The Great Bed Swap

I've had this pain in my hip for about three years now.  I thought it was just a pregnancy thing, but it hasn't really gone away.  My pain came mostly at night while trying to sleep.  My chiropractor and friend told me I needed to get rid of our waterbed. 

Now, I loved my waterbed.  I don't think my parents switched me directly from crib to waterbed, but I got my first waterbed at a pretty young age.  I had slept on one (minus college dorms) ever since.  But, I figured it was worth it to get a good night sleep without pain in my hip. 

We shopped around and found what we wanted with a Sealy iComfot memory foam.  It is glorious!  The pain in my hip isn't gone forever, but I no longer have issues sleeping. 

This great purchase set in motion the great bed swap in our household.  Aria has been in her crib with the side off since about March.  She was beginning to show signs of outgrowing it...or she put so many stuffed animals in it there wasn't room for her.  Either way, we knew she couldn't sleep in a crib forever.  While shopping for our bed, we looked at things for Aria, too.  I found plenty I liked but didn't really want to spend the money. 

We also had the problem of what to do with the waterbed.  They aren't very popular anymore and I wasn't sure if we could sell it.  I didn't want to put Aria in it, so we came up with a different plan.  When we got our new bed, we moved the waterbed downstairs to be our spare bed  and moved the spare bed (circa 1964 from my Grandma's house) into Aria's room, but not before painting it purple. 

The bed frame didn't look the greatest, so we decided to spruce it up in Aria's favorite color and she was happy to help!

I "needed" her to help paint the boards that hold the box springs in the frame.  When she lifted up her shirt and started painting her legs with the brush, I decided that was time to stop.  She did have such a good time!

Aria was beyond absolutely thrilled to get a very big, big girl bed.  It is a full size bed so it should last her for a very long time. 

After painting her purple bed, I decided we might as well redo her whole room in something she will like instead of the orange and basketballs I like.  She does like basketball, but purple is her thing.  So, we painted her room, too!  She also got to pick out her bedding set.  No surprise that it is purple. 

My favorite addition to her room is this musical butterfly.  Aria's name means beautiful melody and that is what she has.  Okay, so she sings in a toddler voice, but she is a singer and absolutely loves music.  I wanted to find something to put on her wall to capture that love and I found this cool decal on etsy. 

It was a crazy, fun transition from a nursery to a little girl's room.  I can't believe how fast she is growing up.  When I peek at her in that big bed, she looks so little and so big all at the same time.  Where will we be next time I blink?

PS: In other sleep related news, our big girl also no longer uses her pacifier when she sleeps.  Long ago, I began cutting the tip off piece by piece.  It got so small that Aria no longer put in her mouth to sleep, but still held it in her hand.  Well, when we got home from the Dells in August, I might have told a little white lie.  I told Aria I couldn't find the pacifier and we must have left it in the Dells.  She gave me the saddest look I've ever seen in my life so that I almost caved and gave it back to her, but 5 seconds later she could have cared less and just like that the pacifier is gone!!  HAPPY DANCE!