Big Girl Bed!

I've been super anxious about moving Lily into a big girl bed.  She's been such a good sleeper we've had concerns about it completely regressing.  I've been reading articles about how and when and several have said you either do it around 18 months when they don't really realize it or when they're 3 and can consciously decide to kick the crib habit.  Well…we missed the 18 month mark and I certainly wasn't waiting a whole other year so I disregarded all of the articles and we did at 25.5 months - in case anyone's counting.

We decided to cut the crib cold turkey and forgo turning it into a daybed.  Saturday morning we moved a twin bed from the basement into Lily's room.  She watched Daddy bring it up from downstairs and we kept telling her over and over this was her new bed.  Then we all piled into the car on the hunt for new bedding.  The church down the street had a mom to mom sale on Friday and everything left on Saturday was 50% so we swung in to check out the bedding selection.  The set I had my eye on turned out to be a full set so instead we picked up a new teddy bear for 50 cents - can't beat that - and a couple more pairs of pajamas (I'd already cleaned out the 2-3T section on Friday).

We ended up at Bed Bath and Beyond where Lily of course picked out a Minnie Mouse bedding set.  After reading the price tag ($60 buckeroos for just the comforter!) I convinced Lily the super soft fleece Minnie Mouse blanket on clearance for $19.99 was just the ticket.  The kid sweats like crazy anyway - no need for a full down comforter headed into summer.  Upon arrival home we assembled Lily's new bed, complete with bed rail and pillow (also from mom to mom sale - I'll be the first to admit I'm addicted to them) and let Lily have at it.  She was so excited to take her nap in it she actually slept for almost TWO FULL HOURS!  In Lily land, a two hour nap just doesn't exist.  She made it all of Saturday night with only one 3:00am scream for a glass of milk and then right back to sleep.  Keep your fingers crossed this transition continues as easily as day one.

Happy Easter!

Growing up, Easter was one of my favorite holidays.  The Easter Bunny could get me out of bed earlier than Santa ever could.  I love every commercialized piece of Easter from the chocolate bunnies to the plastic eggs.  And I love getting together with my family who is extremely diverse when it comes to religion.  The dinner conversation (or conspiracy theories if you ask my brother) are great no matter what you believe.  

The Decor

This Easter Pinterest was my best friend.  Lily and I started off Friday by launching into full craft mode by first making bunnies from our recycled toilet paper rolls.  Then we headed outside to decorate the trees.

The Basket

There's no denying the fact that my child is spoiled (not yet rotten).  I also can't help how much I love the dollar store - they have EVERYTHING!  While I entered that place on a mission to find some small non-chocolate items I could stuff inside eggs for an egg hunt, I came out with an entire cart full of items for Lily's basket and some decorations for the house.  I had planned to only stuff Lily's basket with The Cat in the Hat (can you believe we didn't own this?), some new sunglasses, and an over sized stuffed caterpillar ($2 at a mom to mom sale), you'll see that clearly didn't happen.  

The Eggs

My mom sent me a pin earlier this month on how to use a whisk for kids dying Easter eggs as opposed to the cheap plastic ladle in the kits.  Did you know the dollar store has egg dying kits for guess what - a dollar!  And Target for $4!  Deal of the century.  Lily loved decorating the eggs.  The look of pure satisfaction on her face as the eggs changed color right before her eyes was priceless.  And her identifying the colors she wanted to use couldn't have been more satisfying for this mama.

The Food

Nearly everything on our menu except for the ham was Pinterest inspired - and several of the items were pinned by Mike himself.  I unfortunately did not photograph Mike's amazing grilled ham, the bacon wrapped asparagus, or the smashed potatoes.  I did however get my camera out for my failed bunny rolls (which Lily kept calling piggies all day), mini cheesecake baskets (half failed since the handles kept falling off), and Lily's extremely successful rainbow cake (magazine inspired).  

The Hunt

What's Easter without an egg hunt?  My mother excitedly volunteered to fill the eggs - all sugar - what's a grandmother for right?  I insisted on throwing in some socks, hair clips, necklaces, and spare change (good thing since all of the chocolate melted).  And Lily had two of the best hounds on the hunt with her to sniff out all of the candy.  

Happy Easter!

XOXO

The Hoys