Austin Moms Blog launched in October 2011 making us the 4th sister site to join the City Moms Blog Network. Today is our 3 year birthday and I can’t help but reflect on my life since co-founding AMB.

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Being new to blogging AND being a new mom, AMB has truly been a labor of love, passion, commitment, and in many ways, has been like having a 3rd baby. Starting AMB truly fell into my lap. As a stay at home mom, my family was my sole purpose and job so to speak. Blogging was simply a hobby, an outlet, and a way to stay connected to the outside world with my new role as mom. I remember vividly before our launch, begging and threatening our friends to like our Facebook page so that we could start spreading the news about the new mommy resource on the block. After a year or so of this so-called hobby, AMB really started growing, events were being planned, people were reading our content, liking our statuses, commenting, and the opportunity to make Austin Moms Blog the Austin mom resource powerhouse was becoming clear to me. I immediately shifted from stay at home mom/occasional blogger to stay at home/work from home/entrepreneur/losing my mind/owner of AMB.

There are joys, struggles, ups, and downs with being a mother, but at the end of the day, I am truly inspired by the moms who follow and share along with us in this journey of motherhood. Our team is honest, raw, and leaves no topic off the table. We are a team of 17 women, daughters, and moms. Some of us have only 4 children, some of us have 0, some were conceived through IVF, some were completely unplanned, some of us are single or divorced, some of us are married, some of us were born in the 80s, some of us were born in the 70s, some of us stay at home, and some of us work away from the home… but we all have 1 common denominator, one thing that binds us all together; we are moms through and through. Whether wanna-a-be, expecting, new, or veteran, raising children really does take a village and we are all in this journey together!

My top 3 reasons I love doing what I do and Austin Moms Blog!

  • Community: I have never felt more proud of any endeavor as I do as being the owner of Austin Moms Blog. Being a mom is my biggest achievement and celebrating in motherhood with thousands of other proud moms is truly a unique experience. Just the other day I was taking my son to an appointment and another mom I see once a month or so said, “you’re with Austin Moms Blog!!!… I saw it pop up in my newsfeed the other day and was like, hey I know her!” Not that I’m super special or famous here in Austin, but the point is, we are building a community of support one mom at a time!
  • Social: On average, I have at least a monthly excuse to get together with some pretty amazing women. Sometimes, it’s with my team and sometimes it’s with strangers, but by the end of the night, it’s always with friends. Bringing moms together in our community is what Austin Moms Blog is all about! Whether it’s online or off, I love love love the social aspect of AMB. There is no greater feeling than knowing we helped moms make a connection with other moms…we all know how hard it is to find other mom friends. It’s seriously worse than dating!
  • Flexible Schedule: There are times I feel like this working thing never shuts off, but truth be told, I take my kids to all school activities and doctor’s appointments, I find the time to squeeze in my grocery shopping, errand running, and an occasional lunch with a friend. I am STILL that same stay at home mom… just insanely busier. But the best part of this flex schedule? Everyone understands that we are moms FIRST and FOREMOST so if it takes a little longer to respond to an email or return a call, I can always pull my mom card.

I have some very proud moments as the owner of Austin Moms Blog.

Having been in business for 3 years TODAY, we have nearly 1200 posts that have published on Austin Moms Blog. We’ve talked about every topic under the sun, we’ve covered every major holiday, awareness day, week, or month, we’ve shared many joys and triumphs as well as sadness and loss. So to whittle down some favorites is definitely a challenge. But here are my top 3 as of lately!

  • Deciding on Divorce: Mom of 2, Katie announced her divorce on AMB. Katie’s post took a lot of courage and strength. It’s difficult to talk about the skeletons that are in our closets…especially in such a public way. Katie’s blog touched so many people. Not only did she help other moms that are potentially dealing with something similar feel a little less isolated, but it is my hope, that she also helped herself by being “purged” of the weight she had been carrying. Bravo to Katie.
  • My OneDay Has Arrived- I’m Pregnant: We talk a lot about being a mom, but as I’ve mentioned several of our “moms” haven’t actually given birth yet. Erin is one of them and when she joined our team, she was newly married with the burning desire to have a child. What a beautiful and joyous way to announce her pregnancy and I am so grateful she chose Austin Moms Blog as her platform to tell the world about her exciting news!
  • AMB Launches Membership: Over the past 3 years, AMB has been fortunate to work with some of the most amazing businesses both local and national. With access to so many contacts, Austin Moms Blog decided to launch a membership program giving card holders access to some pretty awesome perks and discounts. With at least 85 partners, memberships growing daily, and perks to all things AMB, we couldn’t be more proud of this venture.

I am only a teeny tiny part of Austin Moms Blog, but this opportunity has truly been life changing. From starting AMB with one of my closest friends and building a team of beautiful and strong women to bringing moms together and building a community of moms in Austin and beyond, I cannot think of any other experience that has been more rewarding and humbling than my time with Austin Moms Blog. Cheers, AMB… what a spectacular 3 years!

:: Are you ready to make an impact on your local mom community? Are you ready to join a passionate Network of moms? ::

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If you or someone you know might be interested in connecting moms in your community with us, jump at this opportunity to join CMBN with your own Sister Site by filling out our Start a Sister Site Information Form.

We are having tons of fun making a difference in our local mom communities and would love to share this experience with more moms around the country!

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