Baptisms and Birthdays!

Dear Family and Friends,

This past weekend was very special for us as a family. Clara was baptized on October 16th at Calvary Church (Episcopal). My parents were in attendance as well as my Aunt Gay and Uncle Harry (Clara's Godparents) from Virginia. The baptism was beautiful, and Clara slept through the whole christening like a little angel. Everyone thought it was pretty amazing that she didn't wake up when the water was poured over her head. The baptismal dress that Clara wore was first worn by my cousin Adam when he was baptized in the Episcopal church 28 years ago. My aunt and uncle kept the dress and had his name and the date of his baptism sewn into the skirt. When they heard that Clara was going to be baptized, they offered us the use of the dress for Clara. They are going to have her name and christening date inscribed into the dress as well. My aunt and uncle will keep the dress and have it for any future children in the family who may be baptized. Below are a couple of photos from the baptism, as well as a picture of my cousin Adam when he was baptized in the family gown in 1983. Isn't he cute! Calvary Church has become such a special place for us. We have already met so many wonderful members of the congregation and we were honored to have Father Alfred Tisdale perform the baptism.

In other news...Clara and I both celebrated Birthdays this week! I turned 28 yesterday and today is Clara's 6 month birthday. Yesterday Joey and Clara took me to a lovely restaurant in Mystic for lunch to celebrate. We had a window table overlooking the water and the Mystic draw bridge. It was a lot of fun and Clara enjoyed watching the bridge go up and down. Today I dressed Clara up and took some 6 month photos of her. She is such a sweet baby. She has a little bear named "Buddy Bear" that she loves to cuddle, but her favorite new discovery is our cat Lucy. Every time Clara sees Lucy she starts laughing, smiling and kicking. She has managed to touch Lucy a couple of times, and for the most part Lucy is fine with it unless Clara manages to get a grip on her tail. Anyway, it's pretty cute to watch. I really can't believe that half a year has gone by already. I thank God everyday for my precious Clara. I feel so honored to be her mommy.