Quick, before I get Sidetrack'd

Two years ago this week Matt and I welcomed Boo into our lives. In the months leading up to his birth I knew that I wanted to be a babywearing Momma but was unsure what type of carrier I wanted to use (ring sling, mei tai, wrap, etc). Enter my wonderful sister-in-law, Lu…

A few months prior to Boo’s birth, Lu gave birth to my precious nephew, Peanut. Lu had a Sleepy Wrap and told me how much she loved it. That testimonial was all I needed to invest in a Sleepy Wrap of my very own. Over the last two years, I’ve tried several different types of carriers, and hands down, the wrap is my absolute favorite for wearing a newborn. In fact, I could not wait to get Baby Girl in my Sleepy Wrap after we got home from the hospital!

Let’s start with the basics. The Sleepy Wrap is one long (5.5 yards) piece of heavy, high quality, stretchy knit fabric that you wrap (thus the name) around your body and tie at the waist. Your baby sits on the “x” formed by the crossing pieces of fabric as you tie the wrap around you, and then you pull the front panel up over baby’s bum (see tying methods). This swaddles baby close and secure at your chest.

With Boo, I used the wrap on the go and at home. Because he had reflux we had to keep him upright or he was screaming (pretty much all.the.time). There were many days in his first year of life that the Sleepy Wrap saved my sanity (due to the decrease in screaming) and was the only way I could get anything done around the house. It was also just about the only way he would nap for the first few months.

Now that Baby Girl is here, I have three children ages three years and under which means that I don’t have enough arms to keep up with everyone when it’s just the four of us. I must have Baby Girl in a carrier for any trip, activity, or errand where I will have all three kids out of the car. I wore Baby Girl in the Sleepy Wrap for the first time at 3 days old when we made her first pediatrician’s office visit. It was so nice to know that the baby was safe, secure, and snuggly in the wrap while I wrestled the other two in and out of the car and building!

There are several things that I absolutely love about this wrap. The material is soft and comfortable for mom and baby, the stretch of the fabric makes it easy to get baby in and out, it keeps baby snuggled close to me while my hands remain free to handle my preschooler and toddler, it makes baby feel safe and secure, and my babies sleep well when in the wrap. I also like that I can tie it on before I leave home and just get baby out of the carseat and pop her into the wrap at each of our stops instead of having to put on and take off a carrier each time (or even worse, lug the heavy and cumbersome infant seat everywhere). Most of all I love to be able to bend my head and kiss the top of that sweet little baby head, because, really, can you ever get too much of that?

I’ve found very few drawbacks using the Sleepy Wrap over the course of these two years. The biggest one is that, due to the weight of the material and the fact that my wrap is black, it gets hot on me and baby when we are outside for an extended time on a hot, sunny summer day. The only other one I would say is that due to the stretchiness (is that a word? it is now) of the fabric it gets looser as the day goes on and as baby gets bigger. Neither one of these are issues that can’t be easily solved (by taking the wrap off every now and then (like when you stop to nurse) on hot days and tying it tighter to compensate for stretching), and certainly wouldn’t affect my recommendation of the Sleepy Wrap.

Literally, just about every time I’ve worn my Sleepy Wrap I’ve received inquiries about and comments on it, and every time I’ve told the person how great this product is. In fact, several of my friends have used them after seeing me in mine and hearing about it.

So, in conclusion (because I haven’t used enough words already), I would (and do) whole-heartedly recommend the Sleepy Wrap! It makes a great carrier for first time babywearers because it is easy to use (really, it isn’t nearly as complicated as it looks) and is wonderful for tiny babies right on through infanthood (and into toddlerhood). If you are expecting or know someone who is, a Sleepy Wrap would make an excellent shower gift.

If you’re interested in purchasing a Sleepy Wrap, head over to their site and check out the great selection of colors. (It’s also available in organic now.)

If you’d like a chance to win one, the wonderful folks at Sleepy Wrap have given me the opportunity to sponsor one of their great products as a prize at Ultimate Blog Party 2010 (prize number USC 61).

Thank you Sleepy Wrap for making a great product!

Disclaimer: I received no compensation (either monetary or products) for writing this review. I truly do love my wrap and am thrilled to be able to share one with another mom via the UBP’10 giveaway.

Note: this post is a sticky post. It will remain at the top until Friday, April 16. For newer posts, please scroll down.

Welcome to Sidetrack’d! For those of you visiting from the Ultimate Blog Party 2010, thanks for stopping by; I hope you will hang out for a bit.

Chez Sidetrack’d consists of myself, my husband, tech guru, and all around great guy, Matt, and my little people – Little (3.5 years old), Boo (2 years old), and Baby Girl (3 months old). What’s that you say? We have our hands full? Why, yes, we do; thanks for noticing. We lead a crazy, hectic, and fun-filled life of kids books, activities, and toys with a little Mom and Dad time thrown in when we can.

