Baptism story

I suppose I should write about the baptism...put a story to the pictures.

The forecast all week was rain all weekend. Luckily, as always, the forecast was dead wrong. We woke up to a beautiful sunny day and it stayed like that all day. My parents had a brunch at their house before the ceremony that was very nice. Mimosas, french toast, eggs, danish. The best part was the mimosas :-)

When we got to their house it was time to feed the babies. Chris was dressed in a navy suit and I in a black dress. I figured since his suit costs more to dry clean it would be smarter for me to feed Jackson. Normally Jackson drinks half the bottle, burps/spits up a good amount but it's a controllable amount. This time (of course) he wouldn't burp half way through, or 3/4 through, or even at the end. Just when I least expected it he burped and spit up what seemed like half the bottle...way too much to control. It went all over the side and front of my dress and all over my mother's chair. I knew it wasn't his fault but I was SO mad. If he had just burped half way through it wouldn't have been all over everything. Formula on black isn't easy to clean up. Basically I had to soak my dress with water and walk around in a wet dress. It was too close to the ceremony to throw the dress in the laundry.

Anyway it was nice to spend time with my family before the baptism and my parents did a great job with the gathering.

When we got to the church we got the kids dressed in their gowns and made our way to the pew. We were right in the front row which I thought was very special. Our kids were the best behaved babies out of the 6 that were there. They didn't make a peep (Madison mostly slept) until the Deacon (more on that later) SOAKED Jackson's head with water. He let out a huge cry but by the time I handed him to someone he was done. Poor Madison was sound asleep when she got her head slpashed with water so she let out a cry too but was also done as soon as I handed her to someone.

At the beginning of the ceremony when the Deacon started to introduce himself all I could hear in back of me was the whispers (or what they thought were whispers) of Chris's grandmothers saying "why isn't there a priest???". They were horrified. The Deacon did a great job and I was very happy with him and the ceremony. He even blessed the beautiful cross that Rachael bought for Madison.

I am not Catholic but I was baptized Catholic. My parents obviously didn't follow through on their "Promise" of that day back in 1973...no sunday school, no first communion, no confirmation. In a way it was good because I feel like I was able to learn about religion on my own and figure out what *I* believed not what my family wanted me to believe. Basically until 1997 I didn't believe in anything...just focused on believing in myself and relying on myself. Eventually I learned to pray and be thankful of Jesus for everything I had in my life. The past 4 years were full of my prayers to bless Chris and I with a healthy family...for my "sunny someday" to come. Well, it has come and it makes me happier than I ever imagined. I love my children so much it makes me cry when I think about it. So during the ceremony I felt like I was personally thanking Jesus for answering my prayers. I know our family wasn't randomly placed together. The two eggs that became Madison and Jackson were chosen for a reason and I know that deep in my heart. They are more special than I ever could have imagined.

After the ceremony we stayed at the church and took lots of pictures then headed to Chris's parents' house. My mom made delicious lasagna and fruit salad. Eileen got chicken, broccoli, and ziti which is Chris's favorite! And we had rollup sandwiches, cake and cookies. Lots of people came to celebrate with us and Madison and Jackson got some very nice and generous gifts. We need to open a bank account for them now!