We are the Millers

"The desire has to be there before any action is likely to follow. The good news is, you've already got this one covered. After all, you're reading an article on Parents.com telling you how to be an awesome dad. Chances are, you're already a self-sacrificing, actively involved dad who loves to show off his kid's snapshots on Facebook, even if they're only sonograms." No problem with this one at all!!! My husband can't wait to be a daddy! And I know that once this little monster comes into our world, Daddy is going to be taking the poor thing everywhere with him! He couldn't wait to show everyone the first sonogram picture, I can't imagine what he'll actually do with a baby! That's the end of the "7 Ways to be an Awesome New Dad" blog series. I hope you enjoyed it. I will be posting a few random blogs in the next few days that aren't baby related but they are very interesting. I'll keep an eye out for another blog serie...

"You won't be able to enforce your expectations until your child is older, but the process will likely become one of the most enduring rules in parenting over time. One of your jobs as a dad is to protect and train your child, and even if it never really seems like it, kids crave structure. As your baby grows old enough to understand "yes" and "no," make sure those words have meaning. Let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no. Let your "I will" become "I did." You're not perfect, but now you've got a little adult watching you to see if the rules even matter." I'm not sure what to think about this one. I can guarantee that the word 'no' is going to be hard for my husband to use. He never uses it now! He just doesn't know how to say no to people. Anytime anyone asks his for help, he is always right there. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad trait, but sometimes you just have to say ...

"Always keep your digital camera handy and snap a few shots of the baby every couple of days. Make it your job to create and be responsible for the baby's photo database on the family computer or your laptop. Don't worry about being a pro -- there's a reason they're called snapshots. Every picture tells a story, so just imagine what a gifted storyteller you can easily become!" My husband has an iPhone so he is always snapping pictures. We are both addicted to taking random photos for no reason. If one of the pugs has a really cute face, we snap a photo. If one of the cats is curled up all cute-like on a blanket, we snap a photo. My husband also takes a lot of pictures of any jobs that he might be working on. We never seem to have any issues with taking pictures. The problem we have is taking pictures of ourselves! Whenever we go on vacation, we have tons of photos of the scenery or the place we are staying but never any of us. We have to break that! The only i...

"One of my biggest pet peeves is when I see a child complimented by a stranger in front of one of that child's parents, and then I hear the parent sarcastically reply, "You want him? You can take him home with you if you want..." Guard your attitude toward parenting. Sure, there are annoying things, but being the kind of dad your kids will be proud to call their own means building up, not tearing down." This is yet another area where my husband will have no issues at all. My husband has always been a positive person. He's almost always smiling and laughing and joking around and he generally carries a positive energy with him wherever he goes. His business has made him a little more bitter over the past few months but overall he is still a positive guy. He will have no problems praising our children at all. He likes to help people. He likes to make people feel better. He likes knowing that he can make a difference in in another person's life. He will be t...

"You are a guy. Therefore, you are funny, or at least you probably think you are. Your sense of humor may even be one of the reasons your wife was attracted to you in the first place. Now it's time to start using your comic talent to entertain the little squirt. Find the fun in goofing around with your baby. Because, honestly, what else do you do with babies besides change their diapers and feed them? Your instincts will guide you to treat your baby like the only person at an amusement park or the only member in the audience of your own late-night show." Ok, first of all, I love that they refer to the baby as 'little squirt' in this article, especially since I call our baby little monster. Second, my husband has a great sense of humor. He loves to joke around. I always say I will be raising two children because he is just such a kid at heart. This is why I see no issue with this at all. He sometimes gets uncomfortable with children because he doesn't always kn...

"Having a baby adds a whole new list of to-dos to your wife's day and to yours. But don't just sit back and wait for things to get checked off the list. Jump right in and be the first one to figure out the best way to soothe your little one at night, or the easiest way to clean the baby bottles. And even though you can't breast feed your baby, you can take over for some daddy-baby bonding time afterwards. Soon enough you'll be doing other great proactive dad stuff like reading bedtime stories and signing up to coach Little League." I don't think my husband will have any issues with this at all. My husband is a jump-in-and-get-your-hands-dirty kind of guy. He loves to be involved in anything he possibly can be. Our church has game nights every Friday night and you can always find him playing volleyball with the adults or kickball with the kids. He always has to be moving. That's one of the reasons I think being a stay at home daddy will work for him...

At this point, my husband and I have decided that he is going to be a stay at home daddy. There were many reasons we came to this conclusion: 1. He owns his own business: It is easier for him to run things from home. His whole goal this summer was to try to find a reliable enough employee to handle being the job manager so that he could run things from home. While this is proving to be a little more complicated than we had originally thought, we are still hoping to make this happen. 2. I love my job: I found a job that I actually enjoy and I want to keep it! My boss is also very flexible and will probably allow me to work from home a few days a weeks so I still get to enjoy my new baby. 3. Health Insurance: I have health insurance through my job and he doesn't. I know that we could get private insurance but that's going to cost way more than what I'm paying now. 4. Security: I have a job with a stable income and he doesn't, especially during the Winter months. He has th...

I came across this article today and found it quite interesting: 6 Signs He'll Make a Good Dad And while I agree with some of these 'signs', some I have my own interpretation of: 1. He treats his mother well. What kind of family man will he be? First look at his relationship with his mom. Does he respect her? Laugh with her easily? Enjoy visiting her? Help out with chores or errands? “If the answer is yes, all of this means she did a good job raising him, he naturally likes women, and will like the mom you will become,” says Wendy Allen, Ph.D., a psychotherapist specializing in couples and marriage therapy in Santa Barbara, CA. In fact, respect in general — to other family members, to kids, and to you — should be at the top of the “what to look for” list. --Well, my husband doesn't have a very good relationship with his family. His upbringing was pretty bad and he tries to block a lot of it out. He doesn't visit his immediate family often and he only sees distant re...