Sheet moss centerpiece

I’ve always loved Restoration Hardware’s moss bowl showroom centerpieces, and after visiting our local store here in Jax I knew I could recreate it on a smaller scale to get the same look. Most of the centerpieces found online are usually priced anywhere from $100 up to $1,200 handmade. Here’s how you could get the look for less…

Materials:

-An empty vessel

-Hot glue gun

-Either preserved green Spanish moss (preferred), grocery bags, newspaper OR craft straw

-Preserved green Sheet moss

Step one — find a vessel to fill — as big or small as you’d like. The RH concrete bowls pictured here are massive in person. 

While it would be so fun to make one on that scale, I needed to fill a smaller wooden bowl I already had on-hand.

Step two — create oversized pebble-like shapes using either preserved green spanish moss, grocery bags (what I used), or craft straw. The preserved green Spanish moss would be the best choice, as it blends in with the sheet moss used in the final step. Use enough to fill the bowl and try not to pack each shape down too tight or you’ll have to use more of the material. I made about four shapes in varying sizes, stuffing multiple grocery bags into a single bag until I had the size I wanted, tucking the handles in.

Finally, step three — carefully tear the sheet moss into sections that are approximately the size of your forms and hot glue them on. For this step you can round the edges a bit if you’d like. Laying larger pieces of the moss flat over the entire area would look great as well.

I reserved some of the moss to go back and fill in the cracks. If you use green Spanish moss for shape, you wouldn’t need to do this since it blends in with the sheet moss. 

Here’s how it turned out! So simple and lush. 

Is it spring yet??

What we know, what is still unknown - our di/di twin girl

I can't say enough how difficult & scary this journey has been so far. As a married couple, this is by far the hardest thing Joshua and I have had to go through. Much, much harder than the previous Partial Molar Pregnancy we went through a little over a year ago. It seems we've had bad news with every appointment since the discovery of our twin B's Cystic Hygroma at 12 weeks. 

In case you missed our announcement, we were so thrilled to find out at 8 weeks that we were expecting di/di twins - (fraternal twins, each with a separate sac and each with their own placenta). Spontaneous twins, at that - neither of us have any living twins in the family.

When 12 weeks rolled around, we found out that twin A is a boy and twin B is a girl. We also found out that our twin girl has a large amount of lymph fluid on the back of her neck and down her spine. Immediately, my sonographer went over what this could potentially mean and proceeded to have my OB come in to examine the images and explain the findings further. A lot of information was given initially, and it was more than I could really process at the time - I couldn't hold back tears as much as I tried. He said that he had seen CHs turn out to be Turner Syndrome, and he also said how he's seen them end up be nothing and completely resolve on their own. Sometimes Cystic Hygromas are simply a result of a delay in the lymphatic system, resolving towards the end of pregnancy,  but they are most often signs of a Chromosomal or Genetic Disorder. The only thing we could do was undergo testing and wait. The one thing my doctor said that stuck with me more than anything else, was "don't lose hope yet." For weeks I clung to those sincere words for comfort.

They had me scheduled with a Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist, or Perinatologist, the very next morning at 8AM.

We were told that without testing, there was no way to know for sure what was causing the Cystic Hygroma. We could either do Chorionic Villus Sampling on the spot - a riskier procedure, usually done between 10-12 weeks, or we could wait and undergo Amniocentesis between 14-16 weeks. We had the Dr and sonographer step out so we could discuss. I cried. I didn't want to be in the position to have to make this kind of decision. Joshua reassured me that it was okay if we waited, but I couldn't bear the thought of waiting another 2-4 weeks to do Amnio, and on top of that, we would have had to wait even longer for results. We decided to go ahead and have them perform the CVS that day - even though the risk of miscarriage was higher at 1 out of 200. We prayed together in that very room before we gave them the okay to come back in, and as they stuck me twice to draw out placental tissue from each twin I pushed through the  pain, and prayed and prayed over and over for God to protect my babies. For me, it was painful and scary watching the large needle inch closer and closer to each placenta. I just wanted it to be over with.

We waited about two weeks for the cells to grow. I got the call regarding our boy twin sooner and was so relieved to hear that the cells were normal. Unfortunately, there was not quite as much tissue on our twin girl so it was going to take longer for her cells to grow. Praise God for our sweet boy not having anything wrong. I prayed for our girl so hard, and at this point we had told many of our close friends and family what was going on so they could join us in prayer also.

