Confession time. I’ve never made it through an entire Whole30. I’ve tried four times and haven’t ever made it to day 30. The first three times I had an excuse. I was still nursing my youngest and cutting out grains made my supply tank and I dropped weight too quickly. But this last time I wasn’t breastfeeding, I just have terrible self-control. I’m great at planning the meals and I even find … [Read more...]
Hospitality With No Flushing Toilets: What I’ve Learned
Having people over has always been our thing. Daniel loves to cook and I love to talk, so hosting friends for dinner has been part of our family culture ever since we tied the knot. And after having kids, hospitality became the only way we were going to see our friends because kids have early bedtimes and babysitting is expensive. I firmly believe that other than the Mass, there’s nothing that … [Read more...]
The Wear Your Wedding Dress 10th Anniversary Party of My Dreams
Y'all. We threw a party. A big party for our 10th wedding anniversary. And it was one of the sweetest days of my life. And yup, I wore my wedding dress. But that's not all, oh no that's not all... So did these lovely ladies. It was a BYOWD event. My friends Rachael, Jen, Rebecca, and Cate all humored me by wearing their dresses from years past, too. And if you've read Something Other … [Read more...]
Unrealistic Expectations, Anxiety Attacks, and Rediscovering the Joy of Motherhood
My older brother likes to do this bit from a comedian whenever I tell him how tired I am from parenting. It’s about idea that being a mom is the hardest job in the world. The comedian lists off occupations requiring backbreaking and dangerous labor and then says, “Do Moms REALLY have the most difficult job on the planet? Bending at the waist to put those DVDs in DVD trays?” So when I plop in a … [Read more...]
Learning to Embrace My Strong-Willed Child’s Temperament
When my oldest kid was a newborn, he was extremely colicky. He cried for most of his first year and even when he wasn’t crying, he was still very high needs. His intensity startled me. Daniel and I are both pretty easy going, but our child was the opposite. I remember spending so much of that exhausting year trying to change my baby. If only I could turn him into the kind of baby that sleeps! … [Read more...]
What Lady Mary and the Proverbs 31 Woman Have That I Don’t
I grew up in the Bible belt. I heard a LOT about the Proverbs 31 Woman--the wife of noble character. I attended whole bible studies about this woman described in Proverbs that we should all model our lives after! She’s busily working for her family and brings honor to her spouse. And we have her to thank for that whole “charm is deceitful and beauty is vain but a woman who fears the Lord, she … [Read more...]
We’re All Screwing Up Our Kids
The other day I was telling a friend about some parenting challenges I was facing and how overwhelmed and inadequate I felt about mothering one of my kids. He said, “You know, I realized the other day that there is absolutely no way I won’t screw up my kids to some degree. It’s just going to happen. My parents are fantastic and I still have issues because of their parenting choices. My kids will … [Read more...]
Simple Homemade Recipe for Lip Balm, Hand Salve, and Beard Wax
My husband Daniel whipped some of this up recently and it's fantastic! So I nagged used my dulcet tones to convince him to guest post here at Carrots to share his recipe. Lucky for you, he's an obliging sort! -Haley I’ve used beard wax for several years. Mostly just beeswax and oil, beard wax helps a beard keep a good shape, gives a beard a nice sheen, prevents split ends, and … [Read more...]
Is It Ok for Catholics to Use Essential Oils?
"Is it forbidden for a Catholic to use essential oils?" I’ve been asked this question several times lately since I started my essential oils business and the first time I was baffled by it. For that question to even be asked I think there must be serious misunderstanding of what essential oils are, so let’s start with the basics: What Are Essential Oils? An essential oil is a highly concentrated … [Read more...]
What NBC’s “Parenthood” Reminded Me About Marriage
Over the past couple of years, I’ve made my way through the NBC show Parenthood in spurts, finally finishing the series during a pretty epic season of Netflix binge watching. It’s not a perfect show (read: it’s not Mad Men) but I enjoyed it. And some of the themes surprised me. (Psst! Spoilers within! Ye have been warned!) The plot is built around the four children of Zeke and Camille … [Read more...]
