Post 10 (6/27/14)

This last week has been a busy one. Well, to be totally fair, every week is busy when you've got a three year old and a 9 month old. This last week though, maybe even the last two weeks, have seemed more hectic than usual. Right off the top of my head, I can think of the two biggest factors for this. 

One is totally self-imposed. Being a full time student, I'm coming up on finals week and this quarter has been a particularly work-heavy quarter. So, I've been playing catch up with school work and trying to prepare for finals next week. Like I said, this is all self-imposed stressors. The other factor, not so much. 

This second added business wasn't really self-imposed but it was totally expected. Bodie, the 9 month old, finally got mobile. He has totally mastered crawling, even though it still frustrates him that he can't get walk. This kid, as predicted by his mother and me, is ALL OVER THE PLACE. He cannot resist out entertainment center, that's definitely his favorite spot to explore. Of course, this is the number one non-kid-friendly spot in the house. With the Xbox and cable box, as well as a couple of baskets for odds and ends (e.g. Wallets, stamps, sunglasses, headphones, etc.), this whole area is both irrisistably interesting to a child and inexpressibly off limits from the parents perspective. So, in order to combat this kids non-stop movement, I've developed a little kiddie corral built up between the couch, my chair, and the coffee table.

Now, I know this is only going to hold him in for now. Eventually the kid will figure out how easily he can crawl under the table or push any of those items out of the way, but for now this is working really well. And as you can see, his big sister likes to sit in there with him. 

 

Post 9 (6/15/14: Father's Day)

Hey you guys. Just a quick post for Father's Day. Let me start by saying thank you to all the dads, daddies, fathers, papas, and all the other names we call those men that sacrifice so much to try and encourage us to be positive and upstanding additions to society.

Thank you to all those dads out there that strive, either consciously or unconsciously, to show their sons what it means to be a man. Showing your sons to be honorable, honest, and also showing them how to treat women, leading by example every day.

Thank you fathers for showing your tenderness and compassion to your daughters. Showing them what to expect from men and showing them how they should be treated, both in how you treat them directly and how you treat the women in their life, (In case you didn't know, that's what you do with every interaction with females. You show your little girl how a man should treat them).

WARNING!! Here's the part where I may get a little controversial or where my opinion may turn some of you away. Bear with me to through this whole thing because I need to say this. This is Father's Day. This is not Single Mother's Day, and Mother's Day is not Single Father's Day. I may be alone in this, but I really get frustrated, and almost irritated every time someone wishes a single dad, "Happy Mother's Day" and single moms, "Happy Father's Day." Now, I'm not taking away from what they do. It blows me away at the work single parents do and I don't know if I could ever do it myself. BUT, this does not mean they the other parent. A mother is a mother and a father is a father. A man can never, no matter how hard he tries, have the same impact on a child as a mother. A woman can never have the same impact on a child as a father. These are things that are only uniquely filled by a person of that specific sex. This is not to say that a mother or father cannot raise amazingly well balanced and fantastic people all on their own. They can and do all the time. All I'm saying is that we need to stop giving credit for fathering done by mothers and mothering done by fathers. Yes, they are pulling double duty and yes, they are doing amazing things, but this day (and Mothers Day) are singled out specifically for Fathers (or Mothers on Mothers Day).

In fact, single parents do such an amazing thing and work so amazingly hard that they shouldn't have to share a day that already exists. They should have a day all to themselves. Oh wait, check this out
----> Single Parent's Day. Let us all give single parents a standing ovation and as much honor as we can bestow on them on March 21st. A day set aside just for them. Let's let the mothers and fathers have Mother's Day and Father's Day to themselves and focus all of our awe and honor on those amazing heroes raising kids on their own, on their day.

I am in constant awe and have the utmost respect for any and all parents doing everything they can to raise those precious little ones to be good people. Do not misunderstand what I'm saying here. Single parents work harder than any other parent in the world. All I'm saying is let the holidays be for who they are specifically intended. Mother's Day is for all and only the moms. Father's Day is for the all and only the dads. And Single Parent's Day is for all those moms and dads doing it all on their own (and that blows my mind).

And, since my last posting was devoid of any cuteness from my house, here are the two amazing creatures that make me strive to be the best man I can be.

Post 8 (6/3/14)

Hey there all you awesome followers of this little thing I call a blog. How have you guys been? Things are pretty good here. We've had a great couple of weeks here in the Dakan house. It's been a while since a post from me so I'm not sure what all has happened between now and then, but I'll try to recap some highlights.

First, we had a great Memorial Day weekend. The weather was fantastic and we were able to have Nana and Uncle Aaron over (the in-laws) for BBQ and pool time. Bodie had his first time in our pool, that was entertaining. The kid LOVES water. His bath time is his favorite, to the point that he gets irate when you take him out. The pool though, that was another story. He wanted to love it but he just couldn't get past the fact that it wasn't warm :) Now, don't get me wrong, the temperature was really comfortable and not cold at all, but compared to his baths, it was much colder than he was used to.

Cali, as always, had a great time in the pool. She's still really timid about getting out and "swimming" and every time we get in the pool, we have to encourage her all over again. It's almost as if she undoes the progress we made last time and we start from scratch. Luckily, she's getting big enough for Uncle Aaron, Jess' brother, to be more comfortable actually playing with her. He got in the pool, and Cali adores him so when he asked her to jump in for him and he would catch her, she did it with minimal hesitation. I was inside working on homework at this time so missed a lot of that. By the time I got out and into the water she was all excited and having a blast. She was even jumping off of the higher bricks towards the back of our pool. She was very excited and proud and couldn't wait for daddy to get in and catch her.

So that sums up the weekend of Memorial Day. I'm really sorry I don't have much more for you guys, I know my posts have been few and far between lately. The truth is, I'm falling behind in my school work and really struggling to find the time and, even more, the motivation, to get caught up. That being said, I have 2 more weeks of school left and then I'll be able to refocus my efforts for you guys. Jess and I have discussed things and it looks like I'll be taking a little time off from school as well. So hopefully that will lead to more regular posts and more focused content for you guys.

The other thing I would like to quickly add, I know it's a little lame there are no pictures for this one. This is the only time that will happen. I really wanted to get a post up for you guys so you knew I wasn't abandoning you all.

Okay everyone, one last thing, thanks for reading this and following me. If you guys are truly interested, please spread the word and let others know. I'll ask again when my content gets a little more often and regular but I'm thinking it can't hurt to ask :)


-Shane