Tea With Dads 4

For the fourth and final (for now) Tea With Dads I was lucky to share some tea and dad talk with our Midwife's husband, Kevin, who is also a great dad and a super mello nice guy. It was only fitting for me to end up with an experienced dad that has already been through it all. I definitely learned some things, I wish that I could share more and had let the tape roll, our discussion went on for a while. Once again I am giving away a tea from californiateahouse.com, this week's flavor is Bedtime Chai, more details can be found here. Please leave a comment below to be entered to win, I will announce the winner on Monday. Thanks again for sharing some tea with us.

Part 1. In this clip, we talk being a Midwife's husband, The first five years & the toughest age

Part 2. In this clip, we talk Keepsakes, Birthing misconceptions and final thoughts

Special thanks to the Dads that have shared tea with me during this series and the sponsors (please check them out)

www.californiateahouse.com

www.designittogether.com

Tea With Dads 3 Giveaway Winner

I was sitting in my office trying to come up with a clever way to pick this weeks winner, but I was at a loss. My wife and Addy have been out all day... I decided to call my wife and ask here to pick a number 1-12 in an unprovoked kind of way. A number flew right out of her mouth, a strange number, 12 which for some reason is unexpected.

Let me look at the entries, including the last entry received through twitter as the #12... that means the winner on the tea and print is...

Check your email! You've Won.

I have the next chat scheduled for this weekend, so be on the lookout next week for the next Tea With Dads. Thanks - ADDY's DADDY

Tea With Dads 3

Today I'm excited to chat and share some tea with Kevin, a great Dad, amazing designer and just all around good dude. Kevin is co-owner and principal designer for Iron to Iron, and writes about design on his personal blog Encourage Others. We met indirectly through the blog world and his wife's blog JenLovesKev, and it just turned out that we live within 15 minutes of each other. Our families have quickly become very good friends... 2 Moms, 2 Dads & 2 one year old Daughters... and A LOT in common. I have 2 videos below of our tea time Dad talk covering topics from our Daughters dating to enjoying the first year.

We have 2 giveaways for this week:
•Another awesome flavor, Lemon Meringue Pie, from californiateahouse.com which we sampled this week and it is awesome. More information is available here.
•This week, we also are giving away a tea print from DESIGN IT TOGETHER. This is an awesome design, print and all things related company, located right in my city. These guys are awesome, be sure to check out their site and check out their store. And don't forget to check them out on twitter @DesignIt2gether

There are two ways to enter to win the tea and print:
1) Leave a comment blow with info on how to contact you.
2) through twitter: @addydaddyblog & @ENCRGothers are talking Tea, Design & Daughters today (with giveaway) www.adelinesdaddy.com

Video 1: In this video we are talking balancing a design business and a baby, fatherhood in the first year, and our future daughters.

Video 2: We tackle our future Dadding approach to dating, soundtrack to fatherhood and advice from the first year.

Thanks for joining me again as I share some great tea with some great dads. I'm going to be announcing the winner on Monday, don't forget to enter. Next week I will be sharing tea with an awesome Dad, much more experienced than I... and I look forward to learning from this dad-jedi master.

Tea With Dads 2 Winner! AND... about being busy

So, I've been a little behind on almost everything that I've had to do lately. But one thing I just had to get done was prepping for our new fireplace that was to be installed on November 2nd (that was yesterday). It was a lot of work preparing the house, but it turned out awesome. Today Rach and Addy saw it for the first time, and they were stoked... I mean, look at this thing.

And one thing that definitely has been running behind is some things on the blog including my new "Tea With Dads" feature. But I have a new one that will be up early next week, and I am a little behind on announcing the last winner, but I had Addy pick tonight. (5 entries, 5 fingers)

The winner is comment #2, ERIK... a fellow DAD... what a fitting winner. Contact me to hook up getting the free tea. 

Check back early next week for another "Tea With Dads" with a very special Dad Guest.

Tea With Dads Part 2 (with giveaway! & video)

Today we have a three-Dad chat over tea, with the little ones joining us for moral support. Today I'm Chatting with Thomas and Nathan... and it's all caught by hidden camera. Nathan is a musician and artist and teaches printmaking at SUNY. Thomas is a musician, producer, video game music composer and stay-at-home-Dad. Definitely a crew that you would commonly see at the Farmer's Market downtown on a Saturday afternoon. Today we are drinking vanilla cream earl grey, yet another awesome tea from californiateahouse.com. Be sure to leave a comment below or share on facebook to be entered to win a package of the earl gray tea and a special signed print (by me) that I will be posting an image of in a couple of days.

I have split out discussion up into a couple of Videos. In our first video we are discussing keeping your pre-baby identity and stay at home parenting (while our kids look on a mock us).

