This is the story of how I started my mom blog nearly 10 years ago, compiled from my blog posts at the time. I didn’t know anything about blogging, SEO or monetization when I started and didn’t even plan for it to be a new job. But now I’m a fulltime blogger and very happy how things turned out!

And because I didn’t know anything about blogging until several years and lots of blogs posts later, I have a lot of pages on this website that see zero traffic and I’m only holding onto them for sentimental reasons. So, this is my effort to clear out some of my website clutter and consolidate my blogging beginnings.

This isn’t a “how-to” by any means. I’m not dishing out advice, as I knew nothing when I wrote these posts. But I can’t let them go, and I still enjoy looking back on them, so here’s my first year writing my mom blog in 2016.

It all began with “Mama.”

Mama Mama Mama…

March 29, 2016 – I’ve looked and typed the word “mama” so much today it is starting to look weird. But progress was made! It is still pretty bare, but the bones are there. Much more content and customization to go. I wanted to start with something really clean and simple to start with.

Anyone in the Facebook group that wants to send in articles can do it anytime. I asked about it four months ago any there was interest, but nobody sent anything. Of course, I completely understand how that happens. I mean, it was FOUR months ago and here I am just now trying to add something myself. Mamas are busy!

Also, nothing here is set in stone. This is very much a work in progress. I just needed to get started with something!

The Year That Changed Everything

April 13, 2016 – Tomorrow my little bundle of joy that forever changed my world turns one year old. I can’t believe how fast it went, but to be honest, the first couple months went by in slow motion while everyone told me how fast it actually goes.

It’s hard to really embrace that during those sleepless nights and days of feeding and screaming and crying (for both of us). But then after a few months it starts going fast, and then it feels like you can’t slow it down and you’d take those slow first weeks back in a heartbeat.

I Know Nothing About Parenting

It was during those months and this past year that I learned everything I thought about babies was wrong. And every judgmental thought I ever had about kids or parenting was wrong.

I never thought I knew everything. I knew I was pretty clueless, but I still had opinions about things like daycare, working, or just having a messy kid covered in food stains. And then I learned until you have a kid, you have no clue what you will be like on the other side of labor.

I can honestly say I ran to daycare like a drowning woman to a lifeboat as soon as my son was old enough. I needed a break. I needed some me-time back. I needed to get back to work after a few failed attempts at bringing the baby to work with me.

You try lacing someone up in a corset with a fussy baby strapped to your chest. I may dress like Wonder Woman at times, but I discovered I cannot actually do it all and I do need help.

I Missed My Baby

And then a funny thing happened after I finally did get back to work and got some of that much needed me-time. I missed Keelan all day long.

I looked at his pictures all day, I took any chance I could to leave work early and I discovered my heart wasn’t in working 24-7 anymore. This little guy had come along and stole my heart away. My business used to be my baby, but it paled in comparison to my actual baby.

So here I am, packing up my store after seven great years and closing the doors to go back to where I started 10 years ago, as a website. I really enjoyed my experience running the boutique. I met so many great people and had a lot of fun. And maybe, a few years down the road when K starts school, I might open a boutique again.

But for now, all I want to do is be mommy. I want to soak it up, revel in it and enjoy every minute of this amazing little boy. Moving back online and away from the daily demands of the brick-and-mortar shop gives me the freedom to do that.

Being a mom is a challenge, a blessing and a complete life changing experience. I am immeasurably thankful I finally get to experience this. So Happy First Birthday Keelan! You are so incredibly loved by so many. I love watching you grow and learn and look forward to all the adventures we will have.

Join GeekMamas at MegaCon!

May 29, 2016- We did the Cosplay with Your Kids panel on May 29, 2016, and nobody showed up! It was one big empty room, lol. We ended up livestreaming it to Facebook and did have a good audience there.

This was the last time I attempted to do a panel MegaCon. I went to it the next year and haven’t been back since. I know a lot of people enjoy it, but I have never had a really great time there. I enjoy the smaller conventions these days. Easier to get to, less expensive, and easier to find and connect with people I know.

What it Took to Become a Geek Mama

May 25, 2016- Becoming a mom for me was a long hard road that ended in IVF. Being a geek was the easy part, that just came naturally. It was the baby part I had a hard time with. Becoming a mom for me took a lot of effort, a lot of shots, a lot of drugs and a lot of hope.

