Hannah's Big Girl Bed

Hannah is growing up and she is going to be a big sister; so, we decided it was time for her to be in a big girl bed.  It took us a while to find just the right one, but we finally have it!  This is what her room looks like right now.  

This was her first nap in her new bed. We didn't have safety railings yet, so, you can see the rocking chair and shelf with cubbies made great protective barriers. I don't think it was really cold enough for all of the covers, but she wanted to snuggle in them anyway.  (I understand; I like to snuggle under the covers too. I just turned on the ceiling fan for her.)

We wanted to let Hannah choose her own bedding; so, we took her to Target to see what they had.  She said she wanted the one with horses.  Just to be sure, I searched on line for a couple of items for her to choose from among, but she still wanted to get the horses. Was I surprised?  Not at all!  Hannah has always loved horses. One of her favorite toys while we were in China was a set of four animals with wheels. Her favorite was the horse, and one of the first words she spoke for us was "Ma," horse in Chinese. Whenever she read "Maisy's Favorite Animals," one of her first favorite books, she always turned to the horse first.  At first she would point to it and say, "ma," but quickly began to say, "horsh." She has since quit using much Chinese at all, and has little trouble pronouncing anything she hears.  Below she is in China with the little rolling toy. She used to like for me to roll it around her back and limbs and head. She still asks me to do that from time to time.

We have put her toddler bed in our room so that Andrew can sleep there for a while after he first comes home.   We have a post with pictures coming soon.

Here is a funny story about shopping for the bed.  Hannah didn't particularly enjoy going from store to store to find "just the right bed." We would go in and look at what they had together. Then, while David asked all the right questions, Hannah and I would walk around the store "looking for treasures." We found all kinds of interesting things, but the one thing that got her attention more than anything else was a mounted deer head on the wall.  When she saw it, she said, "Look! A reindeer!"  We stood and admired it and talked about if for a few minutes until she got quiet,  creased her brow, and studied the "reindeer" very intently.  I had been wondered how long it would take her to notice.  I waited until she finally, asked, "But where's the rest of him?" I said that since he wasn't alive anymore, he didn't need the rest of his body.  He was just a decoration.  Whew! she was okay with that explanation.

Hannah is growing up so fast.  We couldn't ask for a sweeter, more loving little girl.  She is such a blessing to us.  When God answered our prayers for a child, He answered them above and beyond our expectations.  (We love you, Hannah, and we are so glad you are our little girl!  You are going to be a great big sister!  You are growing up and changing so much and there are a lot of changes on the way with your little brother coming home, but our love and acceptance of you will never change.  Thank you, God, for sharing Hannah with us.  Continue to show us how we can help her grow up to be the woman that you created her to be.)