Last week, I shared the emotional side of these first weeks, and I promised I’d come back with all the specific things I’ve been using and loving the most, so here it is, three weeks in, what our days look like now and everything that’s getting me through…

The time is flying, and three weeks already doesn't feel possible. I'm up and moving around a little more now, baking something here or there and straightening up, but I'm still trying not to be on my feet for long stretches.

(These cowboy cookies didn't last, I'd made a big batch while I was pregnant and froze them for postpartum, but everyone ate through them in the first week, so I made more yesterday. So good!)

We had a few rainy days this past week, and they helped me mentally, because I knew I couldn't be out doing things anyway, so there was nothing to feel guilty about. It's the sunny days that get me. I'll look outside and think, okay, it's beautiful, I need to be productive, and then I have to talk myself back down and remember that this slower stretch is exactly what my body needs.

Our days have a small routine now even if they blur together a little. I nurse Clive until around 6am, and then he'll either go back down for a bit or, if he seems up, Anthony will take him out so I can get a little more rest before the other kids are up around 7:30. The one thing I'm strict about is getting all of us outside first thing to get that morning light in our eyes. After that Anthony makes us smoothies and then coffee while the kids play for a while. I recently got them a sand kit (perfect for a rainy day inside) and a little outdoor pool that have been saving us while we haven't left the house much, and they love the mini pool because they fill it with their toys and play like it's a little bathtub. Then it's back to nursing on my bed or in the chair. Later we'll all go out to the garden for a bit, where the kids love playing with the chickens, and I'll sit out there until Clive starts getting too sweaty and we head back in.

One morning this week was the first time I felt how far I've come…

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I’ve been seeing the viral dot cakes all over and wanted to make a homemade version with no artificial coloring or synthetic dyes. I love that they come together as little single-serve cakes, finished with a blanket of dots on top that are oddly satisfying. I used naturally colored sprinkles so you get that same bright, playful look without anything artificial.

Funfetti was my favorite growing up. I made the boxed version constantly in high school. I still have a soft spot for it and there’s something so nostalgic about it, but I looked at the ingredient list recently and couldn’t believe what was in something I used to eat by the spoonful: Red 40 Lake, Yellow 5 and 6, Blue 1, propylene glycol, BHT, and a long tail of additives I can’t pronounce. The candy bits alone have four artificial dyes. Half of it isn’t even real food, it’s dyes for color, preservatives like BHT to give a boxed mix a two-year shelf life, and fillers to hold it together, none of it there to make the cake taste better or do anything good for your body. Making it from scratch gets me the same funfetti I loved, with butter, eggs, and naturally colored sprinkles instead.

The kids and Anthony were the official taste testers on this one, and the cake didn’t last long! Elliott was pulling pieces straight from the pan before it ever made it into a ramekin, and I did too (I love a good cake without any frosting sometimes). It’s buttery with a fine, tender crumb and just enough vanilla, the kind of cake that holds up on its own without needing frosting to carry it.

The whole thing is easier than it looks. You bake one sheet cake, cut out rounds, stack them with buttercream in a ramekin, and flip the top into a plate of sprinkles. You’ll want a stand mixer or hand mixer to get the buttercream light and fluffy. We also fold naturally colored, naturally flavored sprinkles right into the batter, so the cake bakes up funfetti on the inside with little flecks of color in every slice.

I made a few swaps to keep the ingredients clean: grass-fed butter, pasture-raised eggs, organic cane sugar, unbleached flour, and aluminum-free baking powder. None of it changes how simple the recipe is, but it makes a treat I feel good about handing to the kids.

These are the kind of thing I'll keep making all summer, for birthdays, or any time the kids need a little something special. They had so much fun making them together! Full recipe below, plus everything we used to make them:

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After my home birth experience I felt more prepared going into postpartum than I ever have. Two weeks in and it's still managed to surprise me…

(the full post continues below for my Substack family)

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This is my fourth baby and I've had all different types of births. My first was a c-section, my second was medicated in the hospital, my third was unmedicated in the hospital, and this was my first home birth. This birth moved even quicker than my last and my midwife missed it by ten minutes. I get into all of that in this post…how it all went and my overall thoughts about the experience.

