Why do I blog? And some other things I have learned...

Why?
If someone told me, when I was pregnant, that I would have my own blog about our life with Julianna, I would have laughed you out of the room! I barely knew what a blog was.

For those of you that don't know me, I am a "need to know all" person. I am a research and information junky. I could spend hours online researching a toy or a stroller for Julianna (and I certainly did while I was pregnant!!)

When Julianna was a couple weeks old, I started discovering the world of "MOM BLOGS" ... I never realized sooo many moms had blogs and wrote about sooo many things. I got so much great advice and info from the mommy blogs! It intrigued me to say the least & decided I had to try it. After a few clicks on blogger.com, I had my own blog setup.

Then the big question - What the hell do I write about?
I started writing anecdotes that I was experiencing for the first time as a new mom, favorite baby products, posting 'Julianna updates' & pictures for everyone to see. I truly enjoy blogging! People tell me all the time they love reading my blog - that makes me feel quite fabulous! It's a great release. I even got my mom into blogging - She has a book blog called In So Many Words... Pretty good stuff if you love books & movies!

Things I have learned (so far) about blogging

Future Scheduling
This is golden. I love the ability to write a blog or two one night when I have some time, and set them up to post in the future. This is something I love to do on those busy weeks when I am slammed at work and busy after work. This gives the nice illusion that I am the 'good little blogger' and blogging on a regular basis. I love this feature!!

Followers
I have gone onto some 'mom blog' networking sites and it amazes me the number of people that ask you to follow their blog and sign up for their giveaways, etc... just to get their "follower" number up. I wonder, when someone has 900 followers, how many of those '900' actually take the time to read that blog? I will say this, I only follow someone if I am going to actually read their blog.  I prefer (personally) to follow blogs that are not loaded down with giveaways and tons of advertisements... flashing things and popups.
I like to hear about people's lives and see pictures of their precious children... I will also follow blogs that seem interesting like craft or photography blogs too. Don't take offense but this is just how I feel. I'm not into the super-duper giveaway & blog-hopping sites.

Busy busy blogs make my eyes spin. It makes me click "X" real fast. I am talking about the blogs that have 40 flashing banners, male enhancement ads, pop ups, annoying music that you can't figure out how to turn off, and it takes 5 minutes just to find the an actual post. Dislike. Just sayin' .... 

Comments
I love when someone leaves a comment on my post. It makes me feel like all the time I am putting into this thing is paying off. I do try to reply back to all comments even if it takes me a few days! What an amazing thing for anyone to keep up with Julianna's life, when they haven't even met her.
Oh, and I recently read another blog that suggested turning off the "Word Verification" because it takes so long to make a comment & it's a turn off. Ya know, I thought about it, and OFF it went. It is so much easier to comment without that thing turned on. I have the comment moderation turned on for 3 days and it stops all the spam because I can easily delete it when it comes to me to be approved.

The Blog Underground
I have learned there is a whole underground world of blogging enthusiasts & addicts. It blows my mind. There are hundreds of websites dedicated towards 'promoting' your blog, contests for blogs, blogging advice, networking your blog, blog design, blog ads, and so forth. Amazing. I wonder if any of those people work. I work and it would take me 24 hours of every day to go through all that information. You need to be able to sift through the info wisely & expediently to bypass the useless stuff.

Following 
It really makes me crazy when I find a blog that I like, and I want to follow it... but low & behold, you have to search everywhere for the "Follow" button - or there isn't one, or you have to sign up for 4 things to be able to follow (or at least you assume you are following and should be able to find this blog again in your list?) ... Pretty annoying.

Photo addict
I take a lot of pictures of Julianna and our family. I got away from snapping pictures, before we had Julianna... but I love taking photos and now I am really back into it because of my blog. I get inspired by so many other blogs I follow. I am looking forward to getting my DSLR camera so I can improve my photos tremendously!

Design
I am constantly tweaking my design & trying to keep it in the 'easy to read' format so I don't make readers eyes spin. I like to change my backgrounds and colors often with the season change... if you haven't noticed.

Meeting new cyber friends
Who doesn't like to meet new people? I have learned so much about other moms out there from their blogs. I have gotten some great advice from other mom blogs & I'm also making some new friends along the way!

Where o where do I find the time?!
Where can I find more time to read all my favorite blogs?! I am clearly addicted to blogs and searching for new ones. As I add them to my list, I wonder "When can I find the time to read more of them?" - And I truly do read the ones I follow. I don't 'follow just to follow'. I love sitting down and taking the time to read all the new entries... it's so much fun & I learn so much! Now if I could just dedicate my day to it.... that would be even better. But work, being a mom, being a wife & sleep get in the way!


*These are just my opinions ... and I hope no one takes offense if you are a fellow blogger...

This is one of the reasons I blog. I love to take goofy pictures of Julianna and show them off! I love 'baby mittens' - It was one of the first real cold mornings of the year (October?), and it was Julianna's first day with her mittens on. Pretty cute huh?!