big girl bed.

I have been racking my brain for a couple of months now about the oh, so big decision-- moving Audrey to a big girl bed in preparation for baby Naomi. I have been over-thinking everything about it, like any first-time mom. I used Facebook and Twitter to ask questions. When should I do it? Do I switch to a toddler bed or twin bed? How do I prepare her for it? (Seriously, I am an over-analyzer.) I received helpful information from other moms, but there was no one-way to do it or one right way. I am continually learning as a mom, that you have to do what works for you. And your family.

So anyway. After going back and forth from buying a twin to a toddler bed, we ended up with an extra-long toddler bed. We bought an Ikea toddler bed off of Craigslist (from someone I know- so I didn't feel all gross about the mattress). We have had it for a couple of weeks now, but didn't have the time to switch Audrey over yet. I think it worked out well having it around before she actually had to sleep in it- she was able to play and explore on it. And we talked about it a lot. Then we decided after we got back from our trip, we would switch her out of the crib and into the bed. She had been sleeping in so many different beds traveling, that we thought it was a good time to keep it up. So after traveling 6 hours in a car, at 9:30 at night, we put her big girl bed in her room and put her to sleep in it. And somehow she slept like a ton of bricks and didn't get up the next morning until 9. It probably could have turned out really sour for us, but she has done surprisingly very well. Even naptime has been fine. I am just waiting for her to discover that she can actually get out of bed without us being in there, so far she just yells for "mama" when she wakes and stays put.

Just shy of 21 months, Audrey switched over to the big girl bed.

Now I get to over-analyze the next upcoming challenges of being a mom: potty training and paci. Both of which, I am in no hurry to do for now.

A pink room. Yup.

You would almost think I made up the whole house remodeling thing, since I haven't posted on it in f.o.r.e.v.e.r. But I didn't. Truuuust me. We are living in our little bungalow now. There isn't a sink, counter tops, dishwasher, or floor in the kitchen. Audrey's door doesn't fit all the way and allows for a 2 foot gap, which results in having to be quiet after 8pm. [Her door doesn't fit because it actually goes on the hallway closest, we just haven't got a door yet for her room.] Trim is lacking in pretty much all rooms (except for existing trim). A light bulb is dangling from our living room and dining room.

On the other hand, we have made TONS of progress. Like a working shower (which I have done dishes in), toilet, and bathroom sink (which I have scrubbed pototoes in). Painting is pretty much done in every room. It is really starting to look like a home. Soon. Very soon. I will be posting pictures of rooms with our stuff in it.

I will at least share a completed room (without stuff in it).

May I introduce you to Audrey's room...

It was no easy task to get to the "after" part. We had to do things like this:

Do you know what they are doing? Scraping plaster off the ceiling. Omgosh. Have you ever done anything like that? Just know, if you saw their face, it would be completely black. NOT. FUN. Once the plaster was scraped then new drywall needed put up. Wait, did I mention there was a drop-ceiling first up? Then the plaster. Oh, and the walls had to be built up to the ceiling, because they were exposed where the drop ceiling was. Awesome, I know. We did everything ourselves (with lots of wonderful friends and family), except install the new beautiful windows. So after the new ceiling, new windows, cleaning poop off the wall (this is not a joke), priming, painting, adding carpet, all new eletrical, new ceiling fan, you get a finished room. And don't forget about this beauty found in Audrey's room.

There you have it folks, one room shared, many more to go. So stay tuned...

Hidden Treasure.

It's been another whirl-wind weekend of working on our new house. [And by new, I mean an old 1930's bungalow.] Saturday was an ALL day work day. And thanks to a lot of friends and family that gave up their day to help us, we were able to get tons accomplished. It's actually starting to look like a home.

In soon-to-be Audrey's bedroom, the hubster found a diamond in the ruff. He decided to remove a wall that was partly covering a floor vent and found this behind it...

Seriously. That is what he found. Grant it, this picture was taken after drywall was put up behind it and has been sanded and primed. BUT we have not touched the woodwork. Isn't it a beauty?

Who in their right mind would cover such a piece? Yeah, we don't know either.

On the other side of that wall is our bedroom, which has already been painted and carpeted and basically completed. So, we don't plan on taking down the wall to expose the other side, we can't afford to lose a bedroom. But, we definitely will keep this side exposed. We are going to place Audrey's bed right in the middle. So it will basically be a gigantic, beautiful headboard.

Oh, and did I mention her room will be pink? Ah, yes, light girly pink. Which leads me to a dilemma I am having. I am looking on Etsy for some wall decals to put in her room. [Love wall decals. In her first nursery I bought little brown birds and put them up. Super cute.]

I think I found the perfect set. From Love Mae Store.

Don't you just LOVE it? The dilemma is this- would it look okay against a very light pink wall? (Please say yes, so I can buy it.) Originally I was looking for some type of dark brown wall decal to accent the hidden treasure and go well against the pink. Then I had to go and find this awesomeness, and I pretty much love that deer. And owl. And tree stump. And hearts.

Oh, what's a girl to do.