An Even Bigger Big Girl Bed

I purchased this toddler bed off of a local bst site in the spring in anticipation of using it when Mckinley was ready for a big girl bed. I figured since she was doing such a good job sleeping in her converted crib we may as well go balls to the walls and get out the real deal. Since I had bought the bed from someone I did not have any instructions to put it together but I was able to locate instructions online and besides 1 mishap of of putting it together upside down (I had flashbacks of the great fan debacle if 2010). We got it worked out and besides missing 2 non crucial screws that hold 1 of the railings in place (it goes against the wall anyways) it is together and she loves it! She even helped me take her crib apart and I may or may not have whacked her with a board on accident. I am an awesome parent you know. 

Daddy needed a little happy today since sadly his grandmother passed away this morning so he took  Mckinley for a daddy date to get some donuts.  

She couldn't wait to eat her "Nonuts" and sat down in the middle of the floor and went at those doughnut holes like nobodies business! Then she decided they needed to be enjoyed in her new big girl bed. I think she really likes setting her stuff on her new bedside table.

I think she likes it just a little!

I wasn't sure how nap time would go today since it would be easier for her to get out of this bed then the crib with the big blue railing we tested out yesterday and I was not surprised when she took longer to fall asleep, got up a few more times,played more and fell asleep not in her bed but on her new bedside table. We couldn't see her on the monitor anymore and she was very quiet so I snuck in to check and panicked because I don't see her anywhere until I took a closer look. See if you can spot her

Dot worry we transferred her back into her bed because with our luck she would have rolled off of the table she was so lovingly snuggled on and token something. She slept for her usual hour and a glad to two hours and we woke her up for some snuggles and hugs for Nonni and Car Car. 

I will update tomorrow on how tonight went and where she falls asleep. It should be interesting and I am just waiting for her to snuggle into her tent and scare the daylight about of me when I can't find her anywhere! 

Ah parenthood 

A Bed For A Big Girl

I am still not sure what I was thinking or why I decided now was the time for big changes, but for some reason I decided that this weekend was the time for a trial run with the big girl bed. A sweet friend gifted us this bed before Mckinley was born and it was GASP! a drop side crib. I wasn't too worried about this and we just turned the drop side to the wall and we have never had an issue with it. I decided to remove the drop side part of the crib so I just turned the entire bed around and removed the attachments and took the side of the crib off and viola a toddler bed!!!!  We had planned on giving her a big girl bed for Christmas and I even purchased a tiny toddler bed off of a buy/sell site and I planned on redoing it and painting it grey. I guess this was going to be our big girl bed trial run, but it went so well I think we are going to skip the bed redo and save myself a lot of pain and suffering by sticking with the crib turned bed. 

Holy Moly was the monkey excited about this! She climbed in and read books for a half an hour. 

Since this wasn't a convertible bed we didn't have a railing to attach to the bed to keep the wild child from rolling out but I had seen a neat idea on Pinterest about using a pool noodle to create a barrier, but I decided to take it a step further and rolled up a big blanket and stuck that under the bed sheets also. Thankfully Brent's cousins are going to let us borrow a toddler bed rail so we don't have to shell  out any money honey for a new one. 

To add to the excitement of the new big girl bed we decided to go ahead and give her an early Christmas gift. This little girl LOVES her some Buzz and Woody and she was ridiculously excited about her Toys Bed as she calls it.

You think she likes it??

We started our trial run on Sunday during nap time and I am not going to lie because I was pretty nervous about this being a big huge disaster. I decided to apply a technique we use at school for making transitions in the classroom and I told Kinley I was setting and alarm and when it went off it would be time to get in bed, read a book, and lay down. Thankfully she was so excited about her new sheets that when the timer went off she was more then ready to head to her Toys Bed. She fussed for a minute, but to our surprise she layed down and slept for her typical 2 hours. And when the monkey woke up she stayed in her bed for another 30 minutes and then ate her cheese stick  in the bed so I think she kind of liked it.

Then we got scared wondering if night time would go as well as nap time had gone. We went through our usual night time routine of bath, jammies, brush teeth, water, books, prayers, and sugars good night. She fussed a little again, got out of bed once, threw her blankets out, got up and got them, then she got back in bed and went to sleep!

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect such a big transition to go so smoothly. She is slowly testing her limits by getting up and playing a little before going to sleep, she did test the door a few times tonight like a velociraptor testing the fences in Jurassic Park, and she did go to sleep much later than usual tonight, but she is asleep in her big girl bed and I am so proud of my big girl.

