Category Archives: This Week’s Miscellany

Three things jump out at me when I see this picture from Sunday:

1. I look tired. (Accurate portrayal. At 39+ weeks, I’m exhausted.)

2. My son’s face! Goofiest smile ever!

3. Daniel’s beard is OUT OF CONTROL.

Pregnancy Update:

Nothing exciting to report. Well, being this close to having a new beautiful baby is certainly exciting! But nothing dramatic to report. Baby Gwen seems mighty comfortable in there despite the intense Braxton-Hicks I keep having every couple of days. It’s unlikely that you’ll see me with makeup or wearing anything but stretchy, comfy pajamas until this baby arrives. Sorry, world. My midwife says I’m 1cm. dilated but that labor doesn’t look imminent. Waaaaaah! My plan is to pull out all my natural induction methods  tonight when the kids go to their grandparent’s house starting with a spicy food dinner date with Daniel followed by a long walk and sitting on the birthing ball while eating tons of pineapple and massaging the labor-inducing acupressure points on my feet. If nothing happens over the weekend, I’ll make an appointment on Monday with my acupuncturist. No castor oil for this gal, though, unless my only other option is Pitocin! Apart from the discomfort of being absurdly pregnant, I just really want to meet this little lady! C’mon, baby carrot!

On the Homestead:

Tomatoes everywhere! I am having the hardest time letting them ripen instead of just frying them green and gobbling them up.

The layers are all laying now! So there’s beautiful eggs everyday. I need to take pictures of each of our ladies and introduce them to you!

Reading: I finished North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell from my 2013 Reading Goals as well as A Biblical Walk Through the Mass. I started Wives and Daughters (also by Gaskell) and we’re almost done reading The Hobbit aloud to four-year-old Benjamin which has been so fun!

 

The Quotable Lucy:

“Toast, Charles! Toast!” Yes, we begin indoctrinating our children with Brideshead Revisited as early as possible.

The Quotable Benjamin:

On The Phantom Menace: “This is boring. Can we watch the REAL Star Wars now?” (We were so proud.)

Links:

Who Gets to Say How Many Children You Should Have? Kitchen Stewardship

Catholic. Nuff Said. Bad Catholic

How to Subscribe to Blogs (Or, why you shouldn’t panic about Google Reader’s demise) Simple Mom

(p.s. After trying both Bloglovin’ and Feedly, I officially like Feedly best. The mobile app is awesome.)

And I spent some time this week updating the archives so if you’ve been trying to hunt down an old post, hopefully it will be easier now!

Excuse me because a miracle is happening: both kids are napping AT THE SAME TIME! (I know!!!) This pregnant mama is going to jump on the chance for a nap! Have a wonderful weekend!

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!

P.P.S. Has anyone seen Gatsby yet? Is it worth the price of a movie ticket? I might need something to distract myself from the fact that I haven’t gone into labor yet…

Things I learned this week: bathroom remodels take twice as long as you think they will. And my in-laws are saintly folk.

We were displaced from our little urban homestead for 11 days while our one bathroom got demoldyfied/ventilated/re-tiled and installed with a new bathtub, sink, and toilet. It was a moldy dungeon and now I feel like I’m bathing at a fancy hotel! Yay! The downside was just being away from home for so much longer than we expected. But, thankfully I have the world’s sweetest in-laws who took us in, fed us BBQ, and even did our laundry (I KNOW!!!). Don’t hate me for my obnoxiously good luck in the in-law department!

We also got a fun package from France including a parenting magazine’s gardening issue that asked for permission a few months ago to use a photo of Benjamin holding one of Daniel’s kohlrabi’s as the cover photo. So fun to see his cute little face on the cover. And they sent him a little French children’s book with an accompanying CD so he can learn some French words. Adorable!

Coming Up in the Liturgical Year: Next week is the Feast of the Ascension. Our liturgical year celebrations are really at a low point right now since I’m so pregnant but be sure to check out these great Feast of the Ascension ideas from Sarah.

Pregnancy Update: 37.5 weeks! Baby Gwen Stellamaris sounded great at my last midwife appt. Folks, I am not prepared for this baby. I don’t have a bag packed, I haven’t washed the baby clothes, we haven’t set up the co-sleeper. But my Braxton-Hicks are getting stronger and last longer every day so I need to get my ducks in a row! Packing our bag is on my to-do list for this weekend.

