The Ley Family: Big Transitions

I do NOT like change. I have my favorite parking spot, my favorite seat at lunch (no matter where I am working....I stake my claim early and sit there until I quit,) my house pretty much looks the same until my Mom comes and redecorates. We eat the same meals, go to the same parks, hit the same places each weekend. In fact, just this morning, TWO different people at the mall made note of it. The annoying guy at Bass Pro Shop, who tries to sell you vacations, looked at our family and said, "Man, y'all sure love Bass Pro huh?" Uh, yeah dude....we sure do. Later, the sample guy at my favorite food court eatery said, "I won't offer you a sample, I know you already have your meal planned!" Right on both accounts my good sir.

So, when it came to my attention that Matthew would be sleeping in a twin bed at my parent's house over Thanksgiving, I knew what I needed to do....transition him now. I hate crap like this. Everything was going fine....why do I have to go and gunk up the system? Brother LOVED his crib. He never tried to climb out, would just stand there and yell at me when he was ready....even asked to get in sometimes. So I gave myself a week to come to terms with it and organize the great bed transition of 2013. Luckily, my amazing in-laws were ready to get a new bed, so they gave Matthew their nice twin mattress. Score! Thursday night (at like 9:00) Zack and I went to the Leys and picked up the mattress and box springs. For some reason, I figured they would fit in my rinky dink Santa Fe. They didn't. So we had them literally hanging out the back. Zack tied some up little rope with the best Boy Scout knot he could muster and away we drove. Apparently he was never a Boy Scout.....with every single bump in the road, the back hatch bounced up and down on the mattress. So I am yelling at him to slow down (we were going like 30 down Mason Road) and holding on to the front of the mattress with all my might. We actually made it home with both mattress, although, Zack was convinced at one point that the entire back hatch was going to fall off and shatter all over the road. Can you even imagine?! Ha!

Yesterday, I spent the day playing musical mattresses. The new mattress was just too tall for Matthew's bed and bed rail. He would have fallen out like a freaking Rolly Polly as it was rolling away for it's life.... So, I switched it with Jonathan's mattress. We bought his ourselves, and it was WAY cheap. So naturally, much thinner. Then, my amazing in-laws came through again and offered to let us keep their BRAND NEW queen mattress at our house and give them our full size. This makes my parents infinity happy as they basically couldn't sleep in the full bed at the same time when they came to visit...it was pretty whimpy and had a huge iron foot board. Leave it to my Dad to complain about not having anywhere to put his feet.....So I had to pack up the full bed and clear out the room for the new mattress to be delivered. It was pretty much the best workout I have had in weeks. Now, everybody has a nice, big bed in our house!

And, as far as how things are going with the transition.....they are actually okay! Matthew went to sleep great last night, but woke up in the middle of the night, climbed out of bed to turn off his noise machine and then climbed back in. He woke up for the day around 6:00. When I headed in to get him, he was trying to open the door. Nap time was a little more tough. I think he climbed out of bed like 5 or 6 times. I swatted him every time (not hard, just enough for him to know not to do it) and put him back in bed. He never did get it....so I finally rubbed his back until he fell asleep. I don't want him to get used to that, but I figured he might need a little help while things are new. Hopefully tonight goes just as well, if not better!

I know these things are important. We have to help our little guys grow up and learn how to adapt to change....but that's hard when Mommy doesn't like change. I cried when I took the crib down and packed up the crib sheets. I almost cried when I realized that my mother-in-law would be putting him to sleep for his last night in the crib. I wanted to cry when he woke up in the middle of the night. I don't want a newborn, but I do want my baby back. I don't even want another baby, I just want my baby Matthew back :( The good news.....he loves the new bed and I think this will be a good thing for him......eventually.