Why did you go private?

I have been meaning to put this out there to all of you, but work is INSANE right now. I am sure you all can relate to the busy seasons (wait - they are all busy now with a child) we have in our lives!

So, why did I go private? When I first started blogging many moons ago, I thought some of my blog friends were crazy for making their blogs "private". My original thought was, "hello, it's the www, anyone can find out information on you"... And that is still true, however, I can do my very best to not open myself, or Ellie, up to it more than I have to.

I never really knew who read my blog... I would occasionally get a comment here or there from real life friends, but I was guessing it was mostly my family and close friends that followed our blog. I then started seeing the little trackers pop up on people's pages and decided to put one on mine! WOW - didn't realize people outside of the southeast were reading much less outside the US! That bothered me a little, but not to the point of going private.

In August, I logged into my account and found that my blog had been taken down. I contacted Google thinking I had done something wrong and was informed my blog was being "hacked" by someone in South Korea... Scary. I quickly made the changes they suggested, and kept the thought of going private in my mind... My final decision was made a couple of weeks ago after I received several comments from people that I did not know (and live outside the US) referencing Ellie and personal events as if we were close friends. That freaked me out a little more than I was comfortable with so the reason I am now private!

I knew going private meant a lot of people wouldn't keep up with us anymore... I was surprised to know so many of you follow up and like to keep up with Ellie! I am very excited now knowing exactly who I am talking to.