Blog Swap: Please Welcome Heather

Hey everyone! Welcome to The DaddyYo Blog today! Today I am honored to have a great friend of mine participating in a blog swap with me. I am about to jet on over to her blog to hang out for the day, and she has come here! Please welcome Heather to the blog today. Heather is mommy to a precious little boy, Malichia, and devoted wife to Jake, who is in the Army. She blogs about her life as an Army Wife, Toddler Mommy and you can also find her on Twitter.

Okay, I am out for the day. Headed over to Heather’s blog. So stick around and check out this wonderful post from her about the fears of becoming a mom and raising a child while daddy is away on duty. See ya later! Now, Heather in her own words.

Roaring Review and Special Giveaway: It's Dinosaur Mania!!

Welcome to The DaddyYo Blog today! Be careful as you browse around  because there are huge, ROARING dinosaurs all over the blog today! I have been hiding here in the left sidebar so that maybe they won’t find me. I have to make it long enough to tell you about 2 books and give you the chance to win two signed copies!

It is my great pleasure to introduce you to Paul Stickland. Author, paper engineer, and pop-up designer. I was excited to meet Paul on Twitter a few weeks ago and find out he authored one of my son’s favorite dinosaur books, “Dinosaur Roar”. I checked out the site and his stores and I have to say I was impressed! Little Man absolutely LOVES dinosaurs and big trucks, and Paul Stickland has everything I could every want in both categories.

After a few e-mail exchanges the review and giveaway was set up and Paul was happy to help make this happen.  Major thanks to Paul for being willing to do this and even signing the copies to be given away! So let’s get started, shall we? A little about Paul, the bookstore and the truck and dinosaur stores. Then the awesomeness that is “Dinosaur Roar” and “10 Terrible Dinosaurs:”.

Blessed

It is late at night and I am still awake. Outside it is snowing, windy, and the cold is just brutal. I am inside, under the covers with the heat on, and posting from my phone.
I have been reviewing the day in my mind. What went wrong, who I was mad at. How was I as a dad today? Was I loving or did I fail to show love? Then I started thinking about how much worse things could be.
How blessed I am for what I have. How blessed I am that despite the bad, the good is prevailing. How foolish I am to have lost sight of all that is good and precious.
Tomorrow as the snow continues and the bitter cold remains, I will hug my children. I will show them my love and what they mean to me. I will kiss my wife and let her know my heart is still hers. I will let my family know that we are strong and we are blessed. I will not let the bad rule my thoughts. I am blessed and tomorrow I will live in the blessings that have been given to me.

Fatherly Fears: This is Real Talk

I’m going to cut straight to the case with this one. I about lost my shenanigans when I thought about this tonight. The Wifey and I were watching “Look Who’s Talking Too” after hanging Christmas decorations. Towards the end of the movie there is a scene that made my mind start racing. Two children, about the same age difference as The Kiddos and with Little Man being the older of the two. They are in the apartment, alone, and it is on fire.

I immediately asked my wife what she thought our son and daughter would do. Would Little Man just flip out, sit down and cry? Would Little Girl sense there was danger or would it be something new and interesting? Is it possible Little Man would realize something is wrong and try to open the door and get them out?

My heart was racing, my eyes were filling with tears when I thought about the horror of that situation. What would they do? As my wife and I discussed further we determined one thing: Our kids will never, ever, EVER EVER EVER, be alone in our house. I am sure at some point they will reach a maturity level and build a trust I can believe in to be left alone.  But I think that is a level that my wife and I will decide upon and talk to them about before the decision is made.

I just felt like I needed to write this because I know I am not the only parent who has ever just totally tripped out on thinking about stuff like this. And in some ways, I think it is good that I thought about it. It is good to be fearful of some things. Not to the point of over protection and stifling our children’s right to grow up as an individual. It is good to the point that it lets you know that your love for them is real.

I quickly felt how real my love for The Kiddos is and how deeply sorrowful I would be if something like that should ever happen. It was good for me to feel that fear, and grow stronger in my strength and determination to protect and educate my children. When you can know that there is no limit to that love, it is an empowering feeling. It is what all the hours of screaming, late night feedings, and trips to the doctor are all about. It is what dreams are made of, only you are awake.

It is the power of love, from parent to child.

Here's To Dad: And to the Children Who Makes Us Just That

I believe it was Bob Dylan that wrote "The times, they are a changin" . My little kiddos are growing up so fast now and they are getting so smart. I wake up every morning loving them the same as I did when I first laid eyes on them. Beauty, wonderment, marvelous. They are little gems given to me by God. Blessed I am truly for these two amazing gifts. I stand everyday in awe of them. I learn from them and in turn I learn about myself. I discover more of the expansiveness of love in my life. I learn about who I am by watching them. I see the future in those blue eyes, those adorable smiles and their incredible hearts.

