Earlier this week I shared my top ten blog posts over on my other blog, so I decided to do the same over here.
Spending time reflecting on what’s working and what isn’t is so important when you run your own business. When you run a blog, your stats can really show you what’s resonating with your audience.
For instance, this year many readers found my post by searching about Angelman Syndrome on Google. As the momma to an eleven year old with this genetic disorder, I’ve written quite a bit about it. But, I never really thought about those posts driving traffic to this little site.
It’s definitely interesting to dive into stats and learn how I can best create content for the coming year. Some search terms have given me ideas for upcoming blog posts, and I’m working hard at getting my content calendar planned for the first quarter of 2018.
Until then, let’s end this year with a peek back at my top ten most popular blog posts published here on Maggie’s Milk in 2017.
And I’ll say, it was a bit of a challenge for me. You see, the majority of my popular posts were actually published in 2015 or 2016 (and a couple in 2014!). So I had to do quite a bit of scrolling to find the ones I actually wrote this year. The good news is, a lot of my content is evergreen! That’s good! 😀
10. Baby Bryson’s First Photo Shoot
Bryson Luke joined the family in February of 2017. He’s a pretty amazing blessing from this year!
When he was just over a month old, my husband set up his portable studio and we had a fun photo shoot. I shared some of my favorite pictures from that shoot in this post.
9. Important Truths from a Mom of a Child with a Sleeping Disorder
Having a child who doesn’t sleep well is a challenge! This post dives into handling the sheer exhaustion you experience after years of not sleeping through the night.
And if you’re a fellow mom of a child with a sleep disorder, just remember you aren’t alone! Sometimes that’s the most helpful thing I can remember.
8. Exploring Snow Creek Falls and Granite Falls
Here’s a fun travel post with some pictures from my talented husband!
We live in a beautiful part of the country, and we love exploring it as a family!
7. 7 Tips for Shopping Solo with Kids
When I go grocery shopping, I take several kids and go. I don’t like doing grocery shopping when my husband is home, because I really enjoy spending time with him!
But, solo shopping with a bunch of kids can be challenging at times. Thankfully, I have discovered a few tricks for keeping my sanity while shopping.
6. Alphabet Bible Stories: The A-Z List
Okay, so I really enjoy using this list of A-Z Bible stories to teach the alphabet to my younger kids. I planned on creating one post a week explaining the activities we did for each. But, that didn’t happen. I got through the first two and then just ran out of time to do the extra weekly post.
So, I’ve been taking pictures as we move through them, and someday I’ll blog about them. Until then, I’m just busy enjoying learning more about all these Bible stories with my kids!
5. Freshman Physics? A Review of Novare Science & Math
This one surprised me by making it into the top ten! I’ve written plenty of reviews on homeschool material, and it appears this one has done the best.
You can learn all about how my high school freshman tried (and enjoyed) physics last year even though physics is typically a senior class.
4. Hello Canyon Ridge Playset, Goodbye Old Garden
A guest post from my husband, I was excited to see this one in my top 10 list! I’m trying to convince him to write some more for me (and he has at least one other post in the works…).
A peek at our backyard after we did some major work on it this past summer. The kids love spending time out there now!
3. 2017-2018 Annual Meal Plan
I love our annual meal plan! It’s so nice to have breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack on auto-pilot. I don’t have to waste any time trying to figure out what we’ll be eating.
In this post, I outlined the meal plan for the current school year. I always update it in July, when we aren’t homeschooling. That way I have a little more time to plan and test new recipes.
Disclosure: This is an affiliate link. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission at no cost to you. Speaking of meal planning, if you’re interested in getting a ton of resources (including meal plans and shopping lists) for a great price, check out the Ultimate Healthy Meal Planning Bundle! But hurry, it’s only available for a limited time!
2. 5 Tips for Traveling with a Child with Angelman Syndrome
My family has been called to serve as missionaries to Missionary Acres. As a part of this journey, we will be doing a lot of traveling, while we raise support on deputation.
Honestly, the thought of doing a lot of travel with Owen scared me. Until another Angel mom told me about these amazing portable, enclosed beds. We bought one, and it’s been life changing!
We set up his bed, and he has a safe place to go and relax. He loves to snuggle inside it while watching a movie on his iPad!
This post shares some other tips we’ve learned about traveling with a child with Angelman Syndrome.
1. Raising a Child with Angelman Syndrome: 15 Struggles
In honor of Angelman Syndrome Awareness Day on 2/15, I published this post. It’s definitely more raw and real than most of my content. In it, I share 15 struggles I deal with raising a child with severe special needs.
Looking forward to 2018
That’s a wrap…my top ten most popular posts from the year.
I hope you and your family have an amazing close to 2017. I’m looking forward to 2018 and the adventures yet to be written about.
