Skinny Jeans: A Quick Follow Up After the Hack

It's me (Bryan) again.  Tomorrow morning Kendahl will begin writing on this blog for 31 straight days.  She's made it pretty clear that, even though my hack was really great, I'm not allowed to hack her again during October.  Well, good thing I still have 1 hour until then!

Anyhow, loads of you (ok just one person) #yesitwasmymom (can you hashtag in blogs?) asked for a follow up on my final two days of being a stay at home dad.  Honestly, it was way easier than the first 36 hours.  Now before you applaud my persistence, improvement, or hard work there is something you need to know: I spent the final two days with my parents, sisters, and their families! :)

During that time though I learned two very important lessons that I wanted to share with all of my (one) fans.

1. Life should happen in community.  Whenever you need to take a break, go to the bathroom, or grab a bite to eat there is always another person around to help out with your kids!  More importantly, though, people (especially kids) are happier in the presence of others.  It's how God created us--plain and simple.  We played at a pumpkin patch, spent hours running around the house together, and celebrated my Grandpa 85th birthday with our HUGE family.  It was awesome!  
2. Skinny jeans should be outlawed--especially for toddlers.  I'm not saying they look bad (although I'm sure they would on me).  All I'm saying is that it took me 5 minutes to put E's jeans on and I broke a sweat in the process.  
3. Yes I know I said two lessons--consider this a bonus.  Kendahl being home is a very, very good thing!  

 Ellis loved the tractor ride at the pumpkin patch with his cousins! 

31 Days: Intro & Index

{I'm linking up with The Nester for a 31 day blog series.  Check out her site for more information, to check out other series, or to join in!}

After a 30 minute car ride of Ellis screaming for no reason other than he just wanted to, I finally got home and decided he was going to bed early.  Moms get to make decisions like that.  I mean if you're over it all and want your kid to go to bed, you just tell them to go to bed, right?  Ha.

(If you are laughing right along with me, good.  You are the exact one I am writing this series for.)

We get home from our car ride and I leave Ellis in the living room so that I can go make a bottle and breathe for just one second.  

Upon returning to the living room I see that he has pulled his toy box into the middle of the room and taken out just enough toys so that he can climb in and get comfy.  Here's the awesome part...as I started to walk towards him to remove him from the box, he looked up and growled at me.  No joke.  I couldn't make this up if I wanted to.  Like a rabid dog protecting his squirrel, this kid just growled louder with every step I took towards him.  I couldn't get video in time, but oh how I wish I had.

So, I had some cheesy title ready to go, but after tonight's events, I made a little adjustment.  And now it's perfect.  Thanks for the inspiration, buddy.

Introducing:

My heart behind this series is to share just a little bit of biblical wisdom daily about how as moms we can juggle the mess with the beauty.  I will be using this post as an index for all 31 days.  So no matter what day you find this post, you can play catch up here:

Day One: Lamentations 3:22-23
Day Two: Ecclesiastes 3:1
Day Three: 1 Corinthians 16:18
Day Four: Proverbs 22:6
Day Five: Psalm 96:1-2
Day Six: Practical Task 1
Day Seven: James 1:19
Day Eight: Proverbs 2:2-3
Day Nine: Luke 12:34
Day Ten: 1 Corinthians 14:40
Day Eleven: Matthew 1:23
Day Twelve: Psalm 46:10
Day Thirteen: Practical Task 2
Day Fourteen: Acts 2:42
Day Fifteen: Community, Part 2
Day Sixteen: 1 Samuel 16:7b
Day Seventeen: Psalm 126:2
Day Eighteen: 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Day Nineteen: 1 Corinthians 10:31
Day Twenty:
Day Twenty-one:
Day Twenty-two:
Day Twenty-three:
Day Twenty-four:
Day Twenty-five:
Day Twenty-six:
Day Twenty-seven:
Day Twenty-eight:
Day Twenty-nine:
Day Thirty:
Day Thirty-one:

Thanks for sharing this journey with me...check back in the morning for Day One! 

Hacked by her husband! :)

Disclaimer: This post is written by Bryan, Kendahl's husband.  She has no idea I've hacked into her blog.  We'll see how long it takes her to figure it out! If you've gotten this far, definitely read to the end.  I don't write like Kendahl, but the end makes it worth it.  Yes, it does get a little sappy.  If it helps, just make fun of me after you read it. :) 

Kendahl is out of town for a few days at the Influence Conference.  It's a really great opportunity for her (which I'm sure she'll share all about when she gets home)!  Meanwhile, I'm at home with our son Ellis.  Yup, I'm a stay at home dad for a few days.  Some might even call me a single dad.  That's not terribly accurate though because Kendahl is very much present in spirit and in FaceTime. :)  

So why have I hacked her blog?  Well, I want to share all about my experience being a stay at home dad for 4 days.  Something to keep in mind--it's only been 2 days.  After the last two days, though, I don't need much more material for this post.  Hang tight and you'll see why.

