Wife - Friend - Roommate - Ex

Share

There are times in every man’s marriage (after the honeymoon phase) where his wife starts to feel simply like a friend. Friends, then, can easily and quickly become roommates. This vicious downward spiral can very easily result in becoming less than roommates; Exes! The chart below shows, in my view, what happens to a lot of marriages as husband and wife grow apart.

My $100 Date Night

Share

Note: This post is my official submission to the DadsTalking $100 date night giveaway, where one dad will receive $100 to take their wife out on a date!  Since I am a strong advocate of dating your wife, I thought I would join in on the fun (and maybe get a free date out of it!).
 
Update: I won! I won! looking forward to making this date a reality very soon!!

Why we deserve the $100 Date Night-
I try to date my wife every week. So my need is not based on a lack of dates, though our definition of a date may be different than others. A "date" to us means spending quality time together whether it is making dinner, watching a movie on the couch, or your more traditional dinner and a movie; and since we been more strapped for money recently we've mostly done the "at-home after our son is in bed" variety.

Date Your Wife: Celebrate & Splurge

Share

The Date: Most of you have probably heard by now, but we got some good news this week about Baby #2 and the pregnancy! So for our date this week we will splurge and celebrate! I think its important every few months or so, to spend a little more money, and do something a little bigger than you normally would have.  It also helps that today is one of two very special days of the year, bonus AND pay day!

Baby #2 Update!

Share

The big news this week is that Baby #2 now has a gender!! it's a BOY!!!

My wife is only about 16 weeks along, but due to complications we are having more frequent ultrasounds.  During the ultrasound there was no mistaken that its a boy!  Two weeks ago my wife was having some bleeding and an ultrasound revealed that she had a small subchorionic hemorrhage; we were told these things usually resolve in a couple of weeks.  Lo and behold, it did resolve!! We had an ultrasound on Tuesday and the Ultrasound technician could see no trace of the problem (disclaimer: things could change when the doctor looks at the pictures).

Also on Tuesday night I felt the baby kicking (barely) for the first time!! I know its a little early, but I promise I felt him! It is so amazing to feel this and know that there is a little boy in there.  It is such an amazing and humbling experience to be able to take part in the creation of God's children.

Wordless Wednesday: Future All-Star!

Share

The 10-Word Challenge

Share

You may or may not be aware that there is a challenge going on around the blog-o-sphere and David over at Happily Married After was kind enough to "tag" me and make me accountable to it.  By the way, it's Finance Week over at Happily Married After, so go check out posts all week on money and marriage (including giveaways!).

The Sexually Unavailable Wife

Share

Note: This is the first guest post I've published here on the Better Husbands and Fathers blog and its an important one, so pay attention!  It comes from Julie Sibert.  Julie is a writer and speaker on sexual intimacy in marriage. You can follow her blog at www.IntimacyInMarriage.com (or @Intimacy4Life on Twitter).  She lives in Omaha, Neb., with her Beloved, their two sons and their rambunctious German Shorthair Pointer puppy. 

My husband and I have a saying we use with our children  –  “As long as you keep presenting teachable moments, we’re going to teach.”  Usually, the 12-year-old musters up an eye roll in response to this.  To which we exclaim, “See!  There’s a teachable moment.  No more eye rolls.  It’s disrespectful.  And annoying.”  (He offers another eye roll).

Date Your Wife: Bringing Dinner Home

Share

The Date: When you are dating your wife it is important to remember that your dates don't always have to be creative, unique, or extravagant. That being said, neither do my Date Your Wife posts! ...now that I have my excuses out of the way, this week's date is picking up food from a restaurant and eating it at home. There are a couple of things you need to know about it though.

Validation for Parents of Picky Eaters

Share

I've got one of the pickiest eaters that I know.  He is 27 months old and he won't eat any fruit of vegetable that isn't pureed baby food.  He won't eat macaroni and cheese (except sometimes if he dips it in ketchup) grilled cheese, or any kind of noodles!  Luckily he does eat breakfast foods good, but this pretty much leaves us with Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches and chicken nuggets for lunch and dinner!

