Extreme Home Makeover - Hannah's room edition

It all started when a good friend of mine sent me a coupon for free delivery from Nebraska Furniture Mart. She knew that we were looking for bed rails for our kids...and that was all. Our poor children have been sleeping on mattresses on the floor for almost two years! And actually, Hannah hasn't had a bed since her crib! There really were many legitimate reasons... first being that fact that we were moving houses and didn't want to buy a single bed frame for Hannah when we knew she'd have a double bed. Then we didn't buy a double bed frame because we were planning on having more kids and didn't know what room she'd be in and what size bed she'd have. Plus, I really wanted a white bed for her but not for Caden and if I bought the white single bed frame and then the kids had to change rooms it would just mess everything up.

Little more info then you needed but you get the point.

So, we set off for NFM, coupon in hand, planning on buying both the kids bed frames. Well, I got a little distracted by the beautiful white bed I saw for Hannah. And then we figured we might as well get her the dresser to go with it. After our purchase we took the kids to Red Mango and I got the brilliant idea to surprise Hannah with a room makeover. She already knew that she'd be getting new furniture, but she thought that she'd still be using her old comforter (which is for a single bed). I decided I'd get her a new comforter...and then a new lamp...and then a canopy for over the bed...and a new bulletin board...and then a new mirror. (I really don't like those bedroom sets that are all matchy with the mirror over the dresser and I knew I could think of something much better.) I really wanted to get her a desk as well but that's gonna have to wait for her Christmas present.

After weeks of planning we surprised her on Thursday when she got home from school. I have to say it turned out pretty cute! Needless to say she was VERY surprised and LOVES her new room.

Here, take a look




I am in LOVE with this mirror! It's one that we had at our old house and I just couldn't part with it because I really liked it. So I painted it turquoise (Hannah's favorite color) and now I love it even more. So girly and fun!

no regrets

By the time bedtime roles around at our house I'm tired. Very tired. I don't have much patience left so I normally try to rush bedtime and get the kids down as quickly as possibly. I figure I spend plenty of time with them during the day, right? But recently I read something that really struck me. It was an article about parenting and it said to take time to talk with your kids. It especially mentioned bedtime being a time that kids will normally open up and share about their day. If you don't listen to your kids while their young, they won't talk when they're older.

So the other night Hannah was calling from her room, which we are NOT allowed to do unless the tornado siren is going off or it's an emergency. And by emergency I don't mean a hang nail or a parched throat!. However, everyone once in a while my kids still try to stall at bedtime and call for us after they've been tucked. They generally want another hug and kiss or want their back rubbed. I'm a stickler when it comes to bedtime routine and I almost always respond to their pleas with "It's bedtime. Go to bed." But this particular night as Hannah was calling for her back to be rubbed I gave it some serious thought before I responded. My little girl is already 6 and I feel like she's already outgrowing her little girl phase. I don't want to look back and feel like I missed out on her growing up years. I've read many an email forward from older women about what they would have done differently if they could relive life again. Not one of those women has ever said "I wish I would not have rubbed my daughters back so much!" Nope. They all say "I should have rubbed backs more often." And so, on this night I went right up to Hannah's room and I rubbed her back. And it was wonderful. She laid so still and just chatted to me about the day and said at least 100 times, "Mommy, I love you."

It was a night I'll remember for a long time and I know Hannah will too.