Let me back up for a second because to understand why this experience was so different for me, you have to know where I started. With my c-section I had just turned twenty and the doctor made it seem like it would be an easier route, and I thought so too, but the recovery was terrible even for me being so young. It was an elective c-section, not medically necessary, and I had no idea what I was agreeing to. I knew I never wanted to do that again. The recovery process was downplayed and the worst of the pain was after Jadyn was born, not during, and not being able to lift her and having staples was the hardest part.

With Poppy I really wanted to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) and my doctor at the time kept pushing a scheduled c-section, even though fourteen years had passed and I wasn't high risk for rupture based on my scar type. She kept finding reasons to talk me out of it, even telling me at one point that Poppy's head was too big and I'd most likely need a c-section anyway and wanted to refer me to a specialist. When I looked up the specialist and read the reviews saying he almost always recommended c-sections, I knew I needed to find a different doctor. I ended up leaving that practice at eight months pregnant to find someone who would be open to me trying, and I found one who believed in me and listened to what I wanted. I had a successful medicated VBAC with Poppy but I almost didn't make it to the hospital in time to get the epidural. I begged one of the nurses, told her I'd sit still during a contraction. I wasn't mentally prepped to do it without. I got the epidural and everything slowed down, I couldn't tell if I was pushing when they told me to, and my legs being numb after was something I didn't like. The recovery wasn't nearly as bad as the c-section but I definitely felt more out of it after, and I never considered going unmedicated at that point, absolutely not. That thought didn't even cross my mind… until Elliott.

Then with Elliott it seemed to go from zero to a hundred quick and by the time contractions were getting intense we were frantically trying to get things together to leave for the hospital. I had him at 38 weeks and assumed I'd have until 40…so no hospital bag was packed. By the time we got there I had the urge to push and they told me right away there was no time for an epidural. I was so mad at myself because I knew we'd left too late, I'd told myself I wouldn't do that again after arriving too close with Poppy. The panic of knowing I'd be doing it without lasted about a second, because the nurses told me to get into whatever position felt right and kept telling me I could do this and it would be quick. And they were right. I was free to be in any position I wanted, I could actually feel myself pushing, and I felt way more in control than I expected. It was intense but it was over fast, and the moment he was born I could feel the relief of it that I hadn't felt the same way with an epidural. I felt amazing afterwards with no numbness having to wear off and Elliott was much more alert than Poppy was too. The cramping after was uncomfortable because you can feel all of that right away, but it gave me the confidence that I could do it again. It wasn't like I had originally thought it would be. Where the epidural slows things down, going without it lets your body do what it needs to do without anything getting in the way, your body takes over and knows what to do. After Elliott I started thinking differently, not just that I could do unmedicated again, but that the hospital itself was starting to feel unnecessary for how my births were going. The scariest part of that whole experience wasn't the birth, it was the rushing to get there in time and not feeling safe in the car while I was in active labor.

With how quickly things had progressed I knew that unless I got to the hospital when contractions weren’t painful yet, that was really the only way I’d make it there in time, and I didn’t feel like the hospital did much for me with an unmedicated birth anyway. I knew I could do it at home with a good team and an emergency plan in place, and moving to Tennessee made that feel even more possible. Out here anyone who’s pregnant, you ask them who their doctor is and it’s always “I have a midwife.” It’s very common here to do a home birth, so much so that there’s a popular clinic that’s hard to get into and I was told the moment I got a positive pregnancy test to call and get scheduled, otherwise they book out. They wouldn't take me because I was a VBAC, which gave me a weird feeling at first because I've done it before, I know how my births go, I just needed someone trained in VBAC in case of rupture. I was referred to Shannon, who was also hard to get into because she was in high demand, but she takes on higher risk cases for people like me who get turned away from some standard midwife clinics. I talk more about her credentials and how she helped me prep for labor in the posts linked here:

1. Everything’s Different This Time

2. What I Changed After My Last Midwife Appointment

3. My Midwife’s Labor Prep Plan (and What I’ve Added on My Own)

4. My Midwife Home Visit: The Full Plan, My Labor Kit, and Postpartum Essentials

The day before he was born, I was almost 40 weeks when I went in for what I hoped would be my last prenatal checkup. Everything felt so heavy and the pressure was very low, I knew things were close. But when she checked on him his heart rate was much higher than normal, which can be a sign of stress…

(the full post continues below for my Substack family)

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Jadyn is officially moved back in for the summer! When we first started looking at houses, having a separate area for her was high on our list. With the age gap of the littles, it’s so nice for her to have her own space while she’s home from college for the summer. The previous owners converted the garage into a two-bedroom ADU unit, and it has a full kitchen with a full size fridge, mini appliances, and a living room. Over the summer we’ll source pieces to finish styling the living room and dining area, but getting her bedroom and bathroom finished before she came home was the top priority.

