Kaitlyn's Baptism

On November 4th we stood in front of our families and our church family and dedicated our sweet baby girl to God. We promised to raise her up to know Jesus and pray for her, love her and support her along the way. It was such a good day - such a special and meaningful day - for both her and for those of us that love her so darn much.

Just look at this angel. She is such a gift.

And she looked so pretty in her baptism gown! I was praying the whole morning for no diaper blowouts, and little girl cooperated. ;)

I just loved dressing her in her first real formal gown and envisioned other big moments just like this one as she gets older. I think her daddy was having the same thoughts. ;)

And her brothers just couldn't get enough of her.

We were so thankful that Pastor Dave was able to baptize her before he officially retires at the end of the year. He baptized both the boys - and married Cody and me - and he holds a special place in our hearts. And how did Kaitlyn do up there? Well, she was sleeping until he sprinkled her with holy water - and though that gave her an abrupt awakening - she never uttered a cry. Good job, baby girl. :)

We followed up the morning church service with a sweet gathering in our home - and lots of yummy brunch food! There was cake of course, as well as dessert strawberries, miniature quiches, bacon-wrapped little smokies, lots of fruit, donut holes for all the kids, pink juice boxes and pink punch, too!

I decorated minimally with items I already had around the house - many of them pulled from her bedroom - and lots of tea lights, of course. :)

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Kaitlyn was gifted a pretty journal when she was first born, and I placed it on the entry table for all of our guests to write a sweet note in.

And after she napped, we opened her pretty and meaningful little gifts. Her brothers read her cards aloud for her, and of course there was that one gift that made mommy cry.

Cody of course captured my tears - and Brandon's side-eye. ;)

This was it. The gift from my mom and dad that brought me to tears. So very special. I still pinch myself every day. He gave me a daughter. Our God trusted me with his precious little girl.

Kaitlyn Renee, you are a treasure. We promise to love you forever and ever!

Halloween Memories || Part 2

I am so far behind on this blog! Everything takes me longer to do these days - I have no idea why. ;) Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone and our house is overflowing with Christmas trees, it's probably time to reflect back on Halloween! ;)

We only had two out of three kids in costume this year. As a 5th grader, Jaden decided he would prefer to hand out candy from home rather than dress up and go door to door - especially since 5th graders no longer celebrate Halloween in school and don't get to wear costumes in class. Brandon decided a few months early that Black Panther would be his costume of choice, and I just happened to spot a Super Girl baby outfit on Amazon shortly after Brandon made that decision so that's what we went with this year - my two super heroes and their pre-adolescent older brother. ;)

Brandon still gets really excited for every holiday but I could tell that even this year the thrill of Halloween is started to fade for our youngest boy.  This is what makes me so happy that we have a third little one waiting in the wings. Holidays are most enjoyable with young kids soaking up the magic of it all!

Kaitlyn of course was oblivious to it all but looked really cute in all of her pink and frills, and Jaden was my photographer for pictures of her and I. Not too shabby, Jaden! It's so nice to have someone else I can rely on to snap photos once in a while. :)

...and she's over it. ;)

Halloween fell on an early-out Wednesday this year so when the boys got home from school that afternoon, I sent them downstairs while I set up the table for a fun but easy early dinner. I picked Kaitlyn up early from daycare, and it was so nice that we didn't have to rush through the pre-trick-or-treat routine. Especially since our house has become the gathering spot for our entire family on Halloween night.

We had mac and cheese in jack-o-lantern cups, "ghost bananas" and "blood red" grapes, juices and special goody bags from Kathy - and special cupcakes I picked up earlier that day from HyVee. Even Jaden thanked me for trying to make the night a little special for him even though he had decided not to dress up. Sometimes it's just that little something extra and different that can make all the difference.

After supper we hit the streets with cousins and grandparents to start ringing door bells and collecting our loot! Kaitlyn and I only joined the fun for a couple of blocks and then headed back home where more family was waiting for us and helping Jaden pass out candy to all the neighbors from our seats on the front porch.

Our favorite stop every year - juts up the street from our house!

When the kids had had enough of being outside, everyone gathered in our living room for candy sorting and baby smiles and hot cocoa. Halloween is not my FAVORITE - but we've built in some traditions that make it a pretty good day around here.