Quick, before I get Sidetrack'd

Oh my, the ladies at 5 Minutes for Mom are having a dozen, yep, that’s what I said, a DOZEN giveaways in celebration of our country’s independence!

The prizes look great: a Krups ice cream maker, a custom Land’s End swimsuit, Momager calling cards, a weekend for you me and a friend at Motherhood Redefined, a MetroWrap, and a “Living the Dream” t-shirt of your my choice. Plus, several more to come over the next few days!

Click here or on the banner above (or in the sidebar) to join in the festivities. Thanks to Janice and Susan for hosting such a great series of giveaways!

In other giveaway news, Adventures in Babywearing is giving away another great sling! Steph has deemed the Solarveil ring sling from KimzKreations the must-have sling of the summer. Click here to check it out.

Ack! So many things to post, so little time to write! Lu tagged me for a meme several days ago; I’m trying to get to it, I really am.

Anyway, about the MamaKanga contest…

Stephanie of Adventures in Babywearing is just full of great give aways lately. This time it is a $75 gift certificate to MamaKanga.

I’ve been thinking about purchasing a wrap or Mei Tai to carry Little, and MamaKanga has some adorable ones. If I were to win the gift certificate, I think I would get the HotSlings Baby Bella Pouch or the BabyHawk Turquoise Gothic Rose Mei Tai .

If you are interested, click over to Adventures in Babywearing and/or MamaKanga.

I *heart* shoes! This time around it is shoes for Little.

Steph at Adventures in Babywearing is hosting a give-away for a $50 gift certificate to Vincent Shoes! I’m really liking the Bettys, Loves, and Martins. Only the Loves come in her current size, but I could always get one of the others in the next size up.

If you have littles you should check Vincent out. Too cute!

I hope I win!

The girls over at the Pinks & Blues blog are also hosting a contest. They are giving away an adorable Dooney & Burke purse and a bottle of Dream Angels Heavenly Eau de Parfum by Victoria’s Secret. That is one cute summer bag!

Shoes and bags; really, what more could a girl want??

What? Another contest you ask? And not just another contest, but another great contest at Adventures in Babywearing!

This time around Steph is giving away two prizes: some adorable earrings from Cheeky Jewelry and a $25 gift certificate to the Cheeky Jewelry site.

I think I need a space on sidetrack’d designated for contests!

There are a couple of neat contests going on right now that I thought I would bring to your attention. (And maybe I’ll win one of them, too!)

First, Steph at Adventures in Babywearing is giving away $120 worth of baby gear from Mason & Matisse. What a great baby gift it would be for my SIL Lu (and then I would get to use it when our next one comes along)!

And then, 5 Minutes for Mom is at it again. This time they are giving away an adorable ribbon tutu from Tutu Fantasy. This would be a great gift for an awesome little girl I know or to hold on to until Little is big enough for dress up!

Hopefully, I’ll be back with a real post later today. Stay tuned…

Steph at Adventures in Babywearing has dared us to bare our souls, I mean faces, for a Blogger’s Without Makeup contest. The incentive? A little fun and a chance to win some chocolates!

So, here I am, au naturale:

Janice and Susan at 5 Minutes for Mom are at it again! They will be hosting a series of give aways for Mother’s Day between now, and, well, Mother’s Day (imagine that!). First up is an iPod Nano!

I hear that Dyson vacuums are wonderful, and I have thought that it would be great to have such a hardworking vacuum. It does do all the work itself, right?

Anyway, Janice and Susan at 5 Minutes for Mom are giving all of us a chance to win the new Dyson Slim model. If you are interested, head on over to their place and check out the contest rules.

Yes, it is about books once again; as you know, I *heart* books. One of the things I enjoy about the mommy-blogging realm is that I can always find new book recommendations; my “to-read” list is longer now than it has ever been. And now, Katrina at Callapidder Days is hosting a Spring Reading Thing. The challenge goes from March 21 through June 21 (thus, spring reading thing). To check out what others are reading and to get some book ideas for yourself click on the logo above.

I thought I would join in and set some reading goals for myself; I’ve chosen 4 non-fiction, 5 fiction, and 6 books of the Bible. I reserve the right to add to, change, or alter this list at any time and in anyway over the next 3 months.

Non-fiction:
The Mommy Manual by Barbara Curtis
The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer by Mark D. Roberts
1776 by David McCullough

Fiction:
The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
The Yada Yada Prayer Group by Neta Jackson
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (re-read)

Bible Reading:
Proverbs (I’ve been reading Proverbs throughout March)
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Ecclesiastes
Nehemiah
Micah
Romans

To check out what others are reading and to get some book ideas for yourself click on the logo above.

To those of you who wandered over from 5 Minutes for Mom, welcome to my little corner of the world! For those of you who didn’t, you should hop over there and check out the Party.

Come in, take a look around, grab a bite to eat, and introduce yourself in the comments. The restroom is the door straight at the end of the hallway if you need it.

A bit about me…I am the wife of one wonderful web designer/developer, the mother of one 7 month old daughter (known around here as Little), a stay-at-home mom as of late July 2006. I am a Tennessee girl born and raised, and I have lived in each of the 3 very different areas of the state. I enjoy cooking, reading, baseball, and Spring. I would love to say that I’m the crafty type, but that would be misleading if not an outright lie. I enjoy learning and probably would have stayed in school forever if given the opportunity (and money). I love Jesus and want to glorify him in all I do.

I tend to be quite a random person which will lead to posts on pretty random topics. You can expect to see posts on my faith, on learning to be a mother, on sports (particularly the Red Sox, Braves, and UT Vols), on Little, and on the renovations to our house. There is really not much telling what else might show up, so you’ll have to check back often.

I’ve only been among the ranks of Mommy Bloggers for a couple of weeks now; there isn’t too much to see yet, but I do hope you enjoy the posts below. If you are interested in a week-by-week commentary on my pregnancy with Little, it is here for the viewing.:-)

I hope you enjoy the party and would love to see you again soon!