Goodbye Naps?

The start of the new year had brought the fun change for Ella of transitioning from naps to no naps. It's been a very back and forth process for all of us Ella included trying to decide what the nap was worth. We had the battles of not wanting to go down for a nap, only to finally fall asleep right before we have to pick up kids from school, and then proceed to not go to bed until 10pm at night, to trying to keep her awake all day much to her and Mommy's unhappiness in order to reap the benefit of an early bedtime! After all is said and done our best option has been "Quiet Time". With all my kids this has not been an easy thing to teach but once learned is a saving grace! On days when we can fit it all in I put Ella in her room and she can play with toys or read books or sleep as long as she stays in her room. This is great b/c if she chooses not to sleep then Mommy has at least had a break and been able to gear up for the 5:00 hour when that sleep deprived little girl starts melting down. Or in the case of this picture if she chooses to sleep (or just can't keep herself from falling asleep IN her book) then we all reap the benefit of a happy well rested child. I do have to admit though that one of our other (almost just a nice options) is Ella falling asleep in the car on the way home from picking up kids from school in which case I park the van in the garage, turn the car off, and leave the door open and let her finish out her nap in her car seat which she will do for a couple of hours! How things have changed since Mia was my only one! haha