My Fourth Blog-iversary...is there a gift for that?

Yesterday was my four year blog-iversary.  Wow.  I started blogging after the insistence of my big sister.  She thought I should blog all things football, since I'm always spouting facts and opinions on the subject.  But I wasn't sure I could talk exclusively about football.  What would happen in the off-season?

But I kept thinking about blogging.  And one day the title "Mommy Musings" came to me.  I took it as a sign, and from that moment on, my blog was born.  

I thought blogging would be a fun way for me to connect with some other moms, and share my story as a brand-new mom myself.  I never once fathomed the amount that I would immerse myself into the blog world.  Four years ago I didn't have a Facebook fan page and I hadn't joined twitter.  I wondered if someone other than my family and friends would ever read what I wrote.  I had no idea I could review products or ever make a little money off my blog.  

I am so happy I decided to start my blog four years ago today.  The blogging community has been such a wonderful place, and I often don't know how I would have survived these first years of motherhood without all of you.  Thank you.  I can't wait to see what the next four years will bring!!

But before I look forward, here's a little look back.  These are the first two posts I ever wrote.  Please be kind and don't laugh too hard at my inexperience!  It takes a while to find your voice around here:)

Let's see how well I keep this up

For years now my older sister has been trying to convince me to blog about football. I am completely obsessed with the Giants, and she thought it would be interesting to read my thoughts every week. I never did however, as I get way too emotionally involved in the games and knew it would be too difficult to translate those feelings into words. However, I recently had my first child (my beautiful baby girl....more on her later!), and I was the first of my friends and family to have a baby. This meant that I was blindly paving the way for everyone else; trying to figure out this whole pregnancy/mommy thing on my own. My mom is a huge help, but she last gave birth 23 years ago, and things have changed just a little. And there are just some things you don't want to talk to your mom about! It got me to thinking though and I have now decided to give one of these blogs a go, in the hopes of maybe giving some guidance to someone who is in the same lost boat I am. At the very least I know my sisters will save it for their future pregnancies! I make no guarantees in the frequency of my blogs though, as the major thing I have already learned about parenting is you never quite know when you will have a free moment to yourself! But I hope I can pass along some good "Mommy" information or at least be somewhat entertaining.....Enjoy!

I should probably start at the beginning

Before I go any farther with this thing, I should probably explain who I am. My name's Mandy and I turned 26 in October (though I still like to think I'm only 23!) I have two sisters who are more like best friends and live only three blocks away from my parents. My family is very close and we always have a great time together. I have been married for 3 1/2 years and love my husband, Skip, more than anything. (more on him and our relationship later!) I was a middle school teacher for three years and even though it was often challenging, I loved it and miss it still. However I "retired" at the end of last year after finding out I was pregnant with my first child. It is very important to Skip and I that I stay home with our little girl, Meredith It has taken some time, but I am adjusting well to my new role as stay-at-home mom and wife. I love getting to stay in my pajamas all day if I want to, and never having to venture out in the snow....but it does occasionally get lonely when Skip is working several back-to-back 16 hour shifts and the only people I have to talk to are my 8 week old daughter, our 4 year old Shiba Inu, and our 9 month old bulldog. It is at those times that I am so grateful I live so close to my family and my mom will just stop by and hang out. I am extremely blessed though that I have this opportunity to stay at home with my baby and not have to drop her off every day at daycare. I am thankful every day that my husband willingly works crazy amounts of overtime so I can do this, and for my family who is there to help with whatever I need. I am a very lucky woman!