Ten Temptations Dads Face

Thought this blog was spot-on in so many ways....

Most effective fathers I work with face the following temptations:

1) The pull to spend more time at work and leave the "leftovers" for the family. I have never heard an older man reflecting back on his life say, "I only wish I had spent more time at the office."

2) Thinking, "I'll spend more time with the kids once they are older." That time never arrives. In fact, once our children hit the teen years they often desire to spend less time with dad.

3) Assuming "quality time" trumps "quantity time." Think the once-a-year family vacation should be enough? Its not. Its the little day-in, day-out interactions that leave such a lasting legacy.

4) Reasoning, "we might as well divorce since we fight so often." The family research statistics are clear; an in-tact, lasting marriage is better for children than divorce. Go to marriage counseling and try and avoid divorce.

5) Thinking, "the beautiful woman down the street could meet my needs better than my wife." All humans are fallen. Only Jesus Christ can meet our deepest needs.

6) "I'll leave the church stuff to my wife or the youth pastor." When your children see you worship or pray they understand you too are under authority.

7) Naively thinking, "there are no drug or alcohol problems in our school or neighborhood." Think again...and talk to your kids about the dangers of experimenting.

8) Rationalizing, "I've blown it as a father." You may have made mistakes. Serious mistakes. But its never too late to reach out to a son or daughter.

9) Assuming, "someone will have the "sex talk" with my kids." They are curious and they are waiting to hear your perspective.

10) The temptation to take my wife for granted. She is taxi-driver, worker, chef, home engineer, mother, lover, and wife of your youth. Honor her.

http://blogs.christianpost.com/dynamic-dads/ten-temptations-dads-face-9797/

Thankful Thursday: Single Daddyhood

It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. Please take this time to share with us what you're thankful for as well. If you have a blog expressing your thankfulness, please share the link! Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

Mandi is out of town at the moment, but I'm sure she's at least just a little bit thankful to get a break from full-time mommy duty :)

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for my wife and my baby's momma, and yes, they are the same lady :) This week, Mandi headed out of town for work which left me all alone with Mckenna. I'm on full-time "single daddy" duty for 60 hours, but who's counting? Both of us didn't quite know how this stretch would go since Mckenna is exclusively breast-fed with the ever so occasional bottle when the time calls for it. She is also almost exclusively tended to by her momma at night. Since she feeds twice in the night still, and because she prefers the boob, Mandi is the one that has to interrupt her sleep each and every night to feed out daughter. I have 60 hours of this. She's had 6 months of this. I can't believe how fortunate I am to not only be married to my best friend, and I mean that sincerely, but to be married to such a good and natural momma. She is so caring; she works so hard; She does it all with a smile on her face and with very few complaints. When I say that God created her with me in mind, that may just be the understatement of the year.

I'm thankful that the first 24 hours have gone off without a hitch. Mckenna has eaten extremely well. She's slept like a champ. And she's been overall happy for the first 1/3 of our journey together. We really are so blessed to have such an easy going baby. She's very willing to entertain herself for a while and when it's needed by her daddy, she's very willing to snuggle up in my arms. That's the best of both worlds if you ask me!!

I'm thankful I'm not actually a single parent. Parenting is such a team sport and I'm thankful that I'm not the only one on my team. I could not imagine doing what I've done for the past 24 hours repeatedly (for the most part) for the next 18 days, much less 18 years! I know roles and duties can shift slightly, but to be the sole provider for someone must not only being stressful, but extremely tiring. And I don't know about you guys, but entertaining a baby all day by myself actually gets a bit boring :)

So, what are you thankful for today?

Mckenna Monday: Making the Butter

Have you noticed the trend yet? Mandi Monday's come so late that they practically get posted on Tuesday! I used to write my Mandi Monday's on Sunday and have them automatically post Sunday night/Monday morning (shhh don't tell). But days just come and go and then all of a sudden it's Monday morning and I realize I've been a slacker for another week. So since I'm terrible, I'll send in my replacement...Mckenna. Sooo without further ado: Mckenna Monday:

Things are going pretty well for me. I'm getting bigger by the second. Mom says I'm a tank, but they still call me Peanut, so I'm not sure how that all fits together...maybe I'm a small tank? I had my 2-month check-up last Monday. I came in at 10 pounds 2 ounces and 22 inches long. If you're keeping track, that's exactly 4lbs and 5 inches since I was born. I'm growing like a weed! At that appointment I also got some shots. OUCHY!! I let out a huge wail once I realized what happened and that it didn't feel the greatest. Mom looked sad for me and like she was going to be sick, dad smiled with delight and kept saying "oh my goodness your face is so cute when you cry like that."

I'm pretty sure my name is Mckenna because they say it all the time (although they don't know I know because I don't respond to my own name yet). However, they call me lots of other names too. They call me Peanut a lot, which I've heard all along...I didn't hear Mckenna until much later in my life. But they also call me Goosey, short for Silly Goosey, which they call me some.

If there's one thing I'm good at it's making the butter. "Huh?" you probably thought to yourself. Yeah that's what I wondered too at first. My parents just kept asking "are you making the butter baby?" I finally realized that they're talking about going poo poo. Because everytime I dirty my diaper they say, "oh my goodness, did you make the butter? You're so good at making the butter, baby!" I didn't get it at first until I heard my mom explaining it to someone. Apparently mom thinks my poo poo smells like movie theater popcorn butter (you'll never look at it the same again I'm sure)...and it's yellow in color (I guess theirs is something different?) And because I drink milk and it churns in my tummy and then there's butter. So there you have it, mom and dad think I'm a butter factory.

Hm what else? Oh yeah, I've started sleeping like a champ. Bedtime is fun. I know what's coming because we do the same thing every night. I eat, we play a bit, I take a bath, eat again and then it's straight to bed. I go to bed around 9:30-10:30 and I wake up at 7ish. I either eat once around 4 or I just sleep all the way through. On the nights I sleep all the way through I could swear my mom looks like a different person and man is she thrilled to see me. She comes in and sings about what a good sleeper I am. I mean she's happy to see me every morning, but those mornings you'd think I had been out of town for the last week and she missed me like crazy. So maybe I'll start sleeping through the night every night? I'll try my best.

So, that's it. Life is good!

Never Before Seen Photos

On our wedding day, my dad kept his phone in his pocket and snapped shots of us when no one else was around, but my shadow. He said, "these are like our little secret pictures"...but I'll let you in on the secret!

Right before the doors opened for me to walk down the isle

In the room waiting while the processional was going on

In the room waiting while the processional was going on