Moving On....

As I just posted, it's come to my attention that some random foreign countries and locations have been viewing my blog repeatedly lately. Eric and I dont know anyone in Puerto Rico, Japan, or Australia, and while we know a few folks in Canada, there is no reason for them to be viewing our blog.  A few other locations in the United States have been viewing the blog and clicking on my pics.  I cant imagine why anyone would need or want to click to enlarge a picture of OUR child, especially strangers or people who are clearly not welcome in our lives, but the time has come for the blog to go private.
Unfortunately, Blogger's private blogs are only allowed a certain number of viewers who have to log in via email address and password. I have gone private before and had requests from well over the 100 person limit set by Blogger, and I felt bad so I made the blog public again. However, the fact is, there is nothing to see here folks. Just pictures of our little girl and our daily life. No need to let the whole world see how fun or boring we are on a regular basis. 
Dont get me wrong. I LOVE all the nice comments and the fact that Whitney has touched so many hearts, and admit that it does stink that a few bad apples and weird blog stalkers will ruin the fun, harmless stalking for everyone else. But I have to do what is safe and right for our little girl and our family and after a morning and afternoon spent reading responses to my previous post, Im realizing that most people who read here dont comment, so this little blog that I thought was being read by MAYBE 20 people, has apparently been read over 3,000 times in the last month, and I am half humbled and half freaked-the-heck-out!
Ive made the mistake of putting a lot of our family details out there for the world to see. Maybe I'll go private here and open up shop with some anonymity elsewhere, in a more secure location. I have this weird attachment to the katbass blogspot location, but it is a no-brainer to let it go and move on in privacy when I think things get even a litttttttle bit strange.
I think I had a lot of readers from our fertility days, which makes sense because I know I was always searching for support and success stories in other blogs about fertility.  Then, I think some of those folks followed us through our adoption process in hopes of a positive outcome.  That, too, makes sense to me, as I know I follow several blogs going through pregnancies or adoptions or even homeschooling, I want to see "how they end" or how they turn out.  But now that we arent in the midst of fertility treatments or adoptions or medical mysteries, there is truly no good reason to share "our story" with the entire population of the planet. If there was a surefire way to block IPs or to block entire countries where we dont know anyone personally, then I'd be open to those options. But until blogger invents those security options, we need to do what we can.
Blogging has helped me keep a nice, neat scrapbook for our family. I LOVE that Eric printed the entire blog for me for Christmas last year, and I love that we have a written record of our life before Whitney and as her parents.  But Im realizing that it really needs to be just for family and close friends (and even friends and family of close friends!). I appreciate the support and virtual hugs through the years, and wouldnt change anything for the world! Thanks so much for following and dont take it personally :) There are a few of you who will think this is directly related to you or something you said or did. Trust me. Its not. I just think its gone past the point of being a fun place to share our lives when people are randomly clicking on pictures of my kid. I have to wonder "are they saving them to their computers? why? what could they be doing with these pictures? why do they visit every.single.day? And why do they come through the same friend's blog every single day? Why is Whitney's life so interesting to people we've never met?"
Creepy.  Stalkers. Not cool. Im sure 99.9% are harmless girls like me, just looking for parenting ideas or entertainment while bored at work. But its the .1% that I dont know about or who arent willing to riase their hand and say "Im here!" that sorta worry a Mama.
So...after a nice, long chat with Eric and after talking with Whitney's birthparents and our own families, I have decided to lock it all up as tight as the internet allows, and continue blogging entirely selfishly and for ourselves alone. So thanks again for everything through the years! Dont be afraid to ask for permission to read in the future....but dont be hurt or angry if I have to say 'no' in order to make sure our family gets first dibs.
(Leaving this post up for a bit, to notify family and anyone who wants to know how/where to keep following.  Just leave a comment or email me and I'll keep you posted!)

*edited to add: if you have me on your blogroll, please delete me. Or if you see my blog linked on another blog, please let me know.