Her room was all white before with high ceilings, and it's a bit narrow with no closet, so we had to get creative with storage and making the room feel bigger. I wanted to surprise her with the styling but wanted to make sure she loved the wall color first, so I asked her which direction she was thinking and she said she wanted something light and airy…

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After months of slowly piecing it together, Poppy's room is finally finished, and I have so many feelings about it! If you followed along in Part 1 and Part 2 of What We've Done to the House So Far, you've already seen bits of the other rooms coming together, but today I'm sharing the full finished space for Poppy.

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Things are starting to feel very real now. I’m 38 weeks and Elliott came at 38 weeks. I keep having to remind myself that this baby could be any day now. I’m eating in a way to keep this baby in until 40 weeks because those last two weeks matter so much for development, which I talked about more in this post HERE. So hoping we have two more weeks, but we’re prepared now just in case it’s sooner.

We just had our home visit with my midwife and this one was different from our regular appointments. Typically I go to her house but she came here specifically to go over all my supplies, walk through the full plan, and make sure everything’s in place. I always leave my appointments with her having learned something I didn’t know going in and this one was no different. I took notes on everything and I want to share all of it here, what she covered, what’s in my labor kit, and what I’m doing for postpartum recovery. I’m feeling more prepared for this birth than any of my others. Full post continues below for my Substack family:

If you missed my earlier pregnancy posts you can find them here: My Midwife’s Labor Prep Plan and My Complete Non Toxic Baby Registry Guide

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I’ve been starting to food prep and freeze meals for the first few weeks with the baby. This will be the most prepared we’ve been with food going into postpartum. With Poppy, we pretty much had food delivered every day and it wasn’t the best choices (also had too many iced coffees). Then with Elliott, Erewhon had just opened in Pasadena so we’d get the hot bar plates, which were better ingredients, but eating out every day definitely added up. This time I want nourishing meals that are delicious, frozen, and ready to go with little effort other than reheating.

But I can’t forget a sweet treat. I love to bake so I’m also prepping a few desserts I know I’ll want when I’m craving something sweet but still being mindful about ingredients. Yesterday I made a triple batch of these classic cowboy cookies with a few ingredient swaps to make them refined sugar free and postpartum friendly, and added them to the freezer…

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This is my fourth baby so there's no registry this time around. But if I were doing this for the first time, this is everything I'd put on one. It's a pretty comprehensive list and I spent quite a bit of time thinking through each category, what I use and why I use it.

With Jadyn I had a baby shower and the guests were so generous. I had diapers for a year which, as a 19 year old young single mom at the time, was the biggest relief.

That was almost twenty years ago though, and things were simpler then. The baby gear world wasn't what it is today, and my budget made most of the decisions for me anyway (I did splurge on a rhinestone sparkly pacifier, so I wasn't completely practical about it). And I also got into credit card debt at Gap because I would always buy her new flats when I got my paycheck (another story for another time). Being a different era, non-toxic materials weren't something I thought about. It was more about what she needed and what looked cute.

With Poppy, fourteen years after Jadyn, I felt like I was starting over completely. I bought SO much. Things that looked essential on every list I found, things other moms swore by, things that came highly recommended and lived in a drawer for a year before I donated them. With Elliott I got smarter, bought less but better, and did a real deep dive on why non-toxic mattered for what he was eating, wearing, and sleeping on. With this baby I feel much more prepared and clear on what I'll be using the most every day.

When I’m looking at any product for a new baby, the main thing I’m thinking about is what’s touching their skin. Babies absorb so much more than we do and they’re in close contact with everything around them from the moment they’re born. The materials I try to avoid, especially for a newborn, are synthetic fragrances, flame retardants, PFAS, phthalates, and phenoxyethanol. What I opt for instead is organic cotton, glass, solid wood, and stainless steel where I can. GOTS and USDA Organic certifications matter because they mean someone outside the brand verified the claim.