Our Road to IVF

After being married for 12 years, one miscarriage followed by seven years of trying off and on, various fertility drugs, IUI procedures, acupuncture and endometriosis surgery, we finally turned to IVF and proceeded to make a baby in the geekiest most scientific way possible. We mixed drugs, measured shots and were eventually presented with the most amazing little egg in a petri dish. They asked me if I wanted to save the dish and I kind of wish I had now.

It was the most intense rollercoaster of sickness, emotion, pain and stress that I have ever put myself through voluntarily. This is me in the middle of three shots in the belly a day, the last week before my egg retrieval, bruised, bloated and with swollen lumps from one of the drugs:

One of the things that got me through all the sucky stuff was my blog. I blogged anonymously, and I blogged often. Sometimes even twice a day. I discovered an amazingly supportive community of bloggers doing the exact same thing. Some of those ladies are still in the trenches, going through one procedure after another.

And while IVF success stories have their place and can give hope, the last thing most of them want to see is a million happy baby posts.

So I decided to start a new blog all about being a parent and specifically, a geeky one. It’s mostly like being a normal parent but with more Star Wars.

In the end it was all worth it. I can’t wait to show him pictures of himself as a 3-day old blastocyst!

My Blog Post About Not Having Time to Blog

7/28/2016- I thought time went by fast before having a baby, but wow, things are in warp speed now. I am trying to figure out how I managed to blog nearly once a day when I was pregnant. I am pretty sure I was still busy then, and I know I wasn’t feeling all that great, but still, I blogged all about it! I loved it so much I thought it would be great to start a mom blog.

You know what I don’t have time for now that I’m a mommy? Quiet moments in front of the computer required for blogging.

My quiet moments are few and far between, usually coming after 7PM when K goes down to sleep and then usually the last thing I want to do is sequester myself in my office and get back on the computer.

So, to be honest, instead of blogging in the evenings I am drinking wine and nibbling cheese while cooking dinner. Thinking back, I suppose I couldn’t drink wine and certainly did not feel like being on my bloated feet to cook dinner while pregnant, so I traded that for sitting and blogging. Probably also while nibbling cheese.

I am working on finding the magical balance to fit it all in. (Aren’t we all?) Until then I’ll be updating sporadically. I’m not giving up on my mommy blog vision…just taking it one blog at a time.

Diary of a SAHM: A Descent into Momness

11/16/2016- I was going to create an entire new blog site for this SAHM saga, but then considered, just how many mom blogs can I create and then ignore? Might as well put them all together!

My new section, instead of the previous “Mama Blog” category, will be The SAHM Diary. I chronicled my IVF and pregnancy to keep my sanity while immersing myself in something crazy. I figure I probably am going to need something like that again as I navigate this new Stay at Home Mom (SAHM) stuff.

3PM Wednesday

Friday will be my son’s last day of daycare. I’ve decided to close my boutique and website I’ve run for 11 years and become a stay-at-home mom (SAHM.)
Who knows when I’ll have another midweek 3PM quiet house all to myself again? Just one of the things running through my brain.

That, along with, am I crazy? What am I thinking? Will I slowly go crazy? Will I ever get to go out again? What if I want a pedicure?

Then I remind myself that my son Keelan is 19 months and growing fast. It took 7 years of trying to conceive, fertility treatments, praying, voodoo (j/k), just to get him here. Why am I still working non-stop just to pay someone else to raise him? I won’t get this chance again.

So, I figure now is the time to embrace my inner domestic goddess. Mom it up. Mom it out. Go full mom on this thing. Just mom the hell out of it.
And I thought it might be fun to chronicle the whole…decent into momness.

11/17/2016

Went for a leisurely sushi and sake excursion with the husband, in the middle of the afternoon while the baby was in daycare, just because we could…one last time. (at least before a babysitter is required)

Because leisurely meals and toddlers do not go well together. They really don’t even exist. It’s a lot of shoving food in your mouth hole while you take turns entertaining your toddler table tyrant. It was lovely and I will remember it fondly.

11/18/2016

The day is here! It was bittersweet as we said our goodbyes. His daycare and the people there were really great. We will miss them. I’m sure there are some days I will be crying to get them back. But I’m also very excited to get this new chapter started.

SAHM Day 1

11/19/2016 – Day 1 Since our first SAHM day was a Saturday, it hasn’t really sunken in. He’d be home all day with me anyway. Sean had to work all weekend, so it was just us two.

We actually had a really great day. Went to Toys R’ Us and then lunch at Arby’s. I thought I was winning at lunch, and he was eating a lot of roast beef until we got up to leave and I found it all on the floor.

