2014 was truly an incredible year for BurlingtonVT Moms Blog. We could not be more appreciative for each and every one of you and the community we’ve built together. Over the course of 2014, BurlingtonVT Moms Blog had over 400,000 page views, reached 175,000+ unique readers and hosted 12+ events.
To cap off 2014, we wanted to share our 10 most popular blog posts that were published this past year. They are stories of faith, humor, loss, marriage, motherhood and so much more. We hope you enjoy re-visiting them as much as we did.
1. Why Santa Doesn’t Visit Our House
“A typical night in December will find us all huddled around the kitchen table with me addressing holiday cards and our three year old son coloring on the envelopes while my husband snips elaborate snowflakes and the kitten bats around the scraps. This wholesome scene is no exaggeration. We bake cookies, we open windows on the advent calendar, we watch the Muppet Christmas movie, we put way too many ornaments on our tree, and we hang up stockings. There’s just one thing we choose to leave out of the Christmas season: Santa Claus.” -Britta
2. Body After Babies: Redefining Beauty
“How about this for a New Years resolution: I resolve to embrace myself just as I am. I resolve to fight to love myself each day no matter what the scale says and despite any flaws I see reflected in that mirror. Rather than fighting all year to change myself, I will fight to love myself- right where I’m at. I resolve to stop letting our backwards society dictate what is beautiful and proudly reflect what true beauty looks like…” -BVTMB Team
3. I Can’t Be Pregnant, I Had My Tubes Tied!
“That night I began to evaluate my symptoms so I would be prepared to tell the doctor everything and we could get to the bottom of it. I thought, “Let’s see, exhaustion, dizziness, nausea. EXHAUSTION, DIZZINESS, NAUSEA. Wait a minute! No! I had my tubes tied!” -Yvonne Eastman
4. Elf on the Shelf Planning Calendar 2014
“Sounds like a lot of fun, right?! Well, it was. By Christmas Day, it felt a bit like work. It’s hard to think of crazy stuff for your elf to do each night and often last minute. This year, I’m going to be better organized! And I’d like to share my preparedness with you! I have made a 2014 Elf on the Shelf Planning Calendar, complete with 25 ideas using mostly supplies you already have around the home and a shopping list for ones you don’t.” -Kerri Oakes
5. Coming to Terms, I’m Not Having Any More Children
“I never thought that I would still mourn the loss of my ability to ever carry another child. Maybe it is because my third baby is about to be 1 in a week and will “technically” no longer be a baby. All of her firsts, are sadly, my lasts. I will never feel that tiny miracle growing inside of me again. I will never experience that first cry again. I will not hold a seconds old baby in my arms and fall in love instantly all over again.” -Jenn Foster
6. Special Delivery: a Surrogacy Story
“A friendship that has stood the test of time and has given a whole new meaning to the phrase “I would do anything for a friend”. The pair survived high school, college, moves, marriage, and children with their friendship still intact. When Jessi found out that carrying a baby to a full term pregnancy would not be possible, Maggie didn’t think twice when she offered to be her surrogate.” -Jenn Foster
7. Body After Babies: Ode to My Body
“This body brought life into the world. This body delivered light into darkness. This body opened up, heart splitting straight down the seams to make room to love, endlessly. This body, complete with stretch marks, calloused fingers, flabby skin, is beautiful. This body houses a warrior. This body is respectable. This body houses a mother.” -Elissa Koop
8. Our Journey on the Road to Childhood Cancer
“Have you ever had the wind knocked completely out of you? I mean, have you ever taken a solid, direct blow to your gut so hard that you could not physically get air? That’s what it feels like when someone says, “Your daughter has cancer.” And as those words filtered into my brain my eyes fixed on my motionless daughter, innocently unaware in her anesthesia-induced sleep; and for the rest of that conversation, all I heard was “Wah wa wah wa wah wah wah,” like I was in a PEANUTS cartoon.” -Karen Robinson
9. 13 Places for Indoor Play In and Around Burlington
“Winters in Vermont can be long and hard. Whenever late January rolls around I feel myself longing for spring as all of us in our house are feeling just a tad stir-crazy (OK, “a tad” might be an understatement).
So where can you go with the kiddos when you just NEED to get out for a bit? Here is a list of 13 places for indoor play in and around Burlington.” -BVTMB Team
10. 8 Kid Friendly Trips from Burlington
“I love breaking up our typical routine and going to explore some place new as a family. Whether it’s just a quick day trip to a fun destination or a planned out vacation that spans several days, there are so many wonderful places around VT where family memories can be made! Below I’ve listed 8 of our team’s favorite spots around VT and New England that are sure to please everyone in your family.” -Nissa Sutphen
Worth a Read As Well :: Other Popular Posts
5 Things You Must Do When Visiting Burlington– Tessa Duquette
Beyond the Cupcake: 8 Alternative Birthday Treats for the Classroom– Jenn Foster
To My Child in the Shadows– Meghan Foster
The Time My Son Was Called a Sh*t Face– Heather Polifka-Rivas
Parenting Twins: Or How I Came to Lay My Baby on a Garbage Bag– Shauna Silva
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Now– Jayme Rivas Robertson
“Still” Breastfeeding– Beatriz Jarvis
Top 4 Local Hiking Trails to Tackle with Your Kids Before They Turn 10– Rachel Shelley
Hiding My Broken Soul– Kate Heath
Teacher Approved Teacher Gifts– Rachel Shelley
Nurse Gives Behind the Scenes Look at New Mother Baby Unit at Fletcher Allen Healthcare– Fletcher Allen Healthcare
Body After Babies: Biting the Apple– Tricia Kennedy
Leaving the Hospital without Baby– Christin Pounds
Body After Babies: Worth the Stretch– Tasha Lehman
My Pin-up Photo Shoot– Gretchin Gifford
