The End of an Era

This past weekend something happened that I wasn't prepared for. It was something I knew was eventually going to happen, I just didn't think it would happen so soon. This weekend an era at the Lam household came to an end. It was the crib era. This past weekend we took the crib down.

The crib has been part of our lives for over 6 years. I remember when we put the crib up when I was 9 months pregnant (no, I was not one of those expecting mothers who had everything ready to go months before baby is born...we finished the nursery about 1 week before Katie was born). I remember looking at it thinking "this is my baby's bed." I remember laying each one of our babies in that crib. I remember the many (MANY) nights I sleepily walked in and picked up my babies out of the crib when they woke in the night. I've cleaned up spit up, poo, pee, smushed crackers, spilled sippies out of the crib. I remember lowering the mattress when the kiddos got too big and raising it back up when a new baby came along. I remember Patrick flipping himself out of it and the girls climbing out of it. And mostly I remember tip-toeing in during the night to check on my newborn baby--just to make sure he/she was breathing and okay. But mostly I remember standing over that crib, gazing down at my precious child, so peacefully asleep, thinking how perfect he/she is and how blessed I am to be his/her mother.

But things change, children grow, and the crib must eventually come down. And little girls learn to climb out and roam around during the night. WM didn't realize she was doing this so when I mentioned it to him, he said maybe we should think about moving her out of the crib. The next day he went for his morning run and came back and said..."there's a white toddler bed at a garage sale down the street that's in really good shape." I had a few problems with this...1). I don't usually do garage sales, and 2). I don't do toddler beds. But it was super cheap and in excellent condition...and he'd already gone and bought it before I could decide. He had it wiped down, disinfected and a fresh coat of paint on it before I realized what was happening.

Katie taking a nap (with a stocking cap on) in the crib.

And when I had gone to run errands, he took down the crib and set up the new bed.

Patrick in the crib--the typical boy, he liked gadgets and toys in his bed.

And that was it. The end of the Crib Era.

I know you can't tell...but this is Josie sound asleep in the crib.

It was probably best he did it that way--quick and fast. Like ripping off a Band-Aid. But I do feel like I have an exposed wound every time I walk in the bedroom and the crib isn't there.

The new bed.

Maybe a little retail therapy would help heal that wound. I didn't have the opportunity to get a cute little quilt for her new bed (we're just using what we had for the crib).

Josie is obviously adjusting (and sleeping) to her bed just fine.

Or maybe I just need to realize that my babies are growing up and there will be no other babies coming and this is just the beginning of letting go. Thank goodness God gave me 18 years before they leave for college--it'll take that long for me to be ready.