Earlier this past week, while trying to get Ryder fed, dressed, teeth brushed, and out the door for school so I could start getting ready for work myself, he started having a meltdown and crying that he didn't want to go to school. I felt bad for him and tried explaining in terms that only a small toddler his age could understand, that we didn't have much longer to go before Mommy would start staying home with him and he wouldn't have to go to school anymore. I still don't think he comprehended this very well, so I told him when I came home from work that night that we could make a countdown to show the number of days we had left. I went about my day, not thinking much more of our little conversation we had, until I got home that night and Ryder reminded me that I had promised a countdown. To make it fun, I cut paper into strips and let Ryder color on each strip of paper, and then we taped them up to make rings that he could pull off each morning as we started our day. Ryder was very excited on Friday morning when he got to pull the first ring off.
Friday night, rather than turning the stereo on and dancing to everything from 80's to reggae music like we normally do, Scot and Ryder had ideas of their own. We have started pulling out the baby items for Brynley and transitioning them downstairs to get ready for her arrival. The Baby K'Tan baby carrier was part of the collection of things we had brought down to the livingroom, waiting on me to watch the instructional video once more, so I would have some idea on how to use it. Scot thought it would be fun to see if he could figure it out on his own, and of course, Ryder wanted to play along too. I thought they looked so funny each wearing a baby wrap, and Ryder completed the look with the baby hat that came with the carrier, and Scot wore one of Ryder's dress up knight's hats.
Among wearing the baby carrier, and trying to sit in the baby swing or asking to get in Brynley's crib, Ryder has also started wanting to sit in his old Bumbo chair. I couldn't believe it when I walked in Brynley's nursery and saw Ryder sitting in it! I think he is starting to show signs of jealousy, don't you??
Saturday morning, we headed to Charlotte to go shopping at Garden Ridge and IKEA. We browsed Garden Ridge, looking for a small lamp to go on top of the side table we picked out for Brynley's nursery. With no luck, we left with just a small bouquet of silk flowers that I plan to somehow use for a small vase to hang on one of her shelves to add color. Next stop was IKEA where we scored the motherload! We found shelves and storage for Ryder and Brynley to keep their projects and art supplies in, and even found a cute rug and table and chairs. All for less that $200, which was the price of most of the ones we had seen online or in magazines. Since it was tax free weekend, we decided to hit Office Depot to use Scot's employee discount and to get all of the art and crafts supplies that I would need to make projects with once I am a SAHM with Ryder. One of the benefits of being married to an office supplies salesman ha! We made out with armloads of things, including finger paints, crayons, markers, dry erase crayons, and more. After all the shopping, we were all ready for a cool treat on our ride home, so we stopped at the Penguin Palace for a sno cone, I ordered Tigers Blood, Scot had the Raspberry, and Ryder decided he wanted a soft serve scoop with sprinkles. YUM!
I don't think either of us were ready when Scot took this picture, but we found a nice shady spot to enjoy our cool treats at. It was just what we needed to cool off from the heat and humidity!
After we ate, something caught my eye on the trees that were scattered about the play area. I wanted to see if Ryder could find what I was looking at, so I said "Ryder lets play a game, I spy". He looked up at the tree and started laughing away as soon as he saw the face that was on the tree. It was the perfect way to end our fun afternoon, and we made our way back home to spend the rest of the day relaxing and staying inside to keep cool. Ryder was in no mood at this point to take his afternoon nap, so instead he was Scot's little helper and helped assemble all of the things we had bought at IKEA.
This is just a sneak peak at what we have done with the loft. We decided it was wasted space that Scot didn't plan to use as extra office space, so we are going to use it for an arts and crafts area for when I get to stay home. I am hoping to come up with ideas to do each week, and thought this would help break up the day, since Ryder is used to going to school and doing fun activities, I want to keep him in a routine as much as I can, so that he doesn't get bored with me and we don't go stir crazy being at home inside all day. I was very happy with our finds, and can't wait to add on to the arts and crafts area. Ryder seemed to love it, and we broke out the chalk and started drawing away once it was all setup.
I love our weekend together and I feel much better about finding some fun activities to do with Ryder when I get to stay home with him. It will be a new experience for all of us, and we will have to find a balance that works right for everyone, but I feel so blessed to be able to spend more time as a family. I can't think of a better picture to sum this up, than the one of Ryder and Scot playing "jet ski" I took last night before bed. These boys are the loves of my life and life doesn't get much better than this! Of course I'm exhausted, just now getting some down time from the weekend, as I type this while Ryder is napping upstairs, but I wouldn't trade this life for anything. Happy Sunday ya'll!
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