In our second video, we are talking father figures, having more kids & changing feeling toward pets. (and cats in diapers)

Thanks for sharing some thoughts and tea with us. Be sure to leave a comment or share on facebook to be entered to win this weeks tea and a signed art print (by me). The winner will be announced on Monday and will lead into our next installment on Wednesday... 

Tea With Dads1 Giveaway Winner.

If you weren't here last week, we are doing a series of talks and Giveaways called "Tea With Dads". All teas are provided by Californiateahouse.com. Today we are announcing the winner of The package of Jasmine Pearls. Part 2 of the four part series will be up on Wednesday with more Dads, More Tea, More baby talk, and More giveaways (and some video)... but now, without further ado...

AND THE WINNER IS...

Tea With Dads Part 1 (with giveaway!)

I've partnered up with californiateahouse.com for a little series, in which I will be talking tea, and babies, with Dads. From a soon to be dad to an experienced Father, from giving advice to getting advice,  I will be chatting over tea (presented in abridged form) and doing tea giveaways of some awesome flavors from californiateahouse.com. Today we are sipping and chatting with Russ, who lives with his wife across the street from me. He's a Nurse in his late 20's, a great guy and is having his first child in about 6 months, so he was the perfect candidate to start the series. Also, please leave a comment below to be entered to win a package of the Jasmine Pearls tea that we are sharing, which is also for sale here.

Interview Key:  AD= Adeline's Daddy    RS= Russell

AD: Russ, this isn't the first time we have shared a cup of tea, and you had told me that you began to drink tea a lot when you lived in Russia.

RS: Yeah, I lived there for about six months, over there tea is a national drink. They drink tea over there like we drink coffee here. And I brought that back with me.

AD: I know that would basically lead you more in the direction of black teas, but today I have a more flowery green tea, and I'm really liking the smooth, soothing taste, and aroma. What are your thoughts?

RS: Yes, this tea is much lighter and I haven't had too many flowery teas. This is nice, like you said it has a very soothing feel.

AD: It's pretty rad that this tea is actually rolled by hand into the pearls, you don't get that attention to detail with every tea.

AD: Let's say that this tea was a baby, what would you name it?

RS: Well, it actually could go with two names that my wife and I had discussed using. Violet or Daisy.

AD: So, you are saying that this tea would be a little baby girl? However, you could enjoy this if you were a masculine Dude?

RS: Yeah, of course.   Here we are.

AD: So, you are mentioning a couple of names, which means that you are definitely discussing possible names. What is your process? Do you have names already decided? If so, you are way ahead of where Rach and I were at your stage.

RS: We actually decided to not know the sex of the baby ahead of time. But we are going to eventually have a girl name and a boy name on deck. Although, I'm a big believer in having the name fit the personality of the baby. When we lay eyes on him or her for the first time THE name may just come to us at that second.

AD: That leads us to the birth. You are going with a home birth with the same Midwife we used and in the house right across the street from our house where Addy was born. What made you decide to do that?

RS: No one in my family has had a home birth, I'm not positive where the inspiration came from. I know that you guys had a home birth, and it went perfectly. My wife decided right off the bat that that was the way she wanted to do it.

AD: I have only done the one home birth, which was a water birth, and It couldn't have been any better. I have never experienced anything that beautiful, and having the comfort of your home is great.

RS: That's what we are hoping for.

AD: I'm a Dad, and have many cute nicknames for my Daughter as I assume you will too. A little Trivia for you: One of the most famous all knowing Dads from TV is Ward Cleaver from Leave it to Beaver. In which Ward called his little Boy Theodore by the Famous nickname "Beaver". Do you know how that nickname came to be?

RS: I actually do not know.

AD: Well, I looked it up...  and it was revealed on the last episode that when Theodore was born that his Brother Wally couldn't properly pronounce his name. So every time he said "Theodore" it Sounded like he was saying "Beaver" and thus created a pet name and television history.

RS: Good to know, thanks for sharing.

AD: We are almost down to the bottom of our tea cups, do you have any soon to be dad questions or concerns that an old pro like me could help with?

RS: To be honest with you, I am overwhelemed. There are so many questions I don't even know what to ask. 

AD: To be honest right back to you, I don't think there are any answers that really prepare you. You kinda have to make decisions as they come. Definitely read and study up, but whenever something comes up you will make the decision and deal with it. And until that time comes you don't even know the lengths that you will go to for your child. I have done so many things for Addy (some gross) that an 18 year old me would never think I would do. That is part of all of the things that will be thrown at you, at that second you will decide what to do. And that is part of what makes you a Dad.

I would like to thank Russ, for joining me for the first installment of Tea With Dads. I will be having my next interview up next week with a different Flavor, a different Dad, and more giveaways. Don't forget to comment below to be entered to win the free package of Jasmine Pearls. The winner will be announced on Monday.