All Growed Up! (insert ugly cry face)

Well, to say that I was super excited about Immi going to sleep in her own room would basically be a lie – A BIG FAT JUICY LIE –  I was dreading that day…BUT seeing her so happy and proud about having her very own big girl room makes my mama heart do cartwheels!  That mama struggle is real folks…SO heart-breaking to see your babies become, well, not babies…but the JOY (oh and it’s a powerful joy) that comes with seeing those babies grow and accomplish is so amazing.  And even though I wasn’t excited about her leaving my bed…I wanted her to be excited.  So we plotted out her perfected big girl room.  IMG_1857

You probably recognize a bunch of the stuff.  I like to use/buy stuff for her birthday parties, that I can repurpose – like the giant framed floral unicorn above her bed, you can see from her 3rd birthday party over at 100layercakelet.

Her favorite part of her room are these gorgeous giant flowers from Urban Walls.   Now when she goes to other people’s houses, she says “you know what is a good idea? flowers on your wall…good idea, right?”   And THEN – I came across this freaking amazing bed set….that was ON SALE…that matched PERFECTLY with the flowers at Target!

I got this headboard from Urban Outfitters during the Dorm Sale!! SCORE!  I with they made it for a king size bed!

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The cute gold wire shelf is part of Target’s Pillow Fort Collection.  You know, the section you walk by and all you can hear are mom’s saying “OMIGOSH, so-and-so NEED this”….bravo target…bravo.

The teepee has been around since before Immi was born.  You can see if in her old nursery from our old place over at Little Umbrella (formerly On To Baby).

The butterfly pin board was a total impulse buy.  Our favorite mall, WestField UTC, is being remodeled and adding a ton of new stores, so we popped into Pottery Barn Kids to see what they were up to.  Lord help us when all the development is done and there are 90 NEW SHOPS OF FIRST-TO-MARKET RETAIL AND HIGH END, CHEF-DRIVEN RESTAURANTS for us to spend our DOLLA-BILLS at.  Be sure to check out all that is in store for us here.

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Our Tassel Garland is from one of our most favorite Tassel Fairy, and fellow unicorn lover…Studio Mucci.  I’m thinking we need another one to drape over the unicorn print… because there isn’t already enough sparkle :P. Whatchya guys think?

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And yes…her mattress is on the floor.  It eased my fear of her falling out of her bed and waking up…this way, she rolls out, she rolls out… no bombs, bruises…infact, the one time i saw that she rolled out, I don’t think she even woke up.

//Unicorn lamp//

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If I forgot to list something and where i got it, definitely feel free to ask about any of the other items you see here!  // Plush Unicorn Head // Starry Globe Night Light // DIY Peg Dolls from Goose Grease.

Our independent, VERY opinionated little lady wanted to help every step of the way – from painting, to putting up the wall decals, to deciding what goes on the shelves. So it’s necessary to show some of the behind the scenes videos/shots.  Seriously – cutest painting glasses ever! I love her so much.  and I really can’t wait to see whats coming next with her. Now excuse me while i go plop my face in her pillow and take a big whiff of whats left of that sweet baby girl smell.

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The Intern… co-sleeping.

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Have you seen the movie the intern?  it’s really great – funny, sweet, entertaining… i can’t say enough good about it.  however, the particular bond i now have with this movie, isn’t because of how good the actual movie…but this scene.  This scene is shortly after Anne Hathaways character puts her daughter to bed, and then she crawls into bed.  This…right here.  THIS scene, is where my little tiny co-sleeping daughter asks “mama, where is their baby”.  it hadn’t really dawned on me before that she doesn’t realize that a lot of kids sleep in there own room.  sleeping with us is all she knows…well, kind of.

yes, there are numerous studies that explain the benefits of co-sleeping (and there are also numerous that debate said benefits)…but regardless, that is not how or why we have ended up here.

immi started out in her own little co-sleeper that was attached to the side of the bed.  and she was there for several months.  at this point i can’t remember when she grew out of it…but shortly after that, we moved her to her crib…in which i’d wake up once or twice a night to nurse, and then bright and early in the AM….this was fine, until I ruptured my achilles AND my husband was traveling for weeks at a time.  before he left, we moved the crib into our room, so all i had to do was stand up (on one leg) pick her up, and lay with her in bed to nurse… well, do you know how easy it is to nurse a baby to sleep and then just catch some Zzzz’s while your at it. yep… it was amazing!  i was getting decent sleep!  it became habit…she’d get put to bed in her crib, and then when she’d wake up between 4 or 5am…i’d bring her into bed with me and get just an hour or two more sleep.  well, fast forward to numerous viruses, fevers, nightmares, etc…and endless nursing…she ended up in bed with us more so than not… we went through phases of being in the crib, phases on being in the bed, round and round…then came the solidifier.  hubs going overseas for 3 months.  to help me sleep, and to help immi feel more secure, i just brought her into bed with me.  it really just came down to both of us getting more sleep.  there are other benefits that come with her sleeping with us.  let’s be real…i’m a working a mom… a lot of nights, i don’t get home until 7-7:30…that means a quick dinner and bed time.  co-sleeping allows us to squeeze in any extra morsel of time we can to be together.  we’re together when she falls asleep…and i’m right there to see her sweet groggy smile first thing in the morning –  and now here we are. co-sleeping.  so, i guess the moral of the story is that no matter your parenting philosophy, we all do what we gotta do.

hugs,

nikki

 

The Nightly Struggle

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this post has been on my mind for so long now.  it basically goes through my head every night as i watch this babe’s eyes flutter for the last time for the day.

bedtime…i wanna talk about THE REAL struggle that happens on a nightly basis.  i’m not talking about the constant pleas to watch ONE MORE paw patrol…or the tooth brush battles…or the “NO. I’M NOT WEARING THOOOOOOSE PAJAMAS”.  i’m talking about how the entire time i am literally FIGHTING her to go to bed, i too just want one more hour with her, one more hour to listen to her laugh, to watch her play princess, to snuggle with her… i’m never ready to say goodnight, rather good-bye (i know…slightly over-dramatic), to the tiny person i got to know today…but i’ve seen what happens –  in the morning, she’s going to be a little bigger, know a little more, be a little more independent (and let’s face it….she’s is PLENTY independent)….and as much as that makes my mama ego SWELL – on a selfish, and vulnerable level, my heart just shatters.   thank goodness she sleeps with us – but we can get into that later.

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