I've wanted my girls to share a room since before they were born ;) I feel like it brings siblings closer and when I was a kid, I either ended up in my sister's room or she was in mine.  I would get scared and want to sleep in her room.  So it just seems much easier for them to share one now while they are young.

So we converted Luna's toddler bed back to a crib so Belle could sleep in it, and then bought Luna a twin bed. We also bought a matching twin for Belle to use when she is ready for one.  So right now we 2 beds in Luna's room and 2 beds in Belle's room..lol.  Belle still naps every day so we kept the crib in her room for now for nap time.  So far the sleeping at night has gone OK. Belle and Luna talk and keep each other up so we will have to see how this goes.  It's definitely taking them longer to fall asleep, so they are more cranky the next day.  But we hope it's just a short time thing.  So far it seems like they have gotten a little closer, or maybe it's wishful thinking:)  They usually play together so well, minus a few "she's not sharing" and Belle trying to get her big sister's attention.  But the long term plan is for them to be in Luna's room (room makeover in progress) and then move most of the toys in Belle's room for a playroom/guest room.  Even if I had 10 bedrooms in my house, I would still want them to share a room.

The past few weeks the girls have really been into playing princesses. Ever since Disney, they love dressing up even more and being Anna and Elsa.  Next week we are going to try to move the girls into their own rooms!

So, as for the weaning part of this post. It's not about weaning from their own rooms or play time. But yes, I am weaning Belle from nursing. Now that she is being weaned, we are ready for them to start sharing a room so they can be close sisters!  Even if we had 10 rooms, I would still want them to share.

She is 2.5 years old now and I had planned on stopping nursing when she turned 2.  I stopped with Luna when she was around 18 months old because I was pregnant and not feeling well. In fact, my midwife told me it takes more for your body to nurse a baby, than it does to grow one!  It was an easy transition to stop Luna, especially since I knew I would nurse my next child.  But with Belle having ear infections like crazy, I decided to nurse her through the cold and flu season of 2013/2014 when she was over 1 years of age.  So April came, and she was almost 2 in May and I kept it up because it was easy and the WHO recommends it until at least 2. She was only nursing before nap and bedtime too.  Then we traveled here and there over the summer, then school started for her in the Fall and she was clingy and crying like crazy, so didn't think it was a good time. Thanksgiving was my goal but she screamed bloody murder any time I told her no to her 'mommy milk.' Talk about torture as a mom!! I had become her 'lovey'.  But after talking to her about being a 'big girl' and that Luna doesn't drink mommy milk, and then trying to snuggle and sing songs a lot before bed without nursing, it slowly started to work.  I would spend about 15 minutes rocking her and singing to her to show her that I can still hold her without nursing.  

It was hard as I know she is my last child and the baby days are over. Don't even talk to me about selling the crib or baby swing yet. I had always wanted a big family and 3 kids, but after colicky babies and sleepless nights (Belle did not sleep thru the night until she was 19 months old!), and the SAHM gig being way harder than ever imagined in my life, plus the attention the kids need, the cost, etc. and there is no way my kids could handle the attention-lessness they would have, and 100 more reasons. Plus life is just easier splitting with 2 and can you imagine having a Jan Brady complex? No thank you!  Plus I am 40 now and pushing it.  So, I digress, but I think I am okay now and ready to move onto the next phase of their lives.  It's been nice to have my kids not so dependent on me and can get dressed on their own now! There are some days too when they don't follow me to the bathroom! I never thought I'd see the day :)

So anyway, here are a few shots of the girls playing together and stay tuned for the room sharing update!  Now that Belle doesn't nurse much at all, it will be easier to put them both to bed at the same time :)

We were invited by Luna and Belle's friends Caden and Annabelle to meet them at the Perot Museum for a playdate. Caroline and Cate met us there as well.  I took Luna out of school since she goes 5 days a week, there is never a good day to go.  We did not renew our membership last year because the parking is insane, it's always crowded, the elevators are crazy crowded for strollers and the play area is always jam packed with school tours of preschoolers and 50 of their parents.  But the morning we went it was amazing, the least crowded I've ever seen, so maybe we will consider renewing it soon.  The kids had a lot of fun having the place to themselves.

They enjoyed playing on the Dallas playscape, in the water area and the grocery area and lastly racing the animals!

We spent our New Years eve at a kid-free party :)  Our friends the Frazures hosted another themed party at their house, and this year it was Quinceneara.  My mom and Raul watched the girls so it was nice to have a break and be able to sleep in, although it's hard to sleep past 8am these days as a mom.

And on Monday, we started our playgroup rotation again for the new year! The kids were still out of school, so Luna went with me. Normally it's just the 2/3 year olds and babies since the big kids are in school on Mondays.  Luna had a blast playing at our friend Beth's house (who has 3 kids)!

Then on Wednesday night, our playgroup had our monthly bookclub night! Beth's sister Kate hosted at her house and it also happened to be her 30th Birthday! Yes, she is our youngest in the group..lol..or I am the oldest. Anyway, her sister had a great idea to make masks made of old photos of her and she would walk in the room and we would surprise her.  It was so much fun and she was really thrown! Especially the one I was wearing of her awesome 7th grade puberty stage :)