Aiden's Certificate of Life

I just have to say that I am so so very grateful for all the sweet BLM friends I have met along this journey. You all truly give me so much support at the times when I need it most. When I opened my e-mail yesterday my friend Fran completely surprised me with this amazing Certificate of Life for Aiden:

OMG I was in tears looking at it- it is so beautiful! She even added his cutie pie foot prints for me! What a great gift to receive to honor him and his 10 months in Heaven.

Aiden's Certificate of Life is on display on the Lost For Words card line website that Franchesca and Carly Marie have created. Yay! He's so special :) If you haven't checked out the website yet please stop over and take a look at their beautiful cards and Certificates of Life.

Thank you so much Fran! You are such a blessing to so many mamas!

xoxo

A Good Friend

It seems like lately there have been a lot of posts going around and e-mails/messages coming to (and from) me on the topic of friends. Friends who have been there through thick and thin (including the horrific tragedy of losing a child), friends who have disappeared off the face of the Earth after times get rough (times like when you lose a child) what makes a good friend vs a sucky friend, and just the general change in some friendships after the loss of a child.

Although I could go on about the topic of friends vs "friends" for a very long time (trust me I'll talk about it another day because I have lots to say) today I want to stray away from my normal baby loss discussion and talk just about friendship- good friendships. I guess to be more specific I want to talk about one of mom's best friends- a truly good friend.

Last night I got a call from my sister saying that Pat, my mom's long time friend, had passed away. My heart stopped for a second and I felt my breath slip away. I could not believe what I was hearing. How in the world was this possible? And then I stopped myself. Come on....I know how possible terrible tragedies are. Clearly.

Pat has been my mother's friend since before I can even remember. She's always been around. She is my baby sister's Godmother and has been to everything my sister and I have ever done- graduations, my wedding, baby showers, with my mom and I to buy my first car, my sister's sporting events, my debutante ball (yes people- I'm a Southern girl and I was a debutante :) Maybe I'll post a pic one day- ha!). Any emergency she could be counted on to help. Pretty much everything our family did Pat was there. I even remember the whole remodel on her house back when I was a teenager. When Nygel and I got married she let ALOT of my family stay in that house which was a life saver for us!

But she wasn't just there for my mom, me, and my sister. She loved my whole family. This lady checked on my grandmother more than some of my cousins do. When I called my granny last night to tell her what happened, she told me she had talked to Pat just 2 weeks ago. And that Pat told her how much fun her granddaughter was and how she was running to keep up with her. That breaks my heart......

Pat was a mother, a grandmother, a sister, a daughter, and a friend. Such a wonderful woman.

More than anything she was amazing friend- a best friend- to my mother. When I talked to my mom early this morning to see how she as doing she told me something I already knew. "Pat was more than a friend- she was family. She was like a sister to me."

I know Mummy and I am so very sorry she's gone........

In life we are blessed if we are able to find a friend that will be there for us no matter what. When things are good and when they are tragic- that friend is there. When you're laughing so hard your stomach hurts and when you are crying so hard you can't pick yourself up off the bathroom floor- that friend is still there. And it's ok because they pick you up off the floor and bring you food and force you to watch reality tv until you can't help but crack a smile. They are a friend.....a good friend.

I am so thankful that God blessed my mother with Pat. I am so happy that for almost all of her adult life she had someone she could trust and who loved her so much. I am so very happy she had such a good friend.

Thank you Pat for all you have been to our family. Thank you for loving my mother and loving us because of the fact that you loved her so much. I pray that my little Aiden gives you a stunning smile and a huge hug when you see him in Heaven. Give him a kiss from his mama and know I'm sending one to you too......xoxo

My Vacation

I have been a terrible blogger lately- so sorry guys! I have just been running around like crazy and I haven't had a chance to really sit at my computer for more than a few quick minutes at a time. But here I am and I'm going to try to catch you up on me :)

So last week I got to do something I really needed to do.....I took a vacation and visited with some of my dear BLM friends in Minnesota!

And it was great!

I spent 4 days visiting with some amazing moms who I am so very lucky to call my friends......Noah's mommy- Jenna, Julius' mommy- Tiffany, Stevie's mommy- Kristin, Ellie's mommy- Tiffany, and River's mommy- Deanna.

I can't tell you how nice it was to meet all of them in person. I already felt like I knew them all so well- now after my trip I ♥ them even more!!!!  Totally fabulous women!

Honestly before this trip I was getting very close to a breaking point. Lots of sadness, anger, regret.  Being able talk freely about Aiden was so great for me. I was able to share as much as I wanted without worrying that people might think I was "crazy, "bitter", or "someone who needed to get over it." They got it. They get me. It was really just what I needed.

Let me share my trip with you........

Saturday Tiffany and I got settled in our hotel and went to dinner with Jenna who was so sweet to pick us up from the airport and take us around all week. She is amazing!

On Sunday we had the chance to go to a brunch in honor of moms who had lost children or who have children with serious illnesses. This event was hosted by Chad Greenway who plays for Nygel's favorite NFL team- the Minnesota Vikings!

Table Centerpieces

   And we got some beautiful Vera Bradley bags! Yay! I love, love, love Vera Bradley and have a ton of her stuff already! I was super excited to get a new tote bag in the color I had been drooling over- Lemon Parfait!

We spent the rest of the afternoon making some lovely pottery. Everyone did so well with their pieces- I can't wait to get mine in the mail soon!

One of my pieces- a monkey for my little man!

We left pottery and got a little lost from each other! Ha! That's what happens when you have 3 cars!!! Here we are waiting on the rest of our group:

Jenna with her frozen drink :)

T & T

The we went to a cool spot called Cafeteria for dinner. I had the Thanksgiving Dinner special and it was quite tasty! And yes it was served on a cafeteria tray! HA!!!

Whew- it was a busy day! But great! 

The next day Tiffany and I hung out by ourselves for a little bit and I got some beautiful flower pics:

Then we got to visit Noah's special spot and take some lovely balloons for Noah, Aiden, and Julius. 

Of course one of Aiden's Balloons got stuck in a tree! It made it's way out slowly :)

One of Aiden's Balloons

And there were so many dragonflies everywhere- just beautiful! They were so many different colors of dragonflies but this gold one was one of my favorites!

We also got to meet Jenna's mom for lunch this day. She made us so much food! OMG we had chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad, pasta salad, watermelon, and a yummy banana and chocolate dessert. And Jenna's mom was just as sweet and lovely as Jenna :) So glad we got the chance to meet her!

My last day in Minnesota I got to go to a special Ellie's Light event.  It was a bowling night/silent auction and I was so happy to get to help with one of the events- the Balloon Pop. I was not the best balloon string person (yes it took me forever to tie the string to the balloons!) but I was able to do much better with the people popping the balloons and getting prizes!

Got all the balloons blown up and tied!

I got the chance to make some blocks for Ellie which were displayed at the Balloon Pop!

Jenna and Tiffany drawing names for door prizes- love that horse!

Tiffany manning the Balloon Pop in her cute Ellie's Light t-shirt!

The whole event was just amazing and I'm so glad I got to be there with Tiffany for her baby girl's lovely night! 

So that was my trip- really such a great time. I know there were some other things in between that I am probably leaving off this post but we really stayed busy the whole time- and I loved it! I came back very rested and happy! Thanks ladies for everything! Love you all!!!