Monday, November 4, 2013

Abby's and Mia's Big Day

After some discussion of the pros and cons, Tom and I arranged to have Mia baptized on Abby's birthday. Although it would mean Abby having to share her day a little, we figured that she'd be too young to really be bothered by that. And, as it turned out, doubling the reasons to celebrate doubled the incentive for family to travel from many hours away to be a part of the girls' special day.

Apart from some unfortunate last-minute cancellations, the day went perfectly. After a breakfast of pumpkin scones for the birthday girl and showers all around, we managed to not only do some last-minute cleaning and planning (with the tireless help of Aunt Ali, Uncle Joe, and Nana in particular), but also to get ourselves organized and out-the-door on close to an ideal schedule.

We arrived at the church on time to discover that since Mia was the only baby being baptized that day, the priest scheduled to perform the sacrament was all too happy to hand over the reigns to my father. (We had initially been told that Mia would be last in the line of babies, and that during the course of the ceremony my father would be allowed to step in at the end to do a few of the rites.) He did a beautiful job, especially given that this is only the third baptism he's performed thus far, the first being for my nephew shortly after his ordination.

Mia was fairly well-tempered through the whole process, and didn't even whimper as the chrism was applied and the water poured . Even once we arrived at the house she did miraculously well considering the large number of relatively unfamiliar people, and saved her overstimulation-induced meltdown for the tail-end of the festivities. She even let me put her down for a short nap in Michael's room in the late afternoon, after he awoke from the much-needed nap that he consented to upon our return home from the church.

Abby was decked out like a princess in a crown made for her by Mei Mei, and played the part all day. Michael laid on the charm, Mia dialed up the cuteness, and merriment abounded amidst delicious food and the love of friends and family.

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day, or a better group of people to enjoy it with.












































* Big thanks to Mei Mei for the beautiful photos from the church.