What is the full name and ages of your children?

Norah Jean Land, 6

North Thomas Land, 10 months

Could you describe yourself in one sentence?

I am a mother and creator, inspired by the natural world.

 What was your life like before motherhood?

Steady. Predicable. I married young (at 19 years old!), I knew I wanted to wait for children, birthing my first at 26 years of age. I worked for the same corporate company for 8+ years, hardly ever traveled, except in my home state of Utah. However far from where I was before children, I can’t imagine how my life could be more full and beautiful than what it is now. 

 What do you do for a living?

I am a floral designer for weddings, events, editorials, and also teach workshops worldwide.

How did motherhood impact your career?

Oh man, it changed my entire career! Having Norah gave me the courage to quit my full-time corporate job and begin working for myself. I knew I couldn’t be away from her for 8+ hours a day, and there was no way a 90 day leave of absence would be enough time with her. I had been thinking for a long time about opening my floral business but felt afraid to take the leap, you know, quit my steady paycheck. Becoming a mother gave me the confidence I needed to say, there’s more than a time-clock in my future.

 Did you experience postpartum depression?

I’m unsure. Everything was so new, and hormones are just crazy, and sense of identity was lost. Norah was a rather fussy baby (which we later found out she had a dairy sensitivity), but there were days I remember just sitting on the couch, nursing all day, bawling my eyes out until my husband came home to relieve me.

I would then run up to the shower and listen to her cry the entire time with a knot of anger, frustration, and sadness in the pit of my stomach. It was a rough couple of months at the beginning, but I had an amazing supportive partner who helped me through it! With North, I didn’t experience any of the negative feelings I remember having with Norah. Because I felt I had rough go in the beginning with my daughter, I think I expected the worst but got the best! He has a very different energy than Norah, I am also five years older, and he is my second, so perhaps things just don’t phase me as much as they would’ve in the past. 

 It’s funny to look back at my pregnancy’s and children because they are both so different and very intuitive to each child’s personality. I was very emotional both during and after my pregnancy with Norah. Norah is an amazing spirit who FEELS everything with so much emotion: happiness, love, sadness, anger, joy…everything is expressed so deeply with her.

 During my pregnancy with North, I felt amazing (I traveled teaching floral workshops in Mexico, England, and New Zealand up through my 8 month of pregnancy!) I felt little to no stress, things that would normally cause me anxiety didn’t phase me! My postpartum days with North felt just as smooth. Consequently, North is generally an easy-going happy spirit, in love with the people and environment around him.

 You feel most beautiful when?

I’m content. In a moment in peaceful happiness.

 When you get a quiet moment, what do you like to do the most? 

When Norah is in school and North goes down for his first nap. My favorite thing to do is sit outside, listening to the sounds of the late morning and drinking my favorite cup of coffee. 

 Who is your Mother Muse?

Katherine Kleveland, of Dòen

Stella Maria Baer, artist