Sometimes I lie awake at night. I think of things of the adult world. I worry about finances and paychecks. Taxes and health. Gas, food, bills, they consume my thoughts. I think of my work schedule and when I will get other things done outside of there. So many things consume me when I hit that point of the day where the adult world must get some attention. I like to spend a lot of time in my kids world when I am home. It helps me understand them. It gives me a new perspective on life and the mental break that all parents need. I am their dad. I am also a playmate. I am here to be whatever they need me to be, whenever they need me to be it. That is my job.

I think about all the bad things that could happen. What they will face in life. I say a prayer, and through it to the side. Because I can see so much more of the good when I look at my children. I can see the joy they bring to the lives of everyone they meet. I see the love they give to everyone, and the love that they receive right back. It is magical. It is breathtaking. It is the essence of life that makes all other things seem so minuscule. I don't know about all of you, but those facts of fatherhood make everything in life seem so tolerable. 

Being a dad is the greatest thing that could have ever happened in my life. Next to my wife of course! I bask in the glory of it. I rejoice in its awesomeness. Quite honsetly, I enjoy every last minute of it every day of my life. A toast: Here's to being a dad. Cheers to the moments that make our lives what they are. Lift your glass to the children of your lives. To their health, to their heart, and to their lives. Here's to them. without them we would be just guys. Here's to them for making us who we are. Here's to dad!

Male Involvement and The Importance for Young People

Today I am posting something that was sent home to us from Caleb's school this week. A few things about being a strong male role model for young children. As we have seen in the last few weeks, there is a lot going on that is showing that male involvement may in fact be a strong factor in the lives of young children (who knew right?) and after I read this I decided immediately that I wanted to share it with all of you.

This came to us from People Incorporated of Virginia who runs the Head Start and Early Head Start preschool programs in our area. Check out the websites for more info on the wide range of services and programs they have to offer.  We have been blessed to be involved with the Head Start program that Caleb attends. He loves going to school, loves his friends and teachers, and it has been great for him and for us as proud parents of such a growing young man.

Thanks to People Incorporated for sharing the following piece with families involved in your programs. A great read  for all dads who live a life of involvement when it comes to their roles as a parent, and also how to be their to other young children as a role model in their lives as well.  Here is this piece, in its entirety.

Fatherhood Friday: Things I Miss

Last night, just before going up to bed, my wife and I were looking at Caleb's 1st birthday pictures. So hard to believe that was over 2 years ago. We were talking about how much Marlee looks like him at that age and how hard it is to believe that he used to be so small! Then we went upstairs and I started thinking about when Caleb was younger and when Mar was first born. I started thinking about all the things that they used to do, or we used to do as a family that I miss.

• I miss how Caleb used to laugh out loud in his sleep right as he fell asleep. The little man would barely have his eyes closed before it would start. He would cackle, coo, and laugh so loud he would wake himself up!

• I miss the night like the first night we brought Marlee home. Just me and my baby girl in the room together. Waking up to feed her as she just stared into my eyes.

• I miss singing Weezer to Caleb while we just danced and danced around the living room. Even his first night home where he only slept an hour. We danced and danced and danced. Now that he is older he doesn't like to do that so much anymore :(

• I miss the 11am nap, the 2pm nap, the 6pm nap, the 9pm nap, the 11pm bedtime and wake up call at 9am. So much sleep. Where did it all go?

• I miss carrying Marlee around in the Snuggie at Wal-Mart. Partially because of the looks people would give me like "Why is the DAD wearing the baby?" but mostly because she was close to me. Easy to lean down and give her a kiss. Happy.

• I miss all the little things that seemed so small back then, but have made such a large lasting impression on my memories of my children and of being a dad

So many memories, so much time, so much that has just flown by in the last 3 years of my dadhood. It all just serves as a reminder that the time is precious, and we should all be making the best of it. First smiles, first steps, even first runny noses and poop diapers that overflow their boundaries, it all makes the memories that make up our lives. What do you miss?

My Five F's of Fatherhood - Post Revived

This is a post from my very first blog "Hell Hath No Fury like Half a Stale Cheesy". . As I have been thinking about my own dadhood recently and the upcoming Fatherhood Friday, I thought I would revive this post and put it back out there, because it sums up exactly what I have been thinking of my life recently. Enjoy!




So as the week ends and the weekend is getting ready to be in full swing, I thought I would take today to write a post about the letter of the day: the letter "F". It's Friday. On Twitter it is FollowFriday and to dads everywhere and over at Dad-Blogs.com it is Fatherhood Friday. So what better letter to write about today than the letter "F". So without further delay I present you with DaddyYo's "Five F's of Fatherhood"

Where I Come From: Reflections on a Saturday Morning

The day started off much like most Saturdays here. Very little traffic, slight rain, lazy mountain Saturday morning. The birds were scrambling to find shelter from the oncoming storm and cows out in the pastures were herding together to stay warm.

That's life here. Small town, middle of nowhere, up in the mountains life. It is a far cry from the busier, more populated, suburban town that I grew up in and the adjacent city I spent a good deal of time in before moving here to Virginia. It is easy going, not hustle and bustle, laid back, not gritting your teeth every minute, and small. VERY small. In fact, I believe the high school I went to housed more students than the entire town limits has residents here.