Memorial Day weekend and some major firsts!!!

Well---it's official, My sweet little baby is no longer a baby. This past weekend marks the first time Charlotte slept in her new big girl room. She did EXCELLENT!

Let me go back. First off, as you all know our little guy will be here in 8 weeks...possibly 7 possibly 9...but either way...we're in single digit weeks now and that is MAJOR. So everyone is giving me advice on transitioning from one child to two. Some advice is very good and very well received and other advice just turns into horror stories which I really don't need to hear about right at this very second, but anyway.

Most people suggested that I move Charlotte into a big girl bed before her brother arrives so that the only major change for her is the baby. So little by little since the beginning of the year, we've been tackling issues that needed to be tackled regarding change for Charlotte so that when brother arrives, the only thing left to adjust to is that now there is another little kid around that mommy and daddy get to love and take care of, too.

First change was getting rid of Charlotte's passy--which happened last year around Thanksgiving. It was not as big a struggle as I thought---but still...glad that's over.

Next up was--when she turned 2, about a month ago---I was determined to get rid of her bottle. I know that most doctors say it has to be gone by 2 years anyway. Well, I figured it won't be too bad since she drinks everything else out of a sippy cup (juice, water etc). The only thing she wanted her bottle for was milk. She would have a full bottle of milk 3-4 times a day. In fact, she loved milk so much that it became her main source of food. So when we took away the bottle on Mother's Day--that pretty much ended her love of milk. But on the bright side my picky eater is eating better. She doesn't have those 4 bottles of milk to fill her little tummy so now...it's all about the food. Still a challenge cause all she wants is otterpops and ice cream---but it's getting better. I've given up the stress of the no milk business and just pray she's getting all she needs from other foods.

The final goal was to move Charlotte in her new room and her new big twin bed. Her old room will remain the nursery and she moved in the spare room. Raresh and I worked really hard to keep the room a secret and make it special for her. Raresh even painted the ceiling with glow in the dark paint and made a beautiful night sky for her. In fact, not only did he randomly put dots on a ceiling BUT the area directly over Charlotte's bed is a replica of the night sky on the night she was born. (How do I know this??? and How did he do this??)--well...the Macgyver that he is, found a website that you can coordinate your exact lattitude and longitude and find the day and year and Viola!!!---they show you what the sky looked like that night including the size of the moon, the visible constellations...etc. So Raresh got a projector, and projected that picture on to the ceiling and got to work. It's absolutely AMAZING. He even put secret little messages in the ceiling for her (a heart and her initials)---so so cute! So, finally the night came and we took her in her room.

Unfortunately you can't see the stars when the lights go out, but it is so cute to hear her reaction. Oh and Luna---means moon and steawa means star.

So, it's been about 4 days and we're still in the bed. Woo hoo! Praise God for another smooth transition.

Next up...potty training! I think I'll wait until she adjusts to brother before I tackle that!