Happy Mother's Day!

I would love to say that I started Mother's Day out right by sleeping in and having breakfast in bed brought to me by my sweet husband and adoring sons.

But I didn't, so that would be lying.

What I did do was get up at 6am to put a ham in the oven and start getting ready for church since we had to be there at the crack of 8:15 for a meeting. Brad and I struggle to get there by 9:15 every week. 8:15 seemed impossible, but you know what? We did it! And the preacher had already started our meeting. Apparently his watch is about 2 minutes faster than ours.

What were we meeting about? Baby dedication! We dedicated our sweet Reed Matthew today along with 12 other couples dedicating their precious babes. We go to a Baptist church and for us, baby dedication doesn't symbolize salvation for the child. It is an informal ceremony where you as the parents present your child before the church, recognizing that he or she is a gift from the Lord and commit to raising your child in a Godly home.

Here we are (below the stained glass window) dedicating Reed. You don't see Will here. At this point he was either at Brad's feet trying to put his sandals on or he was behind us trying to climb up the steps to the choir loft. I was so proud of him for the few minutes before the dedication started and he was quiet and calm. And then right before we needed to walk up front he took his shoes off. There was no time to put them back on and when Brad picked him up he started saying "No!" in protest. Lovely.


My oldest brother and his family were not able to come because their children were involved in their church's morning service and my middle older brother and his family weren't able to be there, either. But my youngest older brother (is that confusing? I have 3), Joseph, did come. Joseph and I sat with my mom and dad. We took Will back to the nursery for the rest of the service and I kept Reed with me. He sacked out on mom as soon as she snuggled him in her arms.

Here are my mom, Reed and Joseph:

Mom and her youngest grandchild

Our precious family. Two years ago we were standing here dedicating 5.5 week old Will.

Will had enough of pictures by this point. He was behind us.

Brad's parents are far left, my parents far right. I love how Reed and Will are looking at each other. When you have young children, you just have to smile and take the picture, no matter what the kids are doing. Chances are, you aren't getting them to both look and smile.

Once we put Will down, he was happy to pose!

This is our minister of music's wife, Angie. She is truly one of the sweetest people I have ever met. She and Bro. Ronnie came to see us the night Reed was born and got to be there when we held Reed for the first time since birth. She took pictures for us and prayed over us. That was so special to me and I'm glad I got to share those moments with her and her husband.

The gown Reed wore is special to me, too. My brother Sam and his wife Emily gave it to us when I was pregnant with Will. Will wore it for his baby dedication 2 years ago and I was so happy that Reed was able to wear it, too. I don't know if Will would have fit in it at 6.5 months old!

After church our parents and Joseph came over for lunch. We only have one oven, so it was interesting to try and get everything ready quickly. I forgot to take a picture of the food. We had honey ham, roasted asparagus, carrot souffle, homeade macaroni and cheese, yeast and wheat rolls, tea and peanut butter fudge cheesecake. It was very yummy!

Mom put Reed down for a nap and everyone left. We got Will to sleep and Brad and I both crashed. Then Reed woke up and I managed to get him to sleep in my arms for 2 hours while I napped! Actually my nap was interrupted by someone offering to pressure wash our house (not for free of course). I had to wake Brad up to get him to tell the guy no since I wasn't convincing enough.

Once Will was up we went outside so he could play, then went for a nice walk. It was a beautiful day and actually quite cool for May.

Did I mention we finally got a double stroller that is easy to push?

So that was my Mother's Day. I didn't get to sleep in but getting up to cook for my family was worth it. Rearranging my morning schedule to take my boys to church and introduce Reed to the congregation was worth it. Spending the afternoon with my baby sleeping in my arms was special. I know it is because not everyone has family to cook for. Not everyone has a baby to dedicate or is a member of a church family. And I know my babies will grow and won't always want to spend sunny afternoons with their momma. So I am thankful for my busy Mother's Day!