This weekend we are making a big move in our home.
Except for one random year when we thought we needed a super big house (and thus had enough bedrooms for everyone to have their own), my oldest two – a boy and a girl – have always shared a room. Ever since the day Little Miss Ellie came home from the hospital.
And now that’s all changing. They are getting older and with such changes comes the need for privacy. They are occasionally more modest these days and we have begun to think that moving the boys in together, and Ellie into her own room, would be best.
I have gone back and forth on this a lot. I thought it would be easier. I thought I’d love to decorate a room with Miss E. I thought we would celebrate it. And all those things are true, yes.
But I’m also sad. As I said to my sister via text today in a fit of regret after I separated their baby blankets on the closet shelf, it’s the end of an era! My two babies have always been together. They are linked. Their names come out of my mouth together so often they may as well be one person. They have always shared books, blankets, toys and space. How can I tear them apart? What am I doing to my own kids??
Ok, maybe that’s a bit dramatic. But I really am mourning the loss of their childhood together. The two cribs in one room. The whispering in bed (that drove me crazy). The shared closet space. The walls filled with football posters, princess paintings, baseball gloves and pink polka dot letters. The Lego men lined up around the doll house. The forts Ellie made on the bottom bunk by hanging up her blankets from the top bunk slats. The way Payton would come in and get us at night if Ellie was feeling sick.
From here on out, they have a wall between them. And I hope beyond hope that it will only be physically. I pray that their relationship, their closeness, their unique and unspoken bond won’t falter because of this move. They are each other’s secret keepers. Their original best friends. They understand each other in a way no one else can because they have lived their whole lives together.
This is how moms think, you know. Like every decision we make is a major, life changing one. Because sometimes it is and we have to be ready for that.
However, I am trying my hardest to celebrate the amazing little individuals they are growing up to be, so instead of dwelling on what we are losing I am looking forward. Ellie is moving into a room of her own and that means…you guessed it! Paint! Art! Bedding! Colors and fabric and lots of redesigning!!!!
We sat down together and came up with a plan. Her plan is that I make her exactly the rooms she sees in the pictures. My plan is to do what we can and make it her own.
We’re going to paint two walls with Valspar’s Homestead Resort Tea Room Yellow because yellow is her favorite color and we have half a gallon of it left over from painting the family room. The other two walls are going to be the green color from picture #2 below. Colin is going to make her a platform bed so she won’t have to many places to hide things (she’s a hoarder and a hider…we’ve found candy, tissues, old drawings, bits of ribbon, bottle caps and so many other things she just has to keep because they are “special”). When he’s finished, Ellie and I will paint it.
We also have plans for custom bedding (ie. made by me mainly out of stuff we already have), pennant banners, a big yellow sunshine, fancy picture frames, a new dresser and a pink chandelier. I can’t wait until it all comes together.
I’ll be showing pics as we progress and including tutorials of our projects. But until then, here is our inspiration board. We are especially loving the bedding and the out and out girliness.
Sources:
4. Pinterest (I can’t find the original source for this one, but I know I’ve seen it on Houzz.com)
5. Once Wed
7.The Ramblings of Dottie Angel
9. Valspar
This is exactly why Miss Mya is getting a new room too. I’m sad about splitting mine as well. There is a bond between brother and sister that I love. Lately, Chase has been getting into Mya’s twin bed and they cuddle until he falls asleep. Even though they are getting their own rooms, we’ve already talked about which “one” room they will sleep in at night.