blogger ate my giveaways and comments

Due to the Blogger fiasco this week that I'm sure most of you are aware of, I've lost my original post for the Peekabooby nursing cover giveaway as well as all of your entries. I'm so sorry! 

I also lost all of the comments on my our hunch was right post (announcing that we're having a baby boy). That one just makes me plain old sad - boo! 

Disappearing posts and comments is not exactly the way I wanted to celebrate my first blogaversary. (More boo!)

i'm giving YOU pressies for MY birthday! yay!

I've also not been able to receive your entries for The Pregnancy Companion giveaway as the commenting system has been disrupted. (Even more boo!)

The good news is that--despite the missing comments--it seems that everything else is up and running again. Yay!

Dear friends, please take a moment to re-enter these giveaways. I've extended both giveaways to make up for your trouble. And again, I apologize for your inconvenience. Who else got thrown for a loop by Blogger this week??

thanks friends,

Enter to win The Pregnancy Companion. 

Win it for yourself or to give as a gift to an expecting friend.

Giveaway extended to May 20, 2011.

Enter to win a Peekabooby nursing cover!

Giveaway extended to May 25, 2011.

adriel booker | the mommyhood memos | 2011

do not reproduce without written permission

the mommyhood memos is one!

Yesterday was my one-year blogaversary for the Memos. One year since I hit “publish” on my very first post.

What a year it’s been!

When I started I knew nothing about blogging. I had never even read a blog before. (Actually, I had… I just didn’t know it was a blog at the time. As far as I knew I had only read a few “websites” here and there.)

I just wanted a place where I could write about motherhood to help me process the massive transition taking place in my life (my first son was three months old when I began). And I also wanted to get into the discipline of writing – an art form that I love, which brings me refreshment and joy. And—although there’s more—that’s the gist of why I started the Memos.

I knew I was going to need an outlet for me.

What I didn’t know was that I was about to stumble into a whole new world.

And that’s what I did: stumble.

I stumbled into blogging the same way I stumbled into motherhood: with some haphazardness mixed with my good intentions to be deliberate, some grace and poise mixed in with my blunders and mistakes, and with far more questions and ideas than answers and actual know-how.

I knew nothing of this strange new language including terms such as RSS feeders, SEO, widgets, IRL, badges, comment love, SITS, analytics, memes, and forums. Heck, I didn’t even give my blog name more than a few minutes thought and a quick google search to be sure it wasn't already in use. (Something I’ve regretted at times, but oh well – too late now!)

And now here I am nearly a year later. I’m a whole lot wiser as a mom (though I still have my more-than-occasional blunders) and I’m a little bit wiser as a blogger (though I still have so much to learn).

So yes, here I am: 294 posts, 2815 comments, 900(ish) subscribers and followers, countless hours spent writing and designing and learning… and—most importantly—so many genuine new friendships later.

I’m so thankful for the Memos and the opportunity to do what I love. I’m so humbled that there are people “out there” that enjoy reading some of what I write. I’m incredibly grateful for the friends I now email back and forth with (and some that I skype with!) and hope to meet in person one day.

My head is always, and I mean always, buzzing with ideas to write about and things I want to achieve. The day I get writers block and have exhausted my list of post ideas will feel very foreign to me.

So for now I’m just going to keep writing, keep learning, keep growing, and keep connecting into this wonderful community I’ve grown to love. This is a "hobby" I don't plan on abandoning any time soon.

Oh, and to celebrate my "birthday" I wanted to give you presents! I have two blogaversary giveaways: The first one is a wonderful book called The Pregnancy Companion: A faith-filled guide for the journey into motherhood. Win it for yourself or to give to an expecting friend. And the second giveaway is for two Peekabooby! nursing covers. 

Dear friends, thank you so much for journeying with me through this last year. Some of you I’ve known since the beginning and some I’ve only just met. But it’s thanks to you that I feel encouraged to keep going.

in celebration of a great year,

Bloggers for Birth Kits update (day seven): 

- 677 kits donated
- 39 blog posts spreading the word
- Over 200 links shared on facebook (I lost count after that!)
- Tons of tweets (#B4BirthKits)

I'm blown away by your response. Again, thank you for donating, for promoting, and for helping to save the lives of mums and bubs in Papua New Guinea. If you haven't yet, it’s not too late to get involved. 

Are you an expecting mama? Link up with the Bloggin' Babes and Babies of 2011 here.

adriel booker | the mommyhood memos | 2011
do not reproduce without written permission

amazed

It’s been an amazing year. I started blogging on Mothers Day and am so glad that I did.

photo by tiffany lausen
(c) red owl photography

Beginning my “mama blog” has helped me to find my voice as a writer again. It’s helped me to process the changes that come with starting a family. It’s helped me to share and teach... as well as learn and grow. It’s helped me to record, remember, and reflect on the magic of motherhood and the miracle of life.

It’s helped me to connect… with so many women on so many levels. Some are mothers. Some are grandmothers. Some are wanna-be (future) mothers. Some are “just” supporters of mothers.

