Post 16 (2/16/14)

Hi you guys. I know, it's been a long time. I will try to briefly catch you up.

The biggest and most consuming change we've made as a family, we moved. Have you guys ever moved with two little ones? It will never happen again for us. Not only did we move into a house that we love and fits us perfectly, but it is one of the hardest and most stressful things we've done. Trying to coordinate between, children, packing, physically moving, financial transactions, the list goes on and on. It's so much work. We survived it though. We got moved in and are now here loving the new house, but that wasn't the end of our struggle lately.

This house, mid-construction.

The weekend we moved in, my wife got sick and didn't have the energy to really help out. Luckily we had hired movers for the bulk of it, but it just added to the stress for her to be sick while we moved our lives. The following weekend, when we were supposed to finish moving our stuff and clearing out the old house, I came down sick. This was the first time I'd been sick with vomiting in longer than I could remember. So, thank God for my dad and friends who helped us out that last weekend.

I started feeling better by Sunday. A week from that Monday, I had surgery. I'm going to be brutally honest with you guys because I feel like that's the type of relationship we've developed together. I had a vasectomy. We have our reasons, and I may go into them in more detail in a later post, but it put me out of commission for a few days. Then, on my third day of recovery, my wife became violently ill. So, my recovery was cut short while I tried to take care of the kids and keep her isolated from them. Luckily, the kids didn't get sick at all. Unluckily, I did. I caught what she had and on the day she finally started feeling a little better, I was up all night with vomiting and diarrhea. This led to me being in quarantine the whole next day and her having to reach deep down and take care of the kids, while she should have been able to finish recovering. 

Once I started to recover, things seemed to finally be settling down. This brings us up to last week. I got to head down to Los Angeles and attend Gallifrey One, an amazing Doctor Who convention, with my dad and a good friend. Unfortunately, this meant that my amazing wife had to handle the kids all on her own for two nights after work, Thursday and Friday. She then had to wrangle the two little ones on a six and a half hour flight out to Ohio, on Saturday. I don't know how she does it, but I know I definitely married up. I got back home Sunday night and will be flying out to Ohio to finally be back with my amazing wife and kids early Wednesday morning.

Not my kids, but you get the idea

So, this hopefully illustrates why I haven't really posted in a while. I hope that you all forgive me and will continue to follow me. There is at least one really positive thing from all of this for you guys. I have a lot of material to pull from for future posts. Until then, I hope all of you have an amazing day/night, whatever time it is that you're reading this. I will see you soon. Hug your family.

Some cuteness to make up for my absence.

Post 15 (11/4/14)

Well, would you look at this. A new post only a week after the last one? You're not seeing things. This is really happening...hahahaha, like you guys sit on the edge of your seat to read about my ramblings ;)

I've challenged myself to write a new post every time a friend of mine posts. You might remember her, I mentioned her last post. If you guys haven't checked out her blog yet, I recommend it again, and the latest post is fantastic, Searching & Servitude.

So, for starters, Halloween was a smashing success this year. It didn't look like it was going to be as such because it had been pouring rain all over Sacramento that day, all day. Aside from that, the boy had been an exceptional pill for about 3 hours before my wife got home. I had finally given in and made him lay down, I just couldn't take it anymore. Luckily my wife is more forgiving than I am because I was about to send her and my daughter over to my cousin's house on their own. She decided to wake him up and gamble on the hope that once we were with the other kids, he would cheer up and have fun. She was absolutely right. The rain let up for several hours, the kids had a blast, and even the parents all seemed to enjoy the night. This was my daughters favorite Halloween so far, by a long shot.

Left to right: Merida, Mario, Zarina the Pirate Fairy, Darth Vader, and Minnie Mouse

The next big going on around here was the Merrell Down & Dirty Mud Run. My wife and I participated in this one just last Sunday. It was so challenging but so much fun. We were joined by two good friends from Reno who came down and joined us. The  run was about 3.5 miles and probably a mile of it was uphill (no, we didn't run much). I have to say, the MVP was my wife. Anyone who knows her very well will tell you that she is very much afraid of heights. This woman conquered every obstacle including about 5 obstacles that were height related. She struggled with them, to be sure, but she didn't let a single one stop her. I am still overflowing with pride for her accomplishment Sunday.

The requisite Before & After

The last big news is something that I'm doing on my own. I was inspired by the Life of Dad social network to participate in Movember. This is a movement to raise funds and awareness for men's health. They specifically focus on prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men's mental health issues. I think this is a fantastic cause and a really fun way to participate in a fundraiser. I don't do very many fundraisers so I'm hoping my lack of asking friends for money will help me be somewhat successful in this. The object is to give yourself a clean shave on November 1st and grow only a mustache for the entire month. Needless to say, my wife was not pleased about this development at all. Don't worry, I'm not super excited about how it looks either, but it's for a cause I believe in and I'm really proud to participate. That being said, if any of my loyal readers would like to donate to me or my team, please follow the link to my fundraiser page, Shane's Movember page.

The face just about sums up how I feel with a shaved look.

