Climbing, Moving, and Rearranging

Can you believe this sweet face could be a little trouble-maker?? Well, he has been keeping us on our toes...He has had several incidents of climbing half way out of his crib in the past few days, and getting stuck in between the wall and the crib...Hard to explain, but very scary. It got to the point where I was basically just staring at the video monitor until he was all the way asleep because I was so afraid he was going to literally hang himself. I was researching crib tents, and trying to figure out what to do (NOT ready to have them in toddler beds yet!), when I realized the answer was right in front of me. We were lucky enough to borrow a crib from our good friends the LeBlanc's, and Lila has been in it from the beginning...Looking at it yesterday before naps, I realized that it is actually deeper than our crib...In addition, Lila is now almost 2 inches shorter than Bennett- so, she would definitely be safe in our crib!! Yeah!! So, last night we did the big switcheroo...Bennett was not a happy camper when he realized that he could not escape his bed anymore! But, David and I slept much more soundly!!

In addition, David and I have been brainstorming about ways to make our house "work" better for us...We really don't need anymore square footage (nor do I want to attempt to keep more space clean!), but the downstairs has just been feeling so cluttered and there are toys in every room. Even the dining room! There needs to be SOME adult space!

Well, we are really excited with what we decided to do. Lila and Bennett have been sharing the biggest bedroom upstairs. The reason we put them in that room was because I wanted to have a rocking chair and a changing table in the room with them...Well now that they are pretty impossible to keep on a changing table, and because we rarely rock them, we've decided they don't need all of that space when all they basically do is sleep in their room. So, we are moving them into the tiny room that we have been trying to use as a playroom (without much success- way too small) and converting their room into a big playroom! I'm going to paint the old playroom the same color soft blue (that I stole from the Brister's-LOVE it) that their bedroom is...Then the two rooms will be the same color and everything will flow...Plus, that way I can use their same bedding, etc...The little room is just big enough for two cribs and the rocker, and NOTHING else...Our changing table converts into a dresser/tv stand, so we will continue to use that in the new play room...In addition, we have an adorable child size armoire that was David's when he was a child that is PERFECT for dress-up storage, and I found this EXACT table (in espresso finish) at a consignment store for less than 1/3 of the sale price at pkids! Thought it would be perfect for trains, tea parties, and art projects!!!

Our one big purchase is some wall storage with doors and baskets...But, we measured everything and made sure this is something that could stay in the room if we eventually want to give each of the kids their own room, and it is something that we could take with us if we ever do move...And lastly, I am going to pull the sewing machine out of the closet and attempt to make some cozy floor pillows (cannot BELIEVE how expensive those can be!) for the floor! As you can tell, I am very, very excited about the change and think the kids are going to love having more space! In a perfect world, we would love to have this on the first story of our house, but we have just decided to focus on what we have and how we can better use it, instead of wishing for more! I'll post some pictures when the project is done!

On a more serious note, please keep my brother (aka Uncle Jared) in your prayers, like so many peoples' companies, his is going through lay offs right now. We are just praying that his job will be ok..I know he is stressing as he is getting married in less than 3 months!

Have a good week...

Love, Nicole