A great place to be...

This morning, I am still taken back by the beautifully touching birthday my family planned for me this year. Not only was it 11/11/11 but it was also a birthday for which I was more aware of how grateful I was for having it, being here and having the opportunity to embrace a healthier, more full life going forward. Since my heart attack...few moments seem to escape me as I am hell bent on seeing them, living them, embracing them and making them. Before I arrived in that hopeful emotional place, I struggled trying to figure out why, what for and why me! I am glad I am no longer in that place. I am thankful for my patient and loving family who helped me work through my fears, struggles, stresses and emotions during that time. I have the greatest friends and family who have continually been checking in on me to keep me close, and show me their love, support and encouragement. My mother was home with me for two weeks, and barely left my side ensuring that things were easier for me, seamless, on track and adaptable before she could even leave to go back home, and even then had a hard time doing it.  She is such a rock, and she always steps in when I really need her to make sure I can again be my own rock before she will leave my side. 

This year...I had the most beautiful and touching birthday I have ever had in my entire life! First...my Mom gave me a Pandora bracelet with charms that She, Tara, Beth, Todd, Emily, Molly, and Ron had a part in picking out. My Mom gave me a heart charm (that she actually got BEFORE my heart attack) that has two hearts on it. She said the bigger heart was hers, and the small heart inside was mine because my heart would forever be in hers. {tissues please).  She also gave me a charm with Braydens birthstones on it, one with my own birthstone, a guardian angel, and a snowman.  I will forever cherish this piece of jewelry as I continue to build a mini-life story on it of my experiences and life.  What a perfectly thoughtful gift.

I took Friday (bday) off of work to relax, take it easy, recoup after my first week back at work, and to enjoy this beautiful birthday my family had been planning for me.
So...my husband and family have been secretly planning my birthday for awhile now. Ron was making plans, then changing them, or making them just to keep me off track...but either way...they made my birthday so wonderfully beautiful this year I can hardly find words to describe how happy this day made my heart. That is a great place to be.

First thing in the morning, Brayden snuggled up to my back and reached his chubby little arm around my neck while patting my face as he sweetly said "you gotta wake up now Mommy, it's your birthday today".  I woke up with an instant smile on face, while feeling SO so grateful that I was being loved by this beautiful little guy that means the world to me!!!  That made my top moments in life list. So, we got up and moving since we knew that Todd, Beth and Emily and Molly were on the way over to deliver a homemade breakfast to my house!!!  They brought a healthy, low cholesterol Egg Beaters quiche over with toast, smart butter, and orange juice!!!  They quiche was DELICIOUS!!!  The girls even picked out snowflake plates and napkins for me since it was also the first snow of the season that day!  Everything was perfect, and special-especially my purple princess tiara they gave me to wear for the day!!! I loved enjoying the morning.  I loved watching Brayden play with everyone.  I loved that he was so happy too!  I loved that they thought of every little detail to make my morning that much more special.  They didn't miss a thing.  It was perfect.

Shortly after Todd and the girls left, Beth agreed to be my shopping buddy for the afternoon!  She awesomely took Brayden in her cart for the trip for me.  It was bliss shopping without having to concentrate on anything but shopping.  I haven't had the opportunity to do that in a long time, so it was very very nice.  Beth and I had so much fun digging for treasures at Mr. Salvages going out of business sale!!!  We stayed for quite a while.  Probably longer than most normal people...but you seriously have to DIG for the good stuff and that takes time!!!  I know this all sounds as fun as going gun shopping with a husband, but trust me...when everything is 75% off in the entire store...what could not be fun about that!!!  I spent $30 bucks and had tons of great things at the end of our excursion!  Not surprisingly...Beth had more than I did...and I say not surprisingly because every time I shop with Brayden, I tend to put more in the cart than I had planned too because its easier to just keep that cart moving to keep him happy and I take far much less time contemplating purchases.  Sorry Bether! 

