*~* Baptism *~*

Last Sunday, April 18, 2010, we did something very special to us. We had our sweet baby girl baptized at our church. Let me give you a little background story on "us and church."

H and I were raised in very different, though both Christian, churches. In our young adult lives, we had both stopped going to church on a regular basis (interestingly enough, for rather similar reasons, I think). In my mid and late 20's, I started attending Hope (our church) off and on with friends and acquaintances. I always liked it there and felt comfortable, but never went on a regular basis, and I never joined.

Fast forward to 2007, when H and I met and got married. I'm pretty sure we went on Christmas that year and maybe the following Easter, but that was it. Still no regular attendence. And then, Riley happened. Our very own, sent straight from God, amazing little miracle. And she changed everything in our lives, even before she was born. We found out we were pregnant with her in May 2009. We started attending church at Hope regularly that summer. Both of us. Regularly. I was so happy that it had finally "clicked" for us. We both felt pretty strongly that we wanted her raised in a Christian home and we wanted a church home to be a part of her life. A part of our lives. We joined late last summer and have been going ever since. And loving it. It is the perfect church for us. Laid-back, casual, accepting of all (no matter what you look like or how many tattoos you have, haha)....it's very "us."

OK, so that's the background story. Our church does baptisms along the lines of the "sprinkle" method. No dunking for us. It was a wonderful day. H's aunt hand-made Riley a gorgeous dress......long, white, the whole nine yards. She wore the bonnet that my mother gave her to wear home from the hospital at birth, which will also be the hankie she carries at her wedding one day.

Riley fell asleep on my chest while we were waiting and stayed asleep until I had to turn her around to face the Pastor. And, I feel the need to tell you, she was the only baby who cried. The on.ly. ba.by. ! Oh well, it was funny. Otherwise, she did great!

We had lots of family and friends with us and we followed up the church service with a casual lunch back at our house. All in all, it was a truly fantastic day. My mom got Riley her first Bible....it's tiny and has her name monogramed on it. H's mom gave her her first cross necklace. My brother and sister in law gave her a sweet little bracelet with a cross on it. She got two different "Kid's Bibles" from family and friends..... she had enough love shown to her that day to last a lifetime! How lucky we are! :-)

I'll just tell the rest of the story in pictures. Enjoy!

Our sweet girl, sleeping away.

Getting baptized by our wonderful Pastor, Craig.

The proud parents afterwards!

With Munners and Grandaddy (my parents).

Sweet baby in her bonnet.

The back of her gorgeous dress.

Just a shot so you can see the front of the dress.

Her bracelets and her first Bible.

I just couldn't resist getting this picture of her tiny hand in mine.

OK, I guess that's all for now. Stayed tuned for her "Holy Cow, she's FOUR MONTHS OLD" post coming in a couple of very short weeks! :-)