The Livingstons: Post Grad Life

Hello everyone! It's been a really long time since I last updated this thing. A lot has happened with our little family. My goal is to write here about once a week, but we'll see how that goes. In the mean time here's a little bit of our life:

In December we moved back to California after Carter finished his Masters Degree in Structural Civil Engineering from BYU. We stayed with my parents while we found a house to buy. That whole process took F-O-R-E-V-E-R but it was super exciting. Carter's mom Phyllis was our superstar real estate agent and did all the hard stuff. She's amazing. Go buy a house from her. Finally we found a little house in Roseville that smelled horrible but was the right price (those two features correlated somehow...). It needed lots of work and we were initially hesitant but it was the only one we were able to get into escrow and it felt like the right place. After a month and a half of spending at least a few hours every day (except Sundays) on a face lift it was ready.

We moved in and have kept busy with ongoing projects. The house is over 50 years old so we anticipate lots of busy Saturdays. But we love it, and are SO grateful for this opportunity. Our new ward family (the congregation we meet with for church) is amazing and so welcoming. One of my favorite things about the LDS Church's organization is that no matter where you are on the earth you are part of a ward family and immediately have access to a great community of people. It's such a blessing. Lucky for us, not only are we in a great ward family but both of our families live only a half hour away! And they are great! I love living close to everyone.

I'm loving having a real live house to play, well, "house" in. I love taking time to cultivate a happy environment for my family; and though I struggle every day, I find a lot of fulfillment in that role. I've been busy with school and wrangling my boys until before I know it, months have passed. Life flies with lots to do; all the more reason to stop and savor. Luckily I just finished my spring semester of school and I have six weeks until fall semester starts. PARTY TIME. Or rather, laundry time.

The boys are adorable and exhausting. Jayden is every part of what you'd expect a two year old to be and most days Carter and I wonder how the heck we're supposed to manage him. He's quite a handful. Consistently juggling discipline, encouragement, expressions of love, fun, and physical needs is quite a balancing act and we often wonder if we're getting it right. But I'm promised that I'm going to miss these days because it only gets more complicated, so I'm doing my best to relax and savor the way he looks into my eyes and says "Momma, I love you so much". Alright son, you're forgiven. He really is the cutest.

Currently, Jackson is our super easy child. So long as he's fed and rested he's happy. We can't help but squeeze and snuggle him every chance we get because he's truly the most precious thing. He starting to communicate with us better and often he'll toddle up to me (on his bow legs), take my hand and guide me to what he wants me to do. It's the cutest thing ever.

We're busy, happy, and so grateful for life. I will get before and after pics of our new house soon! Happy Sabbath!