Goodbye 2010, Hello big girl bed

So one of our first projects of 2011 was rearranging Taylor's room to make space for her big girl bed. And if you want to get technical, the absolute first thing we did once the sun came up on 1.1.11 was devour a ginormous pancake breakfast, and then we strategized as to how we were going to fit a twin bed AND a crib AND a changing table AND lots and lots of toys into the not-so-huge room that Taylor is in.

You see, Chris and I moved into our house nearly seven years ago. And for a newlywed couple with a chocolate lab puppy, it was a palace. But throw in a toddler, all our stuff and now a baby-on-the-way, you can safely say that we're a bit cramped. It's not that I want a much bigger house then I have - Lord knows I don't want anymore space to keep clean - It's just that our three-floors are laid out with two bedrooms on the second-story and one bedroom in the basement. And while huffing it up two flights of stairs whenever one of the kiddos is hungry, crying, whatever would definitely help the baby weight come off, it makes more sense to just have Taylor and Baby share one of the upstairs rooms until we find a new house. Yep, we're six months pregnant and house hunting… We're an HGTV nightmare.

And because I promised everyone that Taylor would move into her big girl bed once Christmas was over, and because all of our holiday guests had visited and left, we decided that this past weekend was the day to move one of our twin guest beds upstairs and get our toddler out of her crib. And since I'm in no shape for heavy lifting, and way too scatterbrained to make design decisions, Taylor and I adventured to Target to pick out bedding while my wonderful husband sweated out the previous evening's fun by moving furniture up two flights of stairs all by himself.

And while Chris definitely had the more physically demanding of the two jobs, I was placed in an ugly battle of the wills over what bedding would be on the new big girl bed - OF COURSE she wanted the entire Disney Princess bedroom set, and I was totally in love with a cute, bright flower comforter and sheets. And after plenty of squeals and whines, and a phone call to Chris in protest, we finally agreed on the Princess sheets and a solid-colored, not-Princess quilt. Truce. She gets to sleep on her Cinderella pillow every night, and I get to cover up the hideous, matching sheets every morning.

And after returning home and making up her new bed, our little Princess was so excited to get in her bed that she asked to skip lunch and go right to nap time. And then she cuddled up in her new space and slept for two hours.

And after attending a New Year's party that afternoon, we got home and Taylor immediately requested we all go upstairs just so she could look at her new room. She absolutely LOVES her big girl bed, and has been sleeping like a champ in it. And I don't think she realizes yet that she can get in and out on her own free will, as each afternoon and morning she just lays under her Princess sheets and reads a book, waiting for us to come in and snuggle up beside her and say that it's time to get up. Which I am totally fine with.

So we have successfully conquered one more milestone in de-babying Taylor. And just saying that makes my heart ache a bit. Because even after Baby arrives, Miss T will ALWAYS be my sweet baby girl. Just hopefully one that won't have a binky in her mouth and will at some point be wearing big girl undies. But we will tackle those battles in due time, and hopefully with the same triumph and savvy as we did with this transition. Regardless, we are very proud of our little girl.