After arriving back home later in the afternoon, it was time to just relax for awhile, play with my peanut who was oh so tolerant shopping all day, and just chill out.  Since the house was all clean, I got on facebook!  I was overwhelmed with the amount of friends and family that had wished me a Happy Birthday!  It was a sweet moment of amazement.  My Mom wrote a great post to me that I will never forget!  For years she has teased me because of my lucky birth numbers-and my lack of luck!!!  She has always questioned that irony and with every new un-lucky life event of mine...she tends to come back to wondering why I was born with such interesting birth statistics, and such a high storage of un-luck!  Well...she wrote all of these sweet comments about me and then wrote..."For years I wondered why you have been so unlucky,  but today it dawned on me that since the day you were born...I am the lucky one!".  What a beautiful thing to say to me!  I am so grateful to have a mother like her.  She is amazingly kind, smart and loving.  She is fiercely devoted to her family, and is one of those women who is full of genuine kindness and moxy!  She is a true lady! There isn't one quality about her that I don't adore. I am so so grateful. I have some of the very best friends and family out there. 

Soon, Ron got home from work, and we chatted about my day so far!  He acted pleased that I was having such a great day, but also like he knew all along what kind of day I was going to have long before it arrived!  I knew he had been scheming with my family for awhile now, but I really had NO idea how special this whole day would turn out!!!

Later, Ron's sister came over with my nephew, and my brother in law to see me on my birthday! Little Marion and Brayden had a "drum off" together, and Bray was following Marions every move on the drums (with his tongue out the entire time!). We watched Jeff Dunham and peanut (my fav comedian) and laughed in hysterics!!!  Brayden loves them too! They all gave me a gift certificate to Panache Salon to get pampered with a pedicure. Oh, how I can't wait to use that!

After they left, it was time to start getting ready for dinner.  Ron made dinner reservations at Forte' with Todd, Beth, Emily, Molly, and Brayden. We parked about a block away and as we were walking turning the corner onto 3rd street I was just enjoying taking in the snow touched town all lit up with Christmas lights when out of nowhere Kyle Gustafson (friend of the family who is a great musician) was at the top of the parking ramp playing Happy Birthday on his trumpet for me! My family turned around to look at me and their smiles were beautiful. They were giggling, clapping, hugging me as I smiled, giggled and cried...then cheers ensued. People passing by stopped in their tracks to listen. The trumpet was crisp and spot on tune and the sound just echoed off of the buildings. It was beautiful.  Every sense I have was working to take in this moment.  The smell of the crisp cold air, seeing the emotions on my families faces, hearing the trumpet play, and hugging people I love with all of my heart...it was an amazing and {poorly defined by words} feeling. I was totally serenaded with love.  What a great place to be!
Just when I thought the night was almost over...we walked into Forte.  What a great restaurant.  The smell was tempting, the lighting and atmosphere was intimate, and our table was private and in the perfect spot in the restaurant.  Not to mention that I knew the food there was DELICIOUS!!! The anticipation was killing me...I was starving. We begged Kyle to stay and have dinner with us and thankfully he happily obliged. We all talked, giggled, and just enjoyed each other. It felt warm. Todd, Beth and the girls then showed me what they had been up too this afternoon while Beth and I were on our bargain sabbatical!  They had all driven up to Chautauqua Institution to video tape the bell tower (my favorite place) ringing at exactly 1:00pm...my birth time. Right after the one tone for 1:00, the gloomy sky at the beginning of the video amazingly lit up with sunshine. It could not have been more perfect. I loved how thoughtful that video and the planning of doing that for me was! I was awestruck. It gave me goosebumps.  It made me teary. I loved it.  At that point in the night, I sat back quietly observing my family sitting around me.  I was taking mental pictures in my head so I would never forget this night, this feeling, and this moment.  I am so blessed.  I am so happy I have the family I have, the friends I have and the life I have.  It was again...perfect. Soon we got our bills and when my brother looked at his Forte bill, the amount on the receipt was $117. 71 which was awesome because I was born 11/11/77 at 1:00 and weighed 7lbs, 7 oz. and on 11/11/11 that was very cool. After we all took pictures of the bill we all prepared to leave to go back to the house for cake!

