It started a few trimesters late, but my nesting instinct has been in full swing for the past few months now. I’m craving stability, kitchen flowers, and home decorations; nurseries, welcome mats, and pictures hung up on the wall… not worrying about when exactly they’ll need to come down.
And it’s all happening right now, of course, when we are to be without our own little “nest” to stay in for a while.
So we are in transition – between houses, but carrying our home with us. Because most birds don’t use the same nest each year anyways – they’re only meant for a season. And in the spring, they come back to the same place, possibly to use the same materials, and start fresh all over again.
But now it’s autumn and in these cooling months we’re exploring hygge, Christmas plans, homemade meals and candles that smell like warm vanilla sugar…
We’re re-learning who we are as a family unit; as a group that shares last names, bathrooms, and breakfast cereal. We are together as three, but also as five, and eight, and two. And yes, some days are hard on my heart, because it’s stretching in a way that only patience and openness can, and I still have so much more to learn about how God can bless and teach me at the same time.
But it’s also making me cling tighter to the parts that remain the same and help me feel grounded in familiarity: those morning bottles of milk, incessant baby babbles, late suppers, after-dinner tea, good-night kisses, and all the hands and hugs a girl could ask for.
Each day the baby takes me for a walk. We collect eggs and she yells at the chickens. The cats take over the yard and the dog pretends to terrorize them. We take ridiculous amounts of photos and send the best ones to family far away, likely a few too many. The coffee is hot, friendly letters come in the mail, and Daddy comes home to his daughter shrieking in delight.
There are skype dates and grandparents, and aunties, uncles, and church pals, and neighbours just down the road. Someone always has a cold going around, and there is still more laundry to do. People go to work, fulfill the day, and every night it all ends in “we”.
Because “we” are family, and “we” are home, stuck together with love, warm hugs, and that ever-remaining rice cracker.
Currently in the cozied-up basement, with more family upstairs, and more blankets than you could ever possibly need…
We’ll leave the light on, and start the tea. Nesting is in progress, but we’ll be home.