You don't have to be perfect about any of this. Do what works for your budget and your life. But if you're going to prioritize somewhere, start with what your baby is against the most. The mattress, the sleepers they're in around the clock, whatever they spend hours touching every day. We co-sleep and I babywear for naps, so for us that means an organic cotton mattress, organic sheets, and an organic wrap. Every family looks different but the question is the same: where is your baby spending the most time, and what is that thing made of?

Quick note before we get into it: everything here is based on my own research and what I've chosen for my kids. I'm not a doctor or a toxicologist, just a mom who has spent way too many hours reading ingredient labels and falling down research rabbit holes comparing different products and marketing claims. Take what resonates, skip what doesn't:

Baby Gear

Car Seat

The car seat is where I’d tell you to pay the most attention because flame retardants show up in almost everything in this category, often in the foam rather than the fabric, and brands don’t always tell you that. Some will say the textiles are flame retardant-free and leave out what’s happening in the foam underneath.

Flame retardants are good to avoid because they’re linked to hormone disruption, developmental delays, and neurological problems in children. They migrate out of foam over time and accumulate in dust, which babies end up ingesting. They also don’t prevent fires (which is what I originally assumed they would do), they slow the spread by a matter of seconds, which is why more and more manufacturers are finding ways to meet safety standards without them entirely.

We have both the Nuna PIPA infant seat and the Nuna Rava convertible. Nuna's entire car seat line is flame retardant-free and PFAS-free, which is rare in this category and a big reason we chose them. The Rava works from birth so you could start there, but we used the infant seat in the early months because when the baby falls asleep in the car you can snap the whole thing onto the stroller without waking them. Once they outgrew it we moved to the Rava and have used it since. If budget allows for both I'd get both. If you're picking one, the Rava gives you more longevity.

The Chicco KeyFit Max ClearTex is the most accessible flame retardant-free infant seat out there. The ClearTex line covers everything including the fabric, foam, inserts, and even the labels, and it’s Greenguard Gold certified. It’s widely available at Target which makes it easy to add to a registry. Just make sure you’re buying specifically the ClearTex version since Chicco’s other lines are not FR-free.

Brands I’d steer clear of include Cybex, Evenflo, Graco, Joie, Cosco, Axkid, BeSafe, and Diono. Some actively market themselves as cleaner options without being fully transparent about what’s still in the foam. Evenflo’s Green and Gentle line is a good example. The fabric is marketed as FR-free but flame retardants are still disclosed in other parts of the seat, which is exactly the kind of greenwashing that makes this category so hard to navigate without doing the research.

One exception is the Doona. We’ve used it for every trip and it's a great setup. It's a car seat that converts into a stroller, you check it at the plane door, and when you're navigating an airport with a baby it's one of the most convenient things we bring. It contains flame retardants so it's not something I'd use as a daily seat (also not the greatest for added storage), but for occasional travel where the alternative isn't much cleaner I've made my peace with it. Do your best with what your baby is in every day and don't stress the rest.

Stroller

Same reason I trust Nuna for the car seat is the same reason we have their strollers. Their entire line is flame retardant-free, PFAS-free, and OEKO-TEX certified, and they’re one of the only brands that has been independently lab tested and come back non-detect for PFAS. We have the Nuna Flex System Stroller Frame which connects directly with the Nuna PIPA infant seat. We also have the Nuna TRVL single which we loved for a long time, and just got the Nuna TRVL double which has been so good with both kids and it folds up really easily in one motion. If you want the infant seat and the TRVL stroller together, the Nuna TRVL LX + PIPA urbn Travel System is the better buy than getting the stroller frame separately.

Baby Carrier

For the newborn stage, a wrap-style carrier is what I LOVE. Most of Elliott’s naps happened when I was taking a walk or doing something around the house, as long as I was moving and doing something he would be easily rocked to sleep that way.

Last time I used a different baby wrap but this time I just bought this Organic Cotton Baby Wrap. It’s made with 100% GOTS certified cotton.

After the newborn stage, the Artipoppe Zeitgeist is the carrier I've gotten the most use out of and I know I'll be using it constantly with this baby too. Made from natural fibers with no toxic chemicals or dyes. It's a splurge but one of those things that earns every dollar because of how much time you spend in it. The thick strap design gives good lower back support as the kids get heavier, I used it until Elliott was two.

