The Contented Wife Blog | About Home, Furniture, Motherhood

If you follow very many people on Pinterest, you’re bound to come across several boards titled “Dream Home” or something similar. These boards are filled with pictures of extravagant houses on picturesque landscapes with interiors that look like they came straight out of a magazine. Now, I realize for some people, this is real life. Houses like that are not completely out of reach, but for me, that isn’t real life. After our recent move with Removals London moving company, I realized I would be completely kidding myself if I were to believe someday soon my husband and I would be living in a mansion.

Please know I’m not condemning those that have Pinterest boards such as these, but it has got me to thinking… What does my dream home look like?

It’s definitely not this house!
Well, for the most part, I try not to focus too much about it’s physical appearance, but rather what goes on inside of it. I enjoy home decor, crafting, and making my home comfortable for my family just as much as anyone else, but I also believe it takes more than four walls to make a house a home.

If I could build my dream house, it would look something like this:

// Family suppers around the table

// Children laughing and playing with toys

// Family movie nights with homemade pizza on the weekends

// Life lessons being taught and learned

// A happy husband coming home from work each night, full of hugs and kisses for us all

// Busy Sunday mornings getting everybody dressed and ready for worship

// Birthday parties

// Family and friends coming over for supper or just to visit

// Playing outside in the summer

// Drinking hot chocolate in the winter

// Seeing my husband teach my son about working on the farm, build things out of wood, or fix things

// My husband and I making decisions together, working through problems together, and loving one another’s company

// Praying as a family, both before we eat and anytime it’s needed/wanted

// A kitchen where all of our family meals are cooked

And as time goes on, I’d like my dream house to look like this:

// Kids coming home from college on the weekends

// My grown up children staying up late laughing and talking

// Lazy Sunday afternoons sitting out under a shade tree

// Kids bringing home future husbands and wives

// My husband and I being told we’re going to be grandparents

// All of our children and their spouses genuinely enjoying each other’s company

// Baby sitting our grand kids so their parents can have a date night

// Holidays as a family

// Normal conversations turning into spiritual talks

… And that is just to name a few!

…

I love painting and redoing furniture. I love taking something that may be out of date, out of style, or broken down and making it useful again. Repurposing is what the kids call it these days.

It’s a fun hobby, but one that I can’t do all the time because, because we only have so much room in our house for furniture. We were at an estate auction earlier this summer, and I bought this cabinet for just $7.00. I couldn’t think of a place for it in our house at the time (and I still don’t know what to do with it), but I hope to have a different house one day and put it to use then. Side note: I don’t like buying things, no matter how cheap they may be, without having a use for them right away. I think buying things just to buy them, in hopes of using them one day, is a bad idea! However, I went against my own rule this time and bought the cabinet.

Over the weekend I decided to paint it, and I’m happy with how it turned out. This was the first time that I had used Vaseline to distress, and it is much easier than I thought it would be!

…

When I found out I was pregnant with LB, it was just me, home alone on Martin Luther King Day. I worked for the state, so I enjoyed nearly every holiday off. Cambre was at work so I had all day to let the news sink in and to prepare a surprise for him when he got home. I made a cute little note and hid it in the cabinet so he would be surprised when he opened it. I made brownies and had ice cream to celebrate our good news. We talked and shared our excitement together, dreaming of how life would change with a baby.

Fast forward almost two years.

I run into town for a few errands, grab a test while I’m out, come home, try to keep LB occupied for a few minutes, and go see what the verdict is. It wasn’t long before two pink lines showed up and I sat in the bathroom floor in complete shock. “No way!” I couldn’t help but say out loud. Apparently that triggered my boy to come see where I had disappeared to, so he comes toddling back to the bathroom to join in on the fun. In a complete state of shock I sent the picture to Cambre and said “does this say what I think it says?!”

Two very different scenarios.

…

When we first announced our pregnancy, many people felt the need to tell us “oh, your life will never be the same!” or “hope you don’t like sleeping!” or some other comment that made having a baby look like one of the dumbest decisions we could ever make. We obviously didn’t regret our decision after hearing those comments, but they made us a lot more nervous for what we were getting ourselves into. But then, one day near the end of the pregnancy, we were talking with my sister and brother in law about how things would be once LB got here. My brother in law said “you’ve got a lot of good times ahead.” Since this was coming from someone who has three small children, that struck me. “You mean, parenthood isn’t miserable, like so many people make it out to be? You mean you enjoy your children, despite all of the sacrifices you make for them?”

Since having LB life is in no way, shape, or form the same as it used to be. Our sleep is cut short and we don’t get to do all of the things we used to do when we want to do them.

…

Haven’t we all sang the song “This World is Not My Home” at one time or another? It’s one of my favorites.

This world is not my home, I’m just a passin through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door,
and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.

