Room Switcheroo

Over the last few months, we've been talking about playing musical rooms, so about the time school started, it finally happened, and the kids moved into their own rooms.  Luka and TJ at one end, and Mikayla in the old guest room.  We are so fortunate to have this luxury.  The boys are getting longer nights of sleep, and we don't have to be quite as concerned about disturbing Mikayla while getting the boys to bed.  I always envisioned eventually making the move, because I couldn't see sticking Mikayla down at the end of the hall with two teenage boys so close by, but I didn't expect it to be quite this soon.

Well, once I started working through details in my head, there was no stopping me.  From furniture to decor to paint to picture boards, I am now done.  I had a total blast with Mikayla's room - finally having an opportunity to buy those cute little beaded lamps, to get creative and make a new board for her bows, and have a reason to dye some curtains hot pink.  It is a bit tight in the room until we are done with the crib, as it still serves as our guest room.  It works well to have Luka sleep in the bunk bed when guests come, and to put Mikayla in the pack-n-play in Luka's room.

For her part, Mikayla seems to love her room.  We put a little stool by the bed so she can crawl up herself.  She drinks her milk while lying in the big bed and reading books, which she loves to do.  (Except at the moment, if I have to read the "Little People Farm- Seek and Find" one more time I might have to make it magically disappear.)  You might miss her, but she is in the picture here drinking milk on her bed.

TJ still enjoys the bottom bunk in the space room.  He usually chooses to listen to music at night after reading.  TJ's room is often messy, with books all off the shelves, dirty clothes laying around etc.  We spruced it up a bit with a few new items to make it more his own, and he seems content to go to sleep without having to worry about his brother's drama each night.

For Luka's room, I painted the top half of his room AGAIN.  In the past 7 years, it has been purple, then blue (when we first tried to put Luka in there and he refused), then purple, and then blue again.  The bottom has always been green.  Definitely the most painted area in the house.  But, the boys kept fighting, and Luka kept asking for his own room, and now he is ready.  He loves his own space, and takes meticulous care to pick up all his toys, books, and clothes.  His room is rarely messy.  He loves to NOT be forced to listen to music at night.  We added a new desk and some of his own artwork to the walls, and we moved all his clothes to the drawers from the closet, so he can pick out all his own clothes now without assistance.  Phew. 

In the end, we all seem a bit more relaxed at bedtime, as well as in the morning, since everybody can wake up on their own time and in their own space.  Now, if we can just get Luka to stay in bed once he is there, we'd be all set!