Bear was baptized in all his naked glory on Saturday, December 5 at approximately 5:55pm PST.
It was an amazing moment for me and DH. The angels seemed to sweep down from Heaven as Father held the babe above the holy water font to dunk him three times in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And then, the pastor held naked Bear up, Lion King-style, to show him to the congregation. I was so verklempt I could hardly see Father to thank him through my tears.
Life is full of big moments and little moments. I love the little ones, but thank God for the big ones. When I hear the angels sing and I know God and community are paying attention, it humbles me to the core. Life is lived in Ordinary Time, but thank goodness for the Sacred.
We had a kick-butt party for about 45 of our favorite folks. The food was a hit, the Mexican Coke flew out the fridge, and everyone left happy and stuffed.
Meanwhile, I was ensconced in the nursery for practically the whole party with a very tired Bear. Turns out, he doesn't really like wearing dresses and having all manner of stinky annointing oils smeared all over his head, chest and shoulders. While the Church explains the annointing as "keeping infants slick and slippery from the grasp of evil," Bear would have been happy to go without the balsam scent and drippy viscose of that stuff.
Bear has a cold, I've been exhausted, and I haven't posted all week. We have to run to Bear's new Montessori school now, it's time to do the meet-and-greet with the teachers and get him used to the new place. Will post photos of the baptism when I have time, but for now, suffice it to say that we're all very, very happy and still very, very tired from celebrating Bear's entry into God's kingdom.
Life is good.
Showing posts with label baptism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baptism. Show all posts
Friday, December 14, 2007
Friday, December 7, 2007
Party Prepping
It's beginning to look festive around our house.
Mom arrived from the Bay Area yesterday, and we've been decorating the house for Bear's baptism party tomorrow night. There are four (!) trees up in our house now, the greenery is up on the mantle, and the mistletoe is up.
The food we're bringing in tomororw night is from our favorite spot on Beacon Hill, El Quetzal. Juan and his wife Elena serve Mexico City street food, and it's out of this world delicious. DH and I have been eating at Juan and Elena's joint since they opened two years ago, and we dig their food. The huaraches are magnificent, and the tortas are to-die-for delicious.
The Coca-Cola we got for the party is from Mexico, too. (Coke conisseurs insist that the Mexican variety is the best because it's made with actual sugar instead of the high fructose corn syrup that Coke bottlers in the US use. We'll find out tomorrow if my friends and family agree.)
We're off to Juan and Elena's place to eat supper and pay for tomorrow's feast. They'll deliver it to the house while we're still at mass, so my brother-in-law and sister are gladly skipping Communion so they can come here and let Juan set up in the kitchen before everyone arrives. (Aww, taking one for the team...ha ha.)
I must away...there are swags to be hung and lights to be lit and pine needles to be vacuumed up!
And tomorrow, there will be a baby to dunk!
Mom arrived from the Bay Area yesterday, and we've been decorating the house for Bear's baptism party tomorrow night. There are four (!) trees up in our house now, the greenery is up on the mantle, and the mistletoe is up.
The food we're bringing in tomororw night is from our favorite spot on Beacon Hill, El Quetzal. Juan and his wife Elena serve Mexico City street food, and it's out of this world delicious. DH and I have been eating at Juan and Elena's joint since they opened two years ago, and we dig their food. The huaraches are magnificent, and the tortas are to-die-for delicious.
The Coca-Cola we got for the party is from Mexico, too. (Coke conisseurs insist that the Mexican variety is the best because it's made with actual sugar instead of the high fructose corn syrup that Coke bottlers in the US use. We'll find out tomorrow if my friends and family agree.)
We're off to Juan and Elena's place to eat supper and pay for tomorrow's feast. They'll deliver it to the house while we're still at mass, so my brother-in-law and sister are gladly skipping Communion so they can come here and let Juan set up in the kitchen before everyone arrives. (Aww, taking one for the team...ha ha.)
I must away...there are swags to be hung and lights to be lit and pine needles to be vacuumed up!
And tomorrow, there will be a baby to dunk!
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
It's Been One of Those Weeks...
Wow, Bear has been on a feeding frenzy lately. Which means that we're on an every-three-hours feeding cycle at the moment. I've been reading that the three month marker usually presents a big growth spurt. Bear is definitely growing...pudging up and looking extra cute. I think the only trait he got from me are those thunder thighs of his.
It's been one of those weeks when I feel as though I'm just treading water. There is a ton of stuff to do around here to get ready for the baptism on Saturday. My mother flies in tomorrow, my sister and her husband come on Saturday, we have a workshop on Saturday morning, and then Bear gets dunked at the 5:30pm mass. Then we're having thirty people to our home for a buffet dinner. Yikes, I'm exhausted just thinking about it.
I'm playing Perfectionism games with myself lately. How can I create the perfect looking holiday mantle? What's the best way to display the Christmas cards we receive? I must get our live tree up in the living room since we've got the artificial tree up in the great room. We must do luminarias for the front walkway. I will get more lights for the kitchen tree tomorrow. Time to get the loft tree set up with colored lights and ornaments.
YEESH. Someone please tell me to take a chill pill. I have a baby in the house, I'm sleep deprived, I haven't been eating well, and I think I'm being fueled solely by coffee and some weird obsessive-compulsive desire to make our house "perfect" before our big party on Saturday evening. WHAT GIVES? Who have I become, and why am I putting all of this pressure on myself???