For a more budget-friendly option that’s also clean on materials, the Nuna CUDL CLIK is a great option. It’s OEKO-TEX certified, free of flame retardants, BPA, phthalates, PVC, and PFAS, uses organic jersey fabric on the parts touching baby’s skin, and works from birth to three years in both front and back carry.

Bassinet and Travel Crib

I never ended up using a bassinet or travel crib with Elliott. He slept in our bed with us, and when we stayed in hotels we’d request a crib and bring our own bedding. But if you’re planning to use a bassinet or know you’ll be doing Airbnbs with a little one, it would be more worth it.

For something beautiful that fits a more classic nursery or you want to be able to move it around the house for naps, a Moses basket is what I’d choose. The Design Dua Moses Basket is handwoven from natural elephant grass with an organic kapok fiber mattress and a liner and sheet made from GOTS certified organic cotton. Free of flame retardants, lead, and pesticides. The Finn and Emma Carry Cot is another gorgeous option in crocheted GOTS certified organic cotton and that transitions into toy or blanket storage when baby outgrows it.

If you want something widely available to add to a Nordstrom registry, the Stokke Snoozi is a good option. Beechwood legs, soft oval shape, Greenguard Gold certified, flame retardant-free, PFAS-free, no motion, no wifi. It adjusts from a newborn bassinet position to a lower setting as baby grows.

For a bassinet that doubles as a travel crib, the Nuna Sena Aire is flame retardant-free, PFAS-free, Greenguard Gold certified. Sets up in a bassinet position for the first few months and converts to a lower setting as baby grows. If you don’t want to buy both separately, this is the one to register for…

The full list continues below for my Substack family. Every category, every product, every link, and which ones I have in my home and why I’d choose them again:

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For three years we talked about growing our own food and having animals and this spring we're finally in it, and it hasn't gone exactly as planned. The baby is almost here, Jadyn moves home soon, and this month I'm getting personal, including some things about who I'm becoming that I'm still figuring out…

I'm keeping the rest for my Substack family. Full update below, and this one picks up where my Very Personal Reflection on Our First Year in Tennessee left off:

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The layouts they presented, our design inspo, and the plan we went with continues below for our Substack family. If you missed my other home updates, check them out here:

What We’ve Done to the House So Far Part 1

What We’ve Done to the House So Far Part 2

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We've been eating later than usual this past week, so I figured if the prep is quick and the oven or slow cooker is doing the rest, then it's a win. Think slow cooker lemon butter chicken with fennel and carrots, BBQ shredded beef over garlicky cauliflower rice, crispy baked tacos with beef and black beans, a classic pot roast that cooks all day, and a bright honey lemon salmon to finish the week…

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Between having a baby who came so quickly I almost didn't make it to the hospital and a body that seems to go earlier with each pregnancy, these last weeks matter more than ever. My midwife has mapped out a very specific plan for me and I've added a few things on my own that she's signed off on. The herbal formula she put me on, what she told me to start eating soon, the week by week breakdown from here to delivery, and how I'm mentally preparing to show up to this birth completely differently than the last ones… sharing it all in this post for my Substack family:

If you missed my previous pregnancy posts check them out here: Everything’s Different This Time and What I Changed after My Last Midwife Appointment

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The farmers market was packed this morning, which I should've anticipated given that it's Easter weekend. We got there early thinking we'd beat the crowd and still ended up being the…

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(picture of our Easter brunch last year)

Easter brunch, done beautifully and without the stress. I'm sharing everything I'm making, how I'm styling the table for almost nothing, and the schedule that makes it all come together. It's all inside for Substack family below:

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Garden updates, an Elliott moment that made me laugh, what I'm planning for Easter brunch, and why I swapped out a ingredient we used to eat all the time. Full dinner menu inside too:

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When Elliott came along I felt like I had a pretty good handle on things. He was technically my third baby but my oldest was 17 at the time so I was really in the thick of it with two little ones and felt like I knew what I would actually use and what I wouldn't based on everything I learned with Poppy. This time around though it's a completely different feeling. I know which things are good to ignore and which things are worth implementing.

During this pregnancy we’ve had these small moments where Anthony or I would look at each other and go “wait, why are we still doing it this way?” One realization would lead to another and before we knew it we had a list of things we’re handling differently with this baby.

So here are seven things we used with Elliott that we’re either skipping or swapping this time around. The rest of the post continues below for my Substack family:

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