The Saturday Sit-Down #47: Babies and Bathwater

Ahh. It’s Saturday. I love Saturdays. I hope you’re enjoying a festive one this mid-December weekend!

Today’s blogger is sweet sweet sweet. Once you start reading her writing, you’ll pick up on what a kind, adorable person she is. She and I have talked back and forth about random things the last few months as she got ready to launch her blog, so I’m excited to finally have her on here today. She has several things about her blog that make them unique from others that I’ve featured; Not only does her husband contribute, but she writes a good chunk about the Catholic faith too.

Meet Lucy! <3

Q: Hey Lucy! Please briefly introduce yourself in three sentences or less. 

A: Hi, Erica and Whimsical September readers!  I’m Lucy, a consumer of copious amounts of coffee, wannabe seamstress, and decent baker and cook.  This past summer I went from helping my now Mother-in-law run a custom sugar cookie business and being a preschool/preK aide and daycare teacher to staying home as a military wife to my high school sweetheart.  Our blog is a new project my husband and I started while getting married and moving half-way across the country (twice!) in the six months we have been married and has a little bit of everything!

Q: When and why did you start your blog?

A: We officially launched right after getting married this past June (2017).  It’s a brand new little baby blog.  My husband and I had bounced the idea around for awhile, and we took advantage of his graduation leave to kickstart it because, uh, tech stuff is not one of my talents so I needed (and continue to need) husband’s help in that area.  My “why” was pretty standard- I wanted a way to share our Army adventures with family and friends back home as well as connect with other Catholics and Christians across the country which turned into the world.  We’ve received a couple of emails from England and Ireland about our more faith-based posts which was really exciting!  

Q: I was reading a little bit on your site about where the title of your blog came from. I love the story and thought behind it. Would you mind sharing more about the title and why you named your blog Babies and Bathwater?

A:  There’s an old saying that goes something like, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater,” meaning you shouldn’t throw good things out with the bad.  I think there are many things in our culture right now that are essential and good while others are inessential and potentially harmful.  With much of our blog being about our faith, we thought this was a good title to sum up our posts about things that are good and bad in our culture.   

Q: What are some of your favorite topics to write about?

A: My side of the blog is categorized into Faith, Family, and Military Life.  Faith is probably my favorite because I get to learn more about the topics as I write them in most cases, but I’ve written a couple of posts on the Family side that I love too.  One is about my paternal Grandma and one is about my maternal great-grandma.  Both of these women are near and dear to my heart, and I loved writing about them. At first, I was trying to really narrow down the topics to a specific niche, and I couldn’t pick so the blog has a little of everything!

Q: Do you follow any kind of blogging schedule, or do you prefer to blog whenever inspiration strikes?

A:  Right now, I blog when inspiration strikes.  I had a schedule set to post at least one blog post per week, but then a move, adopting a puppy one week before getting married, doctors appointments, and settling in at our new posts happened and the blog took a backseat for a bit, but I hope to get back to a set schedule soon!

Q: As a newish blogger, what has surprised you about blogging, good and bad? What is harder or easier than you imagined?

A:  I’m an introvert to the core so I think hardest part about blogging, for me, is all of the criticism that you can receive by putting your life out there publicly.  I’ve done a lot of research on how to build an audience that is positive and makes being a blogger fun!  The plus side to putting yourself out there publicly is when people say they love what you wrote and/or that it helped them.  I was specifically very nervous about one particular post, and I posted and immediately took it down at least three times, but I was shocked at the amount of people who reached out afterwards and told me they could relate and loved it!  

Q: What’s unique about your blog compared to others that I’ve featured is that you have a tab for your husband’s writing! Great idea. How often does he contribute to the blog?

A: He contributes randomly here and there! I’ll try not to brag too much, but he is a truly talented writer.  He earned his Bachelor’s of Science in History, and he wanted a way post-college to continue to research and write so he isn’t too rusty if he decides to pursue graduate school someday.  

Q: You have some big things happening in your personal life! ☺ Care to share about what you’re getting ready for?

A:  *sitting here with a big goofy smile on my face* We are expecting a baby BOY on Mother’s Day 2018!  We wanted to start growing our family right away after getting married, and we are so overjoyed about this little one.  I grew up with younger boy cousins and a younger brother so I feel like I’m as well prepared for boy momming as I could be. I frequently have my morning coffee in my pajamas in his empty room and daydream about when I’ll get to go in there when he wakes up and start our day with books, playing, and, realistically, diapers! Ha! I’m so excited to be a mom.

Q: Where should new readers start on your site? 

A:  This has been my most popular post so far about how I decided to become a stay-at-home mom before I was officially a mom: https://www.babiesandbathwater.com/faith/2017/5/4/zsdtn7a9wfpfwjzu4lh9ouk8irj9u1

How my amazing MIL turned a snow day activity into a thriving LLC:

https://www.babiesandbathwater.com/family/2017/5/4/erdztgn4a2e75t1829j353kh08z93x

The throwback story of how my now-husband pulled off a surprise proposal (originally written for our wedding website and copied over to the blog):

https://www.babiesandbathwater.com/family/2017/5/11/the-wears-part-two-the-proposal

Q: Where can we connect with you on social media? 

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/babiesandbathwater/?eq=babies%20and%20bathwater&etslf=NaN

Instagram (my personal favorite): https://www.instagram.com/mrswear/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/babiesandbathwater/

And just for fun…

1. Pumpkin or apple pie? Apple, unless it is Thanksgiving Day. Then it’s pumpkin all the way.
2. America’s Got Talent or The Voice? America’s Got Talent! Huge fan!
3. Fireplace or fire pit? Fire pit! More people can fit around it and who doesn’t love s’mores?!
4. Dog or cat? Dog.  (Allergic to cats.)

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Thank you so much, Lucy!

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Is this your first time to Whimsical September? Welcome!

Hello! I’m Erica, the blogger behind Whimsical September. I created the “The Saturday Sit-Down” series in January 2017 as a way to give back to the blogging community and link readers with new bloggers whom they may share similar interests with. Click here to discover more bloggers that have been featured on “The Saturday Sit-Down”. I promise you – there’s some GREAT ones!

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