Let’s have a little fun. Anybody want to take a jab at guessing when she’ll arrive? Dwija had a little guessing contest with her youngest baby’s arrival and I’m inspired to do the same. Here’s the facts: estimated due date is May 22. So I’m now 37 weeks and 2 days pregnant. Benjamin was born at exactly 39 weeks. Lucy was born at 41 weeks and 3 days. No signs of prelabor yet except for tons and tons of Braxton-Hicks. OK, leave your guess in the comments!

Links:

The Keep Out Sign on the Family Home: Jennifer Fulwiler

Mothers Day Gift Idea: Slow Mama

Decide When to Buy Organic with the EWG’s 2013 Dirty Dozen List: The Kitchn

Capturing Your Kids: The Basics: Simple Mom

What to Do When Mass Is Awful: Held By His Pierced Hands

Thanks Carrots readers who showed me some love in the comments over at my new post for Mama and Baby Love: Should Kids Know How Their Meat Gets to the Table? I was a little nervous about posting that and Daniel was surprised that I didn’t take more heat for writing about introducing a 4-year-old to chicken death! I’m glad there’s at least a few other families out there who see the introduction of food ethics to young children as a good thing.

I also set up a little Bloglovin’ widget on my right sidebar if, like me, you were using Google Reader and have switched over to Bloglovin’. But don’t fear Feedly users! I’ll set up one for Feedly, too, as soon as I get my ducks in a row! I think the more streamlined look of Feedly is going to be more up my alley.

Now to pack that hospital bag while the kids nap! Thanks for the great suggestions for what to pack on the Carrots FB page. You all are brilliant! Have a wonderful weekend.

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!

It’s been an exhausting week. We’ve got a bathroom remodel on our hands and just keeping up with the little ones is tough for me at I near full-term with Baby Gwen. I am so grateful for my sweet husband who still writes me love notes with wildflowers to encourage me after almost 7 years of marriage. And it’s hard to be discouraged when you’re faced with these sweet smiles:

The Carrots FB page now has over 1,000 followers! Can’t believe it! I love the lively and encouraging discussion that happens over there. Thank you!

In the Liturgical Year: It’s still Eastertide! Does your family have special music you listen to during this season? Tell me about it! I need some ideas.

Pregnancy Update: Nearing 37 weeks. Still teaching ballet and feeling generally good except for some fatigue and the dreadful acid reflux.

Links:

How to Pray the Rosary with Children at Catholic Mothers Online

Why the Fuss About Reading Mommy Blogs? at DoubleThink

Beauty? Don’t Buy It at Surviving Our Blessings

Must-Read Links About Kids in Mass:

You simply must read two great posts this week on why kids should be in Mass and not seen as unwanted distractions:

Screaming Babies in Mass, and on the Internet at Barefoot and Pregnant

Children Belong at Mass. Period. at Fountains of Home (and Fountains of Home has a FB page now so hope on over and start following Christy’s awesomeness!)

All the controversy over this issue makes me so unbelievably grateful for the support our parish gives to young families that I wrote about in How My Kids Didn’t Ruin Mass. Last week the sweet elderly behind us that had to struggle through all of Lucy’s wriggling and chatter and kept her entertained with smiles and peekaboo told us afterwards, “Thank you for sharing her with us today!” as if WE had done THEM some sort of big favor. The grace of Our Lord!

I am so glad that the Women Speak on NFP series has been so helpful to so many! Although it will start winding down next week, I think it will continue to be an occasional feature over here at Carrots. I’m really excited about all the great things I’m learning about NFP and being inspired by your stories. I’m going to compile all my thoughts about what I’ve been learning into a post and I’m also putting together a list of links and resources on NFP to share with you at the end. Still ahead: an introduction to the Marquette method, NFP while nursing/post-partum, when NFP doesn’t “work,” the idea of natural gender selection, and more. If you missed one of our recent NFP contributors (the wonderful Dwija’s) recent post over at House Unseen, please, please, do yourself a favor and check it out: “NFP doesn’t work. You have so many kids!” Love it!

Wishing you a gorgeous weekend!

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!