Post 14 (10/27/14)

Hey gang, how's everyone been. Things have actually been really good here. I know last time I mentioned some of the stresses that we've been facing, but I feel like we've now successfully rode the wave of stressful energy into a place of confidence. Confidence that we have made the right choices and confidence that everything is working out exactly the right way for our family.

We have been steadily moving forward with the sale of our home, MUCH faster than any of us expected, including our real estate agent, Aaron Ward. Aaron is a good friend of mine and has proven to be a fantastic partner in the scary process of selling our home. He's made us feel confident in every step of this process. Let me tell you, it's been difficult for so many reasons; this is the first house we've ever owned, the yard can't be beat with the space and the pool,

this is the home we came home to from our honeymoon, and one that keeps popping up in my head more and more, this is the home both of our babies were brought to from the hospital. In reality though, these are all little things that are important in my mind and in my memories, where they will remain no matter where we live. The beauty of this whole process is that we know the people we are selling it to, we are good friends with them, and we know that this place will be just as important to them, if for different reasons.

It's also exciting that we're moving forward on a brand new house that will have more room for our family, closer to work for my wife, and overall will be an improvement for us. As long as this house sells on time, like it looks like it is, we should be moving at the beginning of the new year. That being said, this is potentially a very scary time for my wife and I. I've moved a lot in my life, and helped many others move as well but I've never moved with kids. I'm nervous about the logistics of the whole process but I think I'm even more nervous about getting the kids settled and comfortable in a whole new place.

The model we're looking at

In other news, Halloween is coming quickly (4 days away) and my daughter is pretty excited about it this year. She has been demanding to be Zarina, the Pirate Fairy, since she saw the movie. She briefly said she wanted to be a character from Monster High, but when faced with both costumes in front of her she went quickly back to the Pirate Fairy. So, now I'll be trying my hand at making her a pirate fairy sword seeing as we can't find any anywhere. I'm actually a little excited about it because my dad just gave me a band saw that will come in handy for this project :) With the excitement for the holiday, my daughter has also showed a new interest in facepaint and makeup. She's been watching some pretty cool videos on YouTube about facepainting, here's one she's been watching. She's even attempted a little herself since mommy was kind enough to get her some paints.

The boy, being only one, has no idea what's happening but we still got something cool to put him in for Trick or Treating. We found awesome Darth Vader pajamas with a cape and all. I'll be sporting a Darth Vader Sugar Skull T-shirt while I carry him around in order to strengthen his theme, hahaha. My daughter is very excited though and that always breaths new life into any holiday, when the offspring are discovering them all over again.

I also want to quickly point out another great, and very personal blog, by an old friend of mine that I recommend. You guys should follow her and share in her life adventure. Check out Colleen's blog at, Searching and Servitude.

Post 13 (10/7/14)

Long time no see, my loyal readers. I know that you haven't heard anything from me for quite a while, and I apologize for that. This last few months has been really crazy around here. I could go into so many different little details, but I'll spare you guys all my bitching and moaning.

Just to serve as a quick overview: my daughter still isn't sleeping well and now camps out on the floor next to our bed just so we can get a decent nights sleep, my son has finally weened off of formula (man that stuff stinks) and is drinking whole milk and being introduced to new foods every day, and the biggest stressor we've been coping with is we're planning on selling our house and buying a new one. This is the biggest underlying reason for my lack of motivation when it came to creating a new post for you guys.

On the plus side, I've completed school and am totally done for the foreseeable future. I've completed the AA program at Heald and will focus on being a stay-at-home dad, podcaster, and blogger from here on.

With that in mind, I've been reading other blogs lately, mostly parenting related blogs as well. I'm just not sure I'm really cut out for parental blogging. All the ones that I've been reading, that seem to be successful and popular, are structured around giving advice or guidance for other parents. I don't see how that's something I could even attempt. Who am I to tell all of you how you should be parenting? I'm still figuring all this out as I go. It would be one thing if my kids were in High School and successful and I was advising you guys on small kids, but that's not the case. In fact, most of the blogs I read have kids close to the same age as mine. I admire the confidence these parents have in the choices they've implemented and any success they've seen, both in parenting and blogging. But I've just come to the conclusion that I'm just a dude trying his best to be a good dad. I'll tell you guys when I figure out something that worked with my kids. I'll share my opinions on parenting, and even sometimes marriage, related subjects. But I will not be the one trying to tell you guys how to get it done. In fact, I'll probably ask for help from time to time.

I hope that's not too disappointing, and I hope that my sharing is more entertaining than anything else and it keeps bringing you guys back for more. I know writing this really does help me when I muster up the motivation, and find the time, to type it out for you guys.

Bodie had to hop up and see what Dad was doing.

Bonus Post

Just wanted to share this awesome post by another great dad blogger. You guys should absolutely check out the things they're doing over there. This one in particular nailed it for me and I figured, I can't say it any better, so you guys should just read theirs :)

10 Things No One Ever Told Me About Having a Daughter

Post 13 (8/27/14)

Hey there blog readers. Let me start with a quick apology. I know the gaps between this one and the last post were WAY too far apart. Over a month, Shane, really? Unacceptable, I know.