We had a vacation planned the week of September 18th, which turned out to be such a blessing because it was the week we got a call from the Perinatologist regarding our girl. I missed the initial phone call, and had to wait about an hour for her to call me back. I literally stared at the phone waiting for it to ring. It was the longest hour of my life.

Finally the call came through, and Joshua and I held our breath as she began to talk to us. She spoke very slowly as she told us that the growth of our daughter's cells had come back abnormal. Her cells showed that she has Turner Syndrome - also known as 45,X or Monosomy X syndrome. She went on to explain more about what Turner Syndrome was and what it would potentially look like if our daughter survived. When she was finished explaining, she asked if we had any questions. I had already done some research on TS since my OB said it was a possibility, and since we had an appointment the following Monday, we thanked her for calling us and letting us know and told her we would discuss it more when we saw her for the appointment. 

I was so thankful we were away from home at the condo in Destin when we received the news. It allowed me to just soak in the beauty of the ocean, God's creation. It was such a blessing to be away with my family despite how grim receiving the news in the middle of vacation may seem. I was thankful. I was able to enjoy Branch as she rode carnival rides and had the time of her life even more then. We still had so much fun together on that trip. And at times when I needed, I was able to sit, cry, and pray. 

I was also relieved that of all chromosomal abnormalities & genetic issues, the diagnosis had been Turners. I know this disorder is highly variable in how it manifests, and there is a chance that our daughter will be able to have a very normal life if she is a part of the 1-2% that survive to birth.

*From NORD's website, rarediseases.org, and what I feel is important to focus on as we navigate through the unknown: 

Turner syndrome affects approximately 1 female in 2,000-2,500 live female births.

Turner syndrome is a rare chromosomal disorder that affects females. The disorder is characterized by partial or complete loss (monosomy) of one of the X chromosomes. Turner syndrome is highly variable and can differ dramatically from one person to another.

Many features of the disorder are nonspecific and others may develop slowly over time or can be subtle. It is important to note that affected individuals may not have all of the symptoms discussed below.

In females with Turner syndrome, all or a portion of one of the X chromosomes is missing. The reason that this occurs is unknown and is believed to result from a random event. In some cases, the chromosomal abnormality appears to arise spontaneously (de novo) due to an error in the division of a parent’s reproductive cells, either in the father’s sperm or the mother’s egg. This results in the genetic error being contained in all cells of the body.

In many cases, only a certain percentage of an individual’s cell may be affected. This is referred to as mosaicism. Specifically, some cells have the normal 46 chromosomes (one cell line) while other cells do not have the normal 46 chromosomes (second cell line). This second cell line may contain various abnormalities such as partial or complete loss of the X chromosome

Turner Syndrome girls are of normal intelligence, however, they usually have a variable set of other conditions such as:

• Delayed Puberty
• Premature ovarian failure
• Kidney, Thyroid, Liver concerns
• Heart anomalies

Common physical traits include:

• Short stature
• Webbed-neck 
• Puffy hands/feet
• Broad chest
• Low-set ears

What is unknown: 

• Whether our daughter will survive to birth (98% usually miscarry or are aborted)
• How this will specifically manifest in our daughter and what her symptomatic and supportive needs will be post-birth (i.e. who will be involved in her care: Pediatricians, Pediatric Specialists, Surgeons, Cardiologists, Endocrinologists, Speech Pathologists, Otolaryngologists, Ophthalmologists, Psychologists)

What is known: 

• She is loved
• She is prayed for
• She is wanted
• We are capable of raising and caring for her despite what the enemy tries to tell us
• She has a twin brother who already shares a bond with her and will have her back in this life no matter what

All there is to do is wait, pray, trust in God's perfect plan for our family. I really appreciate all who have reached out to us. On days when I feel most at peace, I know it's because we have a support system lifting us up and interceding on our behalf through prayer when we fail to. There have been times when I have felt so lost and lonely in this, frantically searching the internet for other mamas and stories to whom I could relate and reach out to. 

My hope is that someone else will stumble across our story and find hope in the waiting and in the unknown. My prayer is that no matter the outcome, we would have the strength to persevere in faith and give God the glory that He is so deserving of. We pray her story, her life, is one that impacts others in ways that might not be possible otherwise. We pray that she would be a reminder of the end game of eternity, of God's power and plan to make all things new in eternity with him.  

