i heart my blogger friends.

I started this blog in the second half of my pregnancy. I wanted to start it earlier, but we were kind of slow in getting the news out to some people and I didn't want them to find out we were expecting on the internet! At first it was a good way for me to share my excitement with friends and family and then when Kale was born, it became more about documenting our new life for him. A glorified baby book, if you will.

I hope Al Gore doesn't mind sharing his internet with people when Kale is old enough to read all this.

This blog has also been a great way to share photo's and stories with my family, who don't see Kale as much as they would like to. I guess what I'm saying is that this blog was never really meant to be for me. So it's kind of amazing to see what it's become.

It's taken me awhile to find a place that I'm comfortable with in the blogging community. There is a lot of competition - number of readers, sponsors, giveaways - all of those things seem to count. Some blogs are so drop dead gorgeous that I'm convinced they have staff helping them make posts. And the photo's?! Where do they find the time to set up the shot and later edit it to perfection? It boggles my mind.

Completely and utterly BOGGLES it.

I've gained a small handful of loyal readers - mostly other mom bloggers with babies around the same age. It's been fun to watch their kids grow up, share stories, and get advice. Some of these people I truly consider to be my friends and I feel so lucky to have found them and built a connection.

Since I've gone back to work, this is true X 1000. People say that being a stay-at-home mom is isolating, but now that I've had a bit of a taste of both worlds - I find being a working mom far more isolating. Sure, I get to have adult conversations all day and mix and mingle and gossip about last night's episode of Glee. Sure, people ask about my baby and I smile bravely and say "no, he's not sleeping through the night yet" (because this is all anyone wants to know). But the baby and mama classes? They all happen when I'm at work. The majority of mom's with babies Kale's age are taking the full year maternity leave they are entitled to, rather than splitting it with their partner. So while they're having play dates, I'm facilitating strategic planning sessions, and when I want to hang with the mama's and babies, they're nestled in for the night and hanging out with their family all weekend. So yeah, it's isolating.

That's why I'm so thankful for this blog and the friendships its inadvertently created. And while blogging is a priority, it comes behind spending my limited free time with my family and so I can't post as much as I used to. I'm crossing my fingers that my readers - my friends - will keep coming back. I try my hardest to comment on all the blogs I read because I know how important it is to know people are reading. So if I don't comment for awhile - you haven't lost me! Just please don't lose me either.