birthday party #2 and baptism =)

hi catherine-

what a great weekend we just had=) gigi and granddaddy came in town to see your baptism, and just so happened to be here for your richmond birthday party too. you had so much fun! it didn’t take you quite as long to get used to the crowd this time, so you perked up and started playing with olivia and isaiah and reaching for cecilia pretty quickly. you did decide to take a nap partway through, and being the easiest baby on earth that you are, you just layed right in the middle of the party and slept for an hour or so. you woke up and we sang to you, blew out the candle (you were mesmerized by the flame and just wanted to grab it), opened your presents and let you show off a little=) it was once again pretty incredible to see so many people who love you come to help us celebrate you turning one…we are so thankful for these sweet friends and can’t imagine this journey without them!

two people that love you! (me and sara)

olivia and miss becky...olivia is a bit of a miracle herself!


you see the look you're giving that flame?! right after this you lurched yourself forward grabbing for it. you daredevil you.

sweet baby waking up from her nap in the middle of the party.

you were getting excited!

thinking about helping mommy open some presents...

but instead you'll just focus on the bow.

i fear your daddy will enjoy this present more than you will!

showing how you like to stand up=)

i love this face=)

apparently isaiah and i were in deep conversation...

pooped out after the party!

as wonderful as saturday and your birthday party was, sunday kind of blew me away. i knew your baptism would be special, but i think i was surprised by the general feeling of the day. it was anointed and sweet and peaceful and gentle…like i knew God sent His Spirit to fill the room and our hearts and remind us vividly of the mercies and miracles of the past year. it was a real gift to hear the prayers of our friends and family-i loved hearing my dad’s heart for you as he petitioned heaven. and i was overwhelmed with awe and praise all over again when sweet libby talked to God and shared her memories from our small group’s "baby blessing" and compared what our expectations were that night over a year ago to what we've seen God do since you were born. and i also loved that kevin referenced genesis when the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters-do you remember the first letter your daddy wrote you? he talked about that verse too, and how it had given him peace-he didn't know what it meant, but he sensed that God was "forming order out of the chaos in your life". to see you in front of our church family wriggling around in our arms and reaching for kevin’s beard and wanting to give everybody high fives (that’s your new trick!) while they prayed for you-like you knew nothing of what was going on but you were living it up in your spotlight nonetheless. you were very funny and kept us laughing and crying at the same time. we are honored to be the parents that get to usher you into a life lived for Jesus…to welcome you as a child of the covenant…to promise publically to love and honor Jesus with our own lives and to raise you in a home that will cultivate those same values. i pray with everything in me that Jesus will teach us to be the parents He’s calling us to be…we will not be perfect and I pray that He will give you grace for us when we make mistakes and shield you from any harm that our imperfections could cause…i pray that we will be exactly what you need-transparent and