Do you ever have those moments where you think…how in the heck did we get here?

Meaning like in terms of where you live, what your family looks like, where you work.

Every few years I look around and think, dang, when did all these kids show up??

To put is simply, Jared and I had a full throttle, pedal to the metal approach to growing our family. It takes us back 14 yrs to 2006 and lands us living in an old farmhouse surrounded by cornfields, as a family of seven.

How It Got Started…

Jared and I met a few months shy of my 30th birthday.

20 months later we were married.

15 months later we welcomed our first baby.

13 months after we welcomed another.

17 months later a third. Just to let that sink in. . . that’s 3 babies in 30 months.

By our 4th wedding anniversary we had 3 kids under 3 – and that is no joke.

We learned alot about pregnancy, postpartum, newborns, toddlers and expectations in marriage and parenting those first few years.

2yrs later we welcomed the 4th baby. What can we say, other than we love babies.

Three years passed and the 5th babe joined the group. That brought us to 5 babies in 7 years time. And to be honest I’d keep having babies if my body would allow it, but this old body is past her prime.

Growing Restless?

As we were adding all these babies I never felt our home in town was too small. We had bunk beds next to cribs, and everyone slept well. (or well enough anways) I could keep up with the house as long as we kept the toys under control. This was when I really became convinced that less “stuff” is better. Encouraging creative minds in young ones, and the best way to keep my sanity was to lean hard into Decluttering. With a capital D.

But I always had a deep desire in my heart to have more open space. Brought even more to the forefront as we were raising all these babies. I wanted space for bodies, not toys and extra “just in case” things. I needed land, soil, acreage. We had a small garden and we would spends hours and hours outside. But it never felt like enough.

Old Farmhouse, New Family

On a spring day in 2018 I saw an ad for a small farm just west of our current home. We weren’t even really looking to move. That was just a whispered desire at that point. But we loaded all the carseats and booster chairs, and went to the open house that weekend.

It was love at first sight. (I found out then that I had another connection to the farmhouse, but that’s a story for another day.) It was like we instantly knew this was where we needed to be. If not that little farm then another one. We could both see our future raising this growing crew in a place just like it. After some twists and turns we sold that small house in town. And on the last day of August, in the sweltering heat, we moved into our sweet old farmhouse.

Built in 1870, I love everything about her. Especially, the inconvenient parts that require us to stretch and grow ourselves.

To look out a window and see wide open fields and know that generations of women have done the same for more than 150 years. I just love it. I’m an old soul. I’ll look and wonder how much has the view changed, watching kids explore and dig in the dirt, and the change of seasons is magical. It’s like getting a big hug from the past.

Dreams Big and Small

Over the past few years Jared and I have grown so much. It’s the first time in our marriage we haven’t had pregnancy and newborns. Which were wonderful times, but we’ve never not had wee ones to consider as we planned our days. We’ve done big and small projects together here on the farm. On a side note, if you can set up fencing with your spouse and stay married – you both deserve a huge pat on the back!

We’ve dreamed big dreams for our family and this space of land. Some we’ve gotten started on and others sit on paper just biding their time. Nothing feels like it’s so urgent anymore. That has to be one of the biggest blessing of having open space. Time just feels different.

It doesn’t feel like survival mode anymore. I know that whatever movement forward we make today will benefit us tomorrow, or somewhere later down the road. And honestly doesn’t that sentiment translate to life in general? It doesn’t need to be perfect to be progress.

Marriage is hard work. Parenting is hard work. Relationships take time. Caring for animals in winter is not easy. But being a good steward to all these things is one of the best lessons for us here on the farm. Thankfully, God has blessed us with this life together to share the messy yet ever rewarding hard work.