Sidetrack’d came into existence a little over 3 years ago as a way to journal, connect, and help Momma maintain the small thread of sanity she had at that point. (Said sanity was subsequently lost upon the arrival of Boo, but that’s another story.) Over the years I’ve come to claim blogging as a hobby and have met some great people through this crazy little medium.

I don’t have anything big and impressive to attract your attention, just the ongoing story of this average family of five. I write about my kids, my faith, just the day to day of life. I hope you’ll stick around, follow along, and maybe get a laugh or two from time to time.

If you’re interested in learning more about me, check out the Ten on Tuesday and Meme sections of the archives. You’ll gain interesting, obscure, and sometimes bizarre insight into my person and life.

If you like what you see around here, I’d love for you to subscribe via RSS feed, or follow sidetrack’d on Twitter.

This year I also have the pleasure of sponsoring one of the UBP ’10 prizes: a Sleepy Wrap baby carrier in the winner’s choice of in stock color! Check out my review and be sure to add prize number USC-61 to your list of preferred prizes.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon. Happy partying!

A big thanks to 5 Minutes for Mom for throwing this great party each year. And, of course, there is a chance to take home one of many fabulous prizes. If I am fortunate enough to be chosen for a prize, my top three picks are:

USC 17 – $200 Apple Gift certificate from CmomGo

71 – $50 Bear Bucks Card to Build A Bear Workshop from Liza Schwab

49 – $25 gift card to Starbucks from Janice Yurek

If those are already taken, I would be pleased with any of the following: any of the Amazon, Target, or Visa gift cards, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 15, 16, 19, 22, 23, 30, 33, 39, 50, 53, 61, 62, 69, 70, 75, 77, 84, 85, 91, 101, 107, USC4, USC5, USC13, USC19, USC22, USC25, USC30, USC33, USC43, USC57, USC63

Addendum: I have visited and commented on at least 20 blogs this week. (and added several to my reader!)

Every Spring the Mom-blogging world anticipates the announcement of 5 Minutes for Mom’s Ultimate Blog Party. This party is filled with chances to find new blogs, meet new bloggers, develop new networking opportunities, and win great prizes!

The 2010 edition of UBP begins this Friday, April 9th. If you want to join in the fun, check out the Everything You Need To Know About The Ultimate Blog Party 2010 post.

Hope to see you there!

Last week my friend Lindsey passed along a blog award that included directions to list 10 things that make you happy. While I don’t do the whole “blog award” thing, I will list 10 things that make me happy (in no particular order).

1. hearing/seeing the older kiddos playing happily together.
2. when the kids laugh (baby girl has started giving us a few giggles)
3. when Little asks questions about Jesus (although she’s beginning to get pretty deep in her theology)
4. spending time with Matt
5. hanging out with friends
6. enjoying beautiful Spring days
7. daffodils and tulips and the other lovely, colorful Spring flowers
8. doing things as a family (even the simple things like grocery shopping…well, usually:-)
9. reading with my kids
10. having extended, uninterrupted time to read a good book

So, what makes you happy?

It’s time for another edition of Ten on Tuesday. I didn’t participate last week because I ran out of time before we went to the zoo and never got back to the post. But it’s always fun to answer the wide range of questions that show up in each week’s list.

So, here we go…

1. If you could travel back in time, would you? What decade would you visit?
If I were to time travel, I would probably go to the 1920′s. I’m not really sure why; it just sounds like an interesting time to visit. However, the whole idea of time travel kind of weirds me out, so quite possibly I would just stay home.

2. What was your best Halloween costume? (fun to make? most creative?)
I’m not a big Halloween person, but we always had a costume contest at my work in Knoxville; one year I went as a bunch of grapes and won the contest. I also won a school costume contest in middle school when I dressed up as a crazy doctor.

3. Do you like your name? If you weren’t called by your name, what would you want to be called?
I do like my name. It isn’t very common, and after 31 years it’s just me. When I was young (early elementary school) I hated my name and wanted to change it to something like Sarah (something common).

4. In the past year, what is the BEST recipe you made. Please share it!
Wow, that’s a tough one; I cook a lot and am regularly trying new recipes. One of our family favorites is Apple Cake, and then, of course, there’s Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls, and my favorite Strawberry Cake. I’ve made several good savory recipes this year, too. It’s.just.too.hard.to.pick.one!

5. Look around – what is the nearest object or picture hanging on the wall?
A deep red and white floral print canvas.

6. What was the last movie you saw in a theater? Would you recommend it?
Matt and I never go to the theater anymore. The last movie I saw was Julie & Julia with my best friends. I would recommend it, although, I didn’t like it nearly as much when I saw it again after reading the books it is based on.

