Thatcher's Baptism

We had one last baptism on Sunday. It was sort of surreal leading up to it, mainly my total and utter lack of preparation. It was the night before and I was trying to remember, do you pay the priest, do I buy the Godparent's presents, does the gown actually fit, what am I forgetting?? I did get the baptismal gown, that the other boys had worn, dry cleaned. Turns out it is actually white and my two dollar investment into dry cleaning it probably should have happened earlier.

 The other two boys were much smaller when they were baptized. Zane was only a little over a month old. Rowan was five months old, but still so tiny. Thatcher is seven months old and huge. Midway into the baptism ceremony it became clear to me why people have baby babies baptized. They don't weigh anything and sleep through the whole event. Thatcher is huge and isn't a big fan of being held for long periods of time. The baptism was after an hour long mass so he was pretty well done with it by the time it started.

 Thanks to my stupid RA, holding this big man was pretty painful so I missed most of what the priest was saying. Thatcher was playing with my locket with dad's picture in it. I'm sure Grandpa B had the best seat in the house. Seven years later it's still rings true that in every major event, every happy celebration, there is always a smidge of sadness because dad's not there.



 Here's T, fully freaking out leading up to the actual baptism. Praise God this was my third child, because I didn't care. I knew he'd be fine and everything would work out. I remember being really nervous with the other two that they'd cry or freak out during the ceremony. Thatcher, my most laid back child, of course would be the one to freak out. It's just comical with the third child.

  He put his little hands on his eyes the whole time, like "just get it over with people." Then after he was baptized he fell asleep. Nothing like being cleansed of original sin to lift a weight of your shoulders I guess. The priest was putting a hard sell down on one of the three boys being baptized becoming a priest. I didn't have the heart to tell him that he's probably going to be the next Dalai Lama so he's not going to be able to be a priest.

 Sweet little sleeping baby.

  Here is the whole crew. There was lots of love surrounding our sweet boy. This is his village. These are the people who love him and who support Zach and I so we can be the best parents possible. Thanks to everyone in our village. Thanks for everything you do and for coming to celebrate with us, especially to Able and Kari, his Godparents. You guys are amazing and T is so lucky to have you in his life.

 Here is baby Alice and I. She was so adorable in her bunny dress. This might be my favorite picture from the whole day, even though the man of the hour isn't in it. I love my sweet niece.

 Then home for more celebrations. Thatcher's Godparent's gave amazing Godparent gifts including this stuffed Pope Francis, which is hysterical. They also gave him a book of letters that children had written to the Pope and his responses to them. They are lots of deep questions, not unlike the one's I'm forever fielding from my children. Zane has loved reading the Pope's answers and has decided to send the Pope his own letter asking why he decided to become a priest. We're still working on the artwork, but I'll let you know if we get a response from Pope Frank.

 

This was me trying to make up for not taking a picture with Thatcher at the church. You can tell how excited he was about it.