Elle's New Room

 

As we begin to prepare for our second little Davis one of the big adjustments we knew we would face is moving Elle out of the crib.  I think we are probably the only family who's two and a half year old is still in their crib but really up until now we have had no reason to move her.  She is the perfect sleeper, she's never tried to climb out and she was trapped, you knew where she'd be when you came back in to check on her.  

Alas, it was time.  We had to decide whether we would leave her in the nursery designed for her or move her into my office and design a "Big Girl" room.   It made the most sense to make the move to a new room and leave the nursery as is.  On the long weekend Matt painted and I sewed while Elle napped and we finished her room.  To say she loves her room would be an under statement...she lights up and shows me everything in her room every time we go in there.  "These are my books, this is my bed..." she is so thrilled.  Everything fits perfectly and we were able to set up her kitchen and little table with more space and a better layout then in her previous room so we are all thrilled.

 

 

Along with the switch to her new "Big Girl Room" we decided to pull the "plug".   As I was mentioning earlier our daughter has been a champ sleeper since the day we brought her home.  She will sleep anywhere anytime.  We would hand her her "plug" (passifier) and her blanket and she would sleep.  Getting rid of the plug kept getting postponed for that very reason.  We travel a lot and while that throws a lot of kids off, she would be fine....plug, blanket out cold, no matter where we were.

Moving into her new room was a big step but we thought if we explained it to her as part of being a big sister and if it was going to be an adjustment with her new found freedom, we mind as well do it all at once.  So, the day we completed her room and showed it to her we asked her if she wanted to sleep there, she said "Yes" not even looking back one time.  She knew it was her room and she will explain to anyone who shows any interest that her baby sister will sleep in the crib and that the nursery is her baby's room.  This was great, so easy, probably too easy.  We told her that babies need plugs and that she would have to leave it in the crib...still fine.  She moved on. 

We prepared ourselves for the challenge and put her to bed day one.  She seemed a little unsure about going to sleep alone in her room but we convinced her it was okay, gave her a nightlight and left the door open.  Many people warned us she would get out of bed and it would take a few nights to adjust but nothing prepared us for the reality of what switching our perfect little sleeper into her new room would be like.

She stayed in her bed and would call out for me periodically but would then go silent.  She talked to herself and her "friends" in her room from 8 pm until 12:30...that's right our two year old was up until 12:30.  While I was super happy she stayed in her room and for the most part in her bed, I was not happy with her new bedtime.  Night number two she went to bed cried for about 10 minutes then fell asleep, awesome!  When she went silent I went in to check on her I found her in her bed with Belle out cold.  She didn't go to bed with Belle but if that's what she needed to sleep I'm totally fine with it.  I thought this is it, one night and she has adjusted.

 

Unfortunately I was wrong.  Over the past week, we have continued to adjust.  Some nights are better than others, but it has been a transition for all of us.  We allow her to read books in her bed as long as she stays in her bed and we go and put her back into her bed whenever we hear her out of bed.  We check on her periodically but it is taking a long time for her to fall asleep, we've even begun to shorten her naps in an effort to get her to sleep better.  It seems she is a little bit of a night hawk lately she has been falling asleep anywhere from 10:30-12:30.  She takes a long time to wind down, kinda like someone else I know...cough, her dad, cough.  While this stresses me out, I am trying to allow this adjustment to happen and we are just happy we started this transition with enough time to get her settled before the real craziness happens when baby number two is added.

One of our favourite things to do once she falls asleep is to go in and take a picture of how she is sleeping.   There is no telling how you will find this kid, and for the record, yes we do leave her how we find her.  Take a look, have a laugh and pray for us as we continue to transition.

Snow Day!

 Today, we got a snow day!  I haven't been able to say that in years but today due to the insane weather conditions even Matt was home from work.  It's not the snow that was the problem, it was the amount and the unstoppable dump we got.  This is probably the largest accumulation in one day I have seen in a long time and by far the greatest we have seen since moving to Canada.

After a relaxing morning, snuggling in bed and watching Kelly and Michael we went out to "shovel" the driveway as a family.  Some people are better shovellers than others....

Elle wants to be just like her Daddy so I grabbed a few of her sand toys and set her to work.  She was happy as can be "helping" clear the snow.

 

 She started using her pail for the larger sections.

The snow was really blowing so it created deeper snow drifts.  There was one on the side of our house that came up to Elle's waist.  She thought it was funny until Matt walked away for a picture, so he posed with her.

We love our sweet girl and were thrilled at the opportunity to have Daddy home and get a long weekend.

 

Long Hair....

For a while now, I've been wanting to get Elle's hair cut...

Sweet Girl playing in her room by herself,  with very long hair

I think there were a few things holding me back.....

