old beds, new beds, sunk beds, bunk beds

 

Brad and I were just discussing last night how when we moved into the house in the fall of '05 we thought the 2nd bedroom upstairs was so big. In fact it was as big as our master bedroom in the trailer we had just moved out of. I don't think we imagined that almost 6 years later and we want that same bedroom to function as a sleeping and play space for 3 boys under the age of 6.

When we first moved in, we put a double bed in the room. Later that spring we added a crib for Ryan (that he slept in only a handful of times) to the room and kept the double bed in there as well. As Ryan got older and began to move around and accumulated more toys, we swaped out the double bed for a single bed. Then along came Adam. But that was ok because we had a crib and a single bed in the room.
Like his older brother, Adam slept in the crib only a handful of times. Before too long we decided to get rid of the crib and get a toddler bed for Adam to sleep in. There is not much difference in size between a toddler bed and a crib (they use the same mattress) so they still fit the the room well. Then surprise! Tony blessed us with his arrival.

We began to think about how we would possibly fit three boys in that one room. Thankfully my husband works in a furniture store and my boys found a bed they absolutely adored. A plus in our eyes was the built in storage in the bed and the fact that it also comes in a "trundle bed" version, so we could sleep all three boys eventually in the one "bed" space. But for right now we are using a trundle storage not a trundle bed and Anthony (when ready) will sleep in the toddler bed. We also are toying with the idea of moving Tony's current bed (a pack n' play) into the room with the older boys soon. And it is even smaller than the toddler bed, so it will fit.

Ryan and Adam love the new bunk bed. It helps that gran gran bought them new "Cars" sheets and blankets for the bed. In fact, Ryan and Adam are even sleeping without their favorite blankets from when they were babies which has not often happened before. Surprisingly, Ryan was at first afraid to sleep up top (perhaps from a trip to the city where the hotel had bunkbeds which were VERY high and had a traditional ladder that had steep steps) and so Adam took the top bunk. But Ryan has already laid his fear to rest and we have decided that we will swap who sleeps where, once a week.



Talk About Tuesday- Home Tour Edition

It's been a while since I've TATed. I thought for this month's home edition I would share the "boys" room. It is official. It is no longer just Ryan's room. We are transitioning Adam into that room and the crib as well. Some storage and space issues had to be cleared up before that could happen. I wish I had some before pics...well maybe not because it was not a pretty sight.

First of all, Ryan had to be transitioned back to his "big boy" bed. Since shortly after Adam was born, Ryan has taken to sleeping on the floor. At first he would just refuse to sleep in his bed, would cry and kick and scream. He would always end up falling asleep with his favorite blanket and teddy bear by the door to his room. So we decided why fight it, got a bunch of old blankets and comforters and made a blanket mattress on the floor near his door. That's where he has sleot all summer and into the fall. We carried the same idea over into our room and placed a similar blanket mattress on the floor at the foot of our bed, and on the occiasions when he wakes mid-night and comes into our room, that is where he sleeps.

His bed was becoming a dumping ground for me. It had toys on it, clothes, blankets. I figured if he wasn't going to use it, I would. The same held true for the crib in the room. It was housing clean laundry that got folded but never made it into the closet. Or sizes that were too big/small for either boy. Last weekend I spent a lot of time working on the room, got the clothes sorted and put away, got toys sorted, organized and stored. I turned the room back into a functional space again. Ryan's blankets that make up his mattress on the floor needed to be laundered and I didn't have them ready before bedtime, so I thought, well why not try to have him sleep in his bed again. That first night, he walked into his room a little confused as to where his "bed" was but then I told him to climb up onto the "big boy bed" and he did. As abruptly as the floor sleeping started, it has now ended.

Since Adam is 6 months old now, I thought it would be a good time to try to make the crib transition. It is not going as smoothly but we are working on it. Ryan seems to like having his brother in his room.

Anyhow, here is what the room looks like now. The view from the door: Ryan's bed is to the left and Adam's crib is on the opposite wall.

We use a body pillow on Ryan's big boy bed to help keep him from rolling off the bed. I think he also likes it since it is like having someone sleeping in the bed with him and he spent quite a bit of time sharing our bed.

The veiw from the corner of the room opposite the door. This view shows the over the door organizers I have. One holds cars although it is currently empty since we have another car holder that is on wheels that Ryan rolls out from his room to living room to play. (And it slides nicely under his bed when not in use). The other door organizer holds face cloths and bibs.

This veiw is of the closet. One side is for Ryan, one is for Adam. I use the top shelf in the closet to store toys on. My guys have so many toys, that I use a rotation schedule on them. Every 10 days to 2 weeks I switch out what toys I have in a bin in the living room, and in the basket in their room. Toys not in that week's rotation get stored under the bed, crib or on the shelf in the closet. I also have another one of those over the door organizers that I hang off the back of Adam's crib. It holds socks and robeez/slippers.

