Joy Complete: We Like to Party

This message is a bit belated. More details why in my next post.

Philip was baptized on October 30! So many family and friends came to celebrate our little boy and I know many more were praying for him.

That Thursday, Andy's parents, aunt, and brother/sister-in-law came up. We had a great time catching up with them and had dinner for everyone at our house that night.

Grandpa with a sleeping baby

Aunt Theresa couldn't resist doing up Philip's hair

Aunt Theresa brought up this pink hippo that Andy used to love when he was little. Philip seems to like it too!

The next day, more company arrived. My parents, sister/brother-in-law/neice, and another one of Andy's brothers came to town. We entertained at our house for the day and then all went out to eat at Friendly's that night. My sister insists on eating at Friendly's every time she comes to town, so this was our chance to get her meal in.

Andy with Uncle Joe, Uncle Danny, and Philip

Saturday was Philip's baptism. The baptism was held at the chapel of our church. It was so wonderful to have him baptized in this historic chapel. We invited Andy's friend, Fr. Neil to celebrate. He agreed to come up all the way from Georgia to perform the baptism. Andy has been friends with Fr. Neil since grade school and I first me him when we were in college. When we moved up here, he was in seminary near us, so we were able to get together a few times each year. I had always hoped he would baptize our first baby, but didn't think it would happen once he was ordained and moved so far away. But one day we decided to just ask and see if he would come, and he didn't hesitate to agree. We decided that since Fr. Neil was coming all the way up from Georgia, we might as well get the most out of him and have a full mass. Andy's supervisor, Fr. Brian concelebrated for us. Before dismissal, Fr. Brian was able to say a few words that touched everyone there.

My sister is Philip's godmother and Andy's brother Danny is his godfather. We are so blessed to have family members that are faithful to the church and good role models for Philip.

When I posted this on Facebook, one of our friends said it looked like older Andy and Kristen looking down at younger Andy and Kristen. Ha ha!

The baptism was really emotional for me. I know it sounds cliche, but it was truly one of the happiest days of my life. It was so wonderful to be surrounded by the family and friends who have supported us over the last four years and who were all so happy to celebrate with us. Philip did a great job, by the way. I was a bit concerned he wouldn't make it through a full mass, but he stayed awake through the baptism (didn't even cry) and then just fell asleep in my arms towards the end.

We had a reception in the church hall afterwards and it was great to have a chance to speak with everyone there. It felt like our wedding reception again (just a lot more casual!).

This little hat came with Philip's baptism outfit and we put it on him at the end of the reception - too cute!

My neice, Olivia, was the best dressed!

We spent a couple of hours at home that afternoon. Both babies were tired, but they eventually rallied and had fun flailing around on the bed.

That evening, the attention focused on my father-in-law who was celebrating his birthday! We reserved the back room at a local pizza chain and had a great time. Fr. Neil joined us as did our friends from college.

Dany surprised Angela on her birthday with a trip to DC that he planned to coincide with Philip's baptism weekend. We were so happy to get to see them and their children again and it was great to have them at dinner so we could catch up a bit more. They have such a wonderful family.

On Sunday, we all went to mass and then the good-bye's began. Our siblings headed home, but our parents and Andy's aunt stayed until Tuesday. We made this pumpkin soup recipe and it was a hit (actually, I just bought the ingredients; my mom ended up making it because Philip was a handful that day).

It was Halloween!

On Monday, we did a little house hunting, but didn't find anything good. It was a fun diversion though and our family was able to see a bit more of our community. Yes, I said we were house hunting! More details in my next blog post! That evening our moms made everyone dinner and we enjoyed our last night together.

The next morning, my parents came over for a visit before they had to head out to the airport.

We had such a great weekend, but as always it passed by too fast. It seemed like Philip's baptism was so far away and now it is behind us and we are looking on towards the holidays. We can't wait to see our family again and to introduce Philip to those who haven't met him yet!

Staged family baptism shots follow for those who are interested.