“For the past few years, we’ve been renovating a 1750s home for Anthony’s mom, as well as building our house across the driveway. We’ve made a modern family compound right at the top of the island. We moved into our house three days after Diogo was due (we still didn’t have doors installed) and finally welcomed him two weeks late, right in the bathroom of our mostly-finished home. We found out later that he was only the second baby ever born on the island.”

Julie wears a top by Dôen and vintage Carhart jeans. Diogo wears a shirt by Rudy Jude and pants from Milkmade.

“When we were designing the house, we were looking at a lot of colonial New England architecture, but wanted to bring in a simple and subtle Japanese aesthetic.”

“We designed the house before knowing we were going to be welcoming a baby, so there are a lot of stairs and levels and hard surfaces, which maybe we’ll reconsider the next time around. We’ve done some light baby-proofing, but other than that, I think the aesthetic has remained the same.”

“That the house is a living breathing thing, and things need to move and change as your needs change. We’re constantly moving furniture in and out and around, hanging plants in different rooms, and moving our bed to get the best morning light for the season.”

Cute kitchen setup.

“It changes, but right now I love our kitchen. We have our little wood stove cranking, and it just feels like the coziest place. We have a giant window in the kitchen that looks out to a mossy ravine, so it’s nice to sit by the fire and pretend you’re outside, especially now that we have a real nip in the air.”

The aforementioned wood stove.

“I have a painting that was done by one of my childhood friend’s moms, Hattie Barker. It’s a painting of my mom in the softest pastel colors. It has traveled with me to every dorm room, every apartment, and every home of mine since it was painted. I was also just given a sculpture by one of my best friends, Elizabeth Atterbury. She is one of the most inspiring artists and mothers that I have been lucky enough to know.”

“Our house is very small, so kid stuff is definitely part of every room. However, we have a small amount of toys and we try to only keep the good looking stuff out in plain sight.”

“I like to say that I just do everything that’s the easiest, but the reality is that nothing is easy about parenting. But, if something seems too hard or unnatural, I tend to veer away from it and start again. I rely heavily on instinct, and I do what feels right for me and my family and try not to parent to anyone else’s expectations.”

“I was working as a high school art and design teacher when I found out I was going to be a mother. It was interesting to be growing a baby, while at the same time watching kids grow into adults. I had a lot of ‘woah these teens were babies once’ moments. The teenagers constantly blew me away with their behavior and their creativity. It made me excited to imagine getting to watch my own person grow up to be such a thoughtful, creative, and hardworking person.”

“That somehow I won’t be able to give him the tools he needs to be a sensitive, caring, and mindful adult. I try really hard not to think about stuff like that, though, and try to remember that if I’m present and honest with him, the chances are good that he’ll turn out alright!”

“I feel more at ease now in my day to day, more confident and proud to be doing the things I need and want to do. I think motherhood was an ‘aha’ moment for me, where my past work, present creative pursuits, and my general place in the world all of a sudden made sense to me.”

“I’m lucky enough to have been raised by and am surrounded by very strong, smart, and creative women: My mom, my sister, my step-mother, Anthony’s mom, and my many amazing ‘mom friends.’ Each relationship is so complex and important to me, and impacted my vision of motherhood.”

“He’s really into physical play right now, jumping off things into piles of pillows, climbing things, wrestling with his older friends. I love watching him work through things in his head before he does something. He is starting to really understand the cause and effect of his actions.”

“Diogo Abel O’Rourke Esteves, his grandfather (Anthony’s father), was born in Portugal and emigrated to the U.S. as a child. He passed away when Anthony was 18, so we wanted Diogo’s name to be a tribute to his Portuguese heritage and to his grandfather. Diogo is a pretty common name in both Portugal and Brazil, but it seems to really throw people for a loop here in the U.S. Abel was Anthony’s father’s middle name, and we chose to give Diogo my last name as a second surname, which is customary in Portuguese naming. However, if we were to have a girl, she would take Anthony’s surname as her second surname and mine as her final surname.”

Mama kisses.

