Pearce's Big Boy Bed and Room!

I had been thinking about changing Pearce's bed and room into a big boy bed/room for the past couple of weeks.  Originally I thought we would do it for his 3rd birthday because I thought it would take a while to find cute bedding and it would be kind of expensive, so we would do it for his birthday.  I knew I wanted transportation bedding because his nursery already had several decorations that went with that.  One day last week, I decided to start looking for bedding and right away I found this toddler bedding online at Walmart!  I loved the colors and design and it got great reviews and it was pretty inexpensive...came with a pillow sham, fitted sheet, flat sheet, and the comforter.  Then I started wondering if people normally go from a nursery to a toddler room and then to a big kid room....making a total of 3 room changes and would it be better to just go with a full size bed and bedding.  I asked the question on Facebook and got soooo many responses.  Most people said to skip the toddler bed and just go straight to a big bed.  This totally threw me off because then I realized I would have to get full size bedding which is more expensive, plus have to get the conversion kit to turn his crib into a full size bed which is $100, PLUS, we would have to get a full size mattress.  So, the simple room change was turning into a more expensive, more complicated thing!  Well, after looking at his room it was clear that there was no way a full size bed would fit in there, so that was actually a relief and we just decided to go ahead and go with the original plan.  We decided to not wait until his birthday and just go ahead and do it.  I ordered the bedding and the curtain panel, went to Ikea and got a metal bulletin board, and also got him the cutest transportation rug.  Last Saturday, Chris took off the side of Pearce's crib and then I started re-arranging his room decorations.  I took down a few of Pearce's baby pictures and decorations and some of his baby clothes that I had hanging on one of his shelves.  We arranged all of his airplanes his daddy had gotten him on his bookshelf.  Then Chris took down Pearce's nursery curtains and put up his new curtain.  I made up his bed with the new bedding and for a guard rail, I used a pool noodle!  One of my friends had suggested this and it worked perfectly!  It gives his bed enough of a "bumper" that he doesn't roll off...so far :)  Pearce was so excited when he saw his room and had so much fun getting in and out of his big boy bed!  We told him he had to stay in his bed and call for us when he wakes up in the morning.  It was now time to go night night!  I rocked him and sang to him just like normal...I was a little worried that he might not want to stay in his bed when the time came to put him down, but he went right down and I reminded him to call for us when he wakes up in the morning.  He totally slept through the night with no problems and called for us in the morning!  Chris went to get him and normally Pearce wants to see me right away, but instead he wanted to play with his cars on the transportation rug in his room!  He doesn't wake up any earlier, hasn't fallen out of bed, takes his naps just like normal.  It has been so easy and I just love how is room looks now!!!