Sitting Down With Mom, Teacher, and Design Influencer, Nicole Yosick
This week we are so excited to chat with Nicole Yosick, a longtime friend and member of our community who is a mom, ESL teacher, and has a passion for design and baking. (PS: Her dog, Lionel, met and played with Otis when he was just a puppy.) In our chat, Nicole told us all about launching her new micro bakery, why she’s homeschooling her daughters this year, how you can make your home cozy for the fall, and SO much more.
You recently had a second baby, Joelene. Congratulations! How are you feeling?
I am thankful to be feeling really good. The recovery from a C-section was honestly quicker than I had anticipated. I like to fully rest and take the days slow and easy postpartum, although I quickly found this time looked very different with a toddler! I was happy to be out on small outings since Joelene was born in the spring and pretty quickly got back into our routine so that we felt a sense of normalcy during a big life change. Having a second child really has filled my heart in a way I couldn’t imagine or understand. I find so much beauty in seeing my oldest love on her younger sister and it just melts me when Joelene smiles directly at Ophelia. It’s been hard for me to balance two kids and there are times when I notice how much independence Ophelia immediately gained. It makes me so proud, but breaks my heart at the same time. I am certainly still learning how to balance everything, but it’s been a wonderful journey.
Ophelia (3) baths her sister, Joelene (5 months) in their farmhouse kitchen sink.
How is your older daughter, Ophelia, doing with life as a big sister?.
Ophelia is honestly just as sweet as a big sister as we’d expected! She has loved playing with dolls for so long and sees Joelene as her real life baby doll! We intentionally offer ways for Ophelia to help with Joelene and she thrives on those opportunities. The initial adjustment was tough for her, specifically in not receiving my attention in all the same ways anymore. However, over time she’s learned ways to help out and is also starting to include Joelene in on her own activities. She tells everyone about her baby sister and loves her endlessly!
What’s it been like for your dog, Lionel, adjusting to life with a newborn and a toddler?
Lionel and Ophelia have started to become the best playmates. They’re frequently chasing each other around or play fighting over a toy. We felt like Lionel ignored Ophelia for the most part as a baby, and he’s been the same way with Joelene. He comes up and gives her the occasional face lick and he’s always very gentle with her, but he doesn’t acknowledge her too much. He absolutely loves it when Ophelia gets silly and playful with him.
How does your cat do with the babies and Lionel? We imagine life is not chaotic at all lol.
Our cat, Prada, has very sadly disappeared. I had her for 14 years, and we think she was 15 or 16 years old. Prada thrived as an outdoor cat here in the country. She had actually never been friendly towards any people except me, but once she was outdoors she grew friendly towards strangers. It seemed she was finally happy, as she always tried to (and once did!) escape my home in DC. Ophelia called Prada her best friend and loved to hold her every day. We have so many happy memories with Prada and do hope she makes her way back home to us, but also understand her time may have come and we are grieving the loss of our sweet cat.
Lionel (above), is five now and loves relaxing on the balcony at home.
You are a teacher but you recently decided to homeschool your girls at home. How did you come to that decision?
For 14 years, I taught elementary school as a classroom teacher, a reading interventionist, and an ESL teacher. I had tough years, but I loved it overall. However, after we’d moved out of DC, my commute was unbearable. I knew I couldn’t do it forever, but I loved my job so much that I didn’t know how to leave it. Once I finally made the decision not to return last school year, we decided I should take some time just to be home with Ophelia and take what would’ve been my maternity leave. In that time, I loved being home with her so much that it became hard to envision going back to any full time job. Since all of my experience is in teaching, I have loved teaching Ophelia unofficially. We stay super busy with play dates and outings, and I know how much she loves our current situation. I do believe wholeheartedly that I am her best teacher, so it just felt like the natural next step. She isn’t legally required to do any schooling yet at 3, but she is so eager to learn that I just had to start! I purchased a subscription to Child of the Redwoods, a Montessori curriculum, and we have both enjoyed it. The number one reason I want to homeschool her is so that she can spend the majority of her days outdoors in nature and getting experiential, hands on learning. There are programs out there that I would be interested in enrolling her in, but they are expensive. I am already here with her and feel capable, so we’ve chosen to do it ourselves for now!
In this photo that Nicole (above) shared with TOC, she celebrated Mother's Day with Ophelia and Joel in 2023.
How has motherhood changed you?