I don't really have any excuses for my slack posting. I've just been really wrapped up in school, kids, and the few other things I do for myself like podcasting.

My podcast is all about music (http://locallics.com) and this is a local band we've featured, Restrayned.

My time has definitely taken up primarily by the first two of that list. School has been hard to stay on top of this quarter for some reason, but it's my last quarter so I can power through and get it done. It saddens me a little that I feel like I've been working this hard for school and for what feels like for so long, and I'm only achieving an AA. It's more than many of my personal peers, but it still feels like so little.

But you guys don't read this blog to hear about my adventures as a student, at least, I don't think you do. I would assume you guys are reading this because of the title, which would imply that your reading this to hear about my adventures in parenthood. That being established, I'll try to refocus back on parenting in my world.

Look at these two. What a good, and goofy big sister.

The biggest event in my life lately, and it's been a bit of an ongoing event, has been the shift in sleeping issues. If you follow my post you'll know that not too long ago, we were struggling with keeping Bodie asleep. Well, that finally worked itself out, for the most part. Most nights that kid sleeps from 9 or 9:30 till 8 or 8:30, with an occasional wake up at 3 or 4 from time to time. These wake ups are almost always quick and painless, consisting of a short 4 ounce bottle and then right back to sleep. The shift has been that the older one, Cali, is now decided that going to bed is the worst thing we could ever ask her to do.

I swear, these kids have little meetings to decide who's turn it is to be a total nightmare. They definitely switched roles in the last week or so. Cali, on a good night, will go potty, brush her teeth, get her jammies on, and get into bed for a story, maybe a song, and then sleep. Lately, she drags her feet at almost every stage of the process. Sometimes she even flat starts yelling at us and telling us no. That really gets under my skin. Jess and I have been trying to take turns dealing with it, but some nights she will not do ANYTHING until Mommy comes in. Then, after we finally get her into bed, she runs through a whole series of questions or any little excuse to delay us leaving the room and her actually having to sleep. Usually, I would be inclined to let her get mad and scream and cry, when she pushes it that far, and not entertain her ridiculous requests, but more often than not her little brother is sleeping in the room next to hers.

We have found one little tool that seems to have helped on most nights, and most nap times. Every time she goes to bed without any fuss and is a good girl, when she wakes up, she gets to place a sticker of her choosing on a little calendar we got her. After she has obtained enough stickers, Jess or I will take her to the dollar store and let her select any item she wants, but only one item. This has worked pretty well, with only a couple of times being an issue.

This only held true till last night, and I'm really hoping last night was just a fluke. It was one of the most difficult nights we've had in a while, with it taking over an hour and a half to get her to actually go to sleep in the first place. Then she woke up a few hours later, around 1am. Jess had to work today so, naturally, I went down to try and get her back to sleep. Again, she insisted on having mommy, Jess came down, and eventually got her back to sleep. Then, at 5:30am, she was up and screaming for mommy AGAIN. This was now only about an hour before Jess needed to be up for work so I was determined to go down and get her to sleep. She was again insisting on seeing mommy only. This wasn't going to work this time. I eventually came to what I felt was a reasonable solution, in my sleep deprived mind anyway. I laid down in her bed next to her and stayed there till Jess woke up and left for work. About an hour and a half later, I went up to my bed. She then showed up in my room an hour after that.

Needless to say, I type this rather sleepy and rather annoyed. She did go down for her nap really well, so there is hope. I'll be sure to let you guys now how it goes and if anything changes. I'm also open to any suggestions.

Sweet dreams.

When  she sleeps, she's such a little angel.

Post 12 (7/21/14)

I've recently noticed a somewhat concerning trend in my behavior. I've started to show a trait that up until now I've considered extremely douchee. I am sad to admit I've been referring to myself in the third person, and not just occasionally. Phrasing like, "Daddy said no," or, "Daddy doesn't really want to play princesses right now." It's really a little disturbing. I'm going to have to make an effort to alter this behavior before the little ones pick up on it, or at least come to think its acceptable behavior.

Okay, enough about me and my slippery slope into being a butthead. Let's chat about the kids real quick. 

Cali has started ballet class, this week will be her third week. She absolutely loves it. We always knew she would enjoy dancing, she's been doing her own interpretive dance since she could walk. The first day we took her to class, she had an ear-to-ear grin for the entire 45 minutes. Last week she may have had a slightly harder time listening, but she still loved it. I'm really excited for her. Being able to provide the opportunity for my children to pursue the things they are passionate about is something I've always hoped I could do as a parent. 

Soooooo Happy!

Bodie is still fighting sleep but the last few nights have actually gone a little better. I've been laying him down and just letting him cry it out. The first night I had to go in after 45 minutes to calm him back down a bit. He fell asleep after another 20 minutes of crying and then slept through the night. The next night was almost identical with the exception that he woke once in the middle of the night. Thank goodness my wife was willing to go down and soothe him that time because I didn't have it in me. Last night, he cried for a good 30-45 minutes but then he was down for the count. I tried everything else I could think of before this "tough love" approach. It was starting to look like we were just encouraging the tantrums. This seems to be working a little. Don't worry though, I'll keep you all posted. 

Captain Handsome