And, I'm spent

I did it! YAY!  I made it through NaBloPoMo! WOO HOO!

Look, indulge me ok? These days the only deadlines I have to meet are the ones involving getting someone to the potty before he soaks another set of clothes, or get that onesie off before the slime-poo seeps through the diaper.  It feels good to meet a different kind of goal.

NaBloPoMo this year made me think about why I blog in the first place.  I started my first blog three and a half years ago when I was pregnant with Alex.  I did it because I wanted a way for our family and friends who lived far away to experience my son's life.  I grew up away from my family, only seeing my relatives once a year, sometimes not even that often.  Whenever we went to California for a visit, I felt like I had to introduce myself to everyone.  Nobody knew me.  I was a stranger to my own family. 

I still live far away from my family, and probably always will, but I didn't want Alex to feel like a stranger, an outsider.  I figured if there was an easy way to share his life with them, a way for them to watch him grow up, even from afar, he would somehow feel more connected.  THEY would feel more connected to him.

Blogging has also given me some unexpected benefits.  We've connected with old friends and distant relatives who've used the Internet to look us up.  Many of John's family have started their own blogs and I've had a chance to get to know some of them better than I would have without their blogs.  John's sister has moved out of state, yet I can still go to her blog and see pictures of my beautiful little neice whenever I need a Lily fix.

Also, blogging gives me something to do.  Not that I'm not busy, but I love to write and my blog gives me an outlet for that. 

Just as important, I've created a record of my children's early years.  Written down silly little things I'm sure I'd have long forgotten otherwise.  I plan to have my posts printed out in a book, maybe I'll do one every year.  I think it will be fun to have a record of our family's exploits to pull out and read when the kids are grown, and share embarrassing stories of their early years with their future partners.  I know I could do this privately, keep baby books like a regular person, but for me, sharing these stories make it funner and I write things down more often knowing other people will read it and maybe get a chuckle or two from my sons' silly antics.