Hi from Motherhood!

Will I ever drink hot coffee again?

Hi! It’s me, popping in from maternity leave with some of the very best news I’ve ever had to share.

In early April, Will and I welcomed our son into the world and… I’m still wrapping my mind around that sentence. Everything feels a little blurrier, and infinitely awesome (in the very awe-filled sense of the word) these days.

I wrote a piece for the blog about these first few weeks: a handful of truths, a longer list of questions, and the wild reality of becoming a mother at 44. I’m sharing the beginning of it below, and you’re welcome to click through to read the full essay.

Thank you, truly, for holding this space with me while I’ve been away. The generosity of my contributors and this community has meant more than I can say.

I’ll be back with more for you soon. Until then, here’s where I’m at.

xo Joy

Friends, hi!

I didn’t think I’d have anything wise to say about motherhood by my first Mother’s Day, and six weeks in, that expectation holds true. In one hand, I’m holding the cup of coffee I’ll never quite manage to drink while it’s hot - ever again. In the other, the memory of the last few Mother’s Days I spent quietly, privately, wanting this *gestures broadly at baby swaddled in bassinet, stained nursing bra, and breast pump next to my laptop*. Hoping for all of this, not specifically, but somehow exactly. The fullness of this moment, the hope I’ve held for years, and the unscathed nipples I had last year, aren’t lost on me.

(I talked a bit about my pregnancy journey here.)

I’m just thrilled BEYOND that I get to share this with you! In early April, we welcomed our son, John Lesly Jorgensen, into the world. Me, at 44 years old. Him arriving loud and certain at six pounds and fifteen ounces of absolute wonder and surprisingly strong opinions. A seventh-generation Texan (a detail that carries great weight in his Texas family) and an Aries baby, baby!

Birth? We don’t need to get into that. In fact, I’m working diligently to forget a few of those finer details, thank you very much. What I will say is that the result was a boy born with a soft swirl of brown hair at the crown of his head, strong preferences about how he’d like to be swaddled, and deep navy eyes that may settle into blue or brown or something entirely his own. Understatement of the year: it’s pretty cool!

Now, in the process of getting to know him, I’ve come up with a short list of truths and a longer list of questions. Here are a few of them!

Read the full post here!

And People Magazine wrote about the arrival of baby John, here!

More from me soon, including this simple peach galette I made with the seven precious peaches that grew on the peach tree out front!

xo