Because we will be off celebrating the holidays with our families this next week, we leave you with a list of our top 12 blog posts of 2012. Some were chosen because they were so popular with our readers, others because they were our favorites. I’m also sharing a few photos that really helped define this past year for us.

Thanks for supporting outsidemom.com. Thanks for sharing, commenting and being so great! We hope you all have a happy and outdoor filled holiday season.

See you next year!

1. Ideas for outdoor dates with little kids

2. Going solo in the great outdoors… with kids

3. What do your children think you value?

4. DIY: Convert your bike trailer to ski trailer

5. Kids love plumbing

6. And then there were 3: Road bumps in the life of an outdoor family

7. Helping your child choose a science fair project

8. My camping style:  no fees, no toilets, no people

9. Rock climbing: Therapy for kids with ADHD

10. Giant slingshots:  Angry birds for the real world

11. The incredible haystack

12. Packing for a camping trip: Your ultimate guide

I know I’m technically taking this week off and all, but I had to share two things real quick that are somewhat time sensitive in nature, and that should be documented for posterity’s sake.

1. I got the following email a few days ago from outdoor blogging friend Amelia. She said:

Hi Lindsey, Checking emails real quick and saw the Chaco email with you nice and big and happy!  Congrats…

My first thought was “what is she talking about”? My second thought was “what does she mean by nice and big, did they somehow get a picture of me pregnant”?

I wrote her back admitting I had no idea what she was talking about, so she forwarded me an email from Chaco with this Mothers Day ad (right). Kinda weird to see yourself staring back at you, didn’t see that coming at all. Quite an honor however!

2. I was recently nominated for the Circle of Moms Top Outdoorsy Mom Blogs of 2012. I’m not sure how I got on the list, so thanks to whomever nominated me. It’s an honor to be among some really great bloggers.

If you want to vote for outsidemom.com, or any of the other cool mom blogs (you can vote for more than one) please do so here. There is no prize if you win, but the recognition for being near the top of the list would be nice (we’re currently #14). You can vote once every 24 hours until May 7th.

It’s been my intention for the last few months to take next week (April 30 – May 6) off from the blog in honor of Screen Free Week. Just so happens I now have another reason to take a brief hiatus.

Our little Viviann arrived about a week ago. The birth went quickly and beautifully. In fact I think choosing a name was almost harder than actually giving birth… almost. Everyone is doing really well. Her oldest brother paid her the highest compliment possible when he said “Mom, I think Viv’s even funer than R2” (his R2D2 robot). Little brother is still adjusting right along with the rest of us.

Happy Screen Free and I Had a Baby Week. See you all soon.

I like to think the story of how I became a Chaco Ambassador dates back to just past the turn of the century. The year was 2001. Y2K had proved a fluke–my computer still worked as it should.  The stock market hadn’t crashed.  Aliens hadn’t landed.  And I was more than a little disappointed. It was also my last semester of College.  My future, empty, and vast as a future without Y2K catastrophes, awaited.

I was planning a move to a little desert town in south-central Utah by the name of Escalante. I had landed a job on a research crew studying the native bee population in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. I knew the job involved a lot of hiking, backpacking, and observing in extremely hot weather, in a country replete with sand.  So I  purchased a brand new pair of Tevas (my sandal of choice since the late 80’s) to celebrate the occasion.

I packed up my ’85 Corolla with all my belongs.  My hope chest, a 20-gallon blue cooler, sat in the back, nestled between my trusty sleeping bag, a bag of clothes, and a water jug. I set my sparklingly clean new shoes on top of the car, under the kayak mounted on my homemade 2X4 roof rack. I ran into the house to bid adieu to my roommates. And I hit the road!

Somewhere around mile 14 something else hit the road. I saw a foreign object fly off the roof of my car and land smack dab in the middle of the highway. (more…)

**Giveaway has ended. Thanks for all those who participated!**

Yep. We made it. This blog has officially been alive for one year!  It all started with a post about minivans and a whole slew of people willing to share the site with their friends.

Do you know what the best part of this blog has been for me?  It’s provided a new way for me to ‘meet’ moms and dads who care as much about incorporating the outdoors into the lives of their children as I do.  I’ve learned so much from you folks, and enjoy every chance I get to interact with you.  We can’t thank you enough for being a part of this blog.

But before we get ahead of ourselves and talk about trivial things like $50 REI gift certificate giveaways, here are a few stats from our first year.

29,341 – # of individuals who visited our website

∞ – # of thanks we owe all the aforementioned visitors

136 – # of posts we published

1,349 – # of comments left by all you lovely visitors

1 – # of blessed, blessed blog-saving contributers

211 – # of times our most popular post (make your own hammock) was shared on facebook and twitter

252 – # of days I’ve spent pregnant

22,290 – # of times the video How to Turn your Minivan into an RV has been viewed

50 – # of dollars you could win to spend however you wish at REI

Please note that ‘smooth’ segue into our one year anniversary giveaway… (more…)

We’re starting a new feature on the blog. We’re thinking of calling it… Ask Outsidemom. Think of it as a Dear Abby column for the outside-enthused parent… except that we promise not to discuss which way to put the toilet paper in the holder (over the top), or your mother-in-law.