I find that when I really focus on the words of this song when we sing it, my mind and my attitude is “reset.” It reminds me once again that this world is not all there is. There is more to life than just what we see around us everyday. It’s easy to get caught up in focusing on that because, after all, we are surrounded by it. The consequences of the choices we make are usually seen quickly, and we are faced with the needs and the wants of this life everyday. It’s harder to comprehend eternal life because it has no end.

“Set your mind on the things above, not on the
things that are on earth.”
Colossians 3:2

It’s so dangerous to place our focus on things of this world, things that are temporary! Scripture is filled with verses pulling our focus back to eternal things.

…

Before LB was born, there were a few things I was sure I would never do. Looking back, I’m not sure how I could be so positive I wouldn’t do these things, but I was confident I would never be that mom.

Want to know what they are? Well, for starters I shouldn’t have ever said:

1. “I’ll never ride in the backseat with LB while Cambre drives.”

Before I was a mother, I’d see other moms do that and think “Really? Your baby will be ok without you sitting right there.” But then I had a baby that generally hates being strapped in his car seat.. If riding next to him allows the car ride to be more peaceful for us all, then that’s what I’ll do.

2. “We’ll never co-sleep.”

I just didn’t think there would be a need in co-sleeping. I will sleep in my bed and he will sleep in his. But in those first couple of months on the nights when LB was only content in my arms, he slept on my chest while I slept in the recliner. I didn’t take into consideration how comforting listening to my heartbeat would be to him (since he’d been listening to it for the previous nine months).

…

Cambre and I went fishing one night and were having fun just sitting and talking, waiting for the fish to bite. He asked me to go get a jig out of the tacklebox, and although I wasn’t sure exactly what I was looking for, I figured I’d be able to pick it out once I got there. I hopped up, walked over to his truck and opened the lid to the tacklebox. I didn’t see any fishing equipment, but instead I saw the most beautifully written poem I’d ever read. Once I finished reading, I turned around and saw him on his knee with a gorgeous ring. He asked me to be his wife and I immediately said yes! We were so happy and excited, and had no idea what we had just agreed to do! 🙂

We were engaged for just under a year before we tied the knot at the same place we were engaged. We spend our engagement living in separate states while he trained for his job and I finished school. It wasn’t ideal, but we made the best of it. He came to visit every weekend and we talked on the phone all the time.

After our wedding, we moved into our house together and set up our home.

…

It was a cold January day that I found out I was pregnant. I had that day off work and had all day to myself to let this news really sink in. Even though we had prayed for this baby, I was still shocked and overwhelmed that I was going to be a mother. When Cambre got home that night I shared the good news with him. He was beyond excited! For some reason, even from the very beginning, we all predicted this baby was a boy.

Our little man was born and our lives were forever changed! What a difference a baby makes to your life. No matter how much you have read or are around kids before you become a parent, I don’t think anything can truly prepare you for what you are about to experience. A baby brings new challenges, new joys, new fears, and new conversations. Speaking of new conversations, until my boy was born, I don’t think I’ve ever talked about someone else’s poop as much as we have to talk about his. Am I right?

We knew early on that having me at home would make this transition into parenthood the easiest. I would rather sacrifice my income than sacrifice the daily highs and lows of being a mama.

…

I met Cambre in my very first college class, Topics in American Literature, which we were required to take, and just so happened to be in there together. I thought of him as a friend and classmate, but nothing more. After that semester was over, we didn’t see each other much, but would always say hi when we did. I thought he was friendly and nice, but didn’t give him much more thought. He, on the other hand, gave me a lot of thought.

Two semesters and a summer went by without any classes together, but then I got a wild hair and changed my major to agriculture. I walked into my first agriculture class and sat down, not really knowing anyone. He walked in a few minutes later with a big smile on his face. He said hi and invited me to come sit by him. From there we became good friends. We worked on homework together (he was much smarter than I was) and even hung out a few times just for the heck of it. I really liked hanging out with him, but I had a boyfriend. A boy I shouldn’t have wasted my time on and regret dating.

…

Where does nine months go? It seems like just yesterday we were preparing the nursery and now I have an active little guy babbling and army crawling all around my house.

It’s hard for me to accept the fact that we are only three months away from his FIRST BIRTHDAY!

Yesterday was LB’s nine month birthday, and as we’ve been nearing this day, I’ve been reflecting on the things I’ve learned on this journey. I wanted to share them with you today.

1. You Will Change

Even while I was pregnant, I was slowly noticing changes in myself (not just the watermelon belly and gigantic swollen feet). After LB was born, major changes took place and continue to happen the farther into motherhood we go. Before becoming a mama, I wasn’t as patient, selfless, or have a “this too shall pass” attitude. Sometimes I see my sister and sister in laws handle situations and I think “wow! They handled that great…I don’t think I would’ve known to do that!” But then I try to remind myself, they’ve been playing the motherhood game a lot longer than I have and with each passing day, we gain new experiences and learn new lessons to helps us in future situations.

…