So while this was going around on Tuesday, I'm usually a day late short and a dollar short, so it's totally fine that I'm doing this on Friday, right?!

In no particular order, the Top Ten reasons I blog....

1) I love blogging because it's the baby book I'd never be crafty enough to keep otherwise. We got a baby book when we were released from the hospital. I have a few things jammed inside of it and maybe a page or two filled out, but otherwise, it sits empty. However, I've filled nearly 180 blog posts with photos and milestones. First time he rolled over? Check? When he was learning to sit up? Pictures galore. Right after his first birthday, I plan to print out his first year into a fancy book and that will be the best dang baby book he ever could have wished for.

2) I love blogging because I love writing. From writing classes in school, the multiple page letters I use to write to friends, to the blog I kept for 4 years back long before Mason was even a figment of my imagination, I love putting my thoughts down on paper.

3) I love blogging because I love to keep people I know up to date. While the grandparents and most relatives don't know a thing about this blog, nearly all of my friends do. And instead of having to individually share with two dozen people why Mason is getting a helmet or how his ear infections are doing, I know they read it here on the blog and I don't have to feel like a broken record. And, for those friends who don't have the option of seeing him on a regular basis, it allows them to watch him grow and change even though the miles separate us.

4) I love blogging because I love to make friends. Despite the fact that I just said I regularly have to update two dozen people, that's probably a pretty generous update. I don't really have too many friends and even if I did, you can never have too many, right? Plus, the friends I DO have are probably sick of hearing about how Mason slept, what he's eating now, and all the other stuff that's boring as heck to those who don't have kids (Sorry Michelle and Sarah LOL) The relationships I've made with people like Sarah and LeAnn are awesome and the friendships I already had but that are better with people like Molly and Amie.

5) I love blogging because it connects me to people in similar situations. I live in the middle of nowhere. I work with all men. While I know 4 people who are pregnant right now, I don't know anyone (who I would be comfortable randomly calling or hanging out with) who has a kid under the age of 2.5. When I was able to start reading all these blogs of people with kids the same age as mine, it was just awesome. I love reading about babies who are just a little bit older than Mason so I can think about what he'll be like that that age. I love to read about babies Mason's age so I can commiserate. I love reading about babies a little younger than Mason so I can give them a helping hand if they're looking for one - since so many bloggers do this for me all the time! And now that we've entered the world of plagiocephaly and helmet wearing, I love connecting to others who have been there done that or are going through it right now. I have yet to meet a single person "in real life" who has ever even heard of doing the helmet thing, other than "Oh, yeah, I think my cousin 3 times removed had  a nephew... maybe...." so being able to find others has been awesome!

6) I love blogging because it gives me something to do. I live in Wisconsin. Last week, it was -30º out. I only follow a few TV shows and I'm about as crafty as a rock. Blogging (both writing and reading them) has given me a new form of entertainment to fill the many hours where going for a walk, gardening, etc were out of the question. It filled the many hours where I felt stuck on the couch with a nursing newborn and all I had to look forward to was tomorrow's episode of Maury.

7) I love blogging because it allows me to not keep things bottled up inside. Like I said before, my few friends are probably sick of hearing about Mason and even if they're not, they don't necessarily understand the excitement of winning an Ergo or the fear before a doctor's appointment like other blogging moms do. It gives me a place to write about those bad days and not hear that I'm the world's worst mother and celebrate the good days, even when it's stuff that may seem so simplistic to others.

8) I love blogging because I love feedback. Yes, this is totally related to #4 & #5, but it still deserves it's own entry. Whether it be someone who rocks my world and reads me (nearly) daily and comments all the time or if it's a first time visitor who never comes back, who doesn't love hearing "Wow, that's such a cute picture! Your son is so cute?!" or "Yeah, you're totally not imaging it, those seat-belts at restaurants suck!" While I would still keep this blog (due to the whole baby book thing mainly) regardless, it's the fact that people visit and comment and seem to CARE that I blog nearly every day as opposed to randomly here and there or as a new milestone comes about.

9) I love blogging because I want to remember. Seriously? Mommy brain is alive and real. I have to keep a running list at work of phone messages to deliver and orders to put in so that they don't slip away as fast as they came - something I never had an issue with before I had a child. We had to fill out a 9 page form at the neurologist's office last month and I couldn't answer a single question on it (all were of the "At what age did your child first...") and I doubted the doctor would have been humored to hear "Well, I don't know, but if you let me use your computer, I could look it up on my blog!!" But it's true. The time goes by so quickly and one thing fades into another and while certain moments will always be burned into my brain, others would slip away. Except, they're all captured right here. And that my friends, is AWESOME.

10) I love to blog because someone, somewhere, just read all of this. Despite the fact that it's insanely long and possibly irrelevant to anyone but me. Blogging allows me to be boring one day, wordless the next, and full of questions the next day, and someone, somewhere, will actually pay attention and read it. It's not like a book where you chuck it away after a particularly bad chapter - in a blog, if a post bores you, you can hit the little red X but know that you can come back the next day and things will be new and (hopefully) interesting again. You don't get that from a book or a TV show, but blogs are ever changing and the people who read them are just too great for words.