Every so often, we chat fashion at Carrots. I hope it feels like going shopping with a friend, but not having to try on jeans….or leave your couch. Well, friends, we are wrapping up the second trimester over here. We have a baby name and we're close enough to this summer baby's arrival that I should probably start looking for some baby things to replace everything I gave away when we moved … [Read more...]
Your Brain Only Has Room to Care About 150 People (And other things I’m learning about friendship)
Before I had any "big kids" and life at home was just babies and toddlers, it was difficult for me. As an extrovert I really thrive on adult interaction and I wasn't getting it. Making connections of any kind, whether meeting up with friends or just connecting with people on the internet helped keep me afloat. But in the past couple of years, I’ve felt an inward shift. I’ve been increasingly … [Read more...]
“So Are You Done Having Kids?”
“So are you done having kids? Is this your last pregnancy?” I’ve been asked this after each one of my pregnancies. And until this one (my 4th), I have always responded with a resounding “no!” (with the caveat that none of us are entitled to a baby and we can’t always predict secondary infertility). But keep the babies coming! No plans to stop! Enough for a quidditch team! But this time my … [Read more...]
Baby Name Reveal for Baby Carrots!
I am a baby name nerd. You need to know this to understand this story. I make extensive lists (despite my aversion to listmaking) of baby names I love for future use. I have a giant document on my laptop of first names, middle names, various combinations that I update every time I fall in love with a new name. Since my pregnancies are rough, choosing a name is one of the rare joys I experience … [Read more...]
Self-Care for the Bookish Woman
There was a time when I thought self-care was for sissies, or self-indulgent wealthy women. The Gwyneth Paltrows of the world. Self-care was NOT something I needed. Or so I told myself. Then I became a mom. And two years later I became a mom of two, then three. Three kids four and under was the name of my game. And I was definitely losing. My husband started sending me out of the house for a … [Read more...]
This Is My Body, Broken for You
I was staring up at the crucifix during Mass. I was too sick to kneel, so I was just sitting in the pew while everyone knelt around me. I was desperately trying not to throw up, the pregnancy nausea coming in waves, impossible to ignore. It was my first Mass in a month. I had been too sick with hyperemesis gravidarum to leave the house for weeks. The previous week I had tried to get out of bed … [Read more...]
Is This Why Some Women Regret Motherhood?
I read an interesting but heartbreaking article about the growing number of women speaking out about regretting that they ever had children. The article claimed that feelings of regret surged after the Pill made motherhood a choice rather than just an inevitable season of married life and also highlighted the stories of several women who have experienced regret over having become mothers. It’s … [Read more...]
This Week’s Miscellany: Hello from the other side….
Welcome to This Week’s Miscellany, the occasional round up of Carrots family updates, photo dumps, books I’m reading, links I loved, and big news. Remember my last TWM? Yeah, me neither. Because I posted it in NOVEMBER. I had to look it up. "Ah yes, 20 lbs ago when I wasn't too sick and exhausted to write. I remember those days." I posted it at the beginning of this HG (hyperemesis … [Read more...]
Tyler Blanski’s An Immovable Feast Is the Spiritual Memoir of Our Generation
(For our podcast conversation with Tyler Blanski for the Fountains of Carrots podcast, click here). Tyler Blanski is one of my favorite living writers, so his spiritual memoir An Immovable Feast: How I Gave Up Spirituality for a Life of Religious Abundance being published by Ignatius Press has been my most anticipated read of 2018. A few years back I reviewed his fantastic book When Donkeys … [Read more...]
Good Music Monday: Uplifting Spring Tunes
Welcome back to Good Music Monday at Carrots! I've had lots of requests for a new playlist of tunes and I'm finally getting around to it. I can't believe I blogged nary a once in the month of February! Combination of pregnancy nausea, book edits, writing projects, my brother's wedding, and a speaking event in Miami just about did me in. But spring has sprung in central Texas. Flowers are blooming, … [Read more...]
