My Life in Lavender

One of my favorite remedies for soothing an achy body during pregnancy was a warm bath with a generous sprinkle of lavender oil swirled in. It only seemed fitting when my friend, Jefra Starr Linn, called me up and asked if she could steal me away for an afternoon of photos in Mona, Utah's lavender fields. Jefra has a special way of getting me off my rear end when I can come up with a hundred reasons why I can't find time for pictures, and I'm always so glad she wins out. After all, I'm using one of her photos from a shoot last winter as the cover of my upcoming Christmas album. Stay tuned!

The boys came along and played hide-and-seek in the flowers . . .

. . . and wallowed in the mud like two little piglets.

Mr. Charming was there too. He knows how to get me smiling. See?

See again? I guarantee he was making some obscene gesture in the background.

A million thanks to Jefra for taking my first maternity pictures ever. Why, oh why did I wait to document this incredible time of life until my third child? YOU should not wait. See more of Jefra's work and find her contact information here if you are looking for a tall, smiley, pixie-haired photographer to capture your life's best moments.

Imagine Dragons

Wow. I am totally sweet on Imagine Dragons latest album, "It's Time." If you live anywhere near Provo, UT, come and get lost in the music, under hanging lanterns and in a sea of 2,000 swaying people at the Rooftop Concert Series this Friday. This is going to be BIG. Here is everything you need to know:

Back To School!

Hey remember when I had long hair? Well, this has nothing to do with that. But, today was the first day back at school in my neck of the woods. And because I have been hearing "back-to-school" radio ads for pretty much anything from diamond earrings to jack hammers, I thought, "Why shouldn't I do a 'back-to-school' sale on CDs and T-shirts? People need good music and cool shirts for school, right? So, there you go. Now, git yerself on over to ma store!

Griffin's Story

Griffin Beau: Photo by Ryan Gledhill

A friend of mine once told me that my blog was becoming too motherly.

"You would never see Sting or Coldplay write about their kids, or share recipes on a blog," my friend advised.

I do understand their point. But, for one, I am not Sting nor am I Coldplay. And two, I just want to be real. If Griffin ever learns anything from his momma, it's to just. be. real. People can take it or leave it. So, pardon me while I get all motherly on you and share the story of Griffin's birth.

Over the first weekend of August, I went to my annual family reunion. I could tell that my baby's arrival was nigh. My body was preparing itself and I knew it. I told my husband, "I think we'll have a baby by tonight or tomorrow." But Baby did not come. Hence, I dismissed my intuition as wishful thinking. However, on Monday morning, as soon as I got out of bed, my contractions began. I went about my day like I normally would. I took one of my sons to a summer camp. Contraction. I came home. Contraction. I did the dishes. Contraction. Then, I packed my bags for the hospital. Contraction. I called Aunt Lindsey to see if she could take my two other boys. Contraction. I cleaned out the carport. Several contractions. And called my husband for help.

We met our midwife at the hospital by 4:30 that afternoon. I was dilated to an 8. Shortly after the midwife hooked me up to the monitor, she noticed that the baby's heart rate would drastically decrease through my contractions. Not a good sign. She explained that this is often a sign that the umbilical cord is wrapped around the baby's neck. She said that if the heart rate didn't go back up by the next contraction, she would need to break my water to speed things up and call in a doctor for backup. NO!!! This was exactly what I did not want. I had a specific vision for this birth, and those things were not in my plans. I prayed. What else was there to do? I felt the impression to change positions. So, I knelt on the ground and leaned forward onto the bed with my elbows.

Boom.

The baby's heart rate went back up. I stayed there on my knees until my son was born an hour later. No drugs, no nothing. Just my body doing what it was made to do. I told the midwife that I wanted my husband to deliver the baby, which she agreed to. That was such a gift. The cord was indeed wrapped around his little neck when he came out, but my husband unwrapped it and there were no further complications. He handed the baby to me right away and I held him close to my pounding heart, the both of us struggling for a steady breath.

I won't lie. The last ten minutes of the birth were incredibly intense. But, I've never experienced anything quite so romantic and empowering in all my life.

Sending out my love and appreciation for all of you who have left me kind notes, phone calls and food delivered to my door.

Now, I just need to get to work making a lullaby album . . .

My Life Coach

When I first knew that I wanted to be an independent artist and record pop songs, it was a rather frightening notion. I had a record deal making Christian music and I had made up stories in my mind that my fellow Christians would judge me wrongly for pursuing a new musical path. I feared that the good friends at my record label who had worked so hard to help build my career would disown me if I chose a different path. I'm not sure how Tony Litster showed up in my life at that time, but he has taught me that when the student is ready, the teacher shows up. And that he did.

Tony is an amazing mentor with a gift for revealing eye-opening perspectives on life. He showed me that I had been making up false stories about my life, allowing those stories to pre-determine the outcome of all I did. He also showed me the power of my speech and how my negative speech habits were not serving me. Through his mentoring, I gained the courage to create a vision for the life I wanted without being afraid to carry it out.

Tony has coached me through the creative process that yielded my two independent albums: "Feather in the Wind," and "Anchor." Tomorrow (Wednesday the 17th) he is giving a workshop to artists through the Soundcheck Series at Metcom Studios in Salt Lake City at 7 PM. It's only $25. I'll be there too.

Meet Griffin Beau Gledhill

This is my little treasure, Griffin Beau. Today he is one week old. For the last seven days, we have been intoxicated by him and can't quite seem to drink him in enough. Soon, I will tell you all about my labor; how I did it without the aid of any pain medication, induction or doctor; how we had some unexpected adventures in the delivery room, how Ryan got to deliver the baby himself; and how we will never, ever be the same.

Many, many thanks to all who have dropped by the most delicious food and who have helped me make this transition. I am deliriously tired, but so happy I could burst. For now, enjoy these pictures that my little sister Lindsey took when the baby was less than 24 hours old.

All the Possibilities

One of my goals in life is to be brave enough to face all the possibilities that are out there for me. It's much, much easier to resign to the idea that something is "impossible" as opposed to "totally possible" for oneself. So when Kaskade asked me to be in a music video for one of his upcoming new songs, "Eyes," (which I also sing), I went ahead and said, "Yes," inspite of the fact that I'm 9 months along.

My mind fought it and made up all kinds of ridiculous stories about why I shouldn't shoot a music video at 9 months pregnant:
Women who are 9 months along don't do this sort of thing.
This is dance music. You need sex appeal for dance music. You got nothin'.
Your face will be swollen.
You have acne.
There is no maternity outfit in the world that could work for this.
And so on and so forth.

Matt Eastin (who directed my music video for "Anchor,") is one of my favorite people to work with.

Luckily, through the mentoring of some amazing people I've met in my adventures in music, I've come to recognize these falsehoods when they surface. I'm learning how to step into my power as a woman and an artist while allowing myself to be more than enough at all stages of life. I wish the same for you too.

"Eyes" releases on August 9th, 2011.