Weekend Review: Mother's Day and Jordan is BAPTIZED!!!

Mother's Day this year was bittersweet.  Last year, I spent it with my husband missing my boys, grieving over their due date - coincidentally, the day after Mother's Day, waiting to move forward with our FET, waiting for news on whether or not my mom had cancer (she did), and wondering if I would ever get the chance to spend this special day with a baby in my arms. 

This year, I did.  But every Mother's Day for the rest of my life, I will forever be missing two. I will never get over that.

Mother's day this year was pretty, well, boring. We did a whole lotta nada. Ever since I was pregnant with the boys, I always imagined my first Mother's Day would be spent at the zoo.  I wanted to walk around with my babies in their stroller, taking in the spring air, and seeing all the animals.  I knew they would be too young to care about the zoo, but I figured they would love going for the walk.  This year, I wanted to do that with Jordan.  And then, because it's spring, it rained like an asshole all day. So I spent Mother's Day doing laundry. So. Much. Fun.

Mother's Day in the church nursery, visiting her Auntie - the only place we made it to on actual Mother's Day!

Not to say that Mother's Day wasn't great. Jordan got me a spa gift certificate (much, much needed!) and Conner and Benjamin got us tickets to see The Book of Mormon, which we went to see this weekend. Verdict? Highly offensive and freaking hilarious. My kind of good time. I've wanted to go see this since FOREVER.  The writers of South Park did what they always do: entertain, offend, and then, at the end - make a very good point. What if religion is all made up?  Does it even matter? Look at all the good it is doing in the world.

Most importantly, laundry or not, I got to spend the day with Jordan. Everyday with her is a perfect day.

But the best part of the weekend was baptizing my daughter in His Name, welcoming her into the church, and spending the day with our closest 40 family and friends who love Jordan and recognize how special it is that she is here, healthy and happy.

While she was being baptized, I was hit with a wave of emotions. My last two children to get baptized died shortly after. Their baptism was short and bittersweet.  There were no pictures of their baptism, no Godparents present, no church.  They were handed to me and baptized as soon as I could get my arms around them. I only remember their baptism in my mind and heart, and even then - I'm not sure exactly what was said. I only know how grateful I am that they were able to be baptized in the name of the Holy Spirit before they went to heaven.

And here Jordan was, being baptized, in all the pomp and circumstance that these traditions have to offer. Was this real? Thank God it was.

I wondered if she would cry during the baptism, but while she was getting water poured onto her head, she looked around and up at me in wonderment and just let life happen.  This is a very big deal - Jordan is NOT a laid back baby.  I expected tears.  I expected screaming. I was armed with pacifiers in her diaper bag (which goes against my pacifier rules of only letting her have it when she's sucking her thumb or fussy at night). But she smiled and let people hold her and took pictures like a champ.

Then we got to the lunch, and she was hysterical.  My baby does not do well with crowds. She gets overwhelmed very easily. She had her bottle late and took forever to finish it because she was so distracted (and distraught) over the people trying to get her attention. She pooped on her daddy, had to change out of her lunch outfit, and bawled when being changed into her new lunch outfit. Three outfits by 4 pm.  Four outfits, if you include her jammies from this morning. Very impressive. Regardless, she was, of course, the center of everyone's attention. AND she kept saying mama, in front of other people, so now it doesn't sound like I am a total liar.

So many people told us how glad they were to see us so happy. Tim's former captain took the time to remind us of how Conner and Ben had tiny feet, but left big footprints.  He told us that in their log book at th FD, he routinely puts two crosses next to special events that happens - for Conner and Ben. That way, they ride with the guys everywhere they go. They are always with us.

Conner and Ben helped make this day, and we will never forget that.

I'll leave you with obligatory baby pictures :) You didn't think I would end a post without them, did you?

First outfit of the day: baptism dress made by Grandma, used by both her girl cousins before her. New tradition?

Oh, the headband :)

Outfit two, before pooping on daddy

Bottom Layer: confetti cake with raspberry preserves

Top Layer: banana cake with strawberry preserves

On her third outfit of the day

From her Godparents, complete with two blue beads to represent her guardian angels