Jonah

I got to paint letters for a sweet baby that I friend of mine had on Valentine's Day.  Jonah is Asher's little brother.  I tried to keep their names similar in color but unique.  

If you are interested in getting something custom painted, visit www.swirlsandstripes.com for details and pricing. 

Bunk Beds!!

Nola is finally out of her crib!  We kept her in as long as possible.  We lucked out- she never tried to climb out, liked sleeping in it, and even played in it occasionally.  Here she is on her first night in the crib and her last night.

I got a little emotional when I put these two pictures together.

Rob and I had been talking about "big girl" beds for awhile and back in February we had a free weekend to shop around.  We went back and forth about what kind to get her, but eventually settled on bunk beds.  We figured they take up the same amount of space with an added extra bed, which will be nice for sleepovers, visitors, or maybe a future sibling? 

I told Robert when we ordered the beds that I wasn't going to get new bedding until we figured out what the room was going to look like, but after a few minutes of online shopping I decided to have the bedding ready :)  I found the sheets at Pottery Barn Teen and the comforters at Target.  We re-arranged the room after they were set up.

Before

After

Before

After

After

We had a little hiccup when we found a crack after they were assembled.  We had new ones delivered and Nola could still sleep in them while we waited for the new ones, so it worked out.  She has transitioned nicely, it took her about a week and a half to get use to the new normal.  The hardest part is putting her back in bed when she gets out without talking to her or showing emotion.  Especially when she's screaming, "I just want to cuddle a little bit!".   Tragic.  Another downfall is that she use to play in her crib on the weekends until 9:30ish.  Now she comes into our room when she wakes up at 7:30- 8.  I know I shouldn't complain about this-- what 3 year old sleeps in that late?  But still, it's been an adjustment!

Overall it's been a fun experience.  It's really made her feel like a big girl.  I can't believe how grown up she is!

Easter 2015

I was lucky enough to get Thursday, Friday, and Monday off for Easter. Nola went to daycare on Thursday so I could paint and on Friday we ran some errands. On Saturday we heading to Lincoln for a birthday party. We decided to stay the night so we left early to spend some time in the hotel pool.

Nola loves the pool, she would have stay forever if we let her.

The birthday party was for a friend's 4 year old and was at the children's museum. We've been once before and had a blast. The museum was closed for the party so it was really fun to have the place to ourselves. Nola was pretty much content to play by herself, she only joined the party to watch Ainsley open the presents.

The one on the left is when we went in 2013.  She's so little!

She had 2 mallets in her hand- just like Aunt Jessica!

On Sunday we had lunch and did Easter baskets with Robert's family. Nola got spoiled, it was fun.

We got home and were so excited to see that the Easter bunny had stopped by the house (PS the Easter bunny went overboard). She hunted some eggs in the backyard and got a lot of goodies.

She was super excited to fly her kite so we took it out right away. I actually think Robert liked it more!

It was a nice break. Now I'm excited for the final push, then SUMMER BREAK!!!

I love weekends

We had quite a few things planned for last weekend, but only managed to do the fun stuff!  There was an Easter egg hunt in Columbus on Saturday, so we met some friends there.  It was apparent as soon as we got there that Nola was "scared".

Nola is scared of everything.  Santa, people in costume, the vaccum, her new bunk beds, and (news to me!) Easter egg hunts. 

They had sections of the square marked off, one for two-year-olds, three-year-olds, etc.  We stood by the three-year-old rope and waited for our cue.  When the horn sounded Nola refused to go under the rope without me.  So, against egg hunting policy, I went under with her and pointed to eggs for her to get.  Here she is with her loot.

ONE.  ONE EGG AND A PIECE OF CANDY.

We've been practicing egg hunts in the backyard, so I'm surprised she wasn't more aggressive.  I guess it's different when there are other kids around?  Good thing she doesn't have any siblings and/or cousins to compete with on Sunday :)

We had lunch after the hunt, then headed to Omaha to fulfill Nola's week-long dream of going to Build-A-Bear Workshop.  She told her daycare last week that she was going there over the weekend to get an Anna Bear.  She mentioned it to us a few times but we weren't really sure what she was talking about (I think she saw it on a commercial).  When Robert dropped Nola off at daycare on Monday everyone asked where her Anna Bear was--- I guess Nola was so confident she was going that they assumed we were in on it.  She talked about it nonstop this week, so we caved and took her.
When she saw the store in the distances she took off in a sprint.  She started by picking out her bear.

Then she stood on the pedal to fill it up, added a sound button and a heart.

Then she gave her a bath.

Then it was time to put her in the Anna dress, thankfully she didn't want the wig- it's a little creepy.

We got her birth certificate, paid (ouch), and headed out the door.

She loved the whole experience.  We've played "Build-A-Bear Workshop" several times since we got Anna Bear home.

The mall also had these weird animal things that you could ride around for a small fee.  Nola wanted to try the elephant.

Have you ever seen these?  Crazy.

I spent Sunday prepping some chairs to be painted.  Nola helped me sand, then when I lined up the chairs to spray paint she said she wanted to be a chair too.

It made me laugh.  I'm laughing now just thinking about it.

It was a fun weekend.  Today is day two of our 5 day Easter weekend!

  I <3 weekends.