Many of these women are now my friends.

Thank you for sharing part of this journey with me these last seven months of blogging. I’ve deeply enjoyed finding friendships in unexpected places.

In celebration of the beginning of the Memos, here are some of my best from 2010 (in no particular order):

::   dear natural birth club | My most clicked post… a little snarky, a little fun, and hopefully a little spurring to make women think.

::   birth is holy, treat is as such | a letter to my pregnant self | This is one I’d love to share with all my pregnant friends. It's very personal and yet also largely universal.

::   introducing a little girl in a land far, far away {a photo story} | Just a little bit about me.

::   100 things {pregnancy, birth, and being a first-time mom} } Perhaps one of my favorites to write – another one I’d love to share with pregnant women or first-time-moms.

::   oh fair Nap Time, where art thou? | My love-hate relationship with nap time… no doubt most mamas can relate with this one. I think this one (and Dear Natural Birth Club) have been my most shared posts on facebook.

::   i gots me some mama badges | A fun take on some little motherhood accomplishments.

::   so this is what it feels like to have someone call you “mama”? | Documenting one of my best (most memorable, most tender, most sweet…) motherhood moments so far.

::   the line  | A poem about dealing with my unexpected c-section.

::   "you're a great mum." (please tell me again.) | Personal reflections about the need for encouragement and support in motherhood.

::   living in the midst of holy teachers | Beginning to learn the reality (not just in theory) of how children are our most profound teachers.

::   who’s growth spurt is it anyway? | Dealing with the growing pains of motherhood. 


::   wonder | Stopping. Breathing. Remembering to wonder.

Dear friends, thank you so much for encouraging me, supporting me, befriending me, following me, and cheering for me on the journey of motherhood through the Mommyhood Memos so far. I’m so grateful. As I’ve made the leap into motherhood, it’s been a delight to also stumble into this blogging world that I didn’t before know existed…. What a year.

amazed,

adriel booker | the mommyhood memos | 2010 
do not reproduce without written permission

all the besties

I've been working on a monster compilation... and I'm pleased to say that it's finally up and running as a new page on the memos. (In fact, all my pages are finished now... have a look around if you'd like.) 


If you're new here, or just want to dig around a little, here's a bit of the memo's best of...

Most clicked posts:

• Dear Nap time
• Breaking all the bloggy rules: 100 things about pregnancy, birth, and motherhood
• Dear Natural Birth Club
• So this is what it feels like to have someone call you “mama”?
• I gots me some mama badges
• The Line
• "You're a great mum." (Please tell me again.)

{besties by category}

Bump:

Hey you, pregnant lady!

Gimme some red high heels

100 things...

Birth/postpartum:

Dear Natural Birth Club

The Line

Splish splash, I was going into labor

100 things...

Don't sweat it mama

Baby:

Oh fair Nap Time, where art thou?

Oh baby, these are my favorites

Tiger wrestling

Tantrums, teething, and turning points

Baby faves {product reviews}

Tips and tricks for breastfeeding in public

Like father, like son

Taking your baby out bush

I {heart} baby fashion

What's in a name?

Your baby can fly

Motherhood:

“You’re a great mum” (please tell me again)

Sacred parenting: living in the midst of holy teachers

100 things you ought to know...

So this is what it feels like to have someone call you “mama”?

I gots me some mama badges

Who’s growth spurt is it anyway?

Mommy for president

Baby steps to becoming a better mom

Mr. Mom saves the day

I think we need a padded doorway

The view from down here

Tips:

100 tips about pregnancy, birth, and motherhood

Decorating a nursery on the cheap

Camping with an baby

Breastfeeding in public

Traveling {and flying} with an infant

For the expecting first-time-mamas

Humor/just for fun:

Dear Nap Time

Like father, like son

Long live my fabulous ankles

Burning down the house

I got punk’d by my sweet baby boy

Pookie-wookie, bunny bear

Don’t sweat it mama

Secret agent bebe seeks placement

Mommyhood Memos: you know life has changed when… {series}

I gots me some mama badges

Oh baby, these are my five month faves

An ode to poo

Personal:

Let me introduce to you a little girl in a land far, far away {a photo story}

The Line

“You’re a great mum." (Please tell me again.)

It’s a jammies sort of day

Froggy bum

Tantrums, teething, and turning points... oh my

So this is what it’s like to have someone call you “mama”?

The view from down here

Living in the midst of holy teachers

Who’s growth spurt is it anyway?

Some precious baby bliss…

Photo posts:

dear God

I {heart} baby fashion

Sweet sleeping child-O-mine

Dear mommy-friends, guess what? I've gone camping. You'll still be seeing me around here {I've scheduled a few posts} but if I don't respond back to you for a few days... don't feel rejected. I love you sweet ones, and I promise to connect again when I return from the bush.

A-camping I will go...

leaving you with my best,

Have you registered your blog here yet?

adriel booker | the mommyhood memos | 2010 
do not reproduce without written permission