Happy Birthday to Three Mutts and a Baby!

I started Three Mutts and a Baby one year ago today, because I was nearing the halfway point in my pregnancy and wanted to create a place where I could share my pregnancy and other updates with my closest friends, with whom I felt I was quickly losing touch. 333 posts later, I've discussed everything from pregnancy to pop culture to my day-to-day life and shared it publicly. Truth be told, I don't even think that the girlfriends I originally intended this blog for actually read it. If they have, they haven't told me.

Even still, the response to my blog has been a lovely surprise. Since I began monitoring the site traffic in May 2010, the blog has received over 50,000 page views, and I'm currently averaging over 250 hits a day. Not too shabby. I have reconnected with childhood friends who I thought had long forgotten me, I have made new friends, and have even grown a modest readership of people whom I've never met. I love the comments I receive on my posts, and seeing the number of blog "Followers" grow encourages me to keep blogging. So, if you haven't already, "Follow" me by clicking the "Follow" button to the right of this post! Ok, I'm done whoring out my blog for the time being.

If I look back at the posts I've written over the past year, it's interesting to see how the blog has evolved. I wrote about my mutts, pregnancy, and married life a lot in the beginning, with a few posts about my job sprinkled in for added flavor. Then, having run out of anything interesting to say about the mutts, but with an abundance of free time sitting at a computer in a quiet office alone every day, I discussed my thoughts on celebrity gossip and pop culture, as I consider myself an authority on the subject.

Once I was no longer pregnant or working outside the home, I thought I might run out of things to blog about. For a while, I did. My computer time is only a fraction of what it once was, so my pop culture and celebrity gossip pieces are now few and far between. They didn't get much response anyway. Now I mostly write about motherhood, the posts readers seem to like best.

I just want to give a big, heartfelt "Thanks!" to everyone who has supported my blogging endeavor. Writing is my only creative outlet, and writing is meant to be read, so I sort of couldn't do this without you. I appreciate all the comments and kind words. Especially as a new mom, I value this blog because it has created a network and support system between me and other moms, and that is priceless.

To celebrate one year of blogging, I'm listing my ten eleven favorite posts:

1. Meet the Mutts | The post that started it all.
2. An Open Letter to Jessica Simpson | Someone needs to lend her a clue.
3. I'm on a Non-Plan Plan  | I mock the idea of choosing my "birth experience".
4. Rumer Willis Syndrome | I contemplate having an ugly baby.
5. 14 Facebook Status Updates: Which type are you posting, and do your Friends appreciate them? | Don't be #5. Nobody likes that guy.
6. Un-Break My Heart | Grieving the death of four celebrity marriages.
7. My Day at the Hospital | Laughter through uncontrollable puking is my favorite emotion.
8. Laney Goes to College | A walk of shame down Memory Lane.
9. Because They Don't Come With Instructions... | We are not qualified to care for a baby.
10. Bitchface Goes to the Mall | Because Bitch needs new shoes.
11. I DO Want to Express Myself, and I Don't Need 37 Pieces of Flair to Do It. | A workplace rant.