Let’s get straight to the big news! A new Pope! As soon as I heard about the white smoke, I rushed to the laptop to find a live stream of what was happening (we don’t have TV). NBC News was working well, so I started watching and then actually woke up my 4-year-old son from his nap so he could see, too. (Clearly a red letter day! Naptime is sacred.) We waited and waited and waited together for the new Pope to emerge. After keeping my preschooler interested and wrangling baby sister who had woken up by that time, I was so very ready to see a glimpse of the first Pope elected since my conversion. Just as the curtains were rustling and someone was coming out on the balcony, Benjamin said, “I need a banana, lemme pause it.” “Noooooooo!” I wailed, too late, as I was trying to hold Baby Lucy and wasn’t in arms reach of the computer. His “pausing” the live stream actually closed the window and it wouldn’t work again, so I had to follow the rest on Twitter. NOT THE SAME. Of course, I reacted with the utmost decorum and did NOT burst into tears and yell and scream hysterically at the laptop. Ahem. Anyhow, it was a little tragic. But now we have a great story about Benjamin missing the papal announcement in pursuit of a banana.
Pope Francis! I am truly thrilled beyond words. Was anyone else surprised that the cardinals reached an agreement so quickly?
And now regarding another thrilling announcment: giveaway winners of Tyler Blanski’s new book, When Donkeys Talk: A Quest to Rediscover the Mystery and Wonder of Christianity.
(10 Winners chosen by random number generator. I included the number of the winning comments in case there were multiple folks with the same name.)
90.Ellen
49. Becky
26. Nicole @ The Khouriyeh Said What?
33. Josh
60. Bekkah @ A Lot of Love, A Lot of Hope
35. Angela @ The Nomadic [W]ife
101. Lindsay in NJ
28. KelleyAnnie @ Over the Threshold
9. Kate
37. Janelle @ A Blithe Spirit
If you won, shoot me an email (haley.s.stewart@gmail.com) with your mailing address and I will send you your copy of the book!
Thanks everybody for entering!
Pregnancy Update: 30 weeks and still teaching ballet! I vacillate between disbelief that I’m still 8-12 weeks away from giving birth and already so big and uncomfortable and surprise that Gwen is arriving so soon and I haven’t even begun to think about getting the house ready for her!
On the Homestead:
When ya gonna lay some eggs, ladies?
Garden helper #1
Garden helper #2
The Quotable Lucy:
“Hi, Papa!” (whenever she sees a photo of Pope Francis)
Links:
Papamoon!: Simcha Fisher (This post about our new Holy Father made me so excited!)
How We Reduced Asthma Symptoms in Our Family: Keeper of the Home (Natural methods of helping asthma. We already do some of these things to help our 4-year-old’s ashtma but I want to try all of them and see if they make an impact!)
Saying Goodbye to Google Reader and Alternatives for Your Feed Reeder: Life Your Way (I’m so sad that google reader is going away! If you follow me with Google Reader, be sure to switch to an email subscription for Carrots! You can find the subscription widget on the left-hand sidebar.)
Instagrams Worth Sharing:
This little gal is certainly feeling better than last week. Unfortunately, I’m ready to wave the white flag with this cold. I’ve been sick for almost three weeks and now I definitely have a sinus infection. Oh my heavens, my face hurts so bad! Now that I’ve tried every natural remedy I know and can’t sleep through the pain, I’m heading to the Dr. this morning. Ugh. Hate the thought of antibiotics, but I would also like to be able to move without my head almost exploding.
During this whole horrible month of illness for our family, this little boy has been soooo sweet. Yes, he dresses himself. Yes, his pants and shirt are backwards. Yes, he’s completely adorable.
Thank you everyone who has been keeping our family in your prayers while my mom was in the hospital. She was discharged on Tuesday night and, although tired, is almost feeling back to normal. After a bajillion tests, the Drs STILL don’t know what made her so ill. But we’re grateful that she’s well and just keep praying it doesn’t happen again!
Happy Friday!
Love,
Haley
P.S. You can also follow me on Twitter (@haleycarrots), Pinterest (haleyofcarrots), FB, and Instagram (carrotsformichaelmas). I love connecting with my wonderful readers!
Oh no! Your story about trying to watch the Pope reveal is just tragic and hilarious. All for a banana… Maybe next time? 😉
Happy Quotable Lucy is back! Her “Hi, Papa!” is cute. I still do that, at least internally, with Benedict. 🙂
I hope the Carrots family stays happy and healthy the rest of the year!