I did try out a booster seat instead of highchair for the first time and I think he enjoyed being at the table next to me. Now if I could just get him to eat something besides Puffs, I’d be feeling a little more successful at the good mom thing.

He took a good nap (yay!) and then we went for a long walk where I connected with a couple other SAHM’s in the neighborhood and made sure they knew I was joining the club. We are going to need to plan some activities.

Decided to push my luck a bit and do a quick grocery run. Got lucky and scored the racecar cart. Everything is better in a racecar. I kept things realistic by running down the aisles and tossing things in the cart so we made pretty good time.

Home in time for a good dinner (that went on the floor and in his lap) and then a nice bath (followed by naked cavorting and vehement diaper refusal).
All in all…a very good day!

The Realization Sinks in, Day 2

11/20/2016 – Day 2 DEAR GOD, WHAT HAVE I DONE?!?!?!?!
OK, it’s not really that bad. But it is sinking in that my days will be radically different. We just have to find our groove.

I did discover that cheesy sweet potato mac is delicious. I mean, it made Keelan cry and half went on the ground and in his pants. But the part I salvaged and ate myself was delicious.

I also set-up the new category and finally posted my first entries. Looking forward to getting back into the writing groove as well.

Diary of a SAHM – Day 3

11/21/2016 – Going into Day 3 of my SAHM experience and I think my son is on a hunger strike. He doesn’t seem to like anything except grapes and oranges. Maybe he’s gone fruitarian?

I tried to bribe him with cheese puffs just to get something else in him and he crushed them in his baby hands like a tiny Hulk and threw them at the dogs.

Other than that, our day went well. I’m supposed to be reviewing this magic Sleepy Baby lightbulb but can’t find a lamp to use for it, so am failing miserably so far. It is supposed to help them go to sleep or go back to sleep if they wake up in the middle of the night. As with most moms, I’m willing to try anything that encourages sleep.

Looking forward to Thanksgiving with the family. Doing something a little different this year and going to my mom’s house for the first time since we’ve been married. A visit with mom is usually blog posting gold, lol.

Diary of a SAHM – Day…I already lost count

11/27/2016 – If you are going to start the stay-at-home-mom thing, I really recommend doing it around the holidays. There’s so much going on and family visiting, and visits to family, that you don’t even realize you’re deep in the SAHM trenches just yet. You have people around. I imagine weeks from now things will be different. Much different. Probably more like next week.

I have thrown myself into the “planning of things.” I joined a Facebook mom group that does lots of activities and a running club for military spouses called Stroller Warriors. And we already do My Gym every week. (it’s a kid’s gym thing)

In the middle of all this I’m still trying to close my website store. My last day open is Dec. 15th. And then I have to move out of my office and workshop and figure out how to work from home. Guess I really enjoy challenging myself!

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! I have a ton to be thankful for this year and should probably do a thoughtful post full of love and turkey but this is all I managed to fit in. Got to squeeze in renting X-Men Apocalypse tonight because I am horribly behind on all the new cool movies.

The Last of the SAHM Diaries

I think this was my last entry in this SAHM Diary series. After that, mom life swallowed me up and I didn’t even have time to document it.

I closed my store and found out working from home with a toddler was impossible. I did not get one of those kids that sits quietly and entertains themselves. I got one that was demanding 24-7. So, I totally closed my business and just threw myself into the SAHM thing.

Reading back through these entries, it’s clear I had no idea what I was taking on. I wrote a post a few years later, reflecting on my decision to become a stay-at-home-mom. It was not an easy path, but I’m still glad I chose it.

Wrapping Up My First Year Mom Blogging

I did have a few more posts after this, but some of those can stand on their own. If you got this far, thanks for reading my story.

While this post may not actually teach anyone how to blog, I think it shows how starting a mom blog can take time and you don’t have to get everything perfect all at once.

And at the very least, I enjoy being able to go back and read the posts so I can see how far I’ve come since that first post.

About the Author

Candy Keane is a digital content creator and long-time cosplayer, most well-known for being on the cover of the Star Wars documentary Jedi Junkies. After making costumes professionally for over a decade, she now writes about geek culture and mom life, and continues to cosplay for fun, while sharing her love of costumes on Instagram @SewGeekMama. Her first children’s book, I’m Going to My First Comic Convention, was published in 2020 and won a Story Monsters Approved award for Excellence in Literature.

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