“On an ideal day for us, we’d wake up around 7:30 and make coffee together. Diogo likes to grind the beans. We’d put on music or Anthony would play the guitar, and we’d dance and play this very funny microphone game. We would eat a tiny breakfast, and then go to the farmers market and eat these amazing Bialys made in a wood fired oven. I’d get a bowl of coffee and Diogo drinks steamed milk with nutmeg. We’d pet dogs, buy squash, and see friends. Then Diogo, Anthony, and I would go walk in the woods for a while. If it were late summer, we would look for berries or mushrooms. This time of year we’d maybe find some cranberries. Then we would go home work on a project, maybe build something for the house or a toy for Diogo. We’d make dinner, my sister would come over, and we’d drink wine and put our kids to bed and take pictures of them sleeping next to each other. Repeat.”

“He doesn’t have one! We have a corner of our living room that we’ve turned into his zone. He has a bed there and his cozy stuffed animals, but for now he still sleeps with us.”

“Diogo’s bed is a vintage French rattan crib. It’s the loveliest thing we own. If we could only get him to sleep in it.”

Dreamy space.

“The other day while Diogo was napping, I pulled our couch into our front yard and painted it with house paint. Then I realized this is exactly something my mother would have done when I was a kid. I would have been mortified by it, and would have vowed never to do something so embarrassing. She was a free-form creative force in our household and I’m so glad I got that gene.”

“That you will know what’s best for you and your kid. No teacher, doctor, mother, or friend will know more about the needs of your baby than you do.”

Where's Diogo?

“When I got pregnant, I was so nervous I wasn’t going to have any friends with kids, but people really come out of the woodwork when there’s a baby coming. I really have the most amazing group of friends, both parents and non-parents, as well as family really close by. My sister Molly lives two towns over and runs her business One&Supp out of a space down the street, and my cousin Matt and his girlfriend Ayn just moved back from Los Angeles. We have family dinner every Sunday. Nothing feels more supportive than eating good food with the people you love the most.”

Snack break.

“People love to give advice, both good and bad, but if you can dig through all the crap you’ll probably find small, but impactful gems like: ‘be calm,’ ‘be adaptable,’ ‘you know what to do,’ ‘take care of yourself,’ and ‘let people help,’ Those will be the things you’ll always remember."

“Maybe not helpful, but insightful, Raising Elijah by Sandra Steingraber. It’s the only parenting book that was passed on to me that I’ve passed on to other new mom friends. It’s definitely not for everyone, but a very interesting look into how to raise children, while being environmentally conscious.”

“Anthony and I have decided not to get married until we’re in our 60s or 70s. We want to wait until we’ve really gone through the shit and come out the other side, and get to celebrate our long life together with our kids. That being said, it’s exciting to be two people choosing a life together while still maintaining individuality. I think it’s important to give your partner space and to receive space in return, so that the time with your kids and with each other can be free of distraction, or want or need to be doing something else.”

“Yes, definitely. I’m on a two boys, two girls path. But, we’ll see.”

“We pretty much always have these fairly elaborate one-bowl meals with squash, grains, and greens. Anthony does most of the cooking, and he’s gotten really good at putting together really healthy and delicious meals relatively quickly.”

“I wish I was tidier. I’ve been putting a conscious effort into it though, and I can definitely see myself changing. I’m excited for the day that I can just be a tidy person without having to think about it.”

"I was a major tomboy growing up, and I think that has stuck with me quite a bit. I like to pair newer, fancier clothes with old workwear and hope that I give off a stylish lady, carpenter vibe.”

“I definitely appreciate a baggier look these days, and things that look good when they're dirty. I’m more okay with say, turning a dirty sweatshirt inside out and backwards and pretending it’s clean, than I was before”

“I have a ton of crewneck sweatshirts, both vintage and new. I also can’t live without a pair of Vans high tops. It’s our family shoe. We all have them."

Julie wears a vintage work jacket. Diogo wears a sweater coat by Misha + Puff.

“Rachel Comey, Caron Callahan, Won Hundred, Older Brother, and Chimala.”

"This is embarrassing, but athleisure wear. I love a technical pant. I love a fancy sneaker. I love an expensive sweatshirt.”

“Shopping is pretty scarce in our neck of the woods, but my good friend Brooke owns a shop in Portland called Judith and it’s really the only place I ever need to go. She always has everything I want and everything I didn’t know I wanted.”