As they arrived at the house, they came in with arms full of gifts, gift bags, and energy!  Right when I thought the night was over...there were more surprises coming!  I could not believe it! I was overwhelmed with the feeling that they devoted a whole day to my birthday, being with me, and showering me with more love than I could believe I deserved!!! Todd, Beth and the girls made me a beautiful cake with flowers on it. Just before they handed me the cake, they gave me a lotto ticket they got for me!!! Let's face it...some gambling had to take place on this day with those birth numbers!!! Beth made my cake with only the white of eggs for me, and they remembered that my favorite cake is funfetti too! They all didn't miss a thing. They sang happy birthday to me again, and Brayden helped Mommy blow out the 7 candles.  We all sat at the table and again I was able to watch my family around me having fun, smiling, loving each other and being together, with me!  I got to open all of my gifts, and was taken back by the thoughtfulness of how perfect each and every gift was that I was given.  I was humbled by the cards that I was given...the words within will forever resonate in my mind and in my heart.  What a gift those were in an of themselves.

Soon...Todd asked what time it was...and it was 11:11, so everyone sang Happy Birthday to me again! I could not help but feeling throughout the entire day that I was so lucky, so blessed, and so loved. We finished the night off by watching another hysterical comedian with lots of giggles,  laughter and smiles as we were all comfy and together in my own very living room.  I felt this way all day long.  That feeling of overwhelming appreciation and love for my life, my family, and my friends. I love those kinds of moments.  The kind that become memories etched in your heart forever!  The kind of moments that never escape your memory.  The kind that motivate the genuine gratefulness for life that sometimes slips by.  I am the luckiest woman alive! It made my home and heart feel perfect and... That is a great place to be.

A Happy & {Grateful} Christmas...

{Please click directly on photos for enlarged view}

I should preface this by saying that Brayden was ALL the fun we had anticipated he would be this Christmas.  We prepped him prior to Christmas about Santa Claus, and continued to ask and probe him about what he wanted from Santa.  He seemed clueless about all of it at times, as we naturally expected from our little two year old.  We pressed ahead anyway ;-)

We told him Santa would bring him presents if he was a good boy, and all that Christmas jive.  A few times he told me he wanted "boots and dora" known better to Bray as "Boots and Bora"...but that is beside the point.  That was his normal response to us after he got used to the questions about what he wanted. 

Moving on...

Following my family tradition {and probably a million others tradition as well}...I did not put ANY gifts under the tree until after Bray was fast asleep.  Naturally the next morning...he was more than impressed with all the newfound things under the tree.  Yes, I know he did not know Santa actually brought them to him, but I DO know he KNEW they were NOT there the night before when he went to bed!

 I appreciate those little things-yes I do!

Christmas morning his first reaction was pure curiosity.  Then he looked at us and said "wow....presents!"  {woot woot!}  Yes baby-presents!!!  He was so excited unwrapping his toys, playing, pointing, giggling, stomping and unwrapping some more.  It took him over two hours to navigate through it all.  That was fine with us though.  We relished in the simple moment of happiness he was having.  We relished in our family time in our own home again.  We just sucked it all in.  It was really nice. 

He recieved some really neat gifts from everyone in our families.  Everyone knows him so well and picked out just the perfect gifts for him.  Thank you.

He spent much of his time lining up and categorizing his gifts.  He likes to do this.  He is quite good at it.  He is soooo type A and obsessive compulsive...poor kid.  He had a blast though. ;-)

He also lined up, and played with all of the bows from the presents.  Here he is as we dropped bows on him while telling him it was raining bows.

One very special gift was his Christmas ornament from Grandma Strong.  She always gets an ornament for each of her 7 Grandbabies every Christmas...and this year sent Brayden a neat little ornament that she said she HAD to get because it was so perfect for him, {among the many other awesome gifts she sent}...  A little drum, with metal drumsticks.  Here is a photo of Brayden and Daddy hanging it on the tree Christmas morning.  Beautiful.

