Front Entrance

What do you look for in a front entrance?

I have never really given that question much thought when it comes to my own house, after all, its not like its a spot in our house where people hang out. But, it's the first thing people see when they walk into your house. It's their first impression. Wouldn't you want it to be just as warm and welcoming as the rest of your house.

Here is the current state of our front entry.









It's not terrible. But it's DARK. I really dont mind darker wall colors, if you have the natural lighting for it. This space, does not. It feels like a cave. The wall color is from the previous owners still, and I'm not quite sure how to describe it. In some lighting it looks brown, in some it takes on more purple tones. Either way, it has to go.

Heres the plan. It all started with a rug. A beautiful rug that Coral (Andrew) ordered me for mothers day. I don't have it yet, it's being shipped here, so you will have to wait to see it when the entrance is done. But trust me, it's going to look awesome. The walls are going to be painted a light cream, and the front door a beige. I got a new bench (actually a really narrow coffee table, that I will turn into a bench), and some funky fabric and pillows to go on top and some bright colored art. Ah I can just imagine now much better it will be.

It's going to be a big project, especially because I'm pregnant. I painted Corals whole nursery when I was pregnant, so I already know what paint is safe to use, and whats not. And I can keep the door and bathroom window open so it will be well ventilated. But still, with me being pregnant, I am not going to be able to be my speedy self with this project. The color continues all the way upstairs (which will have to be left as an accent wall because there is no way I could convince anyone to hang off a tall ladder and paint it ) and all the way to the basement. The basement is about to be tapped and mudded which I hear is the messiest part of renos, so I think I will wait until that is done to give the walls a fresh coat of paint.

What have you done with your entry to make it inviting for guests? Is yours narrow like mine, not giving you much option on how to decorate it?

Puddle jumping.

I wish I had some photos to show you for this post, I really do, because Corals puddle jumping this morning was epic.

Waking up this morning, I discovered we were out of two very important things, wipes and coffee. So, Coral and I took a walk to the Metro, picked up our goodies, and then continued on to the park. When we got there, we were the only ones there. Probably because A: there was a huge storm last night and the park was completely soaked, and there were puddles everywhere. And B: there were huge rain clouds everywhere you looked.

I'm proud to say Corals first instinct was to run directly towards the huge puddles and jump in them. And I didn't attempt to stop her, even though she was wearing her freshly washed white Capri jeans. She jumped, and jumped and jumped. She even plopped her little butt down and sat in the puddles. Of course then she ran to the muddy sand to build big sand castles. Coral, you would have made your uncle Jer proud today.

My mom was never afraid to let us kids get dirty. When I was little, you could usually find my brother and I (rain or shine) out in the mud, digging around, making mud stew, even forts in the mud. A lot of my childhood memories are of us in the puddles and mud. And I'm glad Coral isn't afraid to get dirty.

It's time to get that little girl some rubber boots so we can make puddle jumping a more regular activity. Let your kids get dirty today...it's fun!

Are we finding out the gender?

Coral was a surprise. We waited that whole looooong nine months to find out if we would diving into the world of dress-up and tea parties, or if we would be putting on capes and kicking balls around. It was hard, and there were so many times throughout my pregnancy that I just wanted to find out what we were having. But, there is nothing like giving birth and at that very moment finding out it's a boy or girl; and then you have that "ah ha, of course it's a....." moment.

Before we got pregnant with this lil nugget, we bounced back and forth on whether to find out the gender this time or not. The surprise is SO good, but the wait is so hard. And then there's that weird feeling of not knowing what your having, so you try not to think about it to much and get attached to one gender over the other. This happened to Andrew last time.

You see, he was CONVINCED, not a doubt in his mind that he would only reproduce males (he is after all from Viking decent, no lie). Sure, we had a girls named picked out just in case, but really, he knew it would be a boy. I myself (secretly hoping I would have a little girl, but knew I would love a boy as well) didn't get attached to the thought of having any gender.

As you can imagine, Andrew got quite the shock when Coral was born, and he now had a daughter instead of a son. In fact, when she was born, no one told me the gender, I had to look and say to Andrew "it's a girl Hodg!" to which he responded "a girl???" and he sat in shock for the next couple of hours as visitors came and left, not really saying anything.

Now I have got to say, he was in shock, but that doesn't mean he was disappointed. He held her, fell in love, and now can only imagine himself having more girls. How could he not? Coral is adorable if I do say so myself.

So after this, we thought that maybe it would be best if we found out the gender for our future little viking children. BUT, that thrill of the surprise was just to good. Not only did it help me get through labour and delivery, but I LOVE how anxious it made everyone else while we were in the hospital. Because no body knew what we were having, and they didn't know the names we chose, we had everyone on their toes for the whole 16.5 hours I was in labour.

So, the answer is, no we are not finding out the gender for this baby as well. It will be a surprise, and I'm excited to keep all you readers on your toes while I'm in labour. We already have a gender neutral nursery, gender neutral clothes and blankets from Coral, and a boys name and girls named picked out. We are set.

And we both know this time not to get attached to the idea of having a certain gender (although this time I think if we have a boy Andrew will be in shock again...what can I say, he loves his girls).

I get asked a lot if I have a feeling what the gender might be. No, I don't, but I didn't with Coral either. If we have another baby after this one, I could probably be persuaded to find out the gender, because I am curious if I would have more of a bond with my baby throughout my pregnancy knowing if it's a boy or girl. But we will see.

We also get asked a lot whether we have a preference for the gender this time. Actually, more often we get "so I guess your hoping for a boy this time eh." and truthfully, I don't know how to answer that question. I have always pictured myself in a house full of girls. I'm good at the girl thing. The dress up, nail polish, dolls and barbies. I love having a little girl, and I think it would be amazing if Coral had a little sister to bond with. Andrew feels the same way. He loves Coral so much that he would love to have another little girl. But we wouldn't be disappointed if we have a boy either. We would bust out the train sets and little basketballs and mini skateboards. For us, getting to this pregnancy was hard, and we feel so blessed to be having another child, that really, honestly, we just want our child to be healthy, no matter what the gender.

And now y'all only have five more months to wait until we find out if it's a son or daughter were having :)