Alive and busy

Yes, we're alive! Sorry for the hiatus, but we've been trying to do way too much and several things just had to give -- blog posts being one of them, for a while.

The last month has had some great highlights, including visits from Granddad and Granny Pat and another with Gran, Aunt Katie and Elizabeth. Brad and I also snuck away to Asheville last weekend for an early anniversary celebration and had a wonderful time. We're also still trying to wrap up house projects, including our master suite and window repairs. We're also gearing up for a huge garage sale this coming Saturday, not mention needing to make room for baby in the art studio (his temporary room until he's sleeping well through the night and will share the nursery with Brooke).

In the midst of all that we're trying to accomplish, the third trimester has really slowed me down. I'm back to needing naps every day (you know, sleep when the baby sleeps).
Standing up, bending over, and walking across a room all make my leg muscles burn and leave me breathless. So, for those of you who call, please stop sounding surprised if I'm of breath when I answer the phone. I get out of breath just sitting and lying down these days, so given our big house and the effort of locating one of our ever-wandering cordless phones, just expect that if I actually manage to pick up before the answering machine, I will sound like I've just run a marathon!

Brooke sailed pretty smoothly into her latest venture tonight: a night in her big girl bed! We decided to switch her directly to the twin bed in her room instead of fooling with multiple transitions. Brad replaced the boxspring with a board to lower the height and we have toddler rails for good measure. She's very excited and proud! I gave her the choice of the big bed or her crib, and she chose the bed. We had an extra-long story time lying on the bed tonight and put books on her nightstand for her to read in the morning. I expect that she'll be excited and wake up early tomorrow. We'll see how long she'll stay in her room in the morning! I may have a very early wake-up call....

I've heard that some kids don't realize that they can get out of the bed (e.g., Brooke's friend Grace, who has spent about six months of being lifted in and out of her toddler bed). Not Brooke! She is up and down in a flash, as I knew she would be. She did come out of her room once tonight, but we marched her right back to bed and told her she needed to stay there. She cried and I quickly offered to put her back in her crib (which she heartily refused). She seemed to get the message! She played for a little bit and fell asleep.

One great thing is that she has absolutely no concept of sleeping in our bed. She hasn't done that once since she was a newborn and I don't think that possibility will even occur to her, so I'm not anticipating any night visits. I'm just hoping that she'll continue her tradition of playing in bed or her room once she wakes up! Our worst case scenario with this is that it will wreak havoc with naptime.

I am, however, a bit nervous about nap times. Most afternoons she's down for a minimum of three hours, sometimes stretching to four and a half. (I know -- blessed am I among women!) She plays a good bit before and after she sleeps. We'll see what happens when she's not confined!

She has a big changes coming up in the next six weeks. She'll start preschool and get a new brother. We're still working on potty training, too. I wanted to try to clear this hurdle now before things really shake up around here (and before we need the for the new baby).

She's such a great sleeper; I'm hoping this venture will go smoothly. What I didn't expect was how proud I would feel tonight watching her sleep peacefully in her new bed. It's a milestone and I'm happy for her.