NapTime Projects

So here is a little confession: we never really had Ellie on a nap schedule or sleep schedule for that matter. In addition we didn't sleep train Ellie either. (She fell asleep just fine in the car seat but "needed" to be rocked to sleep in our arms/laps.)

So her napping consisted of 50/50 in the crib and on our laps(or in the car). Same thing for nighttime sleep, half the time she would be in her crib and the other half in our bed. I know! How did we go 14 months like that? It actually wasn't that bad and we were blessed to have such an even tempered go with the flow girl. I loved having her close to is and co-sleeping. Sometimes I just miss her and want to cuddle her. Plus I never wanted to be "stranded" at home due to naps - and still don't want to be. 

Well that has changed. After we got back from Europe the following weekend Thomas went out of town for his brothers bachelor party. I thought I would take advantage of this time and wean Ellie from the bottle to a sippy/straw cup. The first 36 hours were a challenge but we have never turned back. After about 48 hours I packed up all the bottles and associated paraphernalia and stored them away in our attic!!  

Since I felt successful with that going so well I thought I would tackle the sleep "issue" next.  I gave her some time to adjust before going full fledged into turning her life upside down - no more bottles and then fall asleep on your own. I would say this venture took longer than the bottle elimination - we are 3 weeks in and still working on it, but she is doing pretty good and sleeps through te night and her naps are much longer!!

Ellie now naps anywhere between 10:30am to 4:00pm and the nap is generally around 3 hours. (A more detailed post to come). 

So what is a mom to do when she finds herself with three glorious hours in the middle of the day while baby sleeps? House projects of course!!

When we moved into our house the colors were anything but desirable - including the interior of our front door, a fleshy color. I have hated that color for 6 years and every time I looked at that door I wanted to vomit. So I finally got my act together, grabbed a can of paint from the garage, and spent 45 minutes painting the door white!  I love it so much an can't believe I was putting it off for so long, it was such an easy project!

I was so pleased with the results I couldn't wait for naptime the next day to tackle another project that had been on the list for 4.5 years. When we moved in our kitchen was 1989 oak cabinets. While they are nice I prefer white. So after my first ectopic pregnancy/surgery, Thomas painted them white for me while I was recovering!!  We just left the backside under the counter unpainted - because we were lazy. Now it matches the rest of the kitchen!!

Again I love it so much! Why did we wait so long to finish it? This took longer than te door but it so worth it! And the best part is - we already had all the supplies so it was a "free" project!!

I am so glad that we started sleep training and a nap schedule so that we (me)  can get things accomplished that I have been wanting to for a while!!

-Ashley

How do you take advantage of naptime at your house?