DIY headboard

If you have been to our house, you have probably noticed that all the beds we have are super low. Andrew has a thing with high beds...he HATES them. He claims that his pillow falls off the bed during the night and he has to practically get off the bed to pick it up. So low beds it is in the Hodgson house. Even Corals pallet bed is low (although I never really have to worry about her falling off the bed).

So when we got married, we went to Ikea and bought the Malm bed, king size (trust me, king size was needed for us). It's a very basic bed. Kinda boring actually. But as boring as it may appear, this bed can easily be transformed. The headboard is just a huge rectangle, which makes it super simple to reupholster. Our headboard has been the basic black, yellow and grey, cream with light blue damask, and black again. Because its so simple to do, the whole reupholstering usually only takes about 20 min.

Here's what I did this time. And yes, I know I'm about three weeks away from giving birth, but what's a nesting mama gonna do?




This is what we're starting off with. Plain, black, boring rectangle. No romance. Lets spruce it up shall we.

First, I took an old blanket we had laying around, and draped it over the headboard. Then I took a cream coloured top sheet we had and placed it over top the blanket. I did this for two reasons.
1. So the headboard would be soft and a tad bit fluffy. If there was no blanket, it would be one hard headboard with a piece of fabric over top.
2. The cream coloured sheet was because the blanket I used was blue, and the material I was using to reupholster is burlap. Slightly see through.

Then, I stapled everything into place so it's nice and snug.

And now the fun part. I LOVE burlap. I love love love it. It's cheap, and it looks fantastic. Again, all I did was drape the burlap over the headboard, pull tight where it needed to be pulled, and stapled (ah I love my staple gun).




Cream coloured burlap.
Next I added some bling. This part obviously took longer then the usual 20 min, but it was so worth it. Has anyone ever used upholstery tacks? There a pain in the butt, but look so good.




Ok, so there not totally straight. Give me a break, I'm nine months pregnant and can hardly bend over, what did you expect. Andrew, bless his heart says he likes that they are not perfectly lined up and that it gives it more of a vintage feel (what a good hubby eh).

Here's the finished product.
















And now to finish those end tables.....

Any time now...

Well, we did it! Baby made it to 37 weeks and is now considered full term. Phew! Let me just say that bed rest with a toddler is not easy. I am very thankful that we have a little girl who can entertain herself. She pretty much spent the second half of summer stuck inside our house, but has been so busy with her imaginary friends that she hasn't really noticed (that and she doesn't really like the heat anyway).

One of the hardest things about bed rest is the mama guilt that comes along with it though. Coral didn't really notice that she was missing out on stuff, but I did. I felt guilty that I couldn't take her to the park everyday like I used to, and that things like going to the zoo were out of the question because I just couldn't walk that much. Things like dance parties, wrestling, tickle fights, and hide and go seek couldn't be done until daddy got home from work. And every once in a while Coral would say things like "when the baby comes out you will pick me uppy again right mama". Mama guilt. But I knew I had an obligation to be a good mama to the baby inside of me, and do what I could to make sure I didn't give birth before 37 weeks. And we did it!

Like I have said before, Coral coming two weeks early has really thrown me off for this pregnancy. It was so exciting when my water broke at 38 weeks because I was totally expecting to go late. What an awesome surprise to have her come early! But now what do I expect with this one? I have heard that usually your second baby you go earlier, and labour is faster then with your first. But I don't want to allow myself to think that way. Thinking that way would leave me feeling overdue by the time I hit the 38 week mark. Not good because not only could I not go early, I could go all the way to my due date, or late! But still, I can't help but think 'any time now'!

I also wish that I had paid closer attention to what was happening to my body before Coral came. But again, I really wasn't expecting her to come early. Braxton hicks? Psh I thought that was the baby doing some funky karate inside my tummy. This time I'm aware that I have been having Braxton hicks for a while now. But how long did I have them before I gave birth to Coral? I have no idea! Did I even notice when she had dropped? People keep asking me if I feel any different right now, or if I feel like the baby is coming soon. Honestly, I don't know. I feel like we have a while to go before the baby comes (ok I'm a bridesmaid in a wedding this Friday, it has to wait until after then at least), but with no warning signs last time, I almost feel like a first time mom about to give birth again.

All that being said, we are prepared for baby to come any time now. Bags are packed for everyone, car seat is ready to go, emergency bag is in the car in case my water breaks in public, towels under the sheet on my side of the bed, all baby gear is out with fresh batteries, you name it, it's done. And now we just wait. Whether the baby comes early or not, the countdown is ON. We for sure have less then a month until our whole world changes once again. I could not be any more excited!

Coral at two and a half....

I have a little lady in my house that is growing up quite fast...to fast for this mama. At two and a half Coral is:

-funnier then I ever thought could be possible. This girl definitely has a goofy side. Between the things that she says, and the way that she says them, she has Andrew and I laughing quite often. The other day she said to me "mama when are you going to go poop that baby out" with this silly look on her face (meh I'm just glad she has come up with her own explanation on how the baby is coming out so I don't have to explain it to her).

