Aden's Baptism Day

We baptized Aden last Sunday and what a lovely, lovely day it was. Our little boy is now one of God's children and I feel a huge sense of relief and content.

A little back-story: Andi and I baptized Tory in Nebraska at my parents church. We'd just moved into our house shortly before she was born and had yet to find a church in our neighborhood we loved. That was perfectly fine at the time (my mom hosted a very nice celebration in Tory's honor), but really stunk for us to travel all the way to Nebraska to baptize her in a church we didn't even belong to (my parents/family did, but still). Shortly after we learned we were pregnant with Aden, it lit a fire under our butts to find a church by our house to not only worship in, but baptize our second baby.

Our new church is the perfect fit for our family. We love how welcoming the congregation is, the pastors are fantastic and they have a Wednesday night weekly church service that fits perfectly with our cabin lifestyle. (We can still be active in church AND go to the cabin on the weekends - score!) This time, it wasn't very convenient for my family to be the ones to travel for baptism, but this is where we live and it was important for us to have Aden baptized in the church we belong to.

We asked my sister Ashley, brother Adam, and Andi's sister Lindsay, to be Aden's god-parents. Aden slept right through the church service, including the actual baptism. Standing up in from to front of the congregation and having splashes of water on his head didn't seem to phase him one bit. He wore my brother's baptismal outfit (which is 23 years old!). My mom said Adam swam in the outfit on the day he was baptized and it barely fit my chunky little man - ha! Good thing we didn't wait one more day for the ceremony.

I selected this verse for Aden's special day because it seemed to best summarize my hopes as a parent for Aden's relationship with God:

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be there wherever you go." Joshua 1.9

So, the party afterwards: Months ago before Aden was even born, I began planning for the reception at our house following the baptism ceremony. I searched Pinterest, but there wasn't many decorating ideas. I found a "God Bless" banner on Etsy, but it was $32. It just seemed nuts to spend that much money on something I could easily craft myself. Skip to last week when I finally got around to pulling things together for the party happening in six days. I went to the local scrapbooking store to make the "God Bless Aden" banner using the store's die-cut machines and learned they were going out of business. The die-cut machines had been sold and they barely had any supplies left to purchase. I bought an alphabet stencil, some ribbon and blue and white paper ... and guess how much it all cost me? $35 and I had to make the dang thing myself! It turned out really cute, though, so I'm glad I did it. I also purchased some white pillar candles for the table centerpiece and tied blue ribbon around each one. I tied it all together with a pretty blue, silver and white table runner.

I served two soups (chili and cheesy vegetable), deli sandwiches, a relish tray, chips and dip, and cake. Everything went over really well. It was a simple, but perfect lunch menu. My sister and mom were poking fun of me late Saturday night when we were prepping the food. I'm very much a recipe follower and they're both "throw it all in and somehow it all tastes good" cooks, so having me in charge in the kitchen was a change of pace. (I nearly had a conniption when my sister threw the diced potatoes in the vegetable soup too soon. "Wait! Nooo! It's not time!") A big thank-you to my mom, sister, and Andi's mom, Janie, for all their help pulling everything together.

Happy Baptism Day, little boy. May you develop a strong and loving relationship with God and remember He is with you always.