When Ophelia was a newborn, I have this distinct memory of pushing her down our driveway amidst the autumn leaves and thinking to myself, “My life has just begun.” This may change over time, but currently l feel a strong change in my identity before and after becoming a mother. Many things that used to matter to me don’t anymore and have been replaced with things I never knew I’d care so much about. We moved from the city to the country when we found out we were expecting, so some changes in myself happened naturally with that relocation. However, I’ve felt a huge shift in my focus in life, no longer to build a career but to build character in my children. I have felt my priorities shift, my friendships change, and have gotten closer than ever with family. It would feel nearly impossible for me to name one way motherhood hasn’t changed me.
This past year you tragically lost your brother, Joel. Our hearts ache for your family. How are you coping with grief?
Thank you so much. I am still in shock, honestly. I’ve wondered for a long time when that will wear off, but I’ve accepted that I may feel this disbelief for the first year or two. Some days, I cope by journaling and reflecting. Other days, I cope by baking and walking in nature. I view every waking moment as coping because it just hasn’t gotten any easier and I’m still in survival mode. The saying that grief comes in waves couldn’t be more accurate, so I try to let those waves wash over me and succumb to it. Trying to swim against them and fight them is a battle I’ll never win, but the feeling of drowning in grief is real. In those times where I’m drowning, I cope by getting out of the house, by talking and visiting with friends, and by staying in close communication with family. Finding a friend who is on a similar grief journey has helped me a lot, as well as a paid grief partnership I’ve joined. I attended a grief group locally, but it was almost too much for me. I could hardly even speak when I first joined because the emotions overcame me. The work of Megan Devine has comforted me a lot and her words guided me through my toughest days. I’ve learned the ways that our society minimizes grief and expects us to move swiftly through a certain set of stages, when that isn’t reality for a griever at all. Part of my coping is taking comfort in the knowledge that society’s way of handling grief is often unintentionally harmful, so it’s not uncommon to feel alone. However, to know many grievers are indeed on this journey with me, it can feel less isolating. Then I can allow grief in because it isn’t going anywhere.
How have you explained sadness to Ophelia?
I’m very thankful Ophelia has been very understanding and hasn’t needed me to explain a lot to her. When she sees me cry, she knows why I’m sad, to the extent she can understand. She frequently tells me, “Your brother Joel died and now you’re sad. We won’t ever see him again”. She is just processing it in the way she knows how, by talking about it. When I do explain it to her, I just tell her that I’m sad because I won’t see him again here on earth. However, I teach her to look for him in the butterflies and the cardinals and everywhere in nature.
This cabin on Nicole’s property was established in 1915 and will be used for her sourdough porch pickups for her micro bakery business.
You also have a passion for home design. Do you have any tips for making your house feel cozy this fall?
Of course! Fall is when the weather just starts to get cooler, so everyone wants to feel cozy! Pumpkins and mums lining stairs on the porch give that immediate Hallmark movie feel. I like to place sweet scented candles and soaps throughout the house, a basket of extra blankets near the couch, and logs by the fireplace. Fall themed mugs on the coffee bar are inviting as well. I keep one large photo above the mantel and swap it out for a cozy fall photo of our family or home from the prior year. I highly suggest displaying baked goods in a beautiful glass cake dish- you’d be surprised how much beautiful baked goods can make the kitchen feel cozy!
Tell us about your micro bakery. That is so exciting!
I had started baking sourdough bread around the time of Joel’s death, and it really was like a form of therapy. It became this hobby that I couldn’t get enough of. I found that everyone in my own family was enjoying my bread and baked goods so much that I was inspired to make more and more. Eventually, I kept scaling up until we couldn’t keep up eating it all, so I was giving it to friends just to practice more. Fast forward only 6 months later, I decided I wanted to start selling it! I spent one month planning, researching, investing in tools, and marketing. In the end of August, I launched my first porch pickup day and had 14 orders placed! I am preparing for my first vendor market this week as well.
Our property has a historical cabin on it, which is over 100 years old. I knew the cabin porch would be the perfect place for sourdough pickups, so I thrifted some cottage bakery style decor, added some shelving, and began advertising the pickups. Our home is very unique in its character and charm, and I love to share it with others. I also love to share my baking with others, so it’s the perfect combination which allows me to do both! The biggest thing the micro bakery will do, however, is allow me to stay at home with my girls long term.
Nicole is launching a micro bakery called Chesapeake Sourdough.
If someone in our community wants to start baking, can you share some favorite resources to get started?
Instagram provides me with so much inspiration! I would never have even known porch pickups were a thing otherwise. Just search for any sourdough or baking accounts, and so much learning can be done there. Otherwise, join Facebook groups because they provide such strong community when you’re learning something new. Social media has been my number one learning tool. I recommend the book The Perfect Loaf by Maurizio Leo as well.
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