-her mind is ALWAYS going. She's a thinker and is always trying to figure stuff out.

-she's creative. She can come up with games on her own, and make up songs about whatever she sees. She will pretend JUMP into a book to save the characters....or discipline them if they are being bad.

-she talks all.the.time. Like I said, her mind is always going and she always wants to be heard. This girl literally seems like she is 2 going on 12. She will pretend call people and explain to them on the phone that she just doesn't have energy to play right now. The things that she says and does constantly blows our minds. Half of the time she leaves Andrew and I speechless or else were saying "where does she learn things like that".

-she's obsessed with hide and seek. Literally obsessed. As soon as she hears the garage door opening when Andrew comes home, she runs and hides. She would play all day, every day if she could. She's a little cheater though. Most of the time when she's counting she peeks. Or else she just follows you as she counts. Sneaky monkey.

-speaking of monkeys, sometimes we think she might be part ape. The girl won't stop climbing on every thing. If there is a chair around she will go up and down, up and down. She hops from couch to couch and yells "BUM DROP" and then slams her little booty down.

-she has a wild imagination. She has lots of imaginary friends that come with us where ever we go. Baby lion, baby woodpecker, and most recently the whole cast of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Especially Donald. She has a blast with Donald. Before naptime and bed time she talks and talks to Donald. She makes him have a tea party with her, bounce on the bed with her, sometimes Donald even gets stuck up in the sky. Sounds cute but Donald can be a pain in this mamas butt sometimes....like when he comes with us to the grocery store and takes up a lot of room in the cart, or starts throwing food out of the cart. Or when he steals her spot on the couch. Or when she uses Imaginary Donald against her friends (eg- "no you can't sit there, Donald is sitting there" or " Donald's playing with that toy right now"). Don't worry, she's always good at disciplining Donald and making sure he gets time outs.

-she's obsessed with the baby's stuff. She's so excited for this baby to come. She goes in the nursery and steals his/her soothers (she hasn't used a soother since she was 8 months old), and she pulls all the new born diapers out and "organizes" them on the floor. She also likes to put her precious stuffed animals in the car seat, bouncy chair or bassinet.

-she has a servant heart, always wanting to help out. If she sees me grab a rag to wipe something down, she grabs one too and helps me. If I sweep, she wants to sweep with me. If I need some tums for my heartburn, she will run and grab them for me. She helps me carry grocery bags inside the house, and put the grocery bags away. And she loves helping with laundry too.

-she loves to pray. We never taught her a prayer that she could memorize and just say before dinner or nap time or bed time. We didn't want her just saying the words that she memorized, but actually learn how to talk to Jesus and think about what she is saying. It's amazing how much she has picked up on just by hearing Andrew and I pray. Her prayers go something like this depending on what we did that day "Dear Jesus, thank you for today. Thank you that I got to go to the park and play with mama, and read books, and do princess puzzle. Help me to have a good sleep and good dreams....AMEN". A few weeks ago she offered to pray at supper and said her normal prayer but threw in "thank you for this food and bless it to our body's use....AMEN". And when it's Andrew or myself praying she always nods and throws in a "yes" here or there. At two and a half...amazing.

Every single day this little girl continues to amaze me. We are SO blessed to have her in our lives. As the next baby's due date slowly creeps up, I get anxious and excited about Corals new role in our family. I am so thankful for the two and a half years that I have gotten to spend on JUST her...no distractions, no one else to take care of, just me and my side kick. We have a wonderful mother/daughter bond, and I'm excited for that to only get stronger as she gets older. Coral we love you and are so proud of you!

Kids will be kids...

Every night before I go to bed, I go in Corals room and check on her. I'm mostly just checking to see if she pooped in her pull-up or not because while she is potty trained, she still sometimes poops in her pull-up at night...and friends, no one wants to wipe a toddlers butt that has been sitting in poop all night.

So two nights ago I thought I would give a quick check, not actually expecting there to be anything because she pooped on the potty right before bed, but as soon as I opened the door, I instantly knew she had to be changed. So I grabbed the wipes and turned her lamp on.

Oh the horror.

Let me explain something to you quick. Y'all know that I love to decorate. It takes a lot of time, energy and creativity for me to get a room exactly the way I want it. And since I spend the time and energy to decorate (and the money), I like to keep my house looking neat and tidy. We have always taught Coral to be respectful of not only her things, but our things as well, and truthfully, I have never had to worry about her wrecking any thing.

Ahem.

Oh. The. Horror.

When I turned on the lamp, I literally gasped and dropped the wipes. Y'all are thinking "uh oh Coral put poop all over her room". Psh, poop would have been easy. Instead I saw bright red crayon, all over her ENTIRE room. The walls, every single spot on her pallet bed, all over her blinds, her table, the rug, her books, both her dressers were covered, and worst of all...her yellow couch. The entire yellow couch was covered in crayon. And no, the crayon was not a washable crayon.