“Tibi loafer slides, the perfect Chelsea boot (I’m open for suggestions), and this matching chore coat and jeans combo from Older Brother.”

“I try to wash my face everyday, and exfoliate. I put rose oil on all my ‘aging skin’ because I read somewhere that you should, but I don’t remember why. I have this theory that if you are feeling unhappy about a part of your body, you should give it a lot of extra attention and exfoliate it a lot to get blood rushing to it, because everything looks better when it hasn’t been forgotten about.”

“My sister and I do Pilates together twice a week. It’s the most transformative exercise I’ve ever experienced. I started when I was 6 weeks postpartum to gain back core strength, and now I’m stronger and leaner than I’ve ever been before. Also, spending one-on-one time with my sister without our kids is hugely important for my mental wellness.”

Puppy love.

“Our town is perfect for us right now. We have amazing food, activities, and the most exciting educational opportunities for the future. I envision moving to a bigger house someday, but we would stay relatively in the same neck of the woods.”

“We have been toying with living elsewhere in the winter. Last year we spent three months in Los Angeles, while I got my manufacturing off the ground, and it felt nice to call a new place home for a bit. We’ll definitely visit new places for extended periods of time, but Maine will always be our home.”

“That he can have independence in nature. Being alone in the woods (that sounds really weird) was a big part of my childhood. I always had my best ideas and my most exciting daydreams there. I want Diogo to build forts and play by streams, and have a world outside of us and our home where he can learn to be confident, creative, and independent.”

“I have a kids/baby clothing line called Rudy Jude. It’s naturally-dyed and happily-sewn basics for ages 0-10.”

Julie wears a vintage sweat shirt, pants by Rachel Comey, and boots by Dries Van Noten. Diogo wears a Rudy Jude shirt and pants, and a vintage beret.

“I went to school at Rhode Island School of Design with a concentration in Textile Design. I have a serious love for minimally processed natural fabrics in weird colors, and it definitely started there. Out of school, I worked as an artist assistant for Dave Cole, and my first solo project with him was making baby clothes out of kevlar. There I learned so much about conceptualizing seemingly impossible projects and seeing them through from start to finish, which is an art form in itself to be able to stick with something even though you have to tackle obstacle after obstacle to get something completed. I spent the following years teaching and doing odd design jobs, knowing that I wanted to start something on my own, but not able to figure out what it was.”

“When I was pregnant with Diogo, I started making clothes for him as a way to keep my mind off things like morning sickness and the inevitable tailspin of 'Is he going to be healthy?', 'Am I going to know what to do?', 'How do you change a diaper?'. After Diogo was born, I just kept sewing and it all just started to become a thing. All of a sudden, my fabric background made sense, the kevlar baby clothes made sense, the odd design jobs made sense, and I realized that I had the tools to make all of it happen.”

“Nothing motivates like having a baby. I can get so much more work done so much faster because I know there are things like playing and dancing and snuggling that I’m needed for.”

“The moment I realized I would be a mother longer than I was a non-mother was the moment that I realized I wanted motherhood to be a significant aspect of my work and creative pursuits. You change when you become a mother, so your work should, too.”

“Up until Diogo was eight months old, we spent every day together in my studio. All of my original samples were sewn standing up with Diogo strapped to me. I will never forget it. It was pure bliss. Now that he's a toddler, things are a little different, but he still comes to work with me. My friend, Kirsten, works for me and brings her infant Dakota, and we share a babysitter who is in and out of the office all day with the kids. We only work three days a week, and when I’m not in the studio or office, I try to not even think about it.”

“That it automatically gives me a connection to a community of amazing parents all over the world.”

“It’s on the main street in Rockland, the largest town near us. On one end there are windows to the street, and on the other I can look at the ocean. All my life I’ve been comforted by the sounds of lobster boats and ferry horns, so it’s nice that I can take moments out of my days to zone out to noises that I love.”

“Diogo, living in nature, adventures.”

“Just to get Rudy Jude running smoothly and confidently.”

To keep up with Julie and Diogo, follow her personal Instagram page and Rudy Jude.