Walking Down Memory Lane

Memories are a funny thing, you know?  Depending on the mood, they can evoke feelings of happiness, sadness, elation, melancholy, you name it.  Well, a few nights before Brittany left to head back to college, I suggested to the girls that I open up my hope chest and we'd read some of the diaries I've kept since I was in the 5th grade.  I became particularly dedicated about keeping journals when I got pregnant with Brittany back in 1991. I have journals that tell about my 2 miscarriages and what we had to go through to conceive Abby. Of course, I've continued keeping journals all throughout their growing up years.

So, the three of us sat down on the floor of my bedroom and I gave each of the girls their own pile of journals. They both dove right in and began reading what I'd written about them.  Many things they didn't even remember happening, like when Abby had to pull a clip in first grade for talking in class or when she said I was a "bad mommy" at the ripe old at of 2.

                              

Brittany thought it was hilarious when she read where I described the night I went into labor with her and my water broke...it sounded like a cork shooting out of a champagne bottle!  Oh, and let us not forget the temper tantrum she threw in Target when she was about 4 years old because I refused to buy her a Barney book.  Hmm...maybe I was a rotten mommy, afterall!
 

One of the journals I picked up to read caught me completely off-guard. I had written about my second miscarriage and how I had miscarried in the middle of the night when Chris was out of town on business.  My mom and dad drove from Arkansas the next day to be with me and my mom shared with me that on the night I miscarried, she was awakened in the middle of the night by my voice calling out to her saying, "Mom!"  That was difficult to relive, but it goes to show the deep connection we had between us.

The girls and I shared a lot of laughs that night and, yes, even a few tears.  I think they're finally starting to realize how much of a treasure my journals will be to them one day.  They'll be a way of keeping the past alive, in their minds and in their hearts.

Stories From My Heart

There is something I've been wanting to do for quite some time...and I, finally, did it! You see, ever since I started blogging, I've been wanting to turn my blog into books for my girls. Well, for Valentine's Day this year, Chris said that would be his gift to me. Oh, I was so excited! Chris knows what a sentimental person I am!

It took me several hours to figure out exactly which posts I wanted to include in my "published" work. That was probably the most painstaking part of the entire process...everything else was fairly easy. Why, might you ask, was this so important to me? Well, I started keeping journals when I was in the 5th grade. I wasn't very consistent about it, however, until I reached high school. It's so much fun to go back and read what I wrote about my old boyfriends. Hmm...maybe I DID act a lot like Brittany at her age, after all! I wrote about the "horror" of having braces...which is what Abby is dealing with right now. Of course, I became almost "obsessed" with keeping journals when Chris and I were trying to conceive Brittany and Abby. I wrote about my journey to become a mom, including my two miscarriages and two years of secondary infertility. I wrote about the very day I learned I was pregnant with each of them...and it's continued up until now. I jotted down so many memories...first steps, first time they said, "mama", first time they slept through the night...ALL the firsts there are to experience as a parent. I wouldn't trade my journals for anything this whole world over because they contain my MEMORIES and they enable me to revisit them as often as I'd like. My intention is to give each of my girls all the journals I've kept for them over the years (and there are A LOT of them!) on the day they get married. I hope and pray they will treasure them and always know how much I loved and adored them. So, that's the reason I wanted to have a hard copy of all my blog posts...to pass it on to my girls, one day.

Here's the front of my blog books...I really love the heart background! I created Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 for the time being, but I plan to create Vol. 3 in the near future.


This shows one page of the Table of Contents.


Here's the dedication I wrote to my girls.


And here's the back cover. Isn't the little cupid in the lower left-hand corner just the cutest?

When I received my books and opened them up, I burst into tears. I'm such an emotional mess these days! I guess it made me realize just how fast time is marching by. I'm so happy I have these books to pass along to Brittany and Abby...the stories from my heart.♥

P.S. Since several of you asked, the company I used is Blog2Print. Just click on it and it should take you right there!

My Chest Full of Memories...

Way back in 1983, my mom and dad surprised me with a Lane hope chest for Christmas. I absolutely loved it and, over the years, it's been the place where I store many of my keepsakes. Abby, especially, loves looking through it with me. Just the other night, in fact, she wanted to take a peek at her baby book. So, we got it out and thumbed through it together...seems like just yesterday that she was born! We had such a fun time! I, however, quickly decided that I really needed to organize my hope chest a little. So, yesterday, that's exactly what I did. I'll share with you some of the things I have stored in it.

See...isn't it pretty? It sits right at the foot of our bed. All too often, it becomes a place to lay "stuff", but I'm trying to get better about that!

This is the name plate that Mom and Dad put on the inside...
Here's the girls' baby books, along with one of my favorite books that I read to them when they were little ..."Love You, Forever". These are the girls' handprints in plaster that they made for me (Abby's is on the left; Brittany's is on the right). I still get a little teary-eyed everytime I look at them....they're so small!
This book was sent to Brittany from one of my dear friends in Alabama, who happens to be her former Sunday school teacher. She sent it to her when my mom passed away and wrote the sweetest note telling her she understood what it was to lose a grandmother at an early age...it had happened to her. The note is tucked inside the cover of the book.

On each of my daughter's birthdays, I always write them a letter telling them how much I love them, and I highlight some of the things that have happened in the past year. Abby has 12 of them; Brittany has 16.
I began keeping journals in the 5th grade. The gold one on the top right is the first I ever had. I sort of skipped a few years, then started it back up in high school. I wasn't real consistent about keeping them in college, but I did my best. These are my personal journals about my own life.

Then, when Chris and I started trying to have a baby a couple of years after we married, I kept a journal about my "journey" from finding out I was pregnant, all throughout my pregnancy, to when Brittany was finally born. I did the same thing for Abby and, also, wrote about the two miscarriages I suffered between their births. Once Brittany arrived, I kept on writing and never really stopped. Here's the pile of journals I've kept on just the girls. Each one of them has their own journals I've written and I'm about to complete two more to add to the collection. I enjoy reading over them because they bring back lots of memories I would have, otherwise, forgotten. Here's just some of the letters and cards I've received from family and friends over the years. I have more in my other hope chest that Chris made for me. The ones from my mom and dad really mean a lot to me since they're no longer here.
One thing I would have given anything for is if my mom had kept journals during her growing up years, and as a new wife and mother. I would love to have the opportunity to read her thoughts and dreams. I guess that's why I'm so motivated to leave this legacy of love for my daughters. I want them to be able to read what I feel and how I think. What makes me happy and what makes me sad? What my are my aspirations and things that inspire me?

My intention is to give Brittany and Abby the journals and letters I've been keeping for them on the day they get married. I hope it will be something they'll always cherish and serve as a reminder that they were deeply LOVED.

May your Wednesday be filled with wonderment!

Hugs and Blessings...