Whew. What a week, amirite? I needed a little extra coffee to survive. Although our family’s week was unremarkable, I feel exhausted from trying to process the tragic events in Boston and West. I had a few more posts lined up for the week but it just seemed right to keep it quiet over here. It might also be the fact that I’m almost 36 weeks pregnant and carrying a five-pound human around. Speaking of which:

(Bad lighting, I know! But it’s the only full length mirror in the house and Daniel wasn’t home to take a photo.)

Pregnancy Update:

35.5 weeks! Getting close! Baby Gwen and I are both doing great. I’m getting tired and trying to put my feet up and stay hydrated because the Braxton-Hicks are getting intense! I had them often during my last pregnancy but not this frequent, strong, and regular. Stay inside for a couple more weeks, OK baby girl? I don’t think the fact that a new little person is joining our family in the next month has hit me. I think I’m supposed to pre-register at the hospital and pack some sort of bag or something? Eek!

Coming Up in the Liturgical Year: The Feast of St. George! Do you have any plans to celebrate? St. George is Benjamin’s favorite saint and we love reading this picture book by Margaret Hodges: St. George and the Dragon.

On the Homestead:

Our chickens are laying the prettiest eggs I ever saw! It’s like having Easter eggs for breakfast every day. So glad that we have enough layers again to have plenty of eggs from our hens and not buy them at the store anymore.

The Quotable Lucy (18 months):

“I wove wu, Daddy.” CUTE ATTACK!

The Quotable Benjamin (4 Years):

All packed to go on a little trip with his Grandaddy! He was so excited about having “luggage” and the prospect of stopping at Cracker Barrel.

“They’ve probably been running with pencils, with the pokey-side up.” – (On why pirates wear eye patches.)

Links:

Vaginal Hospital Birth of TRIPLETS: Birth Without Fear  (This was pretty amazing!)

The Feast of St. George: two Os + more

Instagram Worth Sharing:

Lucy loves giving big brother butterfly kisses. I am so excited to introduce these two little loves to their baby sister! Prepare for more toddler snuggles than you could ever want, Baby Gwen!

Stay tuned for more wonderful guest posts in the Women Speak on NFP series next week! And due to popular demand, a post on Marquette method and NFP while nursing are in the works as well!

Hope your weekend is beautiful!

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!

Happy Easter, everyone! (Yes, it’s still Easter!) I hope you’ve been enjoying the Women Speak on NFP series. I am learning so much from our guest bloggers. I interrupt all the basal thermometer chat for a little update (but don’t worry, the series continues next week!). It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve been able to post a Miscellany so prepare for some long-windedness!

First things first! Winners of the Les Miserables DVD/Blu-Ray giveaway are:

On the Homestead: The most perfect thing to happen on Easter week!

Our first egg from the new layers. It’s a GORGEOUS pale green, the picture doesn’t do it justice, so it must have been the Aracuana!

BlissDom: My sweet husband held down the fort while I went to a social media/blogging conference in Dallas a couple of weeks ago. To be honest, none of the sessions were mind blowing, but I learned a lot from the time I got to spend with the other Mama and Baby Love writers and new friends. Then on Palm Sunday I got to meet up with two of the dearest folk in the world, my best friend Eleanor and Lucy’s Godfather, Luke for a day of fun (I went to college in Waco, TX so my sweet friends drove up to Dallas for the day). We went to a beautiful Latin Mass for Palm Sunday, ate Indian food, saw the Marc Chagall exhibit at the DMA, then moseyed around the Bishops Art District (mostly the chocolate shops and pie shops) before meeting up with two other dear college friends for my first chicken and waffle dinner. A truly perfect day of laughter and friendship. But boy was I ready to see my sweet family! And I came home to a clean house, flowers, and homemade plum pie because my husband is a rockstar:

I probably wouldn’t go to BlissDom again, but I’m thinking about going to Allume in Greenville because it might be more up my alley. Anybody else going or have any experience with it?

Pregnancy Update: 33.5 weeks! On the homestretch! Fun new developments: acid reflux so bad that I wake up vomiting. I know. Super cute. And absolutely no way to find a comfortable sleeping position, even with the help of the giant body pillow I’ve nicknamed Nagini. And lightheadedness in the morning if I don’t have protein first thing. Cool! OK, enough whining. This has been a doozy of a pregnancy, but I’m so grateful for a healthy little one and that we’re so close to meeting her. I remember the newborn exhaustion, believe you me, but it’s always an improvement to the way I feel during pregnancy. I’ll be full term in 3.5 weeks! Let’s hope she doesn’t stay content inside for two weeks after her due date like Miss Lucy.

