbor there and immediately cornered him in the yard and made him pledge, on promise of death, that he would never ever have an animal themed birthday party. This just sets bad presedent and would eventually mean that the rest of the parents in the cul de sac would have to follow suite. This would not be good for the rest of us. :)

However, we were able to enjoy the ducks, sheep, mice, kitties (I think they had them drugged but I can't prove it), pony and bunnies while being scorched by the summer beat bearing down on us at a lovely 95 degrees with no breeze. See below.

Then, yesterday, Katie had her first haircut. As you recall, Katie's bangs are getting quite long and since she is quite uncooperatiave in having any sort of berets or anything holding her hair up, mom finally broke down and got her bangs cut. For the most part she was fairly cooperative, although the pictures are priceless!

2006-07-11T09:34:00.000-07:00

Crazy Horse

IT WAS A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME...

So we had gathered all of this stuff from over at my wife's grandparents place from this past weekend. Some of which was toys from when she was young. We thought it would be cute to see Katie on it as long as it was in good shape. One of the items was a horse that you ride and it's supposed to bounce a little (I guess). So I pulled it out of the garage where we had it stored, cleaned it off to get rid of any old germies that might still be on there from years of storage and presented it to Ms. Katie. Not only did she like it but I thought it would be cute to start dragging her around the house on it (it has little wheels on it that allows you to move the horse forward). Katie really enjoyed it.. No really. She REALLY enjoyed it. To the point that she would start crying when I woud stop pulling her around the house with it and would almost demand (in the only way a 16 month old can) that I start pulling her again. Great idea Mike. Entertain the kid and become a permanent pack mule! Fortunately, I had to be the "bad" daddy and put the horse in the other room for a while. She was getting really cranky and my nerves were getting realy frayed. But hopefully we can continue this safely outside. So, the good news is that she likes it. The bad news is that I better be careful in what I ask for the next time I get a bright idea.

2006-07-10T19:25:00.000-07:00

WHY?

I'm sure some people would ask me why I'm a stay at home dad. I mean, I'm sure that being in sales, if I worked really hard for someone else and bring in some really big accounts, that maybe I could make the money to hire someone to watch over Katie. Or maybe I could bring Kim home, but I would just have to travel a lot (but it would all be worth it, right?)

For me, every morning when I wake up and I see that smiling beautiful face look up at me with all the trust and love that little body can muster, it gives me the greatest responsibility in the world to make sure that that little girl gets the best opportunity she can possibly get and I know that her mom and I are the ones that can give that to her. My goal is to not only be able to bring home my wife so that she can experience the same amount of joy that I get to experience every single day but to show the opportunity to others to be able to experience life as it should be experienced and to not have all of your energy sapped away by some lifeless building, all so you can get a meager existence of a paycheck and very little of a so called life. There HAS to be and there IS a greater hope out there for every single one of us and sadly, corporate america is not where it is. We have been failed way too many times by the false promises of "career advancement" and a "3% raise" plus some slap in the face bonus maybe, if we're lucky, at the end of the year. It's time that, one by one, we take our families back and we take our time and our freedoms back to the ways it used to be.

Honestly, how many people out there can say that in 20 years, they'll have stories to tell of the "good ol days" of having mom bake cookies when you get home from school or that family vacation you all went on when dad made you get up at 5:00 in the morning and you all crammed into the back of the car but got to stay at week at the beach? How many less people will be able to say they remember the times they got to toss the ball around with dad in the backyard because dad actually had time to spend with them? Sadly, most will probably have the story of the video games they played and that "I guess mom and dad loved us but we rarely saw dad and mom was always so tired that if we were lucky, we'd get a home cooked meal once a week."

I'm trying not to be pessamistic. I've really become more of a realist over the years. I just look around and see the facts all around me in my neighborhood. A dad that's gone an entire week because he has to work out of state to make money to support his family. I see a soon to be couple that is about to have twins and who are already looking at working into their 60s just to be able to have the extra money needed to make ends meet. I see a couple that passes like two ships in the night, because one has to take a 3rd shift job while the other works 1st shift. Please stop me if you've heard any of these or if any of these sound familiar. Wake up America! Sadly, this isn't a dream. This is a cold splash of reality hitting you right in the face. It's time for all of us to take our families back!