The thing is, we get emails every once in awhile with questions from parents. Questions about naps, outdoor cooking, tents, packing for hikes, etc. We love knowing the kinds of things you’re wondering about, or how we can best aid in you getting your little ones outside more.  You guys can help us gear this blog to your specifications.  We want to encourage these questions, because (truth be told) they actually end up being some of our favorites!

If ever you have a question, please don’t hesitate to ask. No matter how odd (shoot–I’m probably asking for it with that statement). We may not personally know the answer, but we have ways of finding out, and will likely even solicit the help of our readers from time to time.

So bring ’em on!  We’re very much looking forward to more of your questions! Just email us via the envelope icon on the side bar or send your email directly to ask@outsidemom.com.

Today’s post is a little different. There have been some exciting things afoot in the lives of the people who make outsidemom function. These new developments bring me such joy, I have to share. Please indulge me while I update you on happenings in our personal lives, so that if you’ve thought that perhaps we seemed distracted, reset assure we kind-of were.

TRAVIS
Outsidemom blog designer, tech crew, social media instigator, strategic adviser

You don’t ever really hear about Travis, but he’s my brother (and world’s greatest Uncle). I’d been thinking about this blog for years before it existed.  I’m 100% sure I would still be thinking about it if it wasn’t for Travis.  He designed it, got it working, helped me set up my facebook and twitter accounts, and fielded ten thousand questions as I took my first steps into the blogging world.

If, over the next year, my blog begins to falter, it’s because my brother has moved on to bigger and better things, but I couldn’t be prouder. Besides, when he’s rich and famous he can hire someone to fix all the weird things I’ve done to my blog trying to maintain it myself. His first single hit iTunes and his music video (shot in my old stomping grounds, so the scenery is fabulous) came out today. I’m not usually a country music fan, but one might say I’m a fan of Travis Marshall.

Did I mention I was proud? Oh, did I also mention he’s single… (more…)

I know there’s that little widget on the sidebar that lists “popular posts” but the number over there is based on page views..not necessarily OUR views. That build your own hammock one really took off!

There are a handful of posts from outsidemom.com we hope you didn’t miss in 2011. I guess you could say these are posts that defined the year for us, posts that define what we’re trying to accomplish with this blog, posts that we wish would have shown up on that side bar widget.

1. Outdoor teaching mistakes we make with our kids

2. I can do hard things

3. Become super mom, if just for an hour…

4. How do you ‘structure’ unstructured play?

5. The dreaded nap: How to have an outside life and a well rested child

6. How to encourage creativity: Embrace chaos

7. Teach anticipation and foresight: Plan a hike

8. Good things come to kids who wait

9. Ladybugs: College kid VS a 4-year-old

10. Supervision: Barrier to kids playing outside?

And here are our honorable mentions (a few of which did make the sidebar)… (more…)

With the new year coming and our one year anniversary on the horizon, we figure it’s a good time to make some changes here at outsidemom.com. Aside from slowly making the website more user friendly we also want to tweak our content a little. Problem is, we’re not really sure the best ways to tweak it.

Our goal is to better meet the needs of our audience, but because this is cyber space, we’re not really sure who our audience is.  Do you have blogs yourselves?  Are your children in high school?  Are you stay at home dads?  Cowgirls?  Retired gymnasts?  Aliens from outer space?  Our inquiring minds yearn to know you better.

This is where the favor comes in. We would be forever grateful if you would take a minute or two from your busy schedules to participate in a little survey. I promise it’s short (ten questions–just check the boxes).  It’s also anonymous, and the results will be extremely useful in guiding our content over the next year.

We appreciate every single one of you. Your comments, your enthusiasm and your patience with us as we stumble our way through the blogosphere. Thank you!

You can find the survey here. Did I mention it’s short…

You may not have known I was pregnant for several reasons.

Now to answer all the usual questions that come after making such an announcement.

1. How far along are you? Just made it past the 1/2 way mark. 21 weeks, due in April.
2. Do you know what your having? A girl. Yes, the most shocking phrase I’ve ever heard is “I don’t see a turtle”, which is apparently ultrasound tech lingo for: ‘you’re having a girl’.
3. How was the first trimester? Not that great. Should have known it was a girl.
4. What are you going to name her? Well, I’m glad you asked!

Because yes, now comes the task of naming this child, and just as we have with every child, the terms outdoor- and nature- themed baby names ends up in a google search. So I present to you a list of some such baby names we’ve come across, and of course you can go all Idaho and spell them however you want…

Also, what’d I miss? Any outdoorsy name suggestions I can add to the list? If so, leave them in the comments! (more…)