The birth story of my family blog goes something like this:
- Conceived by my husband and begun as a chronicle of our time living in Hawaii and Seattle
- Used to announce we were pregnant with baby number one (Jack)
- Abandoned for a long while, during which we often talked about how we wanted to have a family blog, but never had sufficient motivation to start one/restart this one
- Temporarily restarted to chronicle our New England road trip, fall 2010
- Reactivated to secretly record my early pregnancy with Cora
- Has blossomed today into our full fledged family record (and now I claim sole authorship)
As our family started to become just that, a family – with growing, changing members, we wanted to somehow capture all the seasons. During Jack’s early years, we took turns writing in a little book, mainly at the “month marks.” I don’t know about you, but there is something frustrating about trying to get your hand to keep up with your brain. I had so much to say, but I didn’t have the patience to get it all down on paper.
When I started blogging while pregnant with Cora, I would never have believed I’d keep it up. But being pregnant gave great impetus to write because I was excited to reach and celebrate each weekly milestone. By the time Cora was born, I’d gotten in the habit of writing weekly. My blog is now where I capture monthly milestones, share our life in pictures, and is my forum for writing about the things on my mind. It has yet to feel like a “have to” and is very much a fun hobby for me.
What’s worked for me is writing one post a week, usually on the weekends. At first this centered around my pregnancy and now has evolved to once a month posts on what Cora is up to. Filling the other three weeks of the month hasn’t been hard. I’ve chronicled a day in our life, written about trips or other big events, and sometimes just shared photos when the week has been really busy.
I enjoy reading other blogs, mainly those of friends. It’s fun to watch kids progress, and it’s a way to stay connected with friends in other places. With even this limited view into the blog world, I can tell my own site could definitely be updated, but graphic design isn’t something I know all that much about. For now, I’m just happy to know that in the future I’ll have a weekly lens into what our life was like during this period. And so will Jack and Cora!
What about you? Do you blog? Do you follow other blogs? Which ones?
I clearly love blogging, but with NOMB, my personal blog has taken a BIG backseat. It is on my list for this long weekend to “catch up” before I forget. I also have ambitions of publishing my blog into a book for us (through Blurb or Shutterfly). I need to look into it more, but that was why I started blogging, to chronicle my pregnancy with Thatcher and other milestones. I miss it!
Am in awe of you bloggers and wish I had the diligence (and working computer LOL) to keep up with the one I started when Estella was born. The last post is from NYE when she was ONE! Keep blogging and posting! I love your thoughts, ideas, and family anticdotes!
I never knew you lived in Seattle, one of my good friends lives there! My personal blog has also taken a big backseat, I haven’t posted since the fall. Thanks for this post, it reminded me to get after it 🙂