3 Months!

Last week Rhodri became 3 months old. Honestly though, it feels much longer than that. Still, I can't help but feel a little desperate to keep him little. I know that the moment I blink he's going to be 18 and graduating from High School. Well, I took a few pictures of us last week on my phone, so here are his 3 months pictures:

And...

And the last one...

Unexpected

I never would have expected that being a mom would bring me not just happiness, by also other blessings like finding my voice again. It's been years since I really spent a lot of time in the world of music, and now with Rhodri being such a fan of my singing voice, I find myself singing to him for hours. It has the same effect as if I were practicing back when I was taking lessons. My voice is fuller, and singing has become almost as comfortable as it used to be when it was all I ever did with my life. 


Rhodri is such a good listener. He never complains. I decided to start get back into writing my own stuff again, and while I was in my zone Rhodri simply listened and added his little coos of approval every now and then. When I looked at the clock it had been over an hour. I hope that he will continue to be this great, and that maybe he will have the same love of music as he gets older.

Response to Feedback

I'm posting this as a new blog so that this actually gets seen. I had some response from people about this post: http://ispeakmusik.blogspot.com/2012/05/is-this-real.html While the people who read it decided to comment not directly to me, but to someone else, I am responding here.


I think it's important to point out that I am in no way racist, but I don't believe in being politically correct either. I think that political correctness teaches us to stifle our curiosity of things that are different from us, therefore we ask less questions and remain ignorant of the things that make people of other cultures and upbringings unique and pride-worthy. If I hadn't pointed out all the diversity in that moment, then how could anyone fully understand the entire situation and how, to me, the moment belongs on a sit-com? TV networks try and fit in every minority they possibly can in each and every episode so as not to come off as prejudiced. If you think it's wrong of me to point it out, then I have to disagree with you. I'm not offended by things that are different from me. I enjoy diversity and culture, and simply wanted to share a funny moment in my life.


I will not be removing my post as it is the reality of my life. I'm not going to apologize because there is nothing to apologize for. I will always speak bluntly because I am not ashamed of my family and how things are.


If anyone would like to discuss this further, you are welcome to comment or send me a message.

A Little Sensitive

Tyson's Grandma told me a story once of when she took Tyson to church as a baby, and his shirt was dirty. When she made a comment about it, Tyson looked down at his shirt and started crying. That's when she knew he was going to be a sensitive guy.


Rhodri has been showing similar signs of sensitivity. Yesterday while I was playing with him, I stuck out my tongue and he grabbed it. I wasn't expecting it, and it made me laugh. But then I was having trouble stopping laughing. So, Rhodri made his confused pout and started to cry. 


He also cries every time Tyson sneezes, and I can't help myself because I find it funny every time. I am looking forward to more of his personality shining through.

Forgiveness

We all struggle with this at some point in our lives. Many of us never stop struggling with this one thing that has been asked of us to do. Whether it's forgiving ourselves, or those who have wronged us, or what I personally find the most challenging, forgiving those who have wronged the ones we love, Heavenly Father has made it clear that this is necessary for us to be able to be forgiven by Him.


I was once told that the word Forgive comes from the German word "Vorgeben". "Vor" meaning 'before' and "Geben" meaning 'given'. So in this sense "Vorgeben" means to have given before the Offense has ever even taken place. Imagine if we all lived by this definition of Forgiveness. We could cease to feel anger and resentment again. 


I think about Kindness and how this type of Forgiveness is like Kindness. Because being kind means not holding any kind of prejudgment towards others, being slow to anger, quick to help those in need, and smiling gratefully at those who help us with our daily tasks even if the help wasn't performed perfectly.


When others have wronged me, I often try to understand why they did what they did, so to more easily come to terms with it and move on to forgiveness. But there is an error in this kind of thinking, because a lot of times I can't come up with a 'Why'. My attempt at Sympathizing becomes the direct link to resentment as I start to think, "they must have done it to hurt me," Or "They're just too stupid for their own good and the world would be better off without them." Certainly,  not Christlike thoughts.


It's not my job to understand 'Why'. My job is to Forgive and Forget, and move on to making the world a better place by doing my best in all things.

Grocery store comedy

A few nights ago I sent Tyson out to go get some groceries. He was a little sleep deprived since he had been getting up around 4:30 a.m. for work and then he worked until about 7pm that particular night. I was originally going to go with him, but then decided it was getting too late to bring Rhodri out, so I made a list and figured Tyson wouldn't have too much trouble with it. Well, then 2 hours later he shows up with 10 bags of mostly juice plus some of the things on the list. Though as I was putting stuff away I noticed that instead of Soy milk, he got Almond milk. And there was also some green tea (which we definitely don't drink) with mango and pineapple, but when I asked about these things, he had no idea he had even grabbed them! I couldn't help it, I just started laughing.


He tried to explain himself by saying "I'm so tired! I was just trying to get out of there."


Lol. So, he grabbed 10 things of juice and it somehow took 2 hours to go to the store that is a 2 minute drive from our house.


Next time, I think I will just wait until I am able to go with him.

Music baby?

I have been singing to Rhodri since before he was born, and it seems that he thoroughly enjoys it most of the time. I even wrote him a little lullaby that I may be willing to record and post with a little encouragement. He Definitely recognizes when I'm singing his lullaby; he gets this look on his face of perfect contentment. It's as if he knows it is his song. 


The other day I started singing some classical music just to see what he thought of it, and a huge smile came on his face. He thinks it's funny. Yesterday I think he was trying to sing with me. I tried to record it, but I didn't catch much of it, as seems to always be my luck when it comes to him and cameras. Here's a clip of his little performance.