Go Tigers Go!

A few weeks ago we decided we wanted to torture ourselves and take the girl to a basketball game. My parents were going out of town and offered to let us and my sister use their game tickets. I was not very excited about this and knew I would probably be exhausted since this was also Parent teacher Conference night, but I decided to suck it up and go just to get out of the house. This also happened to be during the great terrible two's of 2013. I thought there was no way in hell we would be able to sit through an entire basketball game much less actually enjoy ourselves. I guess I didn't give my girl enough credit and I forgot her love for anything fun. We parked as close as we could to the venue and after a cold glass of wine before heading out we went in guns blazing. I wasn't worried about my sweet girl acting like an angel because I am a mom and I am prepared for a full on floor rolling melt down all times. I was more worried about disturbing the lovely people around us especially since we would be sitting on the lower level with the rich people.

 We arrived before the game started which gave us a little time to gauge how the night would go and with a tiger hug and some loud music she was set.

The Tiger was standing at the end of our row when we walked up and my girl who doesn't know what Stranger Danger means ran right up to him and watched his every move the entire game.

Watching the band and the Tiger.

She had 3 laps to choose from .

Taking a break from sitting. She would tell me she had to go potty and when I would say no because we had just gotten up and walked up which means me carrying her up 3 flights of stairs, she would then try "I have to poop" I may or may not have said you have on a pull up so go ahead and go.

God bless you tiny milk boxes.

Why yes I let my child crawl on the floor. She is happy and that is all that matters.

We left with four minutes to go and a 20 point lead. We were about 2 hours past bedtime and my girl was sleepy, but happy. It was a much quieter ride home.

I haven trying to talk my dad into a Kinley Papa date to one of the next games, but he just keeps looking at me and laughing.

Time

Please keep Brent and his family in your prayers these next few days, weeks, months. His grandmother is ill and we do not know what time will bring. 

I am so thankful we went to visit Ma last weekend and I adore these pictures I snapped. Mckinley has always had a sweet spot for her Ma Ma and even during her shy phase always had a sugar for her. 

We love you Ma.

The Good And The Bad

It has been so long since I was able to call myself a runner and it seems  I have forgotten a few things that come with it. 

#1. Somedays you feel like you could qualify for the Olympics and other days you can barely run a mile. This was me today. Thursday I was running an 8 minute mile and today I could barely run 2.5 miles. My legs were heavy but I was breathing fine. I just couldn't seem to push myself past it and ended why should have been a 4 mile run a mile and a half early. Maybe I wasn't ready to up it a mile and need to stick with 3 miles for another week or so or maybe it was just a bad run. 

#2. If you don't use it you lose it and his is something I can really understand. In 2009 I could run 14 miles, but due to some medical issues I was basically forced to stop running. That means I was starting from scratch and couldn't even run a mile without stopping to walk. I never thought I would be able to run 1 mile again and I can now run 3 miles. Next up comes 5 miles and hopefully by spring I can get back on my favorite trail. 

#3. The more you run the hungrier and thirstier you get. I am finding myself chugging more and more water these days and I am hungrier than usual. My diet had drastically changed since the last time I was running consistently and I can't rely on my pre run english muffin pizzas anymore. Now I am not anywhere near my ling distance pizza runs, but I guess I will have to find a gluten free substitute as my distance grows. 

#4. It takes time. My running buddy and I decided to run a half marathon before we started running. We started training in March 2009 and ran the half in December 2009. It took us 10 month running 3-4 days a week to get to 13 miles and we upped our miles every month. I need to remember this. My goal for next year is to run the Road Race Series. It begins in July and runs until November. It consists of 2 5k's, 2 5milers, 2 10k's, 2 10milers, and 2 half marathons. I think by then I could definitely be running 5 miles consistently and a great way to train for the St. Jude half in December  

So slow and steady for now and maybe my legs will start to remember what they can really do. For now I am happy with where I am am and where I am going 1 mile at a time. 

All Clean

This happened today

My house hasn't been this clean since before school started and I had all day to nothing but play with my girl and clean during naptime. My goal is to keep our tiny space uncluttered and to do I chore each day. The dishes will if course be done everyday as usual, but if I divide and conquer it won't get too overwhelming. 

Add my 3 mile run on top of my cleaning spree and I am feeling pretty accomplished today!