Wordless Wednesday: Swimming!

Share

Spiritual Thought: Pray for/with your Wife and Children

Share

Whether, memorized, read, or spoken from the heart, prayer is an important part of any religious lifestyle.  It doesn't matter how you pray, when you pray, or who you're praying to (though I would recommend God) make sure to pray for your wife and children. It will soften your heart toward them it will remind you how much you love them, and how much God loves them.

Time to Step Up and Be a Man

Share

There are times in a man's life where you are expected to step-up, be a man, and take care of business. This is one of those times for me.

If you follow my tweets, you may already know part of the story...

Date Your Wife: Massages!

Share

The Date: It looks like I might have to start getting a bit more creative with my dates.  Its a long story and I'll post on it soon, but my wife was told to "take it easy" and "lie down as much as possible" (shes 15 weeks pregnant); This is better than bed rest, but still limiting.  So that being said, we are going to give each other massages. OK, it will probably be mostly me giving her a foot and back massage, but we'll see.

Do You Hide Spending From Your Wife?

Share

I recently came across an article which referred to a survey that concluded that 80% of people spend money that their spouse doesn't know about. I couldn't believe this number.... really? 80%?  Needless to say, if you want to be a better husband, don't spend money behind your wife's back!

Wordless Wednesday: Swiiiiing!

Share

Dick Hoyt: A Better Father

Share

If you haven't heard the name Dick Hoyt, it's about time you do. Dick Hoyt is a father and a hero. No, I don't know a lot about his personal life, but here's what I do know.

Dick's son Rick has was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and is in a wheelchair.  Now you hear a lot of stories about parents trying to make life normal for their children with special needs, but never to this extent; this father is truly an inspiration.  Dick and Rick have competed in "over 1,000 races completed, including marathons, duathlons and triathlons (6 of them being Ironman competitions). Also adding to their list of achievements, Dick and Rick biked and ran across the U.S. in 1992, completing a full 3,735 miles in 45 days."

Please check out the video on their website, Team Hoyt, and consider donating.

Be a Better Husband and Father by Respecting Women and Children

Share

This posts stems from experiences that I had recently when my wife and I went to the Mariner's game. Let me explain. Despite having pretty good seats (down with the season ticket holders) we ended up sitting behind a group of single people, who were mostly men in their mid to late 20's (my age). Throughout the game they were loud, obviously intoxicated, and using profane language.  My issue with that is that there were women, children, and elderly all around them trying to enjoy the game. There was a time when we, as a society cared if we offended others, especially women and children; we respected them and didn't want to subject them to public intoxication or offensive language. When did we stop respecting women and children? This is just one example, I'm sure you've had experiences as well.

Date Your Wife: Baseball Game

Share

The Date: Yesterday, I was approached with a pair of tickets to go down to Safeco Field and watch the Texas Rangers take on my Mariners.  Naturally I took the tickets and we went to enjoy the game.  Part of what made this date special is that it was spontaneous!  When you are married and especially when you have kids, all of the spontaneity that you once had is no more. We are lucky to have both sets of parents nearby, which allows us to do things like this, so Grandma came over and off we went.

Wordless Wednesday: My First Undies!

Share

Guest Post / Feedback

Share

I had the great opportunity to write a guest post on this topic for John over at his Daddy Yo Blog. It is a post about the basics of being a better husband and some areas to focus your efforts.  It was posted yesterday afternoon, so go check it out and make sure you poke around his blog a little because he's got some good stuff on there about being a dad.

The Power Struggle Between Parent and Child

Share

My son is getting more timeouts everyday! Not only that, but he seems to be getting worse at them too.  See, we practice the Super Nanny technique for timeouts.  This is has been very successful for us and I highly recommend it to anyone! (despite our recent troubles) You may have heard me refer to it before, but let me explain what its all about.