Blog Bloat: TAGS #1

Is your blog feeling a little... bloated?

I have a multi-post series planned about blogging and the blogosphere in general. Because I'm like a total expert. Or not. Look out Kathie Lee! Moms are going to blog. So, maybe I can help... a little. Not like we took a college class in blogging or online networking. But since I'm kinda a web geek, certifiably these days, I have done a little homework about it.

I write this blog with some hesitancy. Why? Because everyone who reads it will assume I'm talking about their blog. I'm not. I'm speaking very generally about the blogosphere as a whole. And the "you" in this blog, well... okay, it does mean YOU.

Let's talk about content. One of the most misused blog features is tags. What are tags anyway? I'm so glad you asked! Tags are those handy little ditties that you fill in when you post a blog (at the very bottom right on Blogger). They are often called "labels" or "keywords" or "tags" depending on where your blog is hosted. But that's just semantics.

Tags are meant to work like signs on a highway. They let people know where they're going and when to exit. And if you use them incorrectly they just lead to traffic jams or worse - people start ignoring the signs all together. So, you! Yes, this actually means YOU... How are you using your tags?

There are generally two types of bad tagging. First is the over-zealous tagger. Her label list is SOOOOO long and has contents like:
my friend Sarah (1)
Valentine's Day Parade (1)
our Christmas Pics (2)
science (4)
bird watching (2)
day at the zoo (1)
my BFF Joe (1)
went shopping (3)
rainbow (1)

Yikes. Time to condense. Try: Friends, Holidays, Nature, school. Succinct! Succinct is nice. If you find your labels list having lots of (1) OR (2)... it's time to condense. If you have more than say 20 or 25... time to condense.

The other type of bad tagging is the lazy tagger. She doesn't tag at all. Or, she has so few tags and they are so broad you can't decipher the topics from them at all.
Life (68)
Home (40)
everything else (103)

In this case, it's time to narrow down your subject matter a little bit. Generally, no one is Googling "life" as a topic and they're surely not Googling "everything else". I am a lazy tagger (among other things). If I could get away with just NICU, homeschool, boys, web stuff... I would. But then, you might never come back. And then, well... I'd be writing to nobody. (Except you, Mom. Hi, Mom. *waves*)

Think of packing your house. If your blog was a house, and each blog had to be boxed up and put in the right room, how would you box it up? What would you write with that big, fat Sharpie on the box? "Home"?
In this case, think descriptive! You don't need succinct. You need beautiful-imagery-with-words, concrete subject matter, solid understandable topics. Try: crafts, recipes, remodeling, family, friends, etc.

Sooo... what will this do for you?

For one, people will be able to navigate your space. They are more likely to click through to other pages and more likely to come back. Having your subject matter clearly spelled out allows blog readers to customize what they read in your little neck of the woods. And let's face it, not everything we write is appealing to everyone (except what I write, of course! You do read it ALL, right??). For example, I tend to get 3 pretty broad types of visitors... I get a lot of preemie and NICU parents. I get homeschoolers. Last (but never least) I get people interested in web design, blogging, online networking (ie, geeks like me!). But the web geek doesn't really want to pull out her tissues and read about the NICU. The NICU mom doesn't have time to think about homeschooling. The homeschooling mom is so stinkin' busy she really just needs the curriculum posts. So, with a few simple clicks... people can head their merry way and find the content they are looking for.

So, why'dja come here anyway? Did you google blog tags? Are you guilty of blog bloat? What kind of tagger are you?

More on blogging later. Come back soon. Go fix your tags. And if you do spruce up your tags, let me know - I'll come check out your handy work!

ps - I spelled the word "blog" wrong in this post 5 times. At least I know you didn't come here looking for spelling tips. ;) Thank you Blogger for spell check.

School Shmool and Holy Clothes-Horse, Batman!

School shmool.

That's about how all of us are feeling about school these days. And I'm the worst of them. Today I even did the dreaded job of going through the Boybarians' closets. What a chore that is! Do you southerners do that chore? Today I took down, refolded and packed up every article of clothing in their closets. It. took. all. day! I pulled out all the summer clothes we haven't seen in months, opened them all up, see what would fit who, folded it all back up and distributed it where it needed to go. Oh the burden of having two separate wardrobes. Blah.

You know what else I discovered (while not doing school) today? Picasso had over 40 pairs of pants in his closet! I lost count of the shirts, but I had at least 10 piles...

Now, lest you all think I love shopping for little boy clothes... I will say... The Boybarians have boy cousins just a couple years older. And those boy cousins have boy cousins just a couple years older than them. So we get a long line of hand-me-downs. And while I might not love shopping for little boy clothes, their Nanie just can't resist having the most handsome Boybarian Grandsons on the planet. The boybarians also have 5+ sets of great/grandparents! So combined with generous loved-ones and all sorts of hand-me-downs it all sort of piles up by the time it gets to the second or third boybarian. But by the time it's just little Trouble left... I don't really need to save 40+ pairs of pants and 100+ shirts.

Incidentally, he is still wearing the 18-24 mo clothes I bought him 3 years ago. *sigh*

So we packed up all those piles of clothes. Off they go to new home! The closets look much more sparse, tons more tidy, and I can actually say with confidence (for once!) that everything in their closets are clean and fit them.

All this to avoid school. So what are you doing these days to avoid schoolwork?

ps - remember this guy? Some of you asked if he was rubber. Nope. He's real.

