Abby Gets Baptised!

On Saturday, September 3rd we (finally!) baptised Abby. In the Catholic faith it's tradition to baptise a child when they're an infant rather than when the child is older or asks to be baptised themselves. The belief is that this is the first formal step into a relationship with God and it's a covenant that the parents and Godparents make with God regarding the child to raise them (the child) with a belief in God. In other words, Nate and I made a promise to God that we would raise Abby with a belief in Him. Abby herself was anointed with blessed oil and water as her own symbol of becoming a member of Christ's church and having her soul physically marked with Christ's love.

I say finally because, with Nate not being Catholic, some Catholic things take a bit longer as Nate likes to digest them to fully understand what's being asked of him. I appreciate the fact that Nate doesn't blindly walk into things but wants to fully agree with what's being asked of him. We went to our baptism prep class the first week in July and then tried to figure out when our next available weekend would be for the baptism. Do you know that our next available weekend was Labor Day weekend? It's crazy how busy we are! I wasn't such a fan of the late date (Abby was almost 7 months old when she was baptised) but better late than never!

I had everything planned to a T. We would baptise Abby smack in the middle of her awake time so she'd be fully fed and alert and right after the baptism we'd head home, nurse, and put her to sleep. This would allow the adults to cook and eat lunch without a fussy, grabby baby and then when hands and arms were free Abby would be up and ready to play.

Instead, having family staying with us meant that Abby got WAY, WAY off schedule. This meant that we went to the church right as Abby wanted to go to sleep. Oy vey. But it also gave us some funny moments. One of which was Father Champeaux, who was so awesome talking over a crying baby, finally giving up on explaining the anointment steps of the ceremony to our audience and saying "Oh, it doesn't matter let's just move on" in his dead-pan way. Definitely looses the humor in the telling, but it was great. The second funny part was how much I sweated during the ceremony. And by sweating I mean SWEATING! I was warm going into the church, then got warmer holding Abby for pictures before the ceremony. Next I got nervous about holding up the ceremony when Father said it was time to get started and we weren't 100% ready. After that I got even warmer holding Abby during the service. It got to the point that I had beads of sweat running down my face and dropping onto my shirt. I kept trying to wipe my face but even Nate blowing air on my forehead didn't help. Of course, as soon as the whole deal is done and we're leaving the church I'm back to normal sweat and temperature. Just my life!

Overall, it was a perfect day for a baptism. I'm so happy that Abby has been formally united with God and I feel like a good Catholic momma. Now that Nate knows what's all involved with a baptism I hope that our next babies will be baptised much earlier!

Now for the onslaught of pictures!

Abby and I. Abby is in her baptismal gown that was made by Great-Grandma Junkin and has been worn by many of the Junkin (my mom's) side of the family. It was the gown I was baptised in. Her bonnet was made by her Great Auntie Sue for my baptism. I love the passing on of the family baptismal gown to my daughter! 

A better view of the gown and how tired my baby was.

Abby with her proud parents.

Abby with her Godparents. Her Godmother was my sister, Katie, and her Godfather was my dad, Doug.

My siblings (Katie and David) and my niece/Goddaughter (Haylee).

Father blessing Abby.

Father pouring the baptismal water of Abby's head. She's baptised!

Also note the wet ring around the neckline of my shirt. This isn't baby drool, it's my sweat! I told you I got hot. :-)

Holding the baptismal candle during a prayer for Abby. Saint Susanne was specifically mentioned as a baptismal Saint. So neat that she has a birthname Saint!

After her baptism with Father Champeaux.

Abby expressing her dislike of being kept up after her naptime as well as being hungry.

Abby's pretty cake.

Abby grabbing the cake frosting while I looking at my Mom taking the picture. I totally didn't notice this until she's already gotten a handful of icing!

Mmm. Yummy!

Abby smiling with Jerry Calvert (a family friend). She's much happier now that she's napped and had Mommy Milk.

The happy cousins.

The girls in my family. Me, Abby, Mom/Grandma (Tricia), Niece/Cousin Haylee, and Sister/Aunt/Godmother Katie.