So glad to hear that your mom is feeling better! And that story about Benjamin and the banana is too cute. 🙂
So excited that I won a copy of the book! Can’t wait to start reading!
Hope you feel better soon; that is so NOT fun to have a sinus infection 🙁
FYI – I used Google Reader too and my husband showed me this article with alternatives to Google Reader:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-57574201-233/google-reader-is-dying-but-we-have-five-worthy-alternatives/
I and some of my other friends are all trying out Feedly http://blog.feedly.com/2013/03/14/google-reader/
so far so good AND I got your newest post update through it – so Win-Win 🙂
Blessed weekend to you and yours and I sure hope you feel better soon! Can’t believe you are teaching ballet and pregnant! Impressive! 🙂
I’m going to have to look into feedly! Thanks for sharing those links 🙂
First off, you look amazing. Secondly, while I did get to watch Pope Francis walk out on the balcony I had two children simultaneously start wailing and I missed the first announcement and his name. I had been in the middle of lunch prep when the smoke started billowing and well… I forgot to go back to it as I didn’t want to miss a thing. My poor starving children just couldn’t wait 5 more minutes. It was of course all very exciting and I of course did NOT yell over my children to be quiet as I wanted to know who the heck was our new Pope… umm… right. And lastly, I sent off an email. I’m very excited to be a winner of the book! Can’t wait to start the read. Thanks so much.
Thank you, Angela! I think I’m only going to gain 40ish pounds this pregnancy which feels so much more comfortable than the 60 I gained with Benjamin. I felt like I couldn’t move!
Glad I’m not the only one with a Pope announcement story involving hysteria and yelling 🙂
Now you’ll have such a great story for years to come! Though I sure bet it wasn’t funny at the time…
So sorry to hear you’ve been sick! I’ve been sick for weeks, so I feel you. Have you tried a sinus rinse? I had a doctor actually tell me to try one before I took antibiotics; it’s not the most comfortable thing, but it worked! This is the one she recommended: http://www.neilmed.com/usa/sinusrinse_isotonic.php I’ve been able to find it at drugstores near me. Just make sure you don’t use tap water. Hope you feel better!!
I have a neti pot but I’m a little wary of how to use it. I feel like I need someone to come over and give me a demonstration!
I’m very impressed that you’re still teaching ballet at 30 weeks! I taught piano/accompanied right up until both of my children’s births, but that involves a lot of sitting. 🙂 I would imagine that ballet is a lot more exhausting. 🙂
I’m definitely worn out by the time I get home but the movement actually feels really good. Last time I taught til 35 weeks, but I’m hoping to teach a little longer this time. We’ll see! I have a sub lined up starting at week 36 just in case!
My beloved priest told me the cutest story about the big announcement… he saw the white smoke and became so excited, so made himself some lunch and sat down in his “big chair” and… fell asleep! One of the other priests called to ask if he had the live coverage on tv and he responded sheepishly, “well technically the tv is on, yes…” but he didn’t quite fess up to napping during all the excitement 😉
I couldn’t be more thrilled with our new holy father. I’m full of hope and excitement, he is truly a man of the people. Many blessings to Pope Francis and to your sweet family!
What a precious story! The more I hear about Pope Francis, the more excited I am. It feels so good to have a Holy Father again.
I have to admit that I’m bummed not to have won a copy. 🙂 I’ll just have to look into getting it from the library! Good to have the recommendation, in any case.
I am also very impressed with you keeping up your ballet! I bet it’s great to keep your flexibility up in preparation for delivery.
It does feel really good to keep moving! Last time I made it to 35/36 weeks teaching. We’ll see how far I get this time!
Allow Marmee to advise you re: accessories: Your belt should match your shoes and your purse. Example: black patent-leather or white patent leather. Hat and gloves should also match [although they do not have to be “patent leather,” of course.]
My wife recorded the announcement of the new Pope live on a DVD disc. I can send you a copy if you’d like.
I was at work when the white smoke emerged. I had just settled into my chair to catch up on emails and I decided to open a website which had a live feed from St Peter’s Square. Within 5 minutes of opening the site, white smoke emerged! Talk about timing! I immediately called my wife and walked her through the steps of recording TV (involved 3 remote controls). Our TV was packed away for Lent but I had removed it knowing that the election would be soon.
Sounds like providential timing! How perfect.