Turn the Page

I've kept a journal or diary intermittently since I could pick up a pencil. A few weekends ago, my mom and sister found a trove of old notes and diaries I kept in middle school and high school, and they sent me texts mocking me for the silly things I wrote. It was half hilarious, half mortifying. My dad was appalled they read the diaries... I love my dad. 

When I found out I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to chronicle my pregnancy. I keep this blog, but of course some things are too personal for everyone to read in a public forum. I have a OhLife account that I try to respond to every day, and that is where I record my feelings, good and bad, about pregnancy and my life in general. I have been keeping my OhLife account for almost a year, and, just as everyone says, it's remarkable to go back and read what—and how—I thought about certain things, situations and people, including myself. What surprises me the most as I read through my life on OhLife is how near the past seems. Even if I've forgotten all of the details of that day, reading an entry from a year ago can quickly make me smile or rile me up if the day was frustrating. I think it is a really great free service, and the low, low expectations (you can write as little or as much as you want) encourage me to write every single day.

Source: piccsy.com via Karin on Pinterest

For the baby, I found a set of small journals, and I have decided to write a letter to him every night until he is born. I wanted to start this earlier, but I just started last night. I want him to know about Aaron and me and our life here before him, as well as what we believe and why we believe it. I am also going to use the journals to tell him stories from our lives, and I might drop in a few lines of "motherly advice," too. I hope one day he can look back at these journals and see how, even before he was born, we have prayed for him and wanted to do everything we could to the best of our abilities for him. My hands haven't cramped in a long time, but they did as I was writing last night. I don't know if he will ever appreciate it, and I don't know if that is the point, either. One day he will receive them and be free to do whatever he 

wants with them. I hope they are a treasure to him.

Obviously I don't blog every night, and some night I don't record an entry in OhLife, either. Three different avenues: one for everyone, one for just me, and one for baby, may seem a little overkill, but it works for me!