4 Things I’ve Discovered About My House Since Having A Newborn

Today our little girl is officially four weeks old and I thought I’d share a bit of our experience as a family so far.

1.  A baby turns a house into a home.  First of all, since this blog is mostly about our house, I’ll tell you having Evie has completely changed the way I view our house.  I will always remember laboring in the guest bedroom, struggling to make it down our staircase on the way to the hospital, and the exact place my water broke in the driveway.  And I’ll remember bringing our little girl home from the hospital and heading up the walkway with David holding her in her car seat, pausing at the front door and telling her once we stepped inside, “Welcome home.”  Her first night home was hysterical in retrospect– David and I failed miserably at swaddling and weren’t even sure we could pick her up without breaking her.

Here’s a picture from our first night… I love this because Evie is deciding if she should fuss or just go to sleep:

These memories are permanent and precious and I love the way they complete this house for me.  Yes, David and I bought this place with the goal of raising our family here, but I couldn’t have anticipated how now that we have a family, it all just makes sense.  It all fits.  I can’t wait to raise Evie here and make even more memories with her.

2.  House renovations are going to take a lot longer.  I now see how much time it takes to be a mom.  Priorities have certainly shifted since having Evie.  I know things will get easier and we’re just now falling into a routine, but 99% of my time as a mom so far has revolved around taking care of Evie and myself.  1% has gone toward the house.  (Thank God for family and friends who help with stuff like cooking meals and doing laundry!!!!  I think I’ve only done one load of dishes and laundry each in the past four weeks.)  I foresee my life slowing down a bit once she’s not needing to nurse every 2.5-3 hours during the day, but even so– I don’t think I’ll ever have the time I used to.  The cool thing: I don’t want that time!  If I have an extra 5 minutes and my choices are snuggle and cuddle with Evie or do something house-related, guess which one I’m going to pick!!

3.  My house will have baby things– and eventually toddler things, and kid things– scattered about.  And that’s ok.  We will have a pack-n-play in the family room, an exersaucer in the kitchen, a baby swing in our bedroom… this stuff is going to be around for a while.

My house won’t look like a magazine.  It will be cluttered with kid stuff when I take pictures.  And you know what– not only is that ok, I think it’s awesome.  Having Evie is such a blessing that not only do I not mind the extra stuff, I love it because it reminds me of how lucky David and I are to have a reason to have that stuff.

4.  At the end of the day, the house doesn’t matter.  Cheesy I know, but so so true… I love our house, and I love the adventure of renovating it and turning it into David’s and my creation, but what really matters isn’t the house or the stuff inside.  It’s us three (alright, and the dogs and even the cat) that matter.  Talk about a lesson in “don’t sweat the small stuff.”  Having Evie has made me realize any problems with the house– like windows not closing or missing doorknobs– is simply small stuff.  The big stuff?  It’s perfect and healthy and amazing and that’s all that I care about.