Joy in the small things

My parents bought the girls bunk beds for Christmas. Since we knew baby #3 was coming, we had to prepare (we only have a 3 bedroom house). My dad and Dave put them up 3 weeks ago and Eloise has been loving them ever since.

We haven't yet moved Lily, for a few reasons. One, I LOVE the crib. I see no need to move kids out of their cribs before 2 1/2 (unless of course a sibling is on the way). I would have kept Eloise in until she was 3, but she was the size of a 4 yr old at 2, so it wasn't long before she outgrew it. Two, Lily isn't ready. We've tried to move her to the big bed in her room but she keeps asking to go back in her "criby" after we lay her down. Three, we needed a top mattress.

With the economy the way that it is, Dave getting a 10% pay cut, and my frugal nature, I just couldn't bring myself to buy a new mattress at this time. I wanted to wait and find a good deal on Craigslist or see if anyone I knew had one. The Lord just kept telling me to wait.

Last week at bible study our small group had just wrapped up and I felt like I should let my group know we needed a mattress. I told them we were looking and if they knew anyone that had one (in good condition), we would gladly take it. A woman at our table said, "I have one and we would love to get rid of it". Wow! It was her sons at college and it even has an allergy protective cover b/c he has asthma and allergies. So cool!

This weekend we sold the box spring we had on Craigslist and picked up our new mattress. The girls think it's the coolest thing. After a few lessons in how to get up and down we feel pretty confident in them being up there. Eloise isn't quite sure she wants to sleep up there yet, but as she gets a bit more comfortable, I'm sure she'll be excited.

What an amazing blessing! I'm taking great joy in the small provisions.

(ignore the unmade bed and blankets strewn about. I didn't think it would be an accurate representation of their play if I made it all look really good before I took the picture :))