Ashlinn's room has been a labor of love from the moment we discovered we were expecting. We sprayed in a good bit of extra "green" insulation above the room when I was about 2 months pregnant, ripped out the dirtied white carpet and replaced with wood flooring when I was about 6 months pregnant, stripped the deck and rebuilt the guards around it outside of her room not long after that, and filled the room with bits of nursery furniture and safari-themed items. For as much work as this all was and for as much as I loved that boutique crib and matching changing table (yes, you want everything high end and perfect for the first one!), I'd assumed I'd have more of a difficult time parting with her nursery garb, but Ashlinn was beyond words ecstatic about every little bit of change, especially her big girl bed, so the transition was fairly easy and even a bit exciting for me.
Gone are the days of 2am feedings and diaper changes, 4am wake up calls, and red-rimmed zombie parents frantically trying to pull it together for work. As much as I have loved watching Ashlinn develop and fly through every stage, I know we have so much more to look forward to. Her baby days were a necessary step to forming the foundation that will create her life from this moment on (and gear us up for parenting), but it's time to focus on the future. We're in the big girl stage now, and we're loving every minute of it! Her 2nd year has not been without its challenges, but wow has it been fun! It's the perfect mixture of just enough independence to give Mom and Dad an occasional break, but enough dependence on us to allow for lots of hugs, kisses, and cuddle-time (often times with us needing these embraces more than she!). She's our little sweet heart and we're most definitely keeping her.
Anyway, onto the big girl room. We sold off her baby furniture to a lovely first-time parent lawyer couple for about the same amount we purchased it for, and picked up a great Ikea bed that when placed upside-down, converts to a bunk bed. What will they think of next?! I also spotted some really fun bookshelves on Pinterest made of vinyl rain gutters. While I come up with many of the ideas for decorating around our very first house, Ryan is the one who implements them with his labor and power tools. He spent a good amount of time putting together her bed, weather-proofing her door (the one that leads to the outside deck), and installing the rain gutter bookshelves. Without further ado, here is the little lady's new room:
"Thanks, Daddy, for my new rain gutter bookshelves! Now I can see all of my books proudly displayed!"
"Good Night, Gorilla"
"Yaaaaaay! I love my new big girl room!"
Ryan installed the vinyl gutter bookshelves on the opposite wall as well. We'd need about 10 more of these to actually house all of her books, but we can rotate them out as time goes on
Here is the Ikea bed that, when flipped upside down, turns into a bunk bed. FUN! I see many sleepovers "under the stars" in our little girl's future!
Right at her level
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