Nashville / Alabamba Trip

Sometimes we are lucky enough to travel along with my husband for work trips. Last week he had to shoot a wedding, so we decided to make a vacation out of it with stops along the way. Life with him sometimes means buckling your seatbelt and bracing for spontaneity (which I've actually learned to prepare for). We knew we wanted to start our trip in Atlanta to visit some of our dearest friends. We stayed with them on night one, before making a last minute decision to venture into Nashville, and ending up at our ultimate destination - Alabama. I'm so glad we decided to go to "Music City," which is what Branch kept calling it.

If you ever have time to visit Atlanta - Buttermilk Kitchen is a must! Our friends insisted we go have breakfast there the morning we were leaving town, and I'm so glad we did! Everything is made from scratch - get there early because they operate on a walk-in basis, and be sure to order the Pimento Cheese Snack as a starter.

From Atlanta we made the drive into Nashville. My husband booked us the cutest little Airbnb in The Gulch. I'd recommend staying there or 12 South. Both are walkable areas, with a cute shops, plenty of places to eat, and are just minutes away from Downtown's Broadway Street, aka Honky Tonk Row. We took on Nashville entirely by Vespa, which was amazing and saved us the hassle of parking. Plus, B looked really cute on it. I caught people taking photos and pointing everywhere we went.

We started our trip at 12 South, specifically White's Mercantile. I just knew I couldn't leave Nash without visiting this shop! Heart eyes for literally everything in the store, and there was a designated section for each of us to explore. Branch spent the whole time in the toy section. They had the most adorable Nashville Coloring books! Our other favorite spots in this area: Frothy Monky, Five Daughters Bakery, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, Imogene + Willie, which is where we stumbled upon the famous Amelia's Flower Truck! You could spend a full day in this area alone - it had such a friendly, small-town neighborhood feel to it.

We visited the Midtown area for lunch, just for some famous Hattie B's Hot Chicken. There was a line wrapped around the block, but it moved fast. Also, yes, the chicken was hot. :)

Since we had Branch with us, Broadway Street was not where we set out to spend a lot of our time. But we still wanted to go explore some for the experience, so we decided to go for an early dinner at BB King's Blues Club. Here, we stumbled upon live music from Carl Stewart - a Nashville Native, and former guitar player for BB King himself. So good! Branch danced at the front of the stage the entire time. By herself! It was more of a laid-back blues-style club and super family-friendly. A few doors down was Wildhorse Saloon, which is where we ended up taking Branch afterwards. She was dying to get out on the GIANT dancefloor while everyone was line-dancing! Joshua and I were laughing over how much she wanted to dance. In between stops we went boot shopping for her - she was the celebrity of the store, dancing around in her new boots and talking to everyone. We left with not 1 pair, but 3... :) Afterwards, we enjoyed just walking up and down Broadway, and stopping for a listen at each of the bar windows.

Biscuit Love is a great breakfast spot - another place you have to get to early, before the line wraps around the block. So worth the wait! It was once a food truck. The Gulch location (the original of the 3) was walking distance from our Airbnb. Loved the atmosphere there - coffee shop feel with lots of white, and a giant lit-up Nashville sign inside.

My husband also made it a point to stop into Gruhn Guitars, and a few other music shops. Gruhn's made us a little nervous with Branch running around inside. Guitars worth thousands & thousands were propped up nicely on guitar stands and at one point she practically dove in between two of them to steal a peppermint from the top of a desk. I guess the risk was worth the reward. :)
The staff gave her a sticker as a souvenir, which we hung proudly on our fridge when we got home.
Also, I hear if you hang around there long enough, you might see a few famous musicians pop in.

We ended up leaving Nashville with a ton of places still on our list, so I highly recommend the trip if you ever have the chance to go for a few days! We could have easily spent another day or two taking it all in.

We wrapped up our trip in Wetumpka, AL at "The Cabin," stopping for a swim at the "Hippie Hole" in NW Alabama. My husband worked, and we were able to relax & unwind in the peacefulness of the woods. Two things made our stay most memorable: the bugs (eek!) and this game!! The best feature of the cabin was the view through the big windows in the common area - it gave us a three-sided view of the creek that surrounded the cabin. We had so much fun!