Family Road Trip

We embarked on our first family road trip on September 23, 2011. We drove 6 hours from Clarksville, TN to Gma and Papa's house in Columbus, GA. We stayed there one night and continued our trip the next day with a 4 hour drive to Mexico Beach, FL. Neither of you girls slept very well during the road trip. Charlie begged to get out every hour and a half to two hours. Olivia yelled until you finally fell asleep...for about 20 minutes and then it started all over.

Here is Charlotte trying hard to go to sleep with "nah nah and frawg".

We even tried letting you get out of the carseat and lie down on the floor of the van on a blanket. SO against the law these days but your daddy and I remembered stories of our parents putting us in the back of a station wagon with blankets. We figured if we survived, you would too.

Olivia was a spoiled little 3 month old and got held by me so she would go to sleep. Then I would put you back in the 5 point harness carseat and hope you kept sleeping. It worked....sometimes. Somehow you always seem to have a smile when you woke up. Here's a pic on the way home with Olivia sleeping sweetly and Charlotte's foot hanging out of her carseat. Your daddy was a trooper and drove the whole way while I hung out with you girls in the back, unless you were asleep. Then I snuck up and talked with your daddy.



You girls were amazing on our first family road trip. It was stressful at times but we had fun along the way. One sweet memory... We stopped at a Chick-Fil-A on the way home and your dad and I each had a girl in our arms. We laughed at how we used to look at parents overtaken with children and laugh. We are those parents now and LOVE it!

In the Moment

Having a new infant--no longer a newborn, *sigh*--reminds me to stop, soak in, and celebrate the small things I encounter everyday. I can think of something fantastical that happens each and every day. It's a perspective I choose instead of one that comes natural.

This evening, Olivia did not want to eat during what "should" have been a normal feeding time. Instead she smiled at me through the bottle. I was overjoyed at her smiles, gurgles, and coos. I am so thankful for the seemingly small moments that I get to savor with these girls everyday.

Olivia, thank you for reminding me that schedules don't rule and to enjoy the moments before they pass me by.

My Workout Buddy

I joined a Crossfit gym about 7 weeks after Olivia was born. There is no childcare, which was a difficult change for me to make. However, I was doing crossfit workouts at the YMCA and just not seeing results. I needed more intensity and a change in my routine to continue the post-baby weightloss and body redemption. I didn't just want to get back to pre-pregnancy weight, I wanted to SEE huge results. Anyway, Charlotte loves the "new gym" because she actually gets to see me exercise and sometimes even do some of the workouts with me. Olivia just hangs out with the other babies in the "baby bucket corner". Charlotte loves to swing on the rings and is working on her abs by holding her legs out. This is a poor quality picture since it was taken with my phone.



Next, I had to do 40 sit-ups and Charlotte came over and sat on my feet. When I came up, she would bend over and crunch her abs too. Everyone at the gym was cracking up but didn't have a camera to take a picture. Luckily, she didn't get enough at the gym and asked to do some more sit-ups when we got home. I managed to get a shot using the timer on the camera.

I am loving having my girls more involved with exercising. Before, I dropped them off at the Y daycare and they played with other kids. While that was fun, I am hopeful to impact the girls' appreciation for health by seeing me exercise.

Peaceful Olivia

Olivia,

Thank you for giving me such a peaceful ending to my beautifully busy days. I sneak in your room for your last feeding and this is the satisfied face I get to look down upon.

What a way to end the day! I literally have to remind myself to not squeeze you too hard because you are so snuggly. Those cheeks are so kissably soft and I must give you a dozen before I force myself to lay you down.

I mean, seriously kid....it's a crime to be this cute! You found your fingers one night and now you comfort yourself back to sleep when you wake up. You began sleeping 12 hours straight at just 10 weeks! You are super baby!

I love you,

Mommy

You Do Love a Good Time

Ohhhh, Charlotte how you love a good swing! Your daddy fixed this swing up for you and you often point to it and say, "Daddy fix it". You call this game "Higher". I push you really hard and say, "Higher and higher and higher and higherrrrrrr". On the last "higher", you always scream out and then say, "I screaming"...like I didn't already know. You make me laugh out loud!

To Our Charlotte

Sweet Charlotte,

You are our first, our welcome to parenthood, our awakening, and our enlightenment. I have two years worth of memories that swim around in my mind that I deeply regret not getting down as they occured. I will do my best to highlight those which stand out, but please excuse the intruding Charlotte Memory from years past if it creeps into present-day blogs. 

"She laid on my chest and her breathing filled me to almost beyond what I could hold". That captures the way I felt when I first met you in the hospital in Dothan, Alabama. 

It felt like we meandered through the first few months, soaking in the tiny miracles you performed each day. Your first smile melted your dad's heart, as well as mine. He found that touching your lips made you smile, and continued to do it over and over just to get another grin from you.

While your daddy was finishing his Captains Career course, we enjoyed a slow-moving lifestyle at Ft. Rucker, in lower Alabama. I was finishing my Masters degree and wrote feverently while you slept so that I could enjoy your sweet company while you were awake. Soon your daddy graduated his class and got stationed at Ft. Campbell and we lived in Clarksville, TN.

We found a beautiful home with a huge backyard and knew it was perfect for our time here. You have so many firsts in this house. We worked on signing and finally around 9 months, you used the sign for "more" when I was feeding you. Your communication has blown your dad and I away ever since. Also around 9 months, you had mastered crawling and by 12 months you were taking your first steps.

So much happened in that first year that I don't think we were prepared for the changed we would be a part of in your second. I look at pictures when you were 1 to when you turned 2 and you're a different child!





In a mere twelve months, you grew from a happy baby and became a kid who loves her family and her dog. You learned to speak, problem solve, play, and formed an opinion. Charlotte, you're a proud artist, an attentive mommy, a loving big sister, a jewelry and heel expert, and bug hunter. You are everything your daddy and I could have imagined and so much more! I become choked up at any point in time when I think about how much God has blessed us with your creation. I am so excited to share our daily adventures with you one day when you ask what it was like growing up in our house. I thank God and your father for the ability and support that enables me to stay at home with you each and every day. I hope you never doubt the love we have for you.

Always Loving You,

Mommy

So much to catch up on.

So I've finally found an avenue to record what will someday be our family history. I reluctantly enter the world of blogging because of my longing for pages that can be touched. Sadly, I am a Generation Y kid who has terrible handwriting and whose thoughts flow smoothly through a keyboard and not on paper. Alas, a good friend, Becky Cullinan shared that blurb.com will import the data from our blog and I can create a family yearbook for us to flip through together. So here we are, The Clemmons Family....nearly 6 years of marriage, third state of residence, one dog, one cat (minus that cat), and plus two beautiful little girls. Here we go...