Queen Sized Crib?

Brett & I were cleaning Madigan's room the other day, when I asked him casually how easily her crib converts to a toddler bed. He took the rail off to show me, and Madigan jumped right into her bed and acted excited about how "big girl" it was. We debated a bit, but decided to try it out that night. We rocked and sang, said our prayer and I laid her down in her new "big girl" crib-turned-toddler bed.

She panicked.

Sobbing ensued.

We did try to leave her in there, but neither of us ever had the "Ferber" willpower and we caved about 5 minutes into the episode. I walked in to find her huddled in the corner of the bed, bunny gripped tightly and in between the sobs she muttered, "Side On! Side ON!"

Brett had already grabbed the necessary equipment and was gladly obliging.

She calmed down and watched him attach it, and said in the tiniest voice, "thank you, daddy."

I rocked her a bit more, and as I was tucking her into her four sided crib she said "night night, mama." and went right to sleep.

When I came out of her room, Brett looked at me and said, "If she's in no hurry to grow up, I'm in no hurry to help her. She can stay in that crib as long as she wants to." That's really why I love this man- I felt the exact same way but wasn't going to say it!

In 17 years when she leaves for college I won't have the liberty of knowing where she is every night at 8:30 pm.

Besides, I've already looked into adult size cribs, and I think this will fit nicely into her dorm room:

Miss Toddler America

So I've been pretty busy chasing a high-heeled toddler around, among many other things, and have been a bad blogger.

Please forgive me.

Among the many things, in no particular order:

Brett & I have finished our "summer workout program" that we started earlier and have moved on to other endeavors. We did the Insanity workout series from Beach Bodies. It was hard core, for sure. Luckily I had no idea what I had gotten myself into and by the time we had started I knew I couldn't just be a quitter- so we gutted it out. If you have bad joints, don't even think about starting this. TONS of jumping and plyometrics! But we both did alright- I think my total weight loss for the 2 month program was around 12 pounds. It was definitely a great plateau-kicker for us. (We started following weight watchers in March and by June had hit a plateau with weight loss and motivation.) We have since moved on to running and hope to enter some 5k's this fall. There is a half marathon in our state capitol in May- I'm not committing publicly to this mind you- but we are going to see if we think we could endure it! I definitely prefer the running over the Insanity- for one Madigan loves to ride with us! She asks me daily "Run, mommy? Go running?" so it helps for motivation. I'd love to have suggestions from my running reader(s) as to shoes, ipod playlists, or any training tips for 5ks! We just barely have our toe in the water, and I realize it's a whole new world of people who call themselves "runners"!

Besides our healthier summer, I have also been booked solid with my photography business. Weddings, babies, children, families- summer is the busy season for me! I love it but sometimes I admit that the housework gets neglected when I have photos to edit and deliver to clients! I'm lucky to have a husband who doesn't complain much- but I know he's ready for me to slow down a bit too.

My brother & his wife welcomed their much-awaited baby to this world on 8-9-10! (What a cool birthday, huh!?) We had to make a flying-trip down to visit and the 5 hour (one way) trip was definitely worth it. Madigan thinks the world of her baby cousin. She has talked about her every day since we got home.

I've also been working on my 101 in 1001- I am dangerously close to the end and have a TON of things left looming! Eek.

Anyway, I really hope the video loads. If not, here's a couple pictures of Ms. Madigan and her shenanigans:

I heart faces entry

The theme for this week at i heart faces is "Gotta Wear Shades"!

I couldn't resist this picture from a wedding that I shot this weekend:

There's nothing quite like the future that is laid out in front of you on your wedding day, is there?

If you'd like to see all the entries to the i heart faces contest for the week, click on over to their site (linked above).