Under the bed and crib I also have a storage bag that is holding clothes that are currently too big/too small. I used to use those rubbermaid storage bins for these but there were 4 or 5 medium sized ones plus 2-4 small ones (with socks, shoes and other assorted accessories) cluttering my spare bedroom closet. There is still work to be done here. I have some pictures to hang, shelves to go up to hold picture frames and other assorted knick-knacks and the letters for the boys names to go up. Actually I still have to paint Adam's name. OOOPS!

For more information about Talk About Tuesday, or to see what others are Talking About this week, visit Lara at The Lazy Organizer.

Hallaulia! Or poor little boys.

One night does not a pattern make. And even if it is the start of something, maybe it is way too soon to talk about it and jinx it but I'm too sleep deprived to not share.

Ryan slept through the night!! In his own room!! Of course it was not in his bed but I'm not fighting that battle now. This is the first time I think since Adam was born or shortly after Adam was born anyway. It started last night at about 10:30. It was a little later than we like to put him to bed (usually about 9) but it was really warm and we had just finished putting the crib back in his room (it was downstairs in the spare room from when Darryl, Amanda and the girls were here). Ryan was completely enthralled with the crib and couldn't wait to get in it. So we put his pjs on him, put his favortie blanket and stuffed animals in with him. It lasted about 15 minutes before the water works began. I tried the big boy bed but he kept crying and saying "bedroom". So I put a blanket on the floor and his pillow and his stuffies. I put it near his new fish night light. Instead of closing his door like I usually do, I left it open and put a fan in front of his door to direct some cooler air into his room. And now it is 9:38 am and he is still there!

BUT it may also have to do with the fact that he is under the weather. It has been super warm here and my boys are sick. Yes both of them. Anyhow back to Ryan for a moment. I can tell he is under the weather because you can hear the stuffiness in his voice when he speaks and in his breathing as he sleeps. He is sleeping a little longer and is a little feverish. The last has been hard to tell since it is so warm you just wonder if his dampness is because of the weather but he seems to get more wet just resting or sleeping and we've been trying to keep our playing a little low key in this heat.

And Adam...poor little not quite 4 month old Adam. The past few days he hasn't been sleeping well at all. He has been nursing lots (ok so it's been hot, and that would help keep him cool and dehydrated) but he has also been spitting up lots which is very unusual for him. He has been generally pretty unhappy and chewing on his hands. I was thinking maybe it was the first signs of teething. Or an upset tummy since he seems a little gasier and unsettled than normal. But with this heat he has been running both hot and cold. So perhaps a little bit of a fever there. Despite the warm weather, Adam only sleeps well when bundled and warm. But that makes him damp and he will get cool and clamy from the fans/air conditioner upstairs.

Yesterday evening I was able to get him to take a nice long nap in the swing. I took him out of the swing at bed time and nursed him and got him ready for bed. He didn't immeiately go back to sleep and Brad and I layed in bed playing with him. He seemed a little stuffed up in his nose and when he was flat on his back for any amount of time he would start to cough like he couldn't breathe. At about 1am I was able to get him back to sleep but only by swaddling and rocking him and keeping him upright. When he woke up at 6 again to nurse he seemed worse. We aspirated his nose and lots of mucus came out. Poor little man! Then I changed his diaper and peed all over me and the bed. Which made us get out of bed at 6 this morning so we could wash the sheets. And is why I am feeling so sleep deprived (as I am sure Brad is as well at work).

I was able to get Adam back to sleep in the swing this morning but it is a fitful sleep as he wakes up coughing every once in a while and you can hear the congestion in his breathing. The weather has turned cooler today, so I think I will be dressing both in some warmer clothes. Ryan will get lots of fluids and hopefully a nice long nap. And if he wants to sleep on the floor, that is just fine with me.

The cutest thing in the word

I just had to blog about the cutest thing in the world that happened last night. We were sitting in the living room watching the Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show ("Ba-boo") with Ryan. A commercial came on and he went over picked up his blue blanket, his puppy dog and started off down the darkened hallway and into his darkened room. We didn't immediately follow him as we were not sure what he was doing. But when he didn't come back right away and we could hear his crib rattling, I went to see what he was up to. He had put the blanket and puppy dog in the crib and was standing on the little stool I use trying to get into his crib.

I hadn't changed his diaper or put him in his pjs yet. In fact he still had some supper remnants on his face. It was a little difficult to get all those things done and keep him settled so he could go to sleep more easily. I did all those little before bed things and put him to bed but he ended up staying up a little longer. It was just so cute that he picked up his stuff and then went to bed on his own. This picture isn't from last night and it is blurry but you can see his favorite blue blanket and puppy dog that he brings out from his room when he wakes up and takes to bed with him even at nap time.