2006-07-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

Children's Museum of Winston-Salem

Our friends have been telling us about this place for quite a while now and Katie and I had the opportunity to go yesterday, thanks largely in part to our friends Karen and Sara. Sara runs a rather large stay at home mom group here in Winston Salem and Karen is a Super-Mom that is always kind enough to drop little tidbits of info like when you can get into a place at a discount. <:D

So Katie and I went there (twice actually) yesterday. Words cannot really describe it other than it's the perfect place for kids as young as babies that haven't learned to walk yet up through probably most of middle school. What's really great is that it allows the child the freedom to be able to roam around and explore without real restrictions (I mean, you can't just let them go running through there screaming their head off, destroying everything in site but it does allow for a lot of ineraction with their surroundings). It has everything from the 3 little pigs house to a room dedicated to the alphabet, with large animals as examples for each letter. Katie was particularly fond of the lions (L for lions!).

Sadly, I did not have my camera with me but I am well convinced that it is worth the $95 to get the year long membership to go and let Katie be a kid while hopefully allowing her to learn a few things along the way. Mucho imresso!!

2006-07-02T16:38:00.000-07:00

Katie Takes Corporate America...

Friday, Katie and I went to tour her mom's new digs at her new office. Needless to say, it was quite the adventure. Between all the ewwing and ahhing that all the women gave, Katie managed to become a world-class sprinter between pods (modern day ofice cubicles/human gerbile carriers) and was able to let out multiple screams and loud noises that kept both mom and dad ducking for cover while trying to clamp a hand over her mouth. I think more than one person made the comment how the company is getting younger and younger people to do the work there (only at the sweat shops!) :)

It was pretty fun. That place needed a jolt that only a 16 month old can bring and besides, it was a Friday before a big holiday, so as if anyone was working anyway....

Katie was able to impress the ladies by taking silk flowers and bringing them back and forth to each of the women. And where was dad in all this? I think I was somewhere between awkwardly holding the diaper bag in the background and anxiously looking around to see if any VP stuff white collar types would come by and ruin the party. Hey, the reality right now is that mom's job bring home the bacon. My job is to raise the kid and not rock the boat.

Saturday we went down to my dad's for his birthday. Katie seems to be a little overwhelmed by the dogs (all four of them) but always seems to enjoy herself stalking the cats (who always end up under the bed). All in all, many relatives got a chance to see her and to spend time with her, which is a nice break for her mom and I. Hey, we love our daughter but whenever we can get a chance to breath and be ourselves for just a moment, we take it. Gotta stay somewhat human, I suppose.

I still can't believe it's been three weeks now. Tomorrow we're off to the pool during the morning. Not quite sure what the plans for the 4th are going to be. Hopefully I'll remember to bring the camera for some new shots!

2006-06-29T10:23:00.000-07:00

I am....

A sneaky ninja.

Little did I realize that being a sneaky ninja was part of the job of being a parent. We have started transitioning Katie from rocking her to sleep to putting her straight into the crib so she can be a "big girl" and put herself to sleep. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts where I had to eventually pick her up from crying so much, she has gotten the idea. Now what we do is take her in, after she starts indicating that she is tired (she's pretty good and communicating using just expressions and/or hand gestures) and as we walk upstairs, keep telling her that it's time to go nite-nite. Seems to work.

We lay her in her bed and lay down beside the bed to indicate that it's nite-nite time for everyone. After we start hearing her breath a little heavier, the sneaky ninja parent crawls out on the floor like I'm in a foxhole, looking for cover from oncoming fire and slowly crawl out of the room. I have yet to fix it but the last inch or two before the door gets completely closed, there's this very subtle creak that the door makes. Every time it makes me think that she's going to rise up out of the crib and bust us. We have actually been busted before. Just as we were making our way out of the room, she would rise up and look at us like "and just where do you think your going?" Then, sheepishly, we would go back in, start the process over again and attempt to sneak out again. Pretty funny actually.

Who would have thought that there would be so much to learn??

