Family Song

I have always loved music. Growing up my mom always listened to music. I have such fond memories of her blasting the stereo while cleaning the house, doing yard work, or doing the dishes after dinner. Whenever we went to the beach or the park we brought along our little "boom box" so we were always surrounded by music. My mom was always singing if music was playing. A few of her favorites: Anita Baker, Taylor Dayne, Heart, Connie Frances and of course Patsy Cline. She knew every word to every song. I always loved hearing her sing. She had such a beautiful voice, even as I write this, I can hear her singing. We would listen to the same albums and tapes over and over again and overtime, because of this, I have learned to love music in much the same way. I love dancing to it, singing it, and listening to it loud. I love listening to the same song over and over again until I learn the words. I will buy a CD and I can listen to it for months at a time, leave it in the CD player in the car and it will be all I listen to. Overtime, I will most likely be able to attach each song I listen to from that CD to a moment, a person, or a feeling I have had in my life. I would love to someday put together a CD, "The Soundtrack of our Life" for my kids. It would be another way for me to tell them my story, their story, our story; another way to express how much happiness and love they bring to my life! Ian is a lover of music too, its one of the many reasons that I fell in love with him. He brought new music into my life; new songs and new bands that brought along new moments, new memories and new meanings. There are so many songs that I listen to now that will take me back to a moment, a place, a conversation or a look between Ian and I. There are so many songs that express my love, my happiness and my beautiful life with him. All of these songs would be played on my soundtrack. Because of our love for music, we have always surrounded our kids with music. Shilo and Thatcher both rocked out to the tunes of Bob Marley, Neil Diamond, Ben Harper, Dave Matthews, Sarah McLachlan, Norah Jones and many many more while in mama's tummy. The music continued for them both once they entered into the world. Little to no TV and lots and lots of music. We dance a lot and we sing even more. Shilo now is at an age where she is requesting songs and even more so specific artists. Some of her favorites: Bob Marley (of course), The Heptones, Neil Diamond, Keith Urban, Dave Matthews, anything Classical and Paolo Nutini to name a few. She too will listen to the same song over and over and she will now ask me to "turn it up a notch" if its a favorite. While listening to music with her lately, I have noticed her concentrating more while listening to the words, not only trying to learn them so she can sing along but also trying to understand what they mean, trying to understand what story is being told. Shilo is doing what I do, she is listening and finding her own meaning and attaching herself to the songs. When I really realized that this is what she was doing was when we were driving to school one morning. She asked me to put "Dave" in and play the "You and Me Together" song. I put the CD in and selected track #13. The song started and Shilo listened carefully to the lyrics:

Wanna pack your bags, Something small
Take what you need and we disappear
Without a trace we'll be gone, gone
The moon and the stars can follow the car
and then when we get to the ocean
We gonna take a boat to the end of the world
All the way to the end of the world

Oh, and when the kids are old enough
We're gonna teach them to fly

You and me together, we could do anything, Baby
You and me together yes, yes

You and I, we're not tied to the ground
Not falling but rising like rolling around
Eyes closed above the rooftops
Eyes closed, we're gonna spin through the stars
Our arms wide as the sky
We gonna ride the blue all the way to the end of the world
To the end of the world

Oh, and when the kids are old enough
We're gonna teach them to fly

You and me together, we could do anything, Baby
You and me together yes, yes

We can always look back at what we did
All these memories of you and me baby
But right now it's you and me forever girl
And you know we could do better than anything that we did
You know that you and me, we could do anything

We sang together loudly until the song was over and when it was done Shilo said to me, "mama that is my favorite song and you know what else mama? Its our family song. That song is about you, me, dada and Thatcher and we do anything together!"

My little miss is a 25 year old in a 4 year olds body, she truly amazes me! I have a feeling that this was the first of many moments where a song will define a moment or a memory in her life and I look forward to watching her and Thatcher create the soundtracks of their lives.

The new man in my life

I am officially in love. Hands down, head over heels in love. Who is this new love in my life, this new man that has stolen my heart in a new way? The answer is easy, its my son! MY SON! I never thought I would utter those words, I was so certain that we were going to have another girl, we would forever be "team pink" Ian outnumbered by stubborn, independent strong willed women and me loving it yet dreading the teenage years. The years that will be here sooner than I am ready and it will be Ian and his girls teaming up against mama! We were all pretty sure that is what life was going to be for us so much so, Ian has perfected his "mother's/daughter's speech".

Well, I am gonna have to brush up on my father/son speech because nature had other plans for us and we have even teams now (with Dori in the middle playing referee) Ian has his princess and I have my prince. Thatcher Wallace Thomas born Monday December 7, 2009 at 8:20am. He was 7lbs 6oz 20" long, has a full head of dark hair and big beautiful blue eyes (that are still 6 weeks later very blue). He is beautiful, handsome, and perfect in every way just like his big sister Shilo.
Speaking of Shilo...talk about a girl in love. She is in love, LOVE, love with her brother. He is all she talks about. He is the first thing she asks for in the morning when she wakes up (she has forgone the milk for her big brother), he is the first thing she asks for when she gets home from school. She wants him to come everywhere with her shopping, swimming, walks, play dates, you name it and he has been there with her. I knew Shilo would be a great big sister, but seeing her love him, talk to him, hold him, cuddle him and embrace him has been such a beautiful thing to see. I hope that it's the beginning of a very long and beautiful friendship between brother and sister.

So there you have it. Its a boy and we are all in love. And we are embracing team blue! We will keep you all posted on how life unfolds for us with little Miss Shilo Valentine and mister Thatcher Wallace...let the adventure and fun begin!