Train potty

I LOVE bedroom furniture, bed linens, and all bedroom decor in general. Oh, and I love to sleep which makes the bedroom even more important.

It's fun to dream of a day when we own a home and have room for a real, grown up bed. I supposed we could get one for our stint at the in laws, but I'm not sure we'll have the room. And I'd rather not move heavy furniture up and down those stairs if we can avoid it. It would make sense to wait on a purchase like this until we are a little more settled in our own home, but until then I can scope out the possibilities, right?

1. I love this dark wooden bed from ZGallerie. It's the Chelsea bed for $799


2. Nate despises fabric-covered beds like this, but I like their soft, whimsical feel. I don't like the price tag on this Cara bed [$1500]. Again from ZGallerie. 3. West Elm has some nice options, and I like this "narrow leg upholstered bed frame" for $499.


4. And possibly my fave from Pottery Barn, the Sumatra bed for $1100. It looks a little lower than the others, which is a problem for us tall folk. We'd practically have to fall down onto this guy.

Then there are the numerous bed linens to go with the new bed. We have a really nice duvet and sham set right now from C&B that we received as a shower gift. Wouldn't it look great with one of the above beds?But it's fun to change it up every now and then. Here is our biggest problem with linens: I love the ultra girlie, pink and floral variety and Nate likes the masculine, contemporary styles. In fact, I'm kind of surprised we agreed on our current set since it's a floral print. Maybe Nate just lets me have my way more than I think. I mean, he did agree to this shower curtain, too:
Hmmm, maybe I could pull of a girlie set next time, too. Here are a few sets I like now:

1. Bed Bath and Beyond has Jonathan Adler's Origami Duvet pictured here. I love the mix of patterns and it's a neutral color, leaving the fun for the wall color. I'm not sure they have a Queen duvet though. That would be a problem, but it's still cute.
2. BBB has this Southgate Herringbone duvet by Nautica for only $59. But of course I'd need to buy all of these fabulous pillow and shams and dust ruffle. I like the brown shades and again, would be able to accent with a fun wall color.
3. Pottery Barn always has such a great red color. And over the past few years I've steered away from red and stayed loyal to red's sister, pink. But now I find myself liking red more and more these days---it's classic and not too feminine. Here is the Multistripe duvet and sham set, duvet for $129. I love the eclectic mix of patterns here.

4. Pottery Barn has this Madison Floral duvet for $100. This goes on my "If I were a Single Girl" list.

5. Pottery Barn's Jasper Bedding ensemble includes everything for $289. This isn't a typical pick for me, since it's so masculine and blue has never been my thing. But for some reason I like this one. And I know Nate would approve.
My absolute favorites are from Anthropologie and Crate & Barrel, but how in the heck do you save a picture from a Flash site? I could not figure it out after wasting a lot of time trying. Anyone? The frilly florals on Anthropologie are to die for. And C&B never disappoints, either. Help!

The past two nights have not been kind to us around here. Cecelia forgot how to sleep again and has been waking up for 2-3 hours at a time at night. Then yesterday as a whole was pretty horrible. It was just one of those days when everyone was 'off' and cranky and nothing seemed to go right. The 3 am hour was a cruel one for me this morning, when I was convinced that the world was, indeed, ending (just a day earlier than predicted). Because I was just too tired, my baby would never sleep again, and my toddler would never behave again either.

But then today happened and it was glorious. Just as Wednesday was a day when nothing went as planned, today was a day when things went better than expected. We had a great playdate this morning where both of my kids acted like angels (redemption from the last night's playdate when one of them was a little...challenging. Ahem. Truman.). We had fun as a family making a fire while the snow fell outside; listening to Christmas music while wrapping gifts; eating a delicious dinner complete with dessert; making elaborate train tracks together; and enjoying two happy children who didn't seem to have their own crazy agenda for once. I got Starbucks not once, but twice today---so you know it was a good day no matter what;) I also got to workout via DVD at home during a dual afternoon nap when my usual 5 am gym time got passed up for more sleep this morning. Nothing like some caffeine and endorphins from exercise to make life seem a lot better.

I got to hear, 'I love you, mommy' from my precious first born who I KNOW is a good boy. Even when he is acting naughty. And acting like a soon-to-be-three year old. I got to see my baby girl light up that adorable face just for me. Laughing. Smiling. Being so pretty that it hurts my heart to accept that she is my daughter. My children are not perfect by any means. They drive me batty sometimes. And yet, I am hyper-aware of how incredibly blessed we are to have these gifts from God. At a time when the pain of Sandy Hook is all too fresh, I was irritated with myself for letting a bad day or two get me down. Because really---how can my days be all that bad when there is so much good in them?

On Tuesday we got a few inches of snow here. Our first real snowfall. And Truman was in freaking heaven playing in the snow with all of us. Cecelia slept while bundled up in the Ergo and I snapped hundreds of pictures to remember this fun evening as a family. Winter in Wisconsin can be so incredibly beautiful. I welcome the white stuff...for now. After the new year it can kindly go away;) Although we were supposed to get a blizzard today, most of it passed our house and we only got a few more inches while our neighboring suburbs boast 13+. I'll take the itty bitty amounts we've gotten. Better for a toddler to enjoy anyway.











































Thank you, God, for this life. Even when it doesn't include sleep or a predictable mood from my children. Thank you, just the same. Help me to remember my blessings and forget my complaints. And please let the baby sleep tonight.