Happy Mother's Day

To all the mothers out there:
Hope this day is special. This is the toughest job with the lowest pay but greatest benefits. Hope you all have a day to enjoy yourselves and your family!

To my mother-in-law:
You could have warned me. Ha ha. Kidding. Mostly. ;) Thank you for raising the most loving husband and amazing daddy. I look at my own boys and wonder how you did it. Happy Mother's Day to the first woman in my hubby's life.

To my own mother:
Thanks for always being there when it counts, and even when it doesn't. Not only do I have the best mom, but the boys have an amazing Nanie. Happy Mother's Day to the #1 woman in my life. Wish you lived closer.

ps - Shhhhhh! Be the first to enter.... surprise BLOG MAKEOVER CONTEST over at my other blog, Graphically Designing!

Some 5th Birthday Moments

Don't you wish you could freeze time, just for a little while and keep them all just as they are? With each passing milestone, each passing month, each passing moment... I just want to bottle them up and keep them little and timeless. Instead I just click, click, click and try and capture as many moments as possible.






Look at Picasso's face! It is not often that little Trouble has the upper hand over his big brothers. But all the boys have been wanting the new Lego sets. Mr. Trouble was definitely the "cool kid" of the moment with his Indiana Jones and Star Wars legos and minifigs.

On This Day...

On this day, 5 years ago... I was 6 months pregnant. It wasn't an easy pregnancy. I spent months 2-6 alternating between cursing this child for being such a (literal) pain and crying myself to sleep for fear of losing him.

On this day, 5 years ago... I laid in antepartum. My water had already broken. I was 28 weeks pregnant. I was bargaining. I'd do anything, if only... "Please," I begged, "Let him be safe..."

On this day, 5 years ago... my BFF stood by my bedside on what was simultaneously one of the worst and best days of my life. She was there for the contractions, the scare, the emergency c-section, everything. I will go to my grave grateful for those moments.

On this day, 5 years ago... I called my mom at 6 am to tell her my water had broken. And even though she was a state away and supposed to go to work, she found a replacement and got in the car and drove a 3-hour trip in a little more than 2 hours to be there.

On this day, 5 years ago... Handy Man barely made it in time for his son's birth when the antepartum nurse failed to mention the severity and timeliness of the situation, leading Handy Man to believe he had time to run through a drive-through. Handy Man balanced the world on his shoulders in those days, and I still wonder how he held himself and all of us together.

On this day, 5 years ago... a baby boy was born. Silent. A neonatal team whisked him away and immediately worked their magic.

On this day, 5 years ago... a man we call "Dr. John" fortuitously was the attending in the NICU. He made some calls that day that still matter... to this day. We will never forget him or what he did on that day (and on the many to come) that changed the life of a child and his family.

On this day, 5 years ago... I learned tough new words. I entered the life-changing war zone called the NICU. No one who goes through those doors comes out the same person. If baby is there for a week or a year, it is a tough place to live... even for a day.

On this day, 5 years ago... our son survived his premature birth. We wouldn't fully understand what that meant, or how critical those first hours were until much later. Starting on that day we learned to appreciate grams, breaths, ounces and minutes.

On this day, 5 years ago... I made a resolution to never forget NICU families and how much that baby boy overcame to be who he is today. Trouble ultimately spent 3 months in the NICU - coming home on his due date, weighing 5 lb and 1 oz.

*

On this day, 4 years ago... we celebrated a first birthday. Our infant son weighed about 12 lb, and had recently learned to sit on his own. He was on oxygen, high calorie formula, and rarely left the house. He was meeting miletones, although delayed, and was a beautiful, happy, baby boy.

On this day, 3 years ago... our boy turned 2. At 18 lb, he was crawling, but not yet walking. He had a handful of words. He would finally walk a few months later, and put words together to communicate. He was still on oxygen, still rarely left the house. He was bold, happy, and charmed the world with his dimple and lashes. He became drug free this year - a huge milestone.

On this day, 2 years ago... our sweet, now bespectacled toddler turned 3. He was about 20 lb, still on oxygen - and would be until Independence day. That year freedom really rang for Trouble when he was finally able to take off his oxygen cannula. He was 38 months old.

On this day, 1 year ago... 4-year-old Trouble blew out the candles on his birthday cake for the very first time. He was surrounded by those who mean the most to him - his cheerleaders, family and friends - who got to witness a milestone that so many take for granted. Untethered by tubes, he ran around the playground with his friends, ate cake with his Nanie, and had the best birthday party a kid could have.

On this very day... our Trouble turns 5. He is an absolute miracle of a child. He weighs in at a whopping 26 lb, and although he may look like a toddler to those who don't know him, he is strong and scrappy. He has overcome more in 5 years than many will in a lifetime. He loves life! And we know that because of people like Dr. John and nurse Diane, his cheerleaders, friends, family and loved ones - that this is only the beginning of a very happy ending.

On the warming bed, in the NICU, 1 week old.


1st time Daddy holds him 2 1/2 weeks; Blanket made of washcloths. Nitric oxide.


NICU Homecoming - 3 mo old - with a 12" ruler.


Age 2


Age 3


Age 4


Age 4

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY, TROUBLE!

Reason #574638526 That Our Neighbors Love Us...

Mr. Perfectly Manicured Lawn stood in his lawn pretending to water his lawn and pick up every twig in his yard. Under his breath I'm sure he was cursing Handy Man's name. He just can't see the potential. Can you see it?

Did you know that if you do all that digging - you'll probably find one of these? This pic is for my dad. Hey Dad, wanna come to Iowa and visit us??