Ok, I should have taken pictures to document the moment, and so you could fully understand just how bad it was, but I was in pure panic mode. Her whole room...that I worked so hard on....ruined! Must. Get. Crayon. Off. Immediately. Im almost nine months pregnant, I don't have time to re-do a whole entire room! So I called Andrew so he could change Corals bum, and I ran and got some laundry stain remover. We're a chemical free house, so that was the only thing I could think of that might save the couch.

Parents with crafty kids, let me tell you, crayon is evil. That wax really knows how to get right in there and stay. After some good scrubbing (first by me then I put Andrews muscles to use) it started to come out. Before putting her back to bed we managed to get the couch in decent condition again. It now has a bit of a red-ish tint to it here and there, and there is discoloration where we sprayed the stain remover (which was practically over the entire thing) but the chair will survive.

And for the last two days I have been scrubbing her room. The hardest part was definitely getting it off her pallet bed. At one point we thought we would need to just sand the bed down. And there are some spots that I didn't even attempt to clean, like her chalk board. That was a lot of work for this mama who is on bed rest.

The hardest part about the whole situation....disciplining her. When I first saw what she had done, I panicked about the things she had ruined. But the truth is, it's just stuff. My panic was immediately followed with "ooh crap, now I'm going to have to discipline her....how do I do that in this situation".

I must admit, we have had it pretty easy with disciplining Coral. Part of that is her personality (a people pleaser) and part of that is our consistency with her. She caught on pretty quick that mom and dad mean business, and if you don't listen, swift action will be taken. She has only been spanked about three times in her entire life, and now most of the time, we only need to threaten a time out to get her to listen (but that's because she knows that if she doesn't listen we will follow through with giving her a time out EVERY single time...yes, even in the grocery store).

So again, what do you do in this situation? We didn't just want to wake her up and give her a swat on the bum..that seemed cruel. And a time out wasn't an option in this situation. And now here's the clincher. After I turned the light on and gasped, she woke up. She saw the look on my face and immediately started saying sorry. And she said it over and over and over again. "I'm sorry mama....I'm sorry for doing this mama....sorry for drawing on my room mama....I won't do it again mama".

Great. Smarty pants. How can I be upset at you when you clearly feel bad about what you did. So in that moment, as she was saying sorry over and over again, and I was using every muscle in my arm to scrub the crayon off, I had to stop and teach my daughter about forgiveness. Ok, she's only two, so I don't think she fully understood what I was telling her about forgiveness, but it was still a good teaching opportunity. Mommy doesn't stay upset with you, and even when you have done something wrong, I will still hug you and kiss you after, and not hold it against you.

Ok. Toddler is sorry, toddler is forgiven. BUT she still needed to be disciplined. She was sorry, we forgave her, but we still needed to teach her that there are always consequences to your actions. Lucky for me I got off easy again when she sighed and said "I guess I probably won't be allowed to watch cartoons tomorrow eh". Hmm..yes...that's a good one Coral. No cartoons (ahem win/win for me...shes being disciplined, and I get to watch the morning news instead of monster math squad). she also got her crayons taken away for the day which was heart breaking for her. She loves a good coloring sesh. And over the past two days, I think she has apologized over 60 times for coloring in her room. Ah, bless her sweet little heart.

Umm lesson learned? Don't let your child go to bed with a crayon in her room.

Basement pics

So, our basement is ALMOST complete. We still need some more trim, a few doors, toilet, and decor (sectional, area rug, coffee table, desk, and art for the walls). Here are some recent pics of the basement (I think the last time I did a basement post we were still mudding).

We now have hardwood flooring.



We got this engineered hardwood from Lumber Liquidators in Pickering for a steal of a deal. Let's just say that my hubby is a great negotiator :) If your looking for awesome flooring, I suggest checking them out. Since its a basement, we didn't want dark flooring...it would feel to much like a cave then. And we didn't want rug because let's face it, rugs are gross and with kids in the house it wouldn't take long for it to get stained.

We have a brick wall!









One of our fav parts about the basement. When we first started renos, Andrew knew he for sure wanted a brick wall. Again, the basement is HIS area, so he decided on the brick, flooring, trim...everything. Grouting a brick wall in a basement is no easy task my friends. It took him almost a month to do it, but it was so worth it in the end.










We have lights, and working surround sound. It can get very loud in the Hodgson house, especially when Coral is having a dance party.




He chose a basic high trim. Looks sleek and clean.




Guest room. Sorry about the mess. Coral currently has her ball pit in that room. This is the accent wall I did for Andrew. He picked it out, I put it up.




The rest of the room is white. As you can see we still need a door and trim in this room.




And the bathroom needs a toilet.

Andrew and his brother have been enjoying playing video games in the basement for a while now, and when Matt and Christy came they stayed down there. We are loving the extra space it gives us. Now to finish and furnish it.....