2006-06-28T09:53:00.000-07:00

Katie and I went for a much needed walk yesterday after the bad rain storm that dumped several inches of rain on us over the past few days. Needless to say, I think the both of us needed a break and to get over our bout of cabin fever. As we strolled along, we came across an older lader with a walker. As I normally do, I said hello and started talking to her. Come to find out that she had just turned 100 back in May. She has an aunt she calls her "cousin" for some unknown reason that lives just down the street that is 104. Amazing. I just thought it was a little ironic (doncha think?) that here I am taking care of one that is just starting out life and run across a little old lady still going at age 100. The only thing that was wrong with her was her eyesight. But she could tell the difference between the grass on the side of the road and the gravel. Pretty neat. Hopefully we'll run into her again soon.

No dog this trip. We had a dog try to follow us home the other day. He was friendly but I wasn't comfortable getting too close to a dog I didn't know, especially with Katie. Fortunately, the dog caught wind of a dead animal smell (I think it comes across as something like the Golden Corral buffet to them or something) so he headed in one direction and I picked up the pace and headed in a different direction.

Katie wants a pet. Still working on that with her mom. :)

2006-06-26T07:58:00.000-07:00

Silence is Golden....

Katie is down for a nap right now, which is always a blessed break in the house. I can't believe that it's been two whole weeks since I've been on duty. Seems that time is flying. I don't know if it's pure coincedence or tha fact that I've been spending more one on one time with her (or it could be the fact that she's coming into that age where her vocabulary is starting to pick up) but it just seems that the words that she's saying has increased dramatically. The wife and I went to Babies R Us (I really don't know why we don't buy stock in that place - but I think every parent can say that) to pick up the staple items and ended up picking up a great alphabet tool that Leap Frog makes (thanks to our friends Eric and Amie for recommending).

I know that the box says that it's for 2 years old but here's what I'm thinking. Right now, her little braining is developing at like 50 mph and any opportunity that I can expose her to new things in a way that is fun and that can increase her knowledge, I'm going to. Sometimes it'll stick and other times it won't but never give up on the phrase "what if". I think now a days, as a society, we have given up on our dreams and have become complacement with being mediocre. We're mediocre with the jobs that we have (letting other determine what we're worth). We're mediocre in our marriages (turning on the TV instead of spending time with our spouse talking about our days and being sincere about how the other person feels) and we're mediocre with our kids. We think it's okay to send the kids to an educational system that says all you have to do is spit back information that we give you and you are considered educated instead of challenging the child to do the best and the most they can do. We currently can't afford the program but for anyone who can, I highly recommend montessori education. It's really hard to explain in words and without seeing it in person, it's difficult to really capture what they do but in a nutshell, they empower the child, even at a young age, to think for themselves and to be independent. The child is not assumed to not be able to handle tasks (within reason) and the result is a child that is more confident, enjoys learning and is a model citizen. Pretty neat program. I had a chance to check out one in Greensboro a while back. To say that my mouth wasn't constantly hitting the ground with what I was would be an understatement.

Gotta go... I think the silence is about to be broken. :)

2006-06-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

The Great Juggling Act

Today my dad came up to help me out with some landscaping work we're doing around the house. So between my dad, myself, Katie and his dog, we went out searching for compost for a flowerbed. The neighbor had Katie for the first hour and a half, which gave he and I time to get to the place to get the dirt. Unfortunately, we also had to take it slow coming back because of the strain it put on the back of his jeep. So here we were, shoveling to get the dirt off so we could go and get more. I picked up Katie and the now 4 of us went off to try to rent a bigger truck to haul dirt. Katie did fairly well the entire day, only complaining maybe once and happily munched on cheerios and crackers while babling away to the dog, which was sitting next to her in the back of the car.

My dad and I, on the other hand, struggled to get that second dirt delivered, after having to wait to get the truck filled up with gas because the idiots who had the truck before us didn't do it. Not on that, but it was around 90 degress today, which didn't help. Needless to say, we got what we wanted to done but I ended up with more of a rash than Katie did (ironic, I think) from the sweat and the moving around while throwing dirt and Katie didn't get as much sleep during the day as she normally does (which made going down for the night easier for momma to do). In any event, it was good to have my dad be able to spend time with Katie and he and I talked about the decision my wife and I had made about me staying home. Surprising, the old man came through with total support of our decision, which makes it easier on me to not have to hear any sort of negativity. Too much negative ways in the world as it is. The last thing anyone needs is more of it.. but I digress.

