Baptism

"Thus says the Lord: Shout with joy for Jacob..."

That was the first line of the First Reading at church this last Sunday - the day that Jacob was welcomed into the church through Baptism. This was my "sign" that we were all there on the right day. Baby Jacob Edward was supposed to be baptized on this date.
It was a wonderful, special weekend. On Saturday we went to the hospital where 4 of our children have been born, including Sarah. Sarah was 6 1/2 weeks premature. She was in the NICU for 12 days. This last Saturday was a NICU reunion. The first one they've ever had. It was nice. I actually saw the little boy who was next to Sarah in the NICU. I had remembered his name, then asked his mother the date he was born to confirm it was him. How amazing to see him and Sarah now standing next to each other. We also recognized one of our nurses. She had actually remembered us when we came in to have Jacob. (Born 10 weeks ago today.) I was sad that Sarah's doctor was not there. I had brought a picture of him holding Sarah when she was in the NICU. He would call her his "buddy." He took special care of Sarah.
Sunday was Jacob Edward's special day! God blessed us with a beautiful, sunny day. My sister, Ann and her husband, Steve are his godparents. They flew in from Texas. I love Baptisms! We had many family members with us. And I must say, Jacob looked absolutely handsome. He was staring at me, smiling through most of the readings. He cried a little when the blessed holy water washed over his head, but not much. Fr. David was the priest who baptized Jacob.
After Jakey's Baptism, and many pictures, we went back to our home for yummy chili and cake. We had 2 cakes. One for Jacob and one for my sister, Maureen and my daughter, Leah's birthdays. (Maureen's was last week and Leah's was yesterday.) We opened presents and took more pictures. While I was pregnant, one of my "Bible Girls" sent me a "mini" rosary for my baby. This was the day I gave the rosary to Jacob. I got some sweet pictures of him holding his rosary and some with his rosary sticking out of his pocket.
My sister Ann stayed with us for the next 2 days. We had fun. Lots of playing, tea drinking, and chatting. My girlies had us playing with dollys, reading books, playing princesses on the Wii, coloring, and doing hair styling. My boys joined us for a game of Disney Scene-It and DVR recordings of The Middle.
My sister was also here for Leah's 4th birthday. We put a candle in her pancakes and sang to her. Our mom had spent the night too. Later, when my dad came over, Leah was greeted by all of us when she got off the preschool bus. We had lunch, more pictures, then it was time for our parents to take Annie to the airport. I was a bit tearful. We had a wonderful time and it was nice to have my sister here to help and to just hang out with. We had joked about getting her an "I Survived" t-shirt. Our children loved having Auntie Annie here - and so did I. We can't wait for her to come back.
Today was our first day studying Mother Teresa at my Mother's Bible Study. We also had trick or treating. Jacob had on his clown hat and Sarah dressed up as Snow White. Both were pretty adorable. We all brought treats to put in their bags. The wonderful men and women that care for our children, so we can have this time together, brought them in to trick or treat. It was cute. Some days it is hard to get up and go, but I enjoy my Bible Study - and I love my Bible Girls.