Day 1

Kendahl pulled out of the driveway around 8:15am.  By 8:20am I was digging a quarter out of Ellis' mouth.  Did he eat any more change?  Time will tell.  He seems fine.

I had a staff meeting at 9.  So we loaded up the car and headed over to Western Oaks.  When you bring a toddler to work, staff meeting happens in the play room!  We didn't accomplish much. :)

Afterwards we headed out to run errands.  A quick stop by the hardware and hobby stores and we were ready to go work on a project to surprise Kendahl with!  Nearly every time she leaves town I try to do a fun project for her.  This is the first project I've tried to tackle while juggling the schedule of a toddler.  Here's to hoping I finish!  (I'm not going to spill the beans on what I'm doing-just in case she reads this before she gets home)!  

Lunchtime!  In other words, throw food at the dog.

Dance on the coffee table, jump on the couch, try to break the baby gate down.  

Yea, it's nap time.  Thank the Lord he napped for 3.5 hours!  Meanwhile, I began to clean like a madman.  Did I mention that we listed our house for sale the day that Kendahl left for Influence?  Within 12 hours we had a showing--yikes!  Basement and main floor while E naps and the upstairs after he goes to bed.

Nana and Grandpa came over right at the end of naptime so I could mow the lawn for the showing.  A quick 20 minute visit and they were gone!

Melt. Down. City.  

Time for dinner.  But I just cleaned the kitchen.  I guess we should go out!

This guy ate an ENTIRE adult sized bowl of Mac & Cheese with chicken at Noodles.  All the while, flirting with the girl sitting behind me.  (Just to clarify, Ellis was flirting, not me!) 

Ran a few more errands for our surprise before we headed home to play outside.

And then began our nighttime routine.

Breathing treatment, bath, run around the living room naked, pee on the floor, get pajamas on, dance on the coffee table, build towers, read stories, brush teeth, read more stories, say our prayers, and lights out!  

Then I cleaned some more and some more and some more.  Then Kendahl called and had me do a photo project for her--but I lost my patience! (Sorry, dear!).  But hey, the photos are finished and ready to go.  Ready set clean some more.


Day 2

I had to beat Ellis up so I could vacuum, mop and the like.  Thankfully, he's been sleeping until 7:30 or so.  So I woke up and started cleaning some more (It may seem like our house is a pit of filthy despair with all the cleaning I've talked about.  It's not.  I'm just anal).  

Ellis woke up around 7:45, watched cartoons while I finished up cleaning, and then we headed out while a Realtor came through our home.

Every week on my day off Ellis and I go to Scheels to see the fish, press elevator buttons, and learn new animal sounds.

Here's Ellis growling like "scary bear" behind him. :) 

Finally, a quick stop to buy some flowers for my mother in laws birthday and we head home for a lunch and nap.

Which brings us to right now.

2 days left before Kendahl gets home.  It feels like an eternity though.  Yes, I'm having an absolute blast as I get to spend every waking moment (literally) with my son--but this is exhausting!

If you read the disclaimer, this is the "end" I spoke of So, if you simply scrolled down--STOP SCROLLING HERE.

Sometimes (most of the time) I take what Kendahl does for granted.  We made the decision for her to stay at home with our kids and we wouldn't change it for the world.  Honestly though, I never knew it was this hard.  Holy cow--staying at home with a toddler is 24/7 accidental suicide prevention!

Here are some things I (re)learned in the last 36 hours: 

• Stay at home moms (or dads) should be paid--lots and lots of money. 
• This is selfless work.  
• Raising kids is the most important thing--ever. 
• Kendahl needs a really big budget line that she can spend on whatever she wants in order for our kids to have a great day and for her to stay sane.  (No, I'm not endorsing spending money just to make it to the end of the day.  Rather--this is money to go to the zoo, out to lunch, for a coffee, to help make memories).  
• I'm tired. 
• Cleaning the house during the day is dumb.  Let it rain messiness. 
• There aren't enough hours in the day.
• Kendahl has the best job ever.  

My Final Thoughts

I'm tired and I'm worn down after only 36 hours.  Kendahl does this every day--All the while, growing another human! 

You know what they say, though.  Having two is way easier than having one.  

They say that, right? 

Kendahl, you are a rock star.