a Big Girl Bed

Our little sweet pea is just growing up ... and this Mommy just can't seem to find a way to stop her! If she hears the word (or any form of the word) "grow" from anywhere, she will interject "I'm growin' growin'. Just growin' real big!" And she is right ... this past year has been a HUGE year of growing for her ... by far her best growing year. More on that later ... she is nearly 3, so she will be getting her official weight/height stats soon!  But, for now ... here is Little Miss "Grower" and how she got her new BIG GIRL BED!

 

About 3 weeks ago, I witnessed Kendall straddling her crib when she was supposed to be taking a nap. She is normally a great nap-taker still (sooooo thankful for that!) ... so it was obvious she hadn't gone to sleep, due to continued talking, singing and playing I could hear going on in her room, so I was go in to talk to her ... but I couldn't believe what I saw! I honestly, seriously thought she would NEVER be able to get her leg up & over her crib ... especially before we were planning on moving her into a big girl bed at 3 ... but I was wrong. A little happy that she'd finally grown taller, now enough to get her leg up, as if she was a ballerina stretching her leg on the dance bar ... well maybe not as much so happy, as shocked & scared as she literally was straddling her crib, like she was straddling a fence. Not sure how long she'd been in that position ... or what she was planning on doing since she'd gotten to that point, but I definitely surprised her when I opened the door and luckily, she fell back into her crib, instead of falling onto the floor below! I told her to never do that again ... how dangerous that was ... and to go to sleep! (I know, that was probably not the right thing to saw, but it was my first "cautious instinct" Mommy coming out in me!  Our niece Kylie (who is 7 months older than Kendall) broke her arm a few months ago climbing out of her crib, so I think I was having flashbacks!) Then I found Ash outside working in the yard to tell him ... I knew he would not believe it either! (Maybe all these gymnastics classes weren't such a good idea ... ha!)

We knew the decision to move her into a big girl bed was now inevitable ... the sooner the better. But I hadn't been able to find super cute bedding for a new big girl room (which was a bit of a priority for me!) ... I'd been looking for 6 months, off and on, in preparation of re-doing her room after she'd turned 3, so I got serious about finding something immediately. Since we had purchased a convertible crib for her nursery, we'd planned on using it as her big girl toddler bed. The only problem I was finding with using it, was toddler bedding gave you very limited choices (versus twin bedding) ... and then you add in the fact that it's black for a little girl's room, you have extremely limited choices! Most of what I'd found, really went with white furniture or the brown/espresso color (that I'd always loved too). But, since she loooooooves the color pink ... all shades, especially hot pink, and the black furniture, I thought about zebra. And so, a new idea was launched ... and quickly, I was able to find the perfect zebra & hot pink bedding ... and her big girl bed (and room) were being transformed.

Daddy converted her crib into her toddler bed on his birthday (yesterday) ... all 3 of us were working in her room to get it ready before nap time. She was sooo excited ... she could hardly wait to get into her new big girl bed and get all covered up in her new zebra covers ... and her new big pillow. She was so happy and giddy about it ... and thankful to both of us for getting her bed all put together. She has such a sweet heart! Man, I love that girl!

Kendall's nursery crib ... the before:

 

 

and Now, Kendall's new Big Girl Bed ... the After:

 

 

This sweet 2 (with 6 weeks shy of turning 3) year old could not be any happier with her new bed!

 

We were pretty nervous about converting her bed ... selfishly, since she would have complete room freedom and we'd have another challenge to deal with, but her 1st nap was awesome!  She was so excited, she was so happy to climb in, told us night-night and immediately went to sleep.  I know it won't always be like that, but hopefully we will make it through this new phase without too much trouble ... I guess we will soon find out!  There's no turning back now!