Reading: North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. So yes, I’m definitely behind on my 2013 Reading Goals but I’m plugging away and completely loving this one!

Watching: Call the Midwife! I am in love with this BBC show that’s airing on PBS. The first season is available with Netflix streaming (the only way I ever watch anything). It’s about a convent of Anglican nuns who are nurse midwives and the young nurse midwives (not sisters) who train with them in East London in the late ’50s. I warn you that it is intense as to the birthing scenes and that some might be particularly difficult to watch if you’ve suffered miscarriage or stillbirth. But it really is a wonderful show with fantastic characters and I cry whenever a baby is born. Maybe just because it feels like I gave birth to Lucy yesterday and am preparing for another birth in the next few weeks I can just FEEL the labor pains and the relief of delivery. It’s amazing. Please watch it and tell me if you like it. My favorite character is Chummy and I wish she was my best friend/next door neighbor.

The Quotable Benjamin:

“Look! I grew antlers!”

“I so much need you to help me find a squirrel!” (weird bedtime requests. always weird.)

“Why wouldn’t it be safe for me to have a REAL lightsaber?” (says the kid with marker all over his face.)

Links Worth Reading:

If you read nothing else, please check out Other People’s Kids by Calah Alexander of Barefoot and Pregnant. It’s the best thing I’ve read in awhile.

Fairy Tales and Holy Week – The Imaginative Conservative

I love reading a good birth story and this one by Kaitlin of More Like Mary reminds me so much of my labor with Benjamin. Grab a tissue and enjoy.

Explaining where God is when we suffer, when there are no words by Jennifer Fulwiler

Instagrams Worth Sharing:

My sweetheart in her Easter dress, flirting with the folks at the table next to us at special family breakfast after Easter Mass. How did I ever live without this precious one in my life?

Unfortunately she’s just discovered that she can climb into our dining room chairs but can’t quite figure out how to get down. It makes her feel like SUCH a big girl, though

Here’s me super excited about one of our last date nights before Baby Gwen arrives. We got to eat at a fancy restaurant thanks to a gift card from my sweet friend Melanie.

And look how handsome my wonderful date is! The best!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

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!

Wondering why it’s been so quiet around here this week? This should sum it up for you:

Poor baby girl was on week two of a runny nose that turned into a fever and general crumminess. The I-will-scream-if-you-stop-holding-me kind of crumminess. So you can imagine how much of ANYTHING householdy-bloggy, etc, I managed to accomplish and you can imagine the state of my 30 weeks pregnant back after holding a 22 lb little girl almost non-stop for several days. But I was right where I needed to be, with this little gal.

But that’s not all! Oh, no! That’s not all! In addition to 4-year-old Benjamin, Daniel, and I all having a mild case of whatever this cold bug is, my mom has been in the hospital for most of the week and it’s honestly been very scary. I’ve been updating FB and Instagram with her status and I so appreciate all of the prayers and encouragement you’ve been sending my way! It means so much.

She’s been fighting what seemed to be a flu-like illness for a couple of weeks which escalated into something more at the beginning of the week and her Dr. had her transferred to the hospital for tests. After some heavy-duty antibiotics and a bunch of inconclusive tests, she was symptom free and went home, only to have the pain return worse than ever and was taken to the ER via ambulance Thursday morning. When I arrived at the hospital she was in excruciating pain and could barely move. She is again recovering well due to the antibiotics through an IV, but her Dr. and the infectious disease specialist they have on the case are insistent that she is not released until they pinpoint the source of the infection. And they are baffled! They’ve done everything from a CT scan (she had breast cancer almost 4 years ago, so they ruled that out first) to a spinal tap to an echocardiogram to x-rays looking for a tooth abscess….nothin’. So they continue to run tests. Please pray that they can quickly solve the mystery and help her to get better longterm.

