Thank YOU!

I have been meaning to thank all of my readers for a long time now... Today is the day! :)

I have many reasons to thank everyone who faithfully reads about all of the things going on in our busy hectic lives. First, thank you for your interest in our kids, they are clearly the apples of our eyes, and we are glad that they hold a place in your heart too! Thank you for all of your emails, calls, texts, and comments! I love when I get responses to my posts- it makes them feel so worthwhile. :) And, thank you for being a supporter of my Google Ads, it has provided us with a little extra spending cash here and there- Who doesn't love getting paid for something they love to do!? ;)

I have many very faithful readers as close to us as right upstairs (You know who you are!! haha) and as far away as Australia, Ireland, Canada, Russia, Germany, Qatar, and the list goes on! I do track who is reading (yep, I'm watching you!) (for the safety of the kids...) and it brings such a smile to my face when I see friends from school, my mom's group, relatives near and far, friends of relatives and the list goes on, who faithfully come back and take interest in us. My grandma Glennie who lives in Florida has been so great about reading. I look so forward to all of her emails about what she thinks about each post I write. :) Her support and love she sends so often is very appreciated. The comments you all write, even when short, mean so much- that you took the time to respond to what is happening at our house. Thank you.

I started the blog because I have always admired how my mom kept my baby book up so well. It is something my mom is saving for me- such a treasure! I remember on our birthdays, we would read out of our baby book to the rest of the family. The laughs we got, family bonding time we had and the saved memories... priceless. Jana also did such an amazing job keeping journals of Ryan's childhood- he has volumes! When we got married, Jana gave us his books- we spent many many nights reading his journals cover to cover, (especially while I was on bed rest...forever) laughing so hard, with tears running down our faces. We also love our baby books because they always affirms that our parent did everything, during every waking (or sleeping) moment to be sure we were given every opportunity at the best childhoods/lives possible, all we had to to was start reading. To John's baby book.... I am just not a person to sit down and write (pen and paper). I kept putting it off until tomorrow, or thought, is this event worth taking up this whole page?! And, soon enough, his baby book was very empty, I was pregnant with Stephen and life kept getting crazier. After Stephen was born, after we moved and I settled into the new routine of having absolutely NO routine and really just "winging" life I started to blog. :) It was came pretty easy. I (clearly) am no special
writer, I just (clearly) love my family and want to have record of some things we do and memories I find important. I see the blog as a treasure for the boys and one Ryan and I hold very close to our hearts.

When I post, I am happy to know how many relatives I am able to update at the same time- One other reason I started our blog. When we knew we were pregnant with John, the first person we told was my brother Ryan, he was leaving for a study abroad and Ryan Patrick and I really were torn about him not being here for when we told everyone we were expecting and there was no part of us that could wait until he was home! We (eventually) realized that we would have many of our family traveling a ton during the kids' childhood! Ryan did another study abroad in Ireland, Mark to Italy and Greece, Lauren (for a year (!!) to Ireland, Alana and Mark are away at school (St. Olaf and St. John's), Sara, Kelli, and my parents are working fools! ;) and Jana and Steve do a lot of traveling. So, it was time to have a cover all way to update everyone on our life! :) And, so far it has been a great way for me to reach a lot of people doing something I love- writing about our family.

My brother Mark was a key person in the final decision to start this blog, Mark left for a semester abroad when SJ (his godson) was only a couple months old. I knew Mark would be very busy when he was gone, so I wanted it to make an easy way for him to stay connected to Stephen and our family. This blog was born. I was able to see how often Mark was reading (he was the only person I knew at the time in Italy and Greece) and he was reading a TON! I think he usually checked the blog between 10-20 times a week (I think our most faithful reader to date!)! I loved how consistent he was while away- it meant (and still means) so much to me. Mark called last night (as he does from time to time... when he needs a study break!?) to say thank you for writing the blog. It was so special that he called just to say that he loves it and was laughing out loud while reading it. :) He likes that I put the "real" conversations for the boys and all the pictures. Well, thank you Mark, thank you everyone for reading! Glad you like it!

This year, Lauren has been gone for SO SO long- she is in Ireland for the whole year... (brave girl!!!) and she has been a great reader. I love that she knows what is happening here and when we Skype, she is up to date on life at (our) home.
I know Alana is busy at school too, playing college hockey and having a crazy course load, she is able to sneak in a quick read between classes, or while getting ready to turn in for the night. :)

Anyways, I could go on and on and give shout outs to so many readers, but the boys are ready for me to be done on the "puty" (computer).... thank you! Really, it means so much that you read, support our family, (and support my ads!!) ;)

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!