Quick, before I get Sidetrack'd

Welcome to Sidetrack’d and my little corner of this big bloggy party! Grab a cup of coffee or tea and a snack (sorry I don’t have anything prepared, we’ve been under the weather this week) and come hang out for a while.

A bit about me…

I am Jana, wife to a wonderful man, Matt, and mom to an adorable 19 month old girl (Little) and to Baby Boo who will grace us with his presence in a few weeks. I spend most of my time chasing Little, reading Dr. Seuss books, and taking care of my family and home. In my spare time, I enjoy reading, blogging, cooking, hanging out with friends, and being outdoors. If you spend any time here, I hope you will realize that I am a Christian and strive to raise my children to know and love Jesus. If you are interested in learning a bit more about me, click here to view my latest meme.

A bit about Sidetrack’d…

I started blogging just over a year ago as a way to stay connected to friends and family and to connect with other blogging moms. Like my life (and the way my mind works), the writing here is somewhat scattered. I write about my family, my life, my faith, my goals with a bit of baseball, books, comedy, and video games thrown in for good measure. I’ve found this is a good way to journal some thoughts, record stories about Little, and “hang out” with some online and distant friends.

Thanks for stopping by to visit; I hope to see you again soon. I look forward to meeting many new bloggers during the party and have a feeling that the Ultimate Blog Party ’08 is going to be even bigger than last year!

One of the fun things about this party are all the great prizes; if you haven’t checked out the prize list, you really should hop over there. Of all the cool things they are giving away, my top 3 picks would be:

~#26 – Nursing cover by The Pitter Patter Boutique
~#22 – Nursing cover by Peekaboobaby
~#37 – Moby Wrap offered by From Dates to Diapers

If these three are taken, I’d love to have any of the following (in no particular order): 4, 34, 77, 84, 103, 137, 141, any of the Amazon, Target or Starbucks GCs, or anything related to toddlers (girl) or babies (boy).

Thanks to 5 Minutes for Mom for throwing a great party! Enjoy!

I’ve been tagged for the Crazy Eights meme by Lu, and so, I present you with several things (in groups of eight) that you may or may not want to know about me.

8 things I want to do before I die

1. Know that my children have accepted Christ and will be with Him for eternity
2. Go back to school (right now I’m thinking nursing or lactation consulting)
3. Travel to Europe and visit several countries via EuroRail
4. Train for and run a marathon
5. Learn to sew
6. Make a quilt
7. Know my grandchildren (and hopefully great-grandchildren)
8. Celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary

8 things I say often

1. There ya go (I’m discovering that I say this anytime I do anything for Little)
2. Alrighty
3. No or Stop
4. I’m not sure what that means (to Little)
5. I love you
6. We’ll see David and Lindsey later (or tomorrow, in a few minutes, etc)
7. I don’t know; what is that?
8. I’m doing pretty good; we’re kicking along (when asked about the pregnancy/baby)

8 songs I sing over and over again

1. The Itsy-Bitsy Spider
2. Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
3. It Is Well With My Soul
4. Jesus Loves Me
5. How Can I Keep from Singing Your Praise
6. whatever we sang in church on Sunday
7. If All the Raindrops Were Lemondrops and Gumdrops
8. whatever is currently stuck in my head

8 things I’m passionate about

1. My God and my faith
2. My marriage
3. My children
4. My friends
5. My extended family
6. Nursing baby Boo
7. Babywearing Boo more than I did Little
8. Getting Boo into the world safely

8 books I’ve read recently

1. The Kite Runner
2. The Nanny Diaries
3. An Irish Country Doctor
4. Pride and Prejudice
5. The Birth Book
6. The Foot Book
7. Mr. Brown Can Moo
8. Pajama Time

8 things that attract me to my best friends

1. Love of Christ
2. Sense of humor
3. Common interests and values
4. Honesty and sincerity
5. Ability to converse (in a meaningful way, not just talk)
6. Ahead of me in life and wiser than I
7. Have fun just being together
8. Our families (husbands and children) can be friends as well

8 people I think should do Crazy Eights

1. Lauren
2. Sheryl
3. Leah
4. Lora Lynn
5. Diane
6, 7, 8. Anyone who is interested

Let me know if you decide to play along.