So between trying to haul, shovel and move dirt, chase a 16 month around in the process while doing so, keep a dog out of the neighbor's yard and keep from passing out in 90 degree heat, I'd say you can sign me up for the high wire act for Ringling Bros. immediately!

2006-06-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

dadstayshome.com

Not to be confused with my blog but this website is absolutely great support for the newly growing list of stay at home dads in America. The forums are filled with very respectful and supportive dads in very similar situations and is highly recommended for the dads you know in your life.

2006-06-14T08:46:00.000-07:00

CNN.com - Study: Strict parenting might lead to obese kids - Jun 5, 2006

Well, as of right now, I don't know if this is going to be a problem for Katie, since she has me wrapped so tightly that she pretty much gets away with most. I do have to admit that yesterday was better than Monday and today wasn't bad at all, considering that this morning my neighbor was kind enough to watch Katie while I went to the dentist. That is one thing that I'm going to have to get used to and adjust to. I just won't be able to get up and go any more without considering Katie. We did go to the YMCA this morning and will probably have to go back. She was fine as long as I had some little trail mix snacks for her to munch on. That and let her stretch her legs from time to time. We'll have to see how the rest of the day goes. She has a little cold/teeth coming in so it seems that her nose is running like a faucet.

2006-06-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

Today ... was the first day of the rest of my life .

I survived. I did it really.. barely. Actually, the day didn't go that bad until the wife had me trying to talk to the landscaping guy who didn't speaka dat a gooda inglis. So with baby in tow, a >!muddy backyard after a recent rain, I tried explaining what needed done. Oh, and then there were the phone calls that I wanted to get done today. . Not when you have a little one with a major runny nose and the disposition to not want to go to sleep for any length of time today. Ah stress... it's FANTASTIC!

But, the good news is that I did survive and tomorrow is another day awaiting adventure. Wish me luck !

2006-06-10T20:13:00.001-07:00

www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/parenting/05/31/fatherhood.study.ap/index.html

Interesting study that finds that fathers who have a higher education spend more time with their kids and end up having less kids. Um.. something about the word "duh" comes to mind. Anyway, just thought I'd share.

2006-06-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the past few weeks have been a good down time for me and time to start adjusting to what's ahead. My wife and I have been converting my office into "our" office now, since I won't need it exclusively for work. Also, I've been talking to people about what's been going on and for the most part they've been great. Tomorrow actually starts the big day and I do have to admit that I'm a little nervous and not quite as prepared as I'd like to have been. But I know that this is all part of the master plan so that part of it does excite me. I just want to be able to give and teach my daughter so much. Part of me knows that I just have to be patient and try not to do too much at one time. The other part of me knows that I need to branch out and make sure that there will be enough for me to do with my daughter so we both don't go crazy. BTW - Here's a recent picture of us. ;)

2006-05-25T11:35:00.000-07:00

And so it begins..

Yesterday I called my VP to let him know that I was resigning from the company to stay at home and become a stay at home dad. Surprisingly he took it very well and the positive responses that I have received from everyone at the company is very reassuring. The GREAT news is that I don't have to travel the final two weeks of work, which is such a relief for the family. Now I just have to start concentrating on all the activities that I will be doing with my daughter so I won't lose my mind. :)

2006-05-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

Hi. My name is Mike and this is my story...

I'm your "typical" guy I suppose. I went to college, have a house in the 'burbs, a lovely wife and a beautiful 15 month old daughter named Katie. But that's where "typical" stops. You see, my wife and I were tired of running around with our heads cut off every day trying to make ends meet. We felt as though there wasn't enough time for "life", meaning - spending time with each other and ESPECIALLY being able to raise our daughter. So, collectively, we decided to make a decision. I'm about to quit my job and stay at home to become a full time stay at home dad. This is the first entry of I'm sure many of my story and adventures in Parenthood from the front lines. So, check back from time to time. I'm sure some entries will be humorous, some heartbreaking and some just interesting stuff to pass the time away. Thanks for checking it out. I'm sure it's going to be one heck of a ride!