May milestones, part one

I'd be remiss if I let too much time go by without writing about some big milestones that occurred in the Burpo house last month. (Which, by the way, may have had something to do with the fact that I did not post at all last month.) Of course I already mentioned the big first trip to Disneyland. In addition, we also had a very fun visit from Grandpa Chris and Grandma Karen who were, among other things, kind enough to help us get our front and back yard looking quite lovely for spring. However, there was other big news as well! Three "newsworthy" events, as a matter of fact. And, just so I don't make this one very long and boring post, I've decided to write about them in separate posts. So, here's a recap of the first event of the month:

At last, I'm very proud to report that we can now safely say that Ian will not still be in his crib when he starts high school. Or even kindergarten. Yes folks, as of mid-May he started sleeping in a real, full-size bed. After months of deliberation on furniture, bedding, wall colors, etc., etc. the room finally started coming together on a Saturday morning the second or so weekend of May. And let me say that it was a truly exhausting weekend at that. Grandpa Chris and Grandma Karen had just departed that Friday morning. With Maria still on the DL, the house was due for yet another cleaning, so - after picking up all the paint supplies for Ian's new room - I spent a good chunk of the day doing some manual labor. Woe is me. By Friday eve, as usual, my dogs were barking - which is exactly how you want to feel when you are about to wake up early the next morning to start painting and putting together furniture for a bedroom.

Without going through all the gory details of striped walls that later became unstriped or how perhaps it wasn't the best idea in the world to tackle an all-weekend project the very weekend the grandparents left and we had no time to give Ian any attention - not to mention that his room was torn up - let's just say that by that Sunday eve I was pretty sure that I had been flattened by a Freightliner (run on clean diesel, of course). And Jeff wasn't looking so hot either. It wasn't until a couple of nights later though that we actually put sheets on and Ian spent his first night in his new bed. (And about two weekends later - with the Disney trip in between - that we got the crib down and out of the room.)

The great news is that the transition went off without a hitch, which is I guess what happens when you keep a kid in their crib until almost 3.5 years old. He was so excited to sleep in a real bed and be out of the cage that he even willingly complied when we told him that he was not allowed to come out of his room at nap time or in the morning unless we came in and told him it was okay. Such a naive boy.

I know that a couple of you have asked to see pictures of the finished product. And honestly, I've hesitated to post them because in my mind, the room isn't finished yet and still looks pretty plain. The IKEA lamps I had hoped would work on the bedside tables did not - so that purchase is still TBD. There are picture frames on the dresser with no pictures in them yet (even though the PB signs that come with the frames are quite lovely). We bought knobs for the dresser that need to be installed (more from a functionality standpoint than a looks standpoint). And last but certainly not least - the walls are still strikingly bare. I have a couple of prints (from the Creative Thursday artist on Etsy) on order for framing along with some shelving ideas for above the bed, but it hasn't happened yet. I guess I needed a bit of a break from bedroom decor. So, below is what the room looks like now. I'll post updated pictures in the future when we eventually apply the finishing touches, so to speak.

And as an aside - eventually we'll be replacing the chair and potentially the bookcase since those items will be needed elsewhere before too long. Also, after going back and forth about ten million times on the paint color(s) for the room, I'm happy - no, relieved - to report that I was very pleased with the finished product, which ended being an accent wall of Benjamin Moore's Jalapeno Pepper and another BM more neutral green...of which the name is escaping me right now. Which just shows I'm definitely getting older because normally I would not forget such things. But I guess that's a post for another day.

Until I write again.