Somehow, in the midst of this thing called life, I failed to notice that Sidetrack’d turned one year old last month! It has been a year of recording my thoughts, telling stories, posting various comical things, and meeting some great fellow bloggers. Thanks to each of you for stopping by to read, taking time to comment, encouraging me, and making this whole thing even more fun (and addicting) than it should be. I’m looking forward to the coming year.

And in other blogging news…

It’s that time of year again – time for the Ultimate Blog Party 2008 hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom, and boy do Susan and Janice know how to throw a party! There were about 1000 bloggers who attended last year’s party, and this year will probably be even bigger. There are people to meet, blogs to be discovered, and prizes to be won; the party starts this Friday, March 7th, and continues until Friday, March 14th. Click on the button above, or the one in the side bar, to join in the fun!

Here are a couple of funny things I’ve run across recently and thought I would share for your viewing pleasure.

The first is a strip from my favorite comic, Get Fuzzy…

The second is a YouTube video of a 3 year old summarizing Star Wars Episode IV; this one really made me laugh. One of my favorite parts is at the very end when she says, “Don’t talk back to Darth Vader. He’ll get you.” via The Forty-Second Parallel

Happy Monday!

I’m beginning to wonder if nesting is a blessing or a curse. It is nice to get things accomplished around here, but when I’m working on limited time and energy it seems weird that I’m concerned with things like getting the tops of the door frames cleaned.

The other day I was thinking about this time of pregnancy with Little. At first I thought, “I don’t remember nesting like this. I wonder why this time is different?” And then I really thought about it and realized that we closed on our house about eleven weeks before she was born and moved into it about six weeks before she was born. The time in between was spent packing, painting, cleaning the apartment, and getting the house ready for move in. Those final weeks were spent painting, unpacking, settling in, and getting Little’s things ready for her arrival. No wonder I don’t remember nesting!

Anyway, I am trying to get things marked off my to-do list as I have the energy. And I’m trying not to worry about the things that won’t get done. These last weeks are better spent preparing for birth, preparing for Jack’s arrival, and spending those last “only child” times with my little bit of girl (btw – this phrase is the source of her nickname; I called her that a lot when she was a tiny girl). We’ll see how the “not worrying about things that won’t get done” part goes.

And finally…It’s been awhile since I posted a Boo-belly picture. Here is one I took on Monday before my doctor appointment; we’re 32 weeks along.

It is a lovely 63 degree sunny day in our part of the world, and Little and I have been on the go. First came trips to the grocery stores (yes, we shop at two stores…at least…every week). We came home, unloaded our loot, made lunches, and headed back out; this time we were headed to the zoo with friends. The zoo was a lot of fun for all of us, but it wore Little out; she fell asleep on the way home. I’ve done a bit of cleaning while Little naps and now I’m worn out, so I’ll do some resting for a few minutes before I have to get back out for an appointment with the doc.

I was going to leave you with a Boo-belly shot, but I’m having trouble uploading the picture. Hope you are all having a happy Monday!

I’ve been feeling a bit deficient lately in the areas of coherent thought and comprehension. It could be related to the fact that I’m 31 weeks pregnant and chasing an 18 month old, but it could just be that my brain is taking a break. Therefore, I’ve decided to go the meme route today with this one I saw at Lauren’s the other day.

Two names you go by…Momma and Pooh

Two things you are wearing right now… maternity jeans and my Belly Hugger

Two things you have (or would want) in a relationship… a strong, God-seeking man and intelligent conversation

Two of your favorite things to do… read and eat

Two things you want very badly at the moment… Little to take a long nap and a nap for myself

Two pets you have or have had… a daschund named Taggles and a cat named Calico (childhood pets)

Two things that you did last night… went to Life Group and watched part of Pride and Prejudice

Two things you ate today… homemade vegetable soup and salad

Two people you last talked to… Matt and Lindsey (adult conversation, I last spoke to Little)

Two things you’re doing tomorrow… showering and watching The Biggest Loser (Tuesdays are exciting around here)

Two longest car rides… Nashville to Anaheim, CA and Nashville to Houston, TX

Two favorite holidays… Christmas and Thanksgiving

Two favorite beverages… sweet tea and strawberry lemonade

Two people no longer alive who you’d like to talk to… my GrandBill and Ruth

To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury; and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable; and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasion, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.

