Sloane’s Birth Story | {part II}

My postpartum room was eerily quiet as I held up one of the tiny preemie onesies and name placard up against the streaming sunlight of my window, snapping a photo. A photo without my baby. My body had labored through the night and desperately craved sleep. But all I could think about was that my...

Sloane’s Birth Story | {part I}

I can’t write about your birth earthside without first writing about when I first recognized your sweet presence. There I sat in the balmy dark front yard under the light of a full moon mere days away from your “embaby” transfer date, and I prayed. In the welcoming quiet of the night sky, I closed...

Six Favorites for Glamping {and why Splendid Spoon is at the top of the list}

First of all, I should very clearly define this upcoming road trip + week-long fishing experience as MY version of camping. David continues to correct me: "We are GLAMPING, Honey. We have a cabin and a few basic amenities like electricity, a limited indoor kitchen, and some indoor plumbing conveniences." From my perspective, though, there...

IVF {on being the Mother of Embryos}

About two years ago, I began REGULAR, counseling sessions both with and without David present. Yes, to talk about our marriage (especially at the beginning). Yes, to process the emotional impact of leaving my career to stay at home as a mama. And, yes, most recently, to process the trauma that years of infertility +...

Splendid Spoon {and a splendid Mae}

Somehow, 2020 is closer to its halfway point than to its origin, and most of us have spent the springtime months staying home as the pandemic has swept across the United States. March and April feel like a blur in my memory. And while I can only share my own perspective as a doula and...

7 Tips for Finding Your Decor Style {plus the evolution of my own style}

I think I began decorating in early grade school. I clearly remember drawing a dividing line down the middle of the room that I shared with my sister, and guarding the tidiness, organization, and flow of my half of the space. My tomboy self lived outdoors on the acres of land that my parents owned,...

A Friday Favorite {the spring causebox review}

The rains just keep coming in this new land of Texas where we arrived two weeks ago, and I'm 90% sure that we will all jump into a raft and float out into the Gulf this weekend. The month of May or not, "April Showers" still seem to be here with a vengeance. It is...

Mental Health, CBD, Oils, Coping Tools & Grace {this is me. this is us.}

It's Mental Health Awareness month. And I wish I could sing over so many of my fellow #mentalhealth sufferers the song of Keala Settle "This is Me" with the same bold bravery: When the sharpest words wanna cut me down I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out I am brave, I am bruised...

Our hearts in two places {a goodbye and a hello}

I knew this day would come. The day that we stripped our walls bare. Our home is just a house now. Ready and quiet and waiting for its next occupants. And, unfortunately, our buyer backed out, so I don't know who will hang art next on the big vaulted walls by the front window or...

Four Monday Favorites {because Friday favorites are downright exhausting}

I've had the best intentions to keep a "Friday Favorites" blog trend going, but alas... By Friday afternoon the week has usually won and my creativity is at an all-time weekly low. And while Mondays are there own kind of crazy, I stand a better chance this morning of writing than later this week when...