la la lu

If you've been reading along with me for a while you may have picked up on the fact that we love music in our home! :) Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and has been the reason for and a part of many life changing events in my family's lives. If I had never played the violin, I never would have met my husband in the high school orchestra.  My twin sister met her husband while playing the piano in her college dorm. 

So you see, we believe in the power of music :)

Since the moment Everdeen was a tiny speck inside me, she has been exposed to music.  She would hear my singing and piano playing all day long in my Kindergarten class, hear her daddy playing his favorite Dylan songs on the guitar, and the obligatory prenatal Mozart blasting through the headphones stretched across my belly. 

When I was pregnant, I came across the song La la Lu that Darling sings in Lady and the Tramp. I have always thought that was such a beautiful lullaby and knew I wanted to sing it to my little girl. I would sing the lullaby any chance I got...on my way to work or in the shower...any time when it was just me and her.  On the night Everdeen was born, I remember holding my new, tiny, pink baby awkwardly in my arms...so carefully, like she might break. I was feeling overwhelmed being a new mother and had gotten very comfortable with having my baby safely inside of me. I looked over and saw Martin snoozing away on the fold out couch and the nurses had finally left us alone for a while. It was just Everdeen and I. I stroked her wrinkled fingers and held her close to my chest. I quietly began to sing our lullaby, realizing that nothing had really changed.  That the little one who had been in my belly was the same little one who I was finally getting to hold.  We already knew each other.  All she needed to hear was my voice...our song.

We want Everdeen to love music...except maybe the head banging screaming bands ;) I want her to use music to express herself, to help her heal when she feels sad, to help her celebrate, to become a daily soundtrack of her life. 

A couple weeks ago we brought home a piano (very much a dream come true!).  I love watching Everdeen stand on her tiny tip toes and play the keys.  I love coming home from work and releasing all the stress from the day through the music I play. Maybe someday music will take my sweet Everdeen on an incredible journey or allow her to meet someone special. Maybe it will put her in the right place at the right time like it did for me eleven years ago.