Madeline's dedication

This weekend was a whirlwind, but so, so wonderful.

It started out with a very late Friday night. My parents were supposed to fly in for Madeline's dedication. Delay after delay after delay finally turned into a canceled flight. We were all disappointed, but there was nothing we could really do about it. Even if my parents had caught the first flight out, they wouldn't have made it here in time for her dedication Saturday morning at 10 am.

Onward and upward.

Aside from the flight fiasco, the weekend was really wonderful. Craig and I stood in front of our family and church and dedicated to raise Madeline in a Christian home and with a love of Christ upbringing. Our church does things a little differently than your normal protestant baby dedication. We were not paraded up front and it wasn't on a Sunday. We each had a table for our family/friends and were given isolated time to pray with them/for us. I really, really enjoyed it and Craig and I have committed to keep our family unit firmly grounded in Christ. We didn't need a ceremony to make that commitment, but it was nice nonetheless. There was no water, sprinkling or baptism. Madeline will have to make a personal choice to get baptized on her own at a later time. One of the things that resonated to Craig and me while we were preparing for this baby dedication (yes, we had homework. Very, very good homework.) was that the best thing we can give our children is a solid marriage. A strong marriage. We need to show our children that we are committed to each other and that we love each other. Everything else will fall into place. Children are a very welcome blessing, but Craig and I were already a family. I respect (and love) him and he loves (and respects) me.

---let the pictures begin---

Madeline's dress had lots of poof. It was the same dress she wore to her Tia Josie and Tio Nick's wedding a couple weeks ago and I was thrilled to be able to use it again! There was no way I was going to put her in her car seat with the dress on, so I put everything else on her sans the dress.
Just like the wedding, she couldn't keep her shoes on :-) Silly girl. I went out to the car and realized she didn't have her shoes on anymore. I hunted them down and didn't put them back on her until we were at the church.
One with the happy parents prior to the start of the ceremony.
And one with Grandpa at the start. Cups were her source of entertainment. She happily chewed them throughout almost the entire ceremony!
But what's a baby dedication ceremony without a crying baby?!? I think the above picture is quite funny!
One with a very proud mama!
And one with everyone in attendance. It was so lovely for everyone to be able to come. Tio Nick and Tia Josie; Tio Foster and Tia Mackie; the three of us; the grandparents on Craig's side; and Flor, her abulita (well, technically it's her great grandmother, but I don't know the Spanish word for great grandmother, so we'll just leave it at abulita).
This is also a special picture. Jeff, Michelle and Colin are pictured here with us. Jeff and Michelle were in our small group. All the ladies were pregnant together, so there must have been something in our water :-) It was fun to share such a wonderful experience with them!
After the reception we had at our house, Craig and I just hung out and did nothing. It was glorious! Since my parents were supposed to be in town, we didn't have anything planned. We did make a run to Babies R Us to buy a stair gate, but we chilled the majority of the day. Craig thought it was funny that Madeline kept grabbing his beer until he realized she had slobbered all in it.

Serves him right if you ask me!