Nora's new bed!

Nora has been sleeping in our room for what seems like the duration of her life. She has had weeks or even months when she starts off in her room, but always ends up in bed with us or on a palette on the floor. I knew that she had outgrown her toddler bed (she is so tall) and wanted to get a twin bed for both her and Braden's rooms.

Then I decided if we could find 'full size' beds for cheap, we might as well get them. It will save us from switching beds again in the long run. I didn't mind if the beds were used or even if they looked bad. I could find a way to fix the frames. The plan was just to get new mattresses and box springs for both kids.

Then I decided to simply focus on Nora's room before anything else. After all, Braden still sleeps in his crib (with the rail down because he can crawl in and out...) but nevertheless, he still really likes the comfort of his crib. And he sleeps great. And he never comes out of his room. So he is not the issue. Plus, I didn't want to switch things up and bring about big change for him right before I have Mabel.

When I mentioned the desire for beds to Uncle Mike, it took him no time to tell us that he had 2 full size bed frames in his shed. Both matched.

I wish I would have taken before and after pictures, but I didn't. The beds were a wooden, yellow color, but were in good shape. And they had all the pieces which was another huge plus.

So we moved the frame up to Nora's room. I didn't have a mattress yet and we were gonna have to wait to buy one, but I figured I would paint the frame in the meantime.

And then I had a genius idea. We could use the futon mattress until we got a real one. We aren't using the futon now anyway and when we do it will just be in Mabel's room for an extra bed.

So I painted the frame white:

And added the mattress:
And Nora was thrilled!
It obviously isn't perfect but it will do the job of getting her used to sleeping in her own room until we find a mattress and box springs set. In the meantime, she was so excited and that was all that mattered to me. We all laid and snuggled in her room last night which made her feel special. I'll never forget her walking into the room, covering her mouth and saying, "Oh mommy it's perfect!"
So to her, it is.


Braden's bed will eventually be painted too (probably a brown). But for now, the crib monster lives on. Nora slept in her room for half the night, but at least it was a start.


Tonight we are having a cookout for the young adults of our church. It's super cold here so I'm not sure how this is gonna go. But I'm excited and there will surely be lots of pictures to come!
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Last night Daniel was squeezing Braden to hug him and I said,
"aww buddy tell daddy not to squeeze your guts out.."
To which Braden replied,
"Daddy! Don't squeeze my butts out!"
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