It feels nice to be open here about the weird pressures I'm putting on myself. All two of my loyal readers will surely have good guidance for me. :)
I'm going to take a few deep breaths, have a cup of herbal tea, and go take a soak in the tub. Tomorrow will be a better day.
It's been one of those weeks when I feel as though I'm just treading water. There is a ton of stuff to do around here to get ready for the baptism on Saturday. My mother flies in tomorrow, my sister and her husband come on Saturday, we have a workshop on Saturday morning, and then Bear gets dunked at the 5:30pm mass. Then we're having thirty people to our home for a buffet dinner. Yikes, I'm exhausted just thinking about it.
I'm playing Perfectionism games with myself lately. How can I create the perfect looking holiday mantle? What's the best way to display the Christmas cards we receive? I must get our live tree up in the living room since we've got the artificial tree up in the great room. We must do luminarias for the front walkway. I will get more lights for the kitchen tree tomorrow. Time to get the loft tree set up with colored lights and ornaments.
YEESH. Someone please tell me to take a chill pill. I have a baby in the house, I'm sleep deprived, I haven't been eating well, and I think I'm being fueled solely by coffee and some weird obsessive-compulsive desire to make our house "perfect" before our big party on Saturday evening. WHAT GIVES? Who have I become, and why am I putting all of this pressure on myself???
It feels nice to be open here about the weird pressures I'm putting on myself. All two of my loyal readers will surely have good guidance for me. :)
I'm going to take a few deep breaths, have a cup of herbal tea, and go take a soak in the tub. Tomorrow will be a better day.
Monday, November 26, 2007
SOS: Cleaning Vintage Linen
HELP ME! I'm trying to get a baptismal gown prepped for Bear's baptism in a few weeks. Thing is, the gown is four generations old. It's delicate and made of very soft linen and lots of lace.
How in heaven's name do I clean this thing?
Somebody please help me...I'll be in big trouble with the in-law's if I bolox the cleaning of this family heirloom!
How in heaven's name do I clean this thing?
Somebody please help me...I'll be in big trouble with the in-law's if I bolox the cleaning of this family heirloom!
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Infant Baptism
I spent most of Friday lettering the envelopes for Bear's baptism invitations. We're going to have a 'do for Bear's baptism, it's been decided. DH and I figured out a while ago that we wanted to do something celebratory to commemorate the baby getting dunked. So we're hiring our favorite Mexican chef to cater with some lovely appetizers at home after mass.
It's going to be an interesting event, to be sure. See, I'm the Catholic one. DH is Presbyterian-by-way-of-Methodism. Considering becoming Catholic. And Bear...well, he just doesn't give a rip. He'll play for any team at this point. (Whichever one happens to have the better binky will likely win his favor.)
We've got a baptism gown that spans several generations from DH's family. Bear will wear that along with a baptismal slip that my mother made for her best friend's son. He'll be decked out in finery from both sides of the family. DH still isn't so keen on his son wearing a "dress," however.
At my parish, we do hearty dunking of nekid babies. Father Ryan loves baptizing babies, and just a few years ago the baptism team convinced him that annointing the babes au naturel was really the way to go. So it makes for a very impressive experience. It's not every day you see babies being baptized, let alone buck naked ones. I'm already pre-worrying that Bear will pee on the pastor...
DH and I had a deal. When he easily and wholeheartedly agreed to raise our kid Catholic, I told him he could pick the godparents. Because at least one of the godparents had to be Catholic, and because DH was going to raise his child in a tradition not his own, it was really important to me that DH be completely comfortable with the godparents. DH came back with a wonderful suggestion in our friends D&S. We've been in a small group with them for three years, and DH loves them both dearly. They've got a rock-solid marriage, they're a hoot to be around, and they've got an incredible family life. We can't wait to call them part of our family when Bear gets baptized.
It's going to be an interesting event, to be sure. See, I'm the Catholic one. DH is Presbyterian-by-way-of-Methodism. Considering becoming Catholic. And Bear...well, he just doesn't give a rip. He'll play for any team at this point. (Whichever one happens to have the better binky will likely win his favor.)
We've got a baptism gown that spans several generations from DH's family. Bear will wear that along with a baptismal slip that my mother made for her best friend's son. He'll be decked out in finery from both sides of the family. DH still isn't so keen on his son wearing a "dress," however.
At my parish, we do hearty dunking of nekid babies. Father Ryan loves baptizing babies, and just a few years ago the baptism team convinced him that annointing the babes au naturel was really the way to go. So it makes for a very impressive experience. It's not every day you see babies being baptized, let alone buck naked ones. I'm already pre-worrying that Bear will pee on the pastor...
DH and I had a deal. When he easily and wholeheartedly agreed to raise our kid Catholic, I told him he could pick the godparents. Because at least one of the godparents had to be Catholic, and because DH was going to raise his child in a tradition not his own, it was really important to me that DH be completely comfortable with the godparents. DH came back with a wonderful suggestion in our friends D&S. We've been in a small group with them for three years, and DH loves them both dearly. They've got a rock-solid marriage, they're a hoot to be around, and they've got an incredible family life. We can't wait to call them part of our family when Bear gets baptized.
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