1. We loved her long hair, we get compliments on it all the time and I see so many other kids her age that don't have much hair at all.  We feel blessed for great hair and it really is part of who she is.  I was also obsessed with her messy bun, a terrible hair day could go unnoticed with a messy bun and big bow, Matt even used my dry shampoo on her hair when getting her ready for church alone...(haha don't tell anyone).
2. I don't have time to get my own hair cut, let alone get her an appointment, take her, pray she behaves...I really think I should get to pamper myself before my very spoiled two year old???
3. I just couldn't decide...Where to take her? How much to cut off? Do I want to do this?  Will she behave?

A large part of it was, she is growing up way too fast and hanging on to her hair seemed to keep her young?  Can you tell it's time for another baby? I was at a mall in Toronto and saw this cute place called Melon Heads and thought, if they can't do it, no one can.  I am sure they have seen every level of freak out from a child who doesn't want their hair done, so my if Elle decides she doesn't want to do this she will just blend in.  I still was not 100% sure I wanted to cut her hair, so we did a  walk by in the stroller and I asked her if she wanted to get her hair cut in one of the cool chairs.  When she said "No, I will just watch" I was kinda relieved, we watched for a few minutes then want about our shopping.  A few minutes later she said "I want to go sit in the  Thomas..."  I double checked..."you want to get your hair cut?", "Yeah, in the Thomas".  So I took her back and they took her right away...no changing your mind.

This place knows what they're doing!  They have 5 chairs, all different types of things you can sit on, a train, a motorcycle, a horse, a pink car ect.  The kids pretend to drive while facing a tv showing all the latest cartoons and get their hair done.  For the little girls, they cut their hair then do something pretty like braids and finish it off with glitter hairspray.  And finally, they charge anxious parents like myself, a fortune for treating their baby like a princess and getting through this whole ordeal without a single peep.

Was it worth it?  ABSOLUTELY
Will we be be going there again?  YOU BETTCHA!

Of all the choices, she wanted Thomas...she thought this was the greatest thing ever!  In the end, her hair cut is cute, it's still long and we were both happy!  Matt's response to all this?  "It's just another reason for us to go shopping in Toronto!"  I love him!

It's Freezing Cold in These Parts....

Before leaving for Florida for Christmas we had not seen much in the way of winter around here.  Ever since we have been back we have seen the winter in full force.  Not a ton of snow, just a bit but the weather has been freezing cold.  Today it is -18 without the wind chill, reason enough for me and the girl to ball up and spend the day catching up on laundry, cleaning and checking in with our friends Kelly and Micheal!

One of the fun things about being married to a Floridian is that some of our "new" experiences with Elle are firsts for Matt as well.  I take for-granted a childhood filled with snow days and playing in the snow.  When Matt saw a picture of my niece and nephew on a GT Snow Racer, he wanted to know what is was and wanted to try it.  A GT is a common snow sled found in any Canadian child's garage.   It is a seat built up on two ski's with a steering wheel on the front, it also comes with breaks you step on to slow down after you land sweet jumps...haha made for boys I think.

On our last day of Christmas holidays, when I should have been doing laundry and catching up, we took Elle (and Matt) out for a spin.  They loved it...Elle kept yelling again, again!  Matt wanted to try it on his own, probably be a little more reckless than he would be with E on the front but she wouldn't let him.  Every time he got to the top of the hill without her she would yell "wait for me Daddy!"

Matt definitely got his workout dragging her to the top of the hill after each run.

 

We then decided to build our first family snowman.  The snow was just the right "stickiness" to build a great snowman.  And yes, Elle is wearing running shoes, we went out and bought her proper boots after this, I refused to let her wear her new cute boots from Pops and Gigi in fear she would ruin them....I know, Mom of the Year!

Matt was serious, donating his hat and mitts for the cause!

Time to get caught up

With Baby Number two on the way it is time to get this blog up and running again.  I do apologize for the break, it's not for a lack of blog worthy stories, we have just been so busy!

We had a wonderful Christmas with our sweet girl and both our families.   We celebrated the reason for the season while also getting excited about our new little one who will celebrate with us next year.

18 Weeks Pregnant with Elle

16 Weeks Pregnant with Baby #2, Elle is saying "cheese" but couldn't take her eyes off her new toys!  Matt says this angle made me look bigger than I am, either way I love our matching jammies!

I hope you all had a safe and exciting Christmas and I pray that 2013 brings you as much joy and excitement as we are looking forward to in our family!

My how she's grown....

We were looking at old pictures of Elle as a baby and decided to try and re-create this photo.

Here's our attempt...

She's a little bigger now...I am actually impressed Matt was able to do it at all!

Elle's Garden

Nana and Grandad, this post is for you!

Two years ago when Elle was first born Nana and Grandad came to visit and Grandad worked on what was eventually named Elle's garden.    He spent time pulling weeds and planting flowers to make a back garden beautiful.  Two years later we spent a Saturday as a family in the garden.  We pulled the weeds and tidied it up to make it look pretty out our basement doors.  

Elle LOVED helping!

Anything Matt did, Elle did!!!

 

Matt and Elle worked hard all morning while I laughed, took pictures, applied sunscreen, got drinks and made lunch for my gardening team.

What a big girl!  I love watching her mimic Matt and I as she grows and explores her world!