The Big Girl Suite!

It's been a looooong week over here, thus the silence on the blog!  Rather than dwell on the many frustrations of raising an almost 18 month old, I thought it would be wise to keep my thoughts to myself (i.e.-not say something I will regret later) and focus on the fun stuff instead.  The rewards of raising a little girl who has a healthy respect for her Mommy and Daddy, who is aware of necessary boundaries, and who understands our love always motivates our discipline, far outweigh the frustrations of today.  That's the goal anyway!  But oh the frustrations...I'm pretty sure I gained more than a few gray hairs this week and she's only 17 months (well almost 17 months).  But a few deep breaths later, many desperate conversations with the Lord, and a strong cup of coffee or two, have helped me realize that our little girl is only transitioning from one stage of dependence to another.  She needs our help figuring out what that means and how to function under our authority, so we are doing our best to help her understand.  I'm choosing to believe that our patience and diligence and her obedience will pay off later, but holy cow, parenting is not for wimps!!  I finally understand that saying...

Anyway, one of the most fun parts of the process has been the transition from her baby nursery to her own "big girl" bedroom!  She is so happy playing in her new room and that makes us feel like all the work was worth it.  We made the right decision to switch rooms and give her (and Carter) more space.  It's no secret that I LOVED designing her nursery and truth be told, I have LOVED designing her first bedroom even more!  I know you've been patiently waiting for the pictures, so here we go...

It's 99.9% done and I am ready to take you on the tour!!  

After searching for a long time online and in stores, this is the color scheme I settled on.  I scored her duvet, her duvet cover, and that pink quilted sham and quilt (not pictured yet) on Craig's list!  It was a Pottery Barn Kids set, from a model home, and it was perfect!  I found darling sheets and more pillows to coordinate at Target.  I didn't plan on doing blue and pink again for her, but I guess I can't help it, I love those colors together!  This time around, I did try to tone down the pink a little (at her Daddy's request) and we added some lime green too.

This is her new rug, which I found at Target, to perfectly coordinate with her new color scheme.

From her door, this is the view of her new room!  

The color on the walls is from the Ralph Lauren Collection at Home Depot.  We used it in her nursery and loved it so much that we carried it through the rest of the bedrooms.  It's called "Cairo Brown" and I learned that they no longer carry Ralph Lauren paints at Home Depot, so they looked up the code and were able to match it with their Behr line of paints.  It's exactly the same and we love it!

Here's another view of the room.  We are so thrilled with all the floor space that Ava inherited, which will be great for Carter too.  Usually this floor is covered with toys and books and pop-up tents :)  As you can see, I haven't hung any window treatments and I'm kind of hoping to keep it that way.  I love the big windows and all the light they bring in, plus we're happy with our wooden blinds.  The jury is still out about whether we'll keep it this way...

Antique dresser, which I kept the same accessories on.

Big girl dresser!  We moved all of Ava's clothes from the changing table to this, so Carter could have that in his nursery.  We're missing a knob, but I'm hoping to switch these all out for something cuter, so I haven't replaced it yet!  

Details make a room!  Here's a good example of some of the lime green I pulled into the room, as well as a sneak peak into our newest "theme"... Retro looking owls!!  So fun!!

Our little snuggle corner :) 

That chaise has always been there, in our master bedroom, but it was too big to move with us and I really wanted a chair for us to read to her in, so it stayed!  It gained a new owl pillow and some pink/green quilts, but I'm happy with how it looks.  Ava loves to sit in it and she can climb up in it all by herself...which is good and bad.  Since this picture has been taken, that kleenex box has been moved from the white table!  Too many shredded kleenexes later and we finally took the temptation away!  I do need to do something about my cord issue...don't like how visible they are :) 

At least once a day, all of those pictures end up in her hands as she oohs and ahhs over herself with both of us :) She loves that she can reach them and see them.  Again, good and bad...

Her daybed was also a score from Craig's list!  We picked up the frame and my parents let us use a mattress from their house, so it was better than we expected for our budget!  I couldn't help but keep those sweet letters above her bed, that was always one of my favorite parts of her nursery :) 

Here's what it looks like with the railing up.  After we pull the duvet back and line the bed with all those shams, it's really like a giant, padded crib and I think that's why she's stayed in it.  She's done great with it and often leans in our arms to get in it at night or for a nap.  Thank you Lord!!

Here is her little play corner, with all her books at her fingertips.  Several times a day, she empties all those bottom two shelves and sits there forever, flipping through book after book.  Thankfully, it doesn't bug me at all to have it all "undone."  I am a reader, but her Daddy is an avid reader, so I hope she inherits that habit.  Plus, 30 minutes of quiet is amazing...why would I interrupt that to make her pick it up??

Her verses from Psalm 121, that we chose for her before she was born.  Still love that promise that the Lord is watching over her with more care, love and wisdom than we could ever give her.  I'm hoping this is a promise we help her memorize and believe!

Toys, toys, toys!  We kept our baskets, which she still sits in all the time, but now we have more space to have other things out too!  Plus, I gained some serious storage room under her daybed, which has been wonderful.

One of my favorite things in her room, is this tree and the little woodland animals scattered throughout the room!  I bought these in a kit from Target (where else??) for $14.99 and NEVER thought they would be as cute or as easy as they claimed to be.  However, I am now a believer in vinyl decor!!  It was so easy, they peel off beautifully and can be moved over and over without losing their "cling."  I spent a couple of hours figuring out where everything would go and Ava was totally excited when she came in a saw all the new "friends" in her room!  The best part about it will be when we're sick of them.  They'll peel right off and we can forget they were ever there!

The birdie that lives under the window :) 

Wild mushrooms that grow on the other side of the window :) 

And a friendly squirrel (is there such a thing??) who lives behind the door.  

The view looking out towards the hallway.

Her shoe basket and coat rack, watched over by 1 of 3 faithful owls :) 

The magic door to Carter's nursery!!  

Don't worry, his tour is coming up next!!

Two fun plates, and the objects of my latest "crafty" phase! 

Because I'm always moving from one "crafty" thing to another...God bless my husband!! 

I've just got one wall to finish, the little wall that you see when you enter the room from the hall, but other than that, it's done!!  

Ava, I know you don't know or probably care about all the time that we poured into this room, but someday when you read this, hopefully you will enjoy knowing how much we love you and thought of you when we created a big girl room for you!  I'm sure you and I will do some debating over the years about your bedroom (and your clothes, and your hair, etc!) but I always want you to know that you have a spot in our hearts and in our home that belongs to you.  You are a gift that God gave us to start our family and no matter how many brothers or sisters He adds to the family, you will always get to be the trailblazer!  We're so thankful that you are growing and thriving into a sweet and spirited little girl, just as God created you to be.  We know you're going to be a wonderful big sister for Carter to know and love soon!!

Hope you enjoyed the "suite" tour...Ha Ha Ha!!  

Carter's nursery is up next, depending on how long Ava continues this great morning nap!!