Summer Musings... and some closing thoughts

We spend a lot of time on Ryder's rope swing.  He's finally getting the hang of it (no pun intended).  Seriously though, he is.  It took a minute.

This summer, Ryder is going to FUMC two days a week for "summer play days" and it's been great for him.  Before we left on his first day I thought he needed a little trim.  It looked alright after I snipped it, but once we got outside in the humidity it fro'd up and, well, looked like this:

Like a 1980's fro mullet.  What are you gonna do?

I finally broke down and bought Rhodes a walker.  He likes it ok, but can only go backwards in it.

I gave him the can of puffs to shake around in the car and the little stinker bit the top off of it and poured them all over my backseat.

When I picked Ryder up from school, out of the 15 kids waiting on their ride, mine was the only one wearing his artwork.  Love that boy to pieces.

We were so excited Marlee, Tripp and Sellers came over and spent the night with us last week.

CC and Poppy came over to visit too.

Gotta love a selfie.

Boys proud of their ice cream sandwich.

Rhodes helping me break a few dishes.

Saturday we went to Oxford for my cousin Michael's wedding.  After we dropped the boys off with Grandaddy and Nanni, we got down the road to find that one of their cows had gotten out.  John Michael made me hold a stick and flag it back in.  My sister rode to the wedding with us and was in the truck and saw me with the stick and thought I was going to have to beat the cow to get him in.  Wouldn't that have been a sight!

Lunch on the square.

Most of us Henry cousins.

Aunts, uncles and cousins galore.

The groom gettin' down on stage.

Ryder and his tractor meet again.  It's been at the farm since we moved in to the apartment and boy is he glad to have it back.

Rhodes and I enjoying this rare moment with just the two of us while Ryder napped.

Rhodes thinks everything is funny, Everything!

He stayed contained in the back of the truck for a good while, while we did some stuff in the yard.  He loved it too.  He was much more happy there than his walker, so we let him be.

The boys were giddy about their field trip.

We met the Lamar boys at the Children's Museum for a fun day of Bob the Builder and the splash pad.

Littlest builder.

Lil Bob

Preciousness

Rhodes' first time in the water, ever.

He was a fan.  Ryder was too, he just wasn't fan of sitting down to take this picture.

Ryder took a few swimming lessons last week.  You can barely see but there he is swimming to the steps.  He caught on pretty quick, but nowhere near me letting him in the water alone without floaties.  But at least he's getting the gist of it.

He's a jumping machine though.  No fear, that one.

Rhodes and his first baby mum-mum.  It's just been a week of firsts for him!  I've been leaving him in the dust!  First a walker, then the water and now baby mum-mums!

He approves!

Now that we are in summer play days and getting ready for K3, they have a drop off and pick up line and we don't have to go inside.  But they just set him in the carseat and don't buckle him in.  I am trying to teach him to buckle himself but we aren't having much luck.  I actually just ordered him a booster seat tonight so maybe it'll be easier to work with.

Our weekly grocery run.  Ryder is such a good sport getting buried with our goodies each week.

Ryder got to go to a birthday party for his little friend Ashton at Chuck E Cheese.  She invited her Funtime class and they were so sweet to include Ryder, he misses all his friends so much!

I just love this one.  All the girls were up there dancing and I forced Ryder up there to dance with them.  They are just be-bopping all over the place and he is standing still as a statue.  Awkward!

Saturday my sister and I took my dad to lunch for Father's Day.  Good father/daughter quality time.

Saturday night we grilled steaks and Ryder helped Nanni and T make homemade ice-cream.

Father's Day love

Ryder toting around his precious cargo.

He only fell out once, it was in the grass though.  No worries.

 Father's Day morning before church.  So much love right here!

Handsome studs, all three of them!  Still celebrating dad. 

My past several blogs have been so packed out with photos because I'm so behind, that I never really have enough space to chat anymore.  Honestly, the past few weeks have been full of settling in, unpacking, organizing, weddings, chasing two active boys and catching up on sleep.  It's been exhausting.

So, let me just keep it real for a minute here.

SOMETIMES... After John Michael leaves for work, I'll put on cartoons for Ryder and put Rhodes in the jumparoo and keep them in the living room while I crawl back in bed and sleep for another 30 minutes or until Ryder comes in and asks me to change the channel. 

MOST OF THE TIME... I keep Rhodes in his pajamas all day long.  I don't use a bib when I feed him and it gets everywhere, so I just change him into some more pajamas.  Who doesn't want to be comfy?  And nope, I don't change him into something cute just so I can take his picture.

MANY TIMES... If I need to go somewhere or do something for myself and it interferes with Rhodes' or Ryder's nap, I still do it.  Ooooooh.  So what?  Life goes on!

ONCE OR TWICE... while hanging out on the back porch I saw Rhodes chewing on something and it turns out it was a bug.

SOMETIMES... while I'm feeding Rhodes in his highchair, I'll simultaneously scroll through Facebook and Instagram to pass the time.  When instead, I should be talking to him, singing to him and just enjoying those moments.  But sometimes I don't sing or talk to him.  Sometimes I just need to read about what other adults are doing.

I DON'T... follow any type of step-by-step "this is how you raise a baby."  Maybe that makes me a bad mom, I don't know.  Some may consider it irresponsible.  But I just figure it out and do what works for us.  We just wing it over here and I think that's okay.  If I've learned anything this go-round, it's let my baby be a baby and let my kid be a kid.  Life is just so much easier this way versus stressing myself out trying to follow step-by-step instructions from a book.  I have done things both ways.  With Ryder we stayed by the book in almost every way.  With Rhodes, well, he's just a free spirit.  And I must say, things are so much more relaxed and enjoyable for all of us.

IF... Rhodes is napping and Ryder refuses, I don't fight it.  But that doesn't mean I don't get my me-time.   We'll just snuggle up on the couch and I'll find the longest movie we have recorded and I'll let him watch the whole thing, even if it's 1.5 hours, just so I can read my book in peace.  I'll let him pick out a blanket for us and he usually requests a back scratch, so everybody wins!

All of this to say... in this blog-filled, pinterest-inspired world we live in, I think we are forced to put so much pressure on ourselves on how to be the perfect mom and raise the perfect children.  Let's face it, my kids aren't sitting around here making finger paint masterpieces or handmade windchimes.  Do I wish they were?  Kind of, yeah.  But they're not.  Maybe one day.  

But, my children know that I love them with all of my heart and I make them feel like they are the most special little people in the world, and that's all they need from me.  Ryder gives me a thousand kisses a day and tells me he loves me at least once every 30 minutes.  Rhodes lights up every time I bend down to pick him up and grins ear to ear while I tote him around the house while dragging a broom behind me.  So I have come to the conclusion that I'll never be the perfect "stay at home mom" with a full blown agenda laid out for the day.  But that's alright.  Really, it is.