7. Did you go to summer camp? Will you/do you send your kids to camp?
I did and I didn’t. I went to church camp the first time in 4th or 5th grade and pretty much hated it. I didn’t go to camp again until I started going as a counselor in high school. I also did basketball camp several years and an honors symposium/camp thing before my Senior year in high school. My kids are still way to young for camp, but I will send them in the future if they want to go.

8. What kind of ringtone do you have?
Right now it’s one of the preloaded ringtones called vid kid. I really need to load some music so I can have a better ringtone.

9. Where is the farthest away from home you have ever been?
Paris when I was a Freshman in high school.

10. Has anyone ever written a song or a poem for or about you?
Yep. Matt wrote me a song for our first Valentine’s Day together.

Let me know if you decide to play along. I would enjoy reading your answers.

Thanks, Chelsea, for hosting!

The last couple of weeks have been kind of unusual around here, and in the midst of it all, blogging got pushed to the back burner.

Two weeks ago we had a TERRIBLE week with baby girl. She slept worse than she ever has in her short little life. I don’t know if it was a developmental spurt, tummy issues, or what, but for about eight days Matt and I got very little sleep. She would go to sleep with no problem, and then when she got up for her first nighttime feeding (around 1) it was like her little world exploded. She would only sleep if one of us was holding her, and we had to be sitting or standing. Any time we tried to lay back (like trying to sleep with her on our chest while we laid on the couch) she would wake up and cry. Needless to say, it was a rough week, and I spent most of my quiet time during the day trying to get some rest (when all three of the nappers cooperated).

Last week I wasn’t online much at all because we spent as much time as possible outside enjoying the GORGEOUS Spring weather. Tuesday morning we spent about 3 hours at the zoo, came home to eat lunch and nap, then played out in the yard for about 2 hours in the afternoon/evening. Wednesday we went to Bible study, and on our way home Lindsey called to say they were at the park. We spent about 45 minutes at the park, came home for lunch and nap, and then spent an hour and a half or so playing outside.

Thursday we decided to make a trip to the botanical gardens and check out a new feature they’ve added called My Big Backyard. It is a big garden space divided into various sections devoted to different outdoor and nature activities designed for kids. There are two big tractor tire sandboxes with shovels, watering cans, and pails in one section. Another area has a rope climbing area shaped like a giant spider web. There is a spot with hammock swings and a conifer “forest” to play in, an area with worm “tunnels” to crawl through, percussion instruments to play, houses to play in, a tree house and slide, and many other fun things to do. The kids loved playing in the big backyard, and enjoying a picnic lunch at the kid sized picnic tables. It was a great morning and something we’ll definitely have to do again soon.

Matt was off on Friday, so we spent the day cleaning house, running errands, and grocery shopping.

Saturday was the big egg hunt and festival at our church. The kids did egg hunts, Boo bounced in the bounce house, Little got her face painted, and she won a cupcake at the cake walk. We ended the festivities with hamburgers and yummy ice cream. Then we headed to Whole Foods for some more grocery shopping, and then came home and took naps.

Sunday, of course, was Easter. We celebrated Christ’s resurrection at church in the morning, and then spent the evening enjoying yummy food and good fellowship with friends.

All the fun this past week definitely made up for the lack of fun the previous week. This week promises more pretty weather, so I’m sure we’ll be headed to the park, playing outside, and doing any other fun things we can think of to enjoy Spring!

I haven’t joined in Menu Plan Monday the last couple of weeks because, due to various and sundry things, our menu just kept rolling over and looked pretty much just like the last one I posted. Now we’re in a new month, and Matt and I have changed up our menu planning/shopping strategy a bit; this month we created a month long menu plan.

Our original goal was to do the majority of our shopping for the month this weekend, but since we didn’t start working on everything until Friday afternoon we weren’t able to quite get that accomplished. What we ended up doing was our usual weekly grocery trip plus a trip to Whole Foods to get our meat for the month. Hopefully, I can get everything organized and do our staple shopping for the month this coming weekend and then pick up milk and produce (and any items on special that we would like to have) once or twice a week for the remainder of the month.

This is our first experiment in monthly menu planning, so we’ll see how it goes.

All of that to say, this is what we’ll be eating this week…

Friday – toasted ravioli

Saturday – breakfast for dinner: bacon, eggs, and homemade biscuits

Sunday – lunch: pizza / dinner: Easter meal with friends

Monday – shrimp & grits

Tuesday – enchilada casserole, chips & guacamole

Wednesday – leftovers

Thursday – hamburgers on the grill, corn on the cob

For more menu plan and meal ideas visit Menu Plan Monday. As always, thanks, Laura for hosting!