and just like that, my baby grew up

Be aware, this post is going to be long, sappy, and will have lots of pictures.  If that’s not your bag, you may not want to go on…

Saturday morning was a normal morning.  We woke up, got Owen out of his crib, ate breakfast, played, etc…  The big boy room had been set up for a couple of weeks but we had yet to attempt to have Owen sleep in the room.  We weren’t planning on trying it out on Saturday, but we had nothing better to do, so we thought, “What the heck…let’s give it a whirl.”

Friday night, Owen went to sleep in his baby room.  It looks like this…very gender neutral, very baby, very well used, and now, very nostalgic.

If you look closely at the crib, you can see the little bite marks where Owen broke in his new chompers.  If I removed the yellow blanket, you’d see a whole lot more of his handiwork.

I’ve changed countless diapers on that changing table.  Those pictures that I hung above that table only 2 short years ago have been glued together so many times.  Before having a baby, I never would have thought that putting pictures that close to the changing table could be hazardous.  Oh the things you learn…

I love Owen’s nursery.  I have so many wonderful memories of him going from a tiny baby to a crazy little boy.  I didn’t think I’d get this emotional about moving him into his big boy room.  Maybe it’s a mom thing.  Every little exciting milestone also marks your child growing up and getting just a little bit more independent.  The first night he spent in his big boy bed was exciting…but when I walked by his nursery and the light was off and the door was open, I couldn’t help but get a little teary (okay, maybe more than a little teary, but we can attribute that to pregnancy hormones in part, right??).  The sheet on his crib still had the indentation of his body from the night before.  His books were still spilling out of their baskets because he loves to sit and read them and then put them away on his own.  I know that I’m about to have another baby that will live in this nursery, but this weekend still marked the last time my first baby would use it…and that made me a little sad.

On a much lighter note, Owen must have been ready for the transition to the big boy bed because he has done GREAT!  He gets giddy every time we tell him it’s time for bed or a nap.  We were expecting a horrible transition because, well, Owen hasn’t made a whole lot of things easy on us.  But, so far, this might be the easiest thing we’ve attempted with him yet!  We have been incredibly surprised that Owen hasn’t attempted to climb out of his bed once.  I think that has to do partly with the fact that the bed is high and he’s a little nervous about getting off of it when the lights are on…I think he might just not want to try it when the lights are off!  Whatever it takes!

Anyway, here are some pictures of Owen’s new super hero bedroom.  Oh yeah, and he calls Batman a duck.  So maybe the theme of this room excites Travis more than Owen at this stage of Owen’s life, but someday he’ll think it’s cool!

Thanks to the grandparents and great-grandparents for Owen’s furniture. What a great Christmas present!

Let me pause for a second from the picture sharing and have you notice the rug.  I know, it looks like nothing special.  I really wanted a good sized area rug for his room so he had a comfy place to play.  I started pricing them and thought we’d have to spend quite a bit to get one I liked.  I went to Lowe’s and found this rug…it’s a 5×8 beige frise shag rug…and I paid $5 for it!  Here’s the story:  evidently this rug had been returned.  When I had the Lowe’s guy do a price check he found that this rug had a stain on it.  He saw it, got frustrated and said, “Aw, you don’t want this rug.  We’ll get rid of it for $5 to someone.”  Being the bargain hunter that I am, I immediately asked him if he was serious and then asked him to show me the rug cleaner.  I am happy to announce that the stain came up the first time I tried and now the rug is good as new!  I wasn’t really wanting to spend an arm and a leg.  I mean, this rug is in a little boy’s room!  Who knows the kind of stuff that Owen’s  going to get on this rug!

Okay, I’ll continue with the pictures…

Not a big deal, but I wanted Owen to have a special place for his bag that he”ll take with him to the nursery at church.  Notice his little hook and his little Owen bag.  Now I can tell him to go get his bag and he’ll know where it is!  (At least that’s the idea…)

Notice the Batman chair in the corner…  Owen has a new cover for his green chair that I use to take his monthly picture!

My little crafty project…Owen’s name above his bed.

As you can see in the above picture, the little guy loves spending time in his new room.  We’ve now had 4 naps and 3 full nights of sleep in the big boy room.  I haven’t moved any of his clothes into the big boy because I feel like the second I do he’s going to regress…but I think it’s getting to the point that I need to.  Getting a little tired of having to go into the baby room every time I need a new diaper, outfit, socks, etc…

Anyway, Owen is having a bundle of fun in his new room.  I’m over the teary sadness of him leaving his baby room and am excited that this transition has gone so well so far!  Now I get to start organizing the baby’s room.  And for those of you that know me well, there’s nothing that makes me happier than organizing!