I should mention that these jammies were C/o Grandma as well as the plaid little chair in the background too ;-)  Thank you Mom he loved everything! {so did we}.

It was a beautiful Christmas.  We spent time with family and friends, and felt very blessed, and loved.  What more can you ask for?

Well....perhaps some quiet in the near future... but since he recieved these for Christmas...I don't know that we will get that anytime soon. ;-)

He jammed out for hours Christmas Day, and has continued to do so.  This coupled with his guitar, microphone, tamborines, flute, and many other musical instruments he was given this year...it is going to be QUITE noisy around this Snow house.  That's okay though because that means we have the joy of seeing him react like this everyday...and who could'nt LOVE that?

Hope you and yours had a great Christmas, and that you have an even better New year! 

-The Snow Family.

Turkey Day 2009

I thought I would share some photos of our Thanksgiving this year. My brother Scott and  SIL Tara hosted the holidays at thier place.  We were able to visit with family we don't get to see very often.  It was nice.  Earlier the day before my mother actually let me cut her hair!  She has naturally curly hair and can NEVER get a stylist to cut her hair the exact way she wants it.  She is a bit picky.  She was also a tad demanding before I began the cut, and as I stood behind her staring at my brother Scott laughing at me shaking his head {as she was giving me "directions" on how to do this the RIGHT way}, I gently raised the scissors behind her head while looking at my brother and "pretend stabbed" her a few times.  Ha ha!  Yes I know...sick-but I had to share it.  A true Strong family fashionista holiday story. Thankfully...I KNOW how insanely picky my mother is about her hair so I took her advice, and cut it the way she demanded wanted. It turned out so well she is bummed that I cannot be there to do her hair ALL the time from now on.  

Who knew I could cut hair!

Here is the Momma below pictured with my SIL Tara {far left} and my cousin Candy.

Another fun moment of the day was picture time.  I am always the one running around with the camera taking photos.  We decided to do a girls photo shoot on the stairs.  We had some funny other photos I cannot post or I will be a dead woman, but needless to say-this one was a keeper. 

{Mom, Aunt Jo, myself, Candy and Tara}

I then chased the kiddos around and was able to wrangle them for a few short moments in this picture.  Brayden had so much fun playing with his cousins, and second cousins...he did not know what to do with himself.

 The attention and love he gets from all of them is just too precious.

{Casey, Kaiti and Brayden, Bailey & Nathan}

We all then spent some time on Skype with my cousin PJ and his wife Violaine {Vi} who live in Belgium.  She is from Belgium, so after they married-they headed there for awhile to live.  They are expecting their first baby, so it was nice to talk with them and discuss the up and coming Belgium-American Baby Brady!  They finally announced it to friends, so I can blog about it now...that wait felt like forever!

 Congrats Peej and Vi!

{PJ and Vi-photo taken a few months ago while they were in the states for a wedding}.

At this point Brayden was getting anxious for dinner.  Why I don't know because he refused to try the turkey, and ended up feasting on rolls dipped in ketchup.  He did take one bite of Tara's famous sweet potato casserole, but did not eat anymore of it.  He totally missed out, so I ate his serving for him....along with {two additional helpings} of it after that-but who's counting?

 Here is Brayden naturally being a ham...on turkey day.

The night ended with Brayden insisting on helping Grandma pack away the rest of the turkey.  He got to sit on the big boy stool at the island in the kitchen.  He thought this was very cool.  He requested "rackers" and happily ate a million crackers while observing "gamma".  It was very cute.

 I just loved the way his little chunky butt looked sitting on this stool all independent like.

All in all, it was a very nice Thanksgiving.  We rested, relaxed, and spent time with family eating some great food.  We browsed Black Friday ads, drank coffee, ate pie, got caught up on our life happenings, and just vegged.

 It was nice. 

Hoping you had a wonderful holiday as well!

-The Snow Family