Sleeping Positions!

This was one of my favorite blog postings from last year - & I love it again this year! Maree would be all over her crib, but usually had her face mashed up in the corner of it - now Ellie does the same!  I love going in after they've fallen asleep only do discover them in some crazy position - how kids can sleep like this is beyond me… but so worthy of a picture! 

I will start with Miss Ellie.  Her first 2 months of life she slept swaddled and slept like a dream... 6-8 hours!!! BUT, she got too long to be swaddled and hardly slept at all & her newfound flailing arms woke her up constantly.  I then found just an arm swaddle, and this did help her sleep about 4 hours at a time, but eventually, she just got too big period and nothing helped her sleep more than 45 minutes so we switched her to the crib.. and after a few nights of crying, she has slept 7:30-7:30 every night! 

At 4 months… sleeping in the pack-n-play, in our room, in a nap nanny, with her arms swaddled… doesn't really look very comfortable! 

Then she moved into the crib and slept like a monkey!!  She LOVED to hold the side of the crib or the bumper pad (Now I have the mattress lowered so it doesn't happen anymore)

Of course sideways sleeping is always fun too

classic buns in the air pose

More often than not tho, I find her like this..

Miss Maree sure loved the heck out of her crib and was getting to the age that she would take my hand and literally drag me to her room, point to the crib, and say night-night.  But as I said, I'm SO happy I made the switch to putting her in a big girl bed and she loves it too.

I had to get one last picture of her sleeping in her crib - Oct. 1, 2013

Her first nap in her big girl bed - all sprawled out!

We did learn after the first night, however, that if she got out of bed on her own.. she couldn't get back in b/c the bed was too high - so after we found her like this the next morning, a stool was then in order !

She's obsessed with her blankie and often sleeps with it over her head… and when she wakes up in the morning and comes out… she ALWAYS has the blanket on her head.

Apparently she wanted to breathe through then netting of her bed rail

One night we had a lot of company and of course, she wanted to come out and stay up… we told her she had to stay in her room and go to bed… I guess she stayed in her room, but got as close to us as possible!

Always makes me a little nervous when she sleeps so far on the edge!

 I have about 10 pictures of her sleeping right in the crack between her bed and the wall… 

This one kills me every time… really?!! Who sleeps like this?! 

We came home from a night out one time and found her in bed with her Hawkeye book… Marc was so proud

She pulled her name off the wall, found her tooth brush, and then decided she could go to sleep

New Rooms

This is another WAY overdue post (3.5 months overdue) - but I was waiting on a few last pieces to complete each room!  The day before Maree's birthday (Oct. 2) I decided Ellie needed to be sleep trained.. which means she needed the crib….  I wasn't sure how I felt about this because I loved having Maree "confined" in a crib & just knew she would be swinging from the ceiling fan if I took her out.  But after a solid month of Ellie only sleeping 45 minutes at a time at night, I decided it was time to make the switch.

SO Maree got a big girl bed for her birthday!  It is a full size bed and has a trundle underneath.  I specifically wanted a full size because I wanted us all as a family to be able to lay down on it together and read bedtime stories & I have to say…. if I would have known how much more I like our night time ritual with this new bed & how well Maree would transition to it… I would have given Ellie the crib at birth!!!

The first night Maree did try to get out of bed immediately about 5 times.. I just waited at her door knowing she was coming & would scoop her up and say "It's night-night time, & you have to stay in bed now"… after the 5th time.. she understood she had to stay there and we really haven't had any issues with it since October! I will say that 2 nights ago I was sound asleep and had this feeling something was looking at me… I woke up to Maree's face peering over the edge of our bed - Scared me to death!!! She'd never gotten up, traveled the length of the house, and come to wake me up… ever!   

Maree's "old" Room before we made the transition

After the transition!

The bed skirt was made by my best friend's mom - Pam Gude! 

I painted these and was pretty impressed with the outcome!

Now don't laugh… because this is sad and funny at the same time…. before Maree was born, I had her room so completely decorated it was perfect….. and this is how Ellie's room looked for her first 4.5 months of life…. I'm sorry Ellie, I promise I LOVE you just the same!!

But I did finally get around to decorating it!

Yes, I photo shopped Ellie's name in so you get an idea of what it will look like.. Marc's company is cutting her name out of wood so it matches Maree's… it just hasn't happened yet!

 Both rooms still need curtains, but for now, they are pretty complete and I love them both!!  I will try to get some sleeping pictures posted too.. because those are the best pictures of all!!!

Christmas 2013

Christmas 2013 was a lot of fun… and a lot of work too!  I'm always so excited to see everyone, and then so excited for life to return to normal/slow down.  Flying with the two little ones wasn't the most pleasant of experiences.  I wheeled Maree through the airport strapped in her carseat and this was actually amazingly helpful.  However, once she was strapped into her seat on the plane, there was hardly any leg room and she spent the first 30 minutes of the flight kicking the seat in front of her… finally I got her calmed down enough to let me put the headphones on so she would watch a movie, but it was a constant game of "what can I use to entertain you next".. oh, and managing a crawling 7 month old.  BUT the flight home was much easier because it was during Maree's nap time.. and thank God for that & Marc for all his help, because I had come down with the flu that day.

Seeing Pella friends and family is always so good - we miss everyone a lot so having a few days to catch up was great!  Maree also got a lot of play time in with her cousin Madeline.. it will be an interesting few years with these two together.. neither one knows how to share!!  Stan and Gayle's house is always so amazing at Christmas - The food, company, and decorations are amazing.  

Seeing my side of the family was really exciting too because we got to meet my new niece Jordynn Reese for the first time - crazy she was almost 3 months old already!!  It was also fun to watch my older nieces Anna and Caylee basically babysit Maree - it was a heavenly break for Marc and I!!!  Christmas in Missouri was a bit nostalgic too, every one of my childhood Christmases were spent at her house, but the house hasn't been used in a while now because my grandmother now lives at an assisted care facility.   SO, it was a lot of work for my mom, to decorate/clean/prepare a house that has been unused...but she did a beautiful job and we all had a great time!