William Ellery Channing

I came across this quote the other day at my IRL friend Leah’s blog. It pretty well sums up many of my thoughts on simplicity, stopping to recognize God, and living intentionally.

Have a great weekend everyone!

We’ll start with the couple of other things…

I’ve been out of the bloggy loop for a few days due to a change in our web-hosting service. If you notice anything wonky with the site please let me know. (Don’t you just love it when you have reason to use made-up words like “wonky”?)

I’m having a bit of trouble with WordPress and comment e-mails. If you are a first time commenter it may take a while before your comment is posted due to the fact that I’m not receiving e-mail telling me there is a comment in moderation. Also, if you leave a question in the comments I may or may not realize it is there and reply. I am trying to look at WordPress regularly to check comments, so I will get to it eventually (probably). Please bear with me as my web-guru and I attempt to solve the problem.

In other, and less technical, news…

Spring cleaning/nesting has officially begun. Today I’ve cleaned the laundry room from top to bottom (de-cobwebbed, decluttered, wiped down walls & appliances) and cleaned the exterior of all the lower kitchen cabinets and the fronts of the appliances. This is one of those things I’ve been putting off for quite some time, so it feels good to have made a start. We’ll see whether my energy holds up the next few weeks to get the entire house done.

And finally, in regards to my Fifteen on Friday list…

Crib bedding was purchased and a paint colors were decided upon. The big painting project should begin this weekend.

Little has her new mattress and box springs and is sleeping in her “big girl” bed (more on that in another post). The crib has been moved to Boo’s room, but the other furniture is still in Little’s so that she isn’t in an empty room with a mattress on the floor. And so that there is less furniture to maneuver around in the nursery while painting.

So, we’re making progress. It seems slow, but it is coming along. We’re down to approximately 10 weeks, but as I always say…we seem to work best under pressure.

This week has flown by me, thus the lack of posts all.week.long.

We had a wonderful weekend last weekend with our friends from Knoxville. We didn’t do anything very exciting (ate, shopped, talked), but it was great to spend time with them. Matt introduced their 5 year old to the Wii and the joys of Wii bowling. We had a lot of fun Saturday afternoon and evening playing games and competing against each other.

The only un-fun part of the weekend was a hand-foot-and-mouth disease scare. Little woke up Saturday morning with small red bumps all over the backs of her hands and tops of her feet and swelling in her hands. A call to the after-hours nurse produced an over-the-phone diagnosis of HFMD, but I began to doubt that was the problem when we got home and did a bit more research in some of the medical databases we have access to. Turns out it was just an allergic reaction and had cleared up totally by Sunday morning. Our best guess is that she was reacting to the laundry detergent that our friends use on their son’s blankies.

Monday was a holiday for Matt, so we enjoyed some family time and celebrated MLK day with a trip to Home Depot, lunch at Olive Garden, and some grocery shopping. Tuesday and Thursday didn’t see that much activity, but my blogging time was directed to other tasks. Tuesday was spent catching up on my Bible Study before class on Wednesday, and Thursday’s time was spent cleaning and napping.

The other news of the week came to my attention on Wednesday, and I spent the afternoon talking to my mom and my aunt, giving Little a few extra hugs, and thanking God for her health. My cousin’s son, who is 4 years old, was diagnosed with a cancerous mass on his adrenal gland. He has been in the hospital since Sunday, and today he underwent a procedure to put in a permanent IV port. He will begin his first round of chemotherapy this evening; it is possible that he could be in the hospital for 4 months, but right now it looks more like he will be able to go home sometimes between rounds of chemo (total treatment time looks like it will be 6 to 12 months). We are grateful that he is close to a wonderful children’s hospital, that it was caught quickly, and that he is expected to make a full recovery. Your prayers for him and his family would be greatly appreciated.

Which brings us to today. Today I have been preparing for a ladies’ getaway that I’m going on this weekend with several friends. This will be the first time I’ve been away from Little overnight, so I’m feeling just a tiny bit anxious, but I know she and Matt will be just fine here by themselves. And I’m really excited about spending a couple of days with girlfriends.!

And that, friends, is the excitement for this week. Maybe next week I’ll be around a bit more. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!