Thanksgiving was so much fun! I definitely had Thanksgiving hangover after we headed home from too little sleep and too much good food. We stayed with Grandma Sandra and Grandpa Larry in Elk Ridge with all of David's siblings for the holiday.


Grandma definitely knows how to throw a party! She's always the most thoughtful and gracious hostess- I'm picking up tips now we have a guest room. Plus, the view from the house isn't bad.



Scotty was simultaneously in cousin heaven and hell. It took her a day or so to get used to eight other kids running wild around her and being very attentive but I think overall she loved it.

Highlights include the cousin swim party in the hot tub, watching movies, playing Pandemic and Rumikub, Thanksgiving dinner, exploring Cabellas, an escape room, and playing with toys & more toys.
Scotty loved the bubbles in the hot tab as well as being squired about by daddy. Being part of the chaos but in a parent's arms is her favorite situation.


 It's so fun to watch the cousins interact and care for each other. The bigger ones help (or try to help) the younger ones all the time and it's so sweet.

Here are some grainy basement pictures. But hey, they're hilarious!
Everyone is looking so old! All the kids got individual portrait shots at the family photo shoot and it was crazy to see how grown up they're getting.

 Tara was a total crack up. Also I think she's standing on two crates at this moment.
Lizzy looking cute in her mermaid dress up. All the moms were snickering at how unfilled out it was halfway down her stomach. She was happily oblivious though.
 Muscles!!

Scotty doing her own thing as balls whiz past her head. Baby dolls and balls both have her heart.

We got more family pictures since we weren't sure when Uncle Evan will be back from China. Look at these cute grandkids and the mom/dad sibling pictures! I was happy to grab family photos for Christmas but I've resigned myself to always being pregnant during extended family pictures. Last time I was pregnant with Scotty for the Smith photos.

It's so nice for us to get to learn from David's older family and for Scotty to have cousin time. We can't wait for the next get together!

Here's my floor plan:


The wall color was Benjamin Moore Ozark Shadows and honestly in this natural light you can tell it's a very nice moody grey. It's really rich. But it's just too dark for a kid's room. Especially at night. It's so close but not quite.

I went back and forth a bunch on whether or not to just cover the hearts and keep this grey. Painting this room has been a pain in my tush but I really really like the lighter grey.
He's inheriting Scotty's Ikea dresser and crib. She got our country french dresser and mirror since the captain's bed David made is our new dresser. I literally don't know when, if ever, we'll take Scotty out of the crib. Guys, you don't argue with 12 stinking hours of sleep a night. Is it a thing to let your child be in diapers and a crib until kindergarten #imscaredofchange

And yes, we do have a name picked out in case you saw that hint. Don't ask me about it. I loved so many boy names and as soon as we found out we were pregnant I hated them all. I did that with girl names too. As soon as it gets real I get cold feet so it's better to just commit. So I will not discuss the chosen name that I once loved and now kind of hate. You'll find out when I give birth.

3. Remove the mirror and light fixture and have David help me frame the mirror and replace the light fixture.

4. Add board and batten to the wall across front the vanity and towel hooks on that (I'm so freaking excited about this, it's going to be so cute!!).

5. Add some inexpensive decor and do a happy dance!

Here's a really lame mood board I put together in a hurry to help me visualize/stay motivated:

Scotty even got into crunching leaves. It's so fun to see her be able to really learn and interact with the outdoors. She was a cute oblivious baby last year so this is new for us.



But that's like this whole mom gig. You try and try and sometimes your plans go right and sometimes they don't. They go right a lot more often when you're prepared though, haha.

I was telling David there weren't any pictures of me and he was like, well you need to give me the camera then. Opps, he's right. But I have so much fun watching those two together. Also, I'm at the point in my pregnancy where when Scotty sits on my stomach I'm suddenly trying not to pee my pants.
I mean, come one. Look at those two! We're excited to spend Thanksgiving with family and keep enjoying and exploring our new surroundings. David asked me the other day if living in our house would ever stop feeling weird and I said I didn't think so. Every day is a pinch me moment and we can't help but feel so grateful for this new spot our family is enjoying so much.

I'm in LOVE with the progress we've made so far on the living room and entry way. If you missed our plan for this room, click here. The light grey is just so fresh after the fifty shades of brown that seemed to be so dominant when you walked in before. I promise the first wall was beige and the second is grey. Look at that lovely ledge-free wall that looks so much taller! 



I can't wait to see this room with the board and batten around the walls! I've also been sourcing furniture to relieve my excitement and it's not really helping. Go figure Laura. 

It's funny how it seems like we've only done a few simple things from these two pictures. But there has been so much mental energy and physical effort on the room already. Here's the run down of the process:

Choosing the Right Color

I'm not an interior designer by a long shot, but I did learn with the last house that when you make one wrong design decision it can have a snowball effect of bad decisions. We picked cream color cabinets in our kitchen remodel to save money and then we realized you can't really paint the walls grey when you have beige cabinets. Instead we picked a neutral we liked (the color was called Brandied Pears) but weren't in love with.


This time I knew I wanted a light grey that was more grey than beige. I was also really concerned about it lightening the space it was in because we were going to paint some halls that same grey that don't get natural light.

My other preference was to avoid "grieges" or grey-beige which are really hot. My personal style preference is "transitional" which is basically a more modern take on traditional and I felt like grey is a modern neutral option but it's more adventurous than the white wall trend I love too.

The scary thing about grey is it can read cold if you don't go the griege direction. I brought home a million paint chips and then gave up and turned to Pinterest for grey advice. I really enjoy the Young House Love podcast and Sherri gave a tip about looking up rooms that are painted the color you're thinking about. I was interested in a couple greys but felt like the pictures of Grey Owl by Benjamin Moore where they lightened the paint 50% were my favorite. Here are a couple:



I was a little scared Gray Owl can read too blue/cold but after looking at enough pictures, I realized the decor and the light of the room really determines how the walls will read. These rooms are super neutral but in rooms where there are warmer accents it looks really neutral. It's so light, it reflects the environment around it. Basically it's almost a neutral gray and it was close enough for me to commit.

Figuring out the Wainscoting 

David drafted the new fireplace and built-in plans for our family room and it's going to be gorgeous. Like this family room will be my dream room. Sneak peak of that soon! I realized as I'm looking at all this more traditional wainscoting that it won't match the fireplace and built in design.

So we're going to go the board and batten route because it'll be a smilier style to the fireplace design. Here are some examples of what we're thinking, we still have to decide on the height and the exact board we're using on the top.



Taking Down the Ledge and Patching the Drywall

David surprised himself by what a flawless job he did patching the drywall. You can't tell there was ever a dust-collecting, pointless ledge on the wall.

He ripped off the drywall and cut down the supporting two by fours, leaving a ledge shaped gaping hole. Initially when I floated the idea of taking down the ledge, David really, really didn't want to do it. He was burned out from the huge amount of time-consuming drywall he did in the last house. But after I got a quote for someone else doing it he decided to do it himself. He was pleasantly surprised by how relatively easy it was which I was grateful for. He's the best!






Hardwood Install

We decided to extend the hickory from the front entry and kitchen into the front room. I got three bids and went with Littlewood Flooring. If you're in Salt Lake County, I highly recommend McKay. He had the most competitive bid and the best reviews. He and his team did a great job.


It's a 3 day process. One the first day they cut and install the boards. David had removed the carpet and we had removed the staples in the sub-floor to save the $100 removal fee. The wood was delivered a few days before install because it needs to adjust to your house/humidity.

At the end of the install they filled the knots in the wood with this black stuff to make it level and make the knots really pop. The install took probably 5 or 6 hours.

The next two days were the worst. It's unavoidable that the finish smells super strong and you won't want to be home because of that. Taking a toddler out of the house for hours on end is not that fun to me so... yeah. But worth it in the end. They sand the floor and apply the finish and come back and do it again the second day. It's so pretty and I'm so glad we did it now. Especially because it would have meant hauling a toddler and baby around for hours if we waited a few months.

I'll keep you updated on this room and the next project that's already in progress!!