set apart

This morning, in front of family, friends, and our congregation, Elia was baptized and welcomed into the body of Christ. We as parents entered into a covenant, a promise to guide our daughter in her faith. As Christian parents, this is the most important promise we can make to our children and it's a big responsibility but one we take on happily.

We are so blessed that four generations of family was there to witness this special day.

One detail that made it even more special to me was Elia's baptismal gown. It was made with love by my maternal grandmother for my brother Matt's baptism in 1981 and used again, along with handmade booties and bonnet, at my and my other sibling's baptisms. Grandma J is no longer with us but it was wonderful to have her represented today.

You'll notice that the gown was also embroidered with love by my mother with our names and now Elia's too. It's such a special garment and I hope the tradition will continue with any future nieces, nephews, children, and grandchildren that we have.

Of course, any joyous occasion deserves a bit of celebrating so we had everyone over for a celebration luncheon following the service. An indoor summer picnic was just the thing.

 

What a happy day we had. Happy baptism day, Elia!

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. - Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV)

a touch of whimsy

When I was pregnant I spent a lot of time on a website called Pinterest. You might have heard of it. From nursery ideas to checklists of what to pack in my hospital bag, I looked to Pinterest for inspiration (or should I call it pinspiration?).

One idea that I loved and saw over and over again was a weekly or monthly picture of a baby as a way to track their growth. I loved some of the more simple ones but also found some that both Todd and I agreed were fun and kind of hilarious. The blog About Him + Her provided some of our favorites, including this gem:

I mean, a baby muscle man?  How darling is little Hyrum?

I still wanted something simple but Todd liked this style of photo so well that I was soon on board. We big aspirations to create similarly creative and whimsical scenes for Elia along with a set of simple photos in a chair like in yesterday's post.

For her scene photos so far she's been in a flower garden (May flowers), hung out with some bugs (June bug), and this month she has lemonade for sale.

Needless to say, we're having a lot of fun with this and look forward to having a year's worth of scenes to look back on.

To see all of Hyrum's monthly pictures, click here.

For more fun baby scenes visit Mila's Daydreams.

e turns three (months)

Elia is three months old today. 

She's starting to have favorite things. Right now there's a tie for favorite stuffed animal between Migue el Mono (sometimes we call him Charlie el Changuito) and Violet la Vaca. Today Violet's winning. Her face lights up when either is in the room.

She has a minor obsession with her hands and her mouth is constantly covered in bubbles when she's not busy chatting away. 

She started school this week and likes seeing the older kids run around. I can't wait to rush home to see this beautiful face every night.

Happy three months, Bug!

tios

As of tonight, Elia has met all of her aunts and uncles.

From Chicago, Salt Lake City, Denver, and Beijing, they've all made their way to Grand Rapids to meet our little lady.  Two aunts and four uncles - what a great set of tíos!  Maybe someday she'll be lucky enough to visit all of them in their hometowns but for now she's enjoying their visits and getting to know them.

heigh-ho

I cannot believe it is already time.  Twelve weeks have passed since my last day at work before Elia was born and today marked my first day back at work.

Yesterday, Elia and I spent hours snuggling on the couch.  She napped longer than she has in weeks, almost as if she knew that our daily time together was coming to a close.  Almost like she knew that spending the day curled up with her was the only way I could imagine spending my last day of leave. The day flew by too quickly and I could hardly believe at bedtime that I'd wake up and return to work, leaving the cozy little life we'd created over the past twelve weeks.

Le sigh.

(Todd says when you add "le" on the front of something it becomes French and therefore far more emphatic.)

Today I woke up with a heavy heart and got ready for work for the first time in three months.  I dropped Elia off at Grandma Joan's for the afternoon and basically ran out of the house in an attempt to stop the tears that were filling my eyes as I left. And then I got to work and someone kindly asked about the baby and the tears rushed back into my eyes.

Le sigh.

And then the day went on.  And more people asked about her and I told them I'd love to fill them in later, another day. And then I started to work and the heaviness on my heart started to lift, ever so slightly. And then the day ended and I got to see my baby girl again and that was good.

And we will do it again tomorrow.

I am thankful to have co-workers who warmly welcomed me back.  I am thankful that Elia will be well cared for while I am working both by my mother-in-law and the school she'll attend three days a week. I am thankful for a boss who is letting me take my time to work up to a full-time schedule and beyond thankful that I am only working partial days this week.

So back to work I go.  Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, heigh-ho, heigh-ho.

instafourth

We celebrated Independence Day as we have every year since we met, at the lake house with Todd's family.  Boating, fireworks, and this year, babies.  It's truly a lovely way to spend a holiday.

Here are my Instagram shots from our time at the lake.

And my very, very favorite...

Man, I love those two.  And liberty.  I hope you all had a wonderful Fourth!

You can follow me on Instagram, username: kathrynclaire.