Welcome, Little Christians

I would like to introduce you to the two cutest little Christians in the universe: my identical twin granddaughters, who were baptized on Sunday morning!

My husband and I just returned this afternoon from a five-day trip out to the Midwest that was just fantastic. We got to see our oldest son, who has been in Afghanistan for the past nine months, and to watch him in "daddy mode" with his one-month-old baby girls; and we got to attend the Baptism of our very first grandchildren, who really are about the most adorable creatures God ever put on this planet. Our #3 son was chosen as a godfather to one of the babies, and one of our lovely nieces was chosen as the godmother. (My daughter-in-law's older brother and his wife are the godparents of the other baby.) These two young people, my son and my niece, were so thrilled and touched to be given this honor that in order to attend the Baptism, they both flew out from Southern states on the East Coast on Saturday and then had to turn around and fly back home on Sunday. But they wouldn't have missed it for the world. It meant so much to my oldest son and his wife that they were able to be there--and I know it meant a lot to the proud new godparents, too.

This Baptism was extra-special because the babies were actually baptized by their maternal grandfather, who is an ordained deacon in the Catholic Church. It was a beautiful and holy ceremony, and my two granddaughters were perfect angels. (I'm sure you're not surprised; and no, I'm not biased.) Neither one of them made a peep throughout the whole ceremony, even when the water was poured over their heads.

The twin babies looked like twin angels in the christening gowns and bonnets that I made out of my mother-in-law's treasured linen pillow shams (see "Making Christening Dresses," March 8, 2011, for more on this). The little porcelain doll that modeled these dresses awhile ago on this blog ("Making Christening Dresses, Part 2," April 2, 2011) looked very sweet in them--but not nearly as adorable as the pair of living dolls that donned them on Sunday. My daughter-in-law ended up choosing the style shown in the top picture in that April 2 post for the girls to wear on their big day; this was a great choice, because it was an extremely hot day, and the backs of the gowns are open and just tie in two places with ribbon. I've decided that this is a perfect design for a christening gown, because it's cool to wear in the summer over a lightweight onesie, yet it can be slipped over a cozy sleeper for a winter Baptism. The simpicity of the design makes putting the gown on the baby and removing it a quick and easy process. There's no pulling the gown over the baby's head or struggling with tiny buttons.

Anyway, it was just a wonderful occasion and we feel so blessed. It wasn't easy saying good-bye--either to the babies or to our son, who will be returning to Afghanistan in about a week-and-a-half to finish the last two months of his deployment. But my husband and I feel extremely lucky that his job affords us the opportunity to fly stand-by for free, so that no matter how far away they live, we will be able to be there for important events in our children's and grandchildren's lives. I may become a fan of flying yet. Miracles have been known to happen!