And while we’re on the subject of prayer, I would so appreciate it if you would pray for some very dear friends of ours with four precious kids and 3 babies in heaven who have been waiting almost two years to adopt their sweet baby or babies from a country in Africa (I can’t give the exact location). It’s been almost a year since they were told they would receive a phone call “any day now” to come pick up their little one(s). The adoption agency is sending representatives to meet with the US ambassador and government officials to discover why all the adoptions from this country are stalled March 17-19th. Our friends are asking that folks pray a Novena to St. Joseph (his feast day is March 19th) for his intercession beginning this Sunday:

O St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt
before the Throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.
O St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain
for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus
Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below your Heavenly
power I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of
Fathers. O St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus
asleep in your arms. I dare not approach while He reposes near your
heart. Press him in my name and kiss His fine Head for me, and ask Him
to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, Patron of
departing souls, pray for us. Amen.

Pregnancy Update: I’m feeling very third trimestery. Waddling has commenced, acid reflux has arrived. Baby Gwen is kicking and rolling beautifully and I have an appointment at my midwife’s office next week so we’ll hope for a perfect, regular heartbeat and none of the arrhythmia we heard last month. And the lighting’s bad, but it’s been way too long since I posted a belly picture:

Almost 30 weeks!

The Quotable Benjamin:

(While watching a ballet competition documentary with me while Lucy napped in my lap):

Me: “Wow, she’s amazing!”

Benjamin: “Well…she doesn’t impress ME much. She doesn’t even have a tutu!”

When I was telling Benjamin sweet things like, “I love you more than bears love honey.” He started coming up with some similar phrases. The best one was, “You love me more than you love going to sleep at night!” How apropos of parenthood, amirite?!

A weird week beginning with the craziest hail storm I’ve ever witnessed! Thankfully, everyone was safe and sound at home and we watched the whole thing from our back porch. The yard was covered in ice, but we only lost a little bit of our lettuce in the garden. And it was Pope Benedict XVI’s final audience yesterday. He was Pope when we converted so it just feels strange.

Pregnancy Update: Passed my glucose test! No 3 hour test for me and I’m so glad. Baby Gwen is kicking and rolling. I can’t believe that she’ll be full term in 9 weeks! But then again, I can because it’s so hard to move around and I’m so sleeeepy.

On the Homestead: Funny story. We woke up a couple of weeks ago to the most horrible sound. What is making that noise at 5am?! Are the kids practicing the world’s most annoying way to wake us up? Nope, definitely coming from outside. Is something attacking the hens? Wait…..that hen with the beautiful feathers that’s always bossing the other hens around….she’s not a hen! It’s a rooster and he cannot figure out how to crow! Since our neighbors already dislike that we have chickens, we decided not to push it even though having one rooster is allowed according to city ordinance. The rooster would have to go. So here I am, about to turn a squawking rooster into Coq au Vin:

Scary! I’d never made it before but I felt all Julia Child pouring wine over the poor rooster and wearing a frilly apron. It was sooooo yummy. And we also solved that annoying crowing problem…so…win?

Book Love: Can’t wait to share a review of When Donkeys Talk: A Quest to Rediscover the Mystery and Wonder of Christianity by Tyler Blanski with you next week! I still haven’t made much progress in the giant unabridged Les Miserables, but I really haven’t had time for much reading (we’ve all taken turns being sick except for Benjamin.) So I feel like I’m almost a month behind my 2013 reading goals. I think from here I’m just going to slowly plod through Les Mis while continuing on with my other reads. Next up: Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South!

The Quotable Lucy:

Daniel: Lucy, I love you.

Lucy: Otay. Tickle?!

Links:

8 Reasons Why Freezer Cooking Can Work for Anyone: Life Your Way (Lots of great ideas for those of us who were resistant to the idea to freezer cooking. But with Baby #3 on the way, making meals ahead of time is really becoming a necessity. I adore my friend Stephanie Cornais’s From Your Freezer to Your Family: Slow Cooker Freezer Recipes eCookbook if you’re looking for a good place to start.)

My Favorite Pope Benedict XVI Moments: Home to Catholicism (This one made me laugh. I’ve been loving this blog lately!)

Why We Choose a Midwife: Better Than Eden (Great piece by Mary! I love the midwifery model for birth and women’s health.)

Spring Wedding: twIN STYLE (Drooling over these beautiful spring dresses…except they have waists….something I’m lacking at the moment.)

A Child’s Guide to Parenting Book: Honest Toddler (Honest Toddler is always hilarious)

Notes from Beneath the Veil: Conversion Diary (Great post on wearing a veil during Mass by the wonderful Jennifer Fulwiler.)

Flannery O’Connor, Women, and the Home: Dappled Things (I adore Flannery and found this piece so insightful. Do you know about Dappled Things? If not, you should! It’s the best!)

Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who has contacted me about contributing their story to Carrots’ upcoming series about NFP! If I haven’t returned your email, it’s just because we’ve all been under the weather and I’m yet again behind on emails. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

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!

This sweet pea is taking her upcoming role as big sister very seriously. It is the most precious thing.

In the Liturgical Year: Thank you to all the wonderful bloggers who linked up with our Lenten Little HolyDays link up! Great ideas and inspiration.

How is your Lent going? Praying a daily Rosary was definitely a good choice for my lenten discipline. My other discipline was to stop yelling at Benjamin, a discipline I hope to carry with me after Lent is over. And lo and behold, his behavior has seriously improved since I’ve made a devoted effort not to raise my voice! I’m sure no one’s surprised that not losing it at your kids at least once a day improves your parenting

Pregnancy Update: I was feeling really smug that the t-shirt I pulled on was so comfy at 27 weeks….until I realized it wasn’t my shirt, it was Daniel’s. Other than having Texas-sized meltdowns over nothing multiple times a week (this pregnancy’s emotional insanity deserves it’s own post), things are going ok. I’m sleepier and more uncomfortable than a couple of weeks ago as I waddle into the third trimester, but that’s to be expected. I had the pleasure of drinking that horrible orange drink for the glucose test yesterday morning. I’m such a fainter, so blood draws are never a good time for me (or for anyone, I suppose) but on an empty stomach it’s even worse. My sweet dad drove me to the lab (see confession above about fainting, driving myself not an option!) while Daniel stayed home a little later with the kiddos and then we celebrated with breakfast out. Let’s hope I don’t have to do the 3 hour test!

Book Love: So, I’ve made absolutely NO progress in my 2013 reading goals since last week. Not a page of Les Mis have I read this week. But I’m loving the reading selections in Bread and Wine and I read a wonderful book by Tyler Blanski that I’m excited to tell you more about as soon as I have time to write a review.

The Quotable Benjamin:

“Wow, Mama! That is a FAT pregnant tummy you’ve got!”
“Benjamin, it’s more tactful to say to ladies that they have a ‘beautiful’ pregnant belly.”
“Oh, ok. You sure have a pretty and VERY BIG pregnant tummy!”

“Are you sweeping our floors clean so they can get all dirty again?” (Too true, my dear)

“How come you can’t see a mammoth’s trunk in it’s skeleton?”
“Well, feel your nose. See how it moves from side to side? That’s because it doesn’t have any of what inside?”
“Snot?”

Links:

A Collection of Meatless Meals for Lent: Two O’s Plus More

Lenten Resources: Inspiration, Challenges, and Meatless Real Food Meals: Kitchen Stewardship

Flannery for Lent: Karen Edmisten

Some great hymns for the lenten season.

The Catholic Church Young People Actually Want: Bad Catholic

Newborn Life and Why You Should Read Wise Mom Blogs: Fountains of Home

Here We Are: Simcha Fisher

You can find me: over at Mama and Baby Love this week complaining about how crummy I feel during the first (and half of the second) trimester (because nobody’s sick of me whining about morning sickness, yet, right?! ahem)  as well as some tips that help me survive it.

Instagrams Worth Sharing:

My sweet boys.

You can’t have too many pictures of piggy-tails, amirite?!

My hair is finally getting long enough to do fun braids and things again! Hooray!

Coming Up at Carrots: Thanks for all your insightful comments of the four part Catholicism: Empowering Women for 2,000 Years series. I learned so much from you! I’m just starting to get organized to do a series on NFP methods: guest posts about different women’s experiences with different methods. If you have a story to share, shoot me an email (haley.s.stewart@gmail.com) and let me know you’re interested, what method you have experience using, and whether you were using NFP in an attempt to achieve or avoid pregnancy. I’m basically an NFP zero (we just do ecological breastfeeding and have babies close together) but I really want to provide some resources for women who need to use NFP for various reasons and want to learn more. And I want to educate myself in case we’re ever in a situation that would encourage us to avoid pregnancy.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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!