Dave and Emily Creason: Do I share too much?

I post a LOT of pictures and videos of Piper. I'm talking... A LOT. I have a slight obsession. I'm willing to admit this. If they had classes like AA or NA for an addiction to your child and sharing those cute moments that you wish everyone you loved was around to see... I probably wouldn't attend those classes. BUT I have had 2 family members tell me that I "share too much". Of course this is in "their opinion". The most recent "controversial" one was this picture:

Piper used the potty for the first time!!!

This picture I posted on my PRIVATE instagram account that is also linked to my PRIVATE facebook. The only picture on my instagram account if you're not someone I approve to see pictures is a picture of me on my wedding day. Also it should be noted that I have spent MANY hours to ensure my pictures/videos posts, virtually EVERYTHING I do on facebook/instagram/socialcam is 100% private. I have almost 400 "friends" on my facebook. And about 300 of them are family. Extended family, close family, family I rarely talk too but love to keep up on, 2nd and 3rd cousins, grandparents, brothers, sisters in law, brother in law, in laws, aunts/uncles in laws. I mean I have A LOT of family... OR even people I call my family. The rest of them. ALL but a very select few I was a missionary with, friends since high school, middle school, since I was 5, people I went to church with, kids I babysat (who by the way are old enough be married and have their own children... talk about feeling old!!!) etc...

These are all people I love and adore. Yes all almost 400 of them. But I have been thinking in great detail. Do I share too much? I think back to some of the more things I thought/think were/are humorous like that spot she constantly would go to and we couldn't keep her out of it, then figured out it was her "pooping spot"... was that too much to share? Or what about the milestones she passes, like when I shot a video of her in the bath (from the shoulders up) showing me 10... yes TEN of her bath toys that are all animals, and she knows them by name. She will pick up the correct animal when prompted. At 15 months I feel like that is AMAZING!! Or like today... I probably went a little nuts on the video posting because she's either dancing (her new thing and I love it!!) or she's chasing my mom's dog Sadie (because my dog Gunner... if you looked up the word "lazy" in the dictionary, his picture would take up the whole page... lol he just rolls over to his side when she tries to play with him.) and she is laughing harder than I've ever heard her laughing.

Pictures of her sweet moments reading a book, or sleeping in her crib w/ her feet sticking out. Looking out the window when Daddy goes to work, hugging on her "baby" that she calls out for every time she sees it. I can't get enough of her. I want to record every waking moment with her. I will sometimes stare at her, and see her make THE CUTEST or funniest face, and WISH I had my camera to share those precious moments. And after a lot of contemplating if my constant sharing of my daughter could remotely be offensive... I came to this conclusion:

If something were to EVER happen to me (heaven forbid), I want my daughter to know that I was a HUGE part of her life. If she ever once questions how much I love her, all she has to do is 1: read this blog, and 2: look at the HUNDREDS of pictures I have of her even in this short time she's lived on this earth. That I was proud of her. So proud I had to show her off. Even if it is a little over board. And I know there are those moms/dads who are allowed on my account that probably roll their eyes at every post/picture/video of Piper and think, "geez! She sure does talk a lot about her daughter!!" And quite honestly... I WANT people to think I share too much/talk too much about her because that means that I am there... I'm involved in her life. I do dang near EVERYTHING with her. The last thing I would want someone to think is, "does she ever take care of her kid?" "Is she ever there for the exciting moments?" (yes even the first time going potty moment!)

I love to look back on all of these photos. And looking at them... there is not 1 picture of Piper that I wish I hadn't posted, that she could possibly be embarrassed about later on in life. I plan on teaching my child to be secure not only about herself, but about everything that happened in her life. And say I'm wrong and she is embarrassed about the 1st time peeing in the potty picture. When she becomes a mom for the first time... she will understand. She will know just how exciting these first moments are, and how much fun it is to share w/ so many people you love and your phone won't let you text that many people at one time. I have put myself "in her shoes" and thought, "would this bother me if my mom posted something like this about me?" The answer has always been no.

Maybe it's because I am secure enough to know that my mom (who is the "photographer" in my immediate family) who took that many pictures of me loved me. I LOVE looking back at pictures of me. In the tub, in my jammies, when I would "do my own hair" and it looked like I was caught in a wind tunnel of barrettes and bows... When I fell out of my grandparents window and into some bushes and it looked like I'd gotten in a fight w/ a cat and the cat won... on my face... Or that time when I was 4 and I got the brilliant idea of going down a steep driveway on a skate board... on my stomach, and crashed into the curb chin first. I love those pictures!! I would have loved to see comments on how much others loved those photos too.

I love my baby girl. I will never apologize for that. I want to make sure she knows that. I am grateful for a day-in-age where we have the ability to share w/ our friends/family. I feel so blessed for this time of life where we have access to so many different ways of keeping up w/ friends and family who we would otherwise lose contact with. I love all of my friends/family, and I just want all of them to be in my life. So if you are one of the ones who is offended by the amount I share of my daughter please feel free to either delete my account from your view, or block the things you don't want to see. I enjoy every single one of my friends/family, but if the feeling isn't mutual, I would rather skin not crawl over the things I choose to say/do.

Now for lots of pictures!!