The Livingstons: August 2017

I'm going to pause the Max Meningitis Saga to update what we've been up to. Thus far I'm only (nearly) three months behind...hooray!

June started out hot. Like nasty-I-want-to-cry-hot. In honor of my pregnant over heated self, Carter and I decided to allocate more funds towards the air conditioning budget. And rightfully so, because had we not I probably wouldn't have survived. Literally.

Besides listening to me complain about the heat, Carter, the boys and I spent a lot of time swimming, learning to ride bikes, and playing with friends. I worked hard at school every day; I was in the midst of the busiest semester ever and it was quite a juggle to get everything done. Luckily I finished everything a couple weeks before Max arrived. We also worked on last minute pre-baby projects. Jayden and Jackson LOVE swimming in Grandpa's pool and have grown confident with their swimming abilities (so long as they have floaties on). Our super fun friends from BYU days came to visit for a week and we had SO much fun with them. They really need to move here because life's better with them around. Our little boys had a ball.

In July we played the waiting game HARD CORE. My doctor told me baby Max was fully engaged in the first week of July. Naturally I took this to mean he could come any day...so I hurried to get everything in place and assumed I'd go into labor at any moment. I also experienced prodromal labor EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I had regular contractions for hours at a time and it became really discouraging. I could tell the contractions were not the real deal (they didn't have that sharp, fiery edge) but they certainly weren't comfortable. At week 38 my doctor said I was dilated to a 1.5cm and 80% effaced. He told me to expect baby to come any day (spoiler alert, he didn’t come until the end of the month). Meanwhile, the daily bout of contractions became even more uncomfortable. That, along with the increasingly sharp pelvic and back pain I'd had since about week 28 made me desperate to have this baby. Pregnancy is not easy for me and I was SO ready to be done.

While we waited we spent a LOT of time swimming and playing at Grandma's house. It was nice to be around family. My sweet friend also threw me a baby shower and it was just lovely. I loved having girl time and getting spoiled. Mostly though, we waited around for Max and I tried not to go crazy.

Jayden and Jackson started having a lot of sibling rivalry and we wondered what to do about it. It seemed like there was always a squabble to break up. Luckily my friend gave me a really great idea for how to handle it. Basically if there’s any fighting or tattling, all participating parties get a warning. After two warnings they have to go to time out, and after time out they have to go sit in their room. When one comes up to tattle or if I hear fighting all I have to do is say “Boys, that’s strike one.” I love having systems for dealing with discipline issues because if I don’t know what to do, I’m quicker to lose my cool. And that doesn’t help anybody. Thus far, this has worked, but with Max’s arrival and illness I’d imagine we’ll need to rework everything when we get out of the hospital.

I do love the stage Jay and Jack are in though. They are SO STINKING ADORABLE. Jayden has such an interesting vocabulary and will say things in the cutest way. And Jackson is starting to talk a lot more. They play together all day and, despite their squabbles, honestly seem like best buddies. I love looking out my kitchen window to see them riding bikes in the back yard or playing cars in the dirt. I’m so glad they have each other.

As usual, life is wonderful and we are grateful. This little family of mine brings me such joy J