On December 28, Porter was baptized at our church...which admittedly, we have not attended consistently in the last year. I don't know why but I felt sort of guilty when I emailed the church office to ask about baptizing Porter. Like, Hey! Remember us? We had another kid five months ago. Can we baptize him now? I shouldn't have been surprised when the office staff and the pastors were extremely understanding of our MIA status on Sunday mornings. They gushed over the picture I sent of the kids, saying we must be incredibly busy but what a wonderful phase of our life this is. Busy but wonderful, yep!
We chose December 28th just a few weeks prior, when I realized that my parents, my brother, and Nate's brother and girlfriend would all be in town that Sunday visiting for Christmas anyway. What better time than when most of our extended family is in the great state of Wisconsin anyway? Of course, Memaw and Pepaw wouldn't be here but it was Memaw's birthday on 12/28, so she and Porter were connected on their big days despite the distance.
The church said that this was typically a low attendance Sunday with so many members traveling for the holidays, and that there were already two babies being baptized at the 11:00 service. At first I was kind of bummed that Porter's baptism would be shared with two others, hoping it wouldn't take away from the special personal attention we've gotten each time before.
The other hesitation I had was about Poter's outfit. I wanted him to wear Truman's baptismal outfit that my mom made him four years ago, but Truman was a monster baby and was older than Porter when he was baptized at almost seven months. But I tried on Tru's old vest, tie, and shorts outfit and smiled when I discovered my fatty P-man filled out his big brother's outfit quite well. Both boys rocked it, really, and how special that they could each wear an outfit made by their grandma? Cecelia wore my vintage baptismal gown so her 'special attire' factor wasn't lacking, either, don't worry. (EQUALITY!)
Long white socks complete the outfit and make it more winter-appropriate, I think, don't you?
I'm glad we stuck with this date because it really couldn't have gone better, big group at the altar and all. The later-than-we-usually-do-church service at 11:00 was awesome because Porter snoozed for a bit at home before we left and we didn't have to bust our butts to get out the door by 8:00 am. One glitch was that Cecelia consistently asks to take her nap by 11:00 on the dot most days. This day was no exception and by the end of the service she was passed out on various grandparents, but at least she didn't emotionally melt down in protest of a different schedule!
Our big group sat in front and off to the left of the pulpit, and the big kids had crayons and family members to entertain them. Porter was a little grumpy about being in one place for so long (i.e. longer than 2 minutes) so I had to get up and walk around with him a bit before his moment to shine. Once it was time for the three families to come up, Porter flipped a switch and showed off big time with his social skills and eagerness for the spotlight.
He was the youngest of the three boys being baptized, and his two sponsors were both of his grandmas. We had close friends as sponsors for Truman and Cecelia but this time I really wanted our moms to be the 'spiritual guide' for sweet Porter. Both women are such inspirations in life anyway, and their faith and love for our kids deserves a special title. Godparents = Grandmas this time around. Love it.
There are three pastors at our church which worked out nicely, since each pastor took one baby for the actual baptisms. Pastor Margaret baptized mister P and he literally beamed at her the entire time, as if he was really excited about getting his head wet. She came up with a sweet Bible verse for our boy, one that I hadn't heard before: "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothes me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness…" Isaiah 61:10a. She also told everyone that Porter's name means 'door keeper or caretaker' and had me carry Porter up and down the aisles to show him off to the congregation. Truman didn't hesitate to walk along my side this entire time, smiling and probably mouthing things like, 'This is my baby brother, isn't he cute?' to anyone that was looking at him. Quite the contrast to Truman sobbing when walking up and down with Cecelia on her big day. Ah, Truman. CC was asleep already at this point, but I know Tony brought her up front for a bit since she really wanted to be included. Then she passed out and didn't care anymore. Oh well!
Favorite picture of the day since both of our boys are grinning like hambones.
Lucky boy to have these grandmas in his life.
The pastors had the parents state our intentions to raise our children with knowledge of God, had the sponsors state their intentions to support us, and then each parent said a prayer for our baby. The pastors lit the three candles at the altar and we all prayed together one last time. Porter was a dream baby during this entire time at the front and he sort of made me want to cry with the gravity of it all. Our last baby, trying our best to raise him with solid values, knowing that he is so very loved by his family and by God, the support of our loved ones standing up there with us as 'seasoned' parents. It was an awesome moment and every bit as sweet as it was the first and second times!
After church, we all came back to our house and had an amazing brunch prepared by Lois and Tony. Nate and I supplied the coffee and gluten-free scones (my mom and also Jon's girlfriend have Celiac's) but everything else was made by my in-laws. So yummy and I loved having everyone around our table for this and many other meals over the holidays.
Also, I got a new lens for Christmas (the 24mm f/2.8) and have been going a little nuts practicing with it. In love, and what better excuse than a new lens to make me take hundreds of pictures?
Proud parents.
What a fun day for all of us, so happy our families were here for this big event!
Congrats on his baptism! Such a wonderful day, especially with all the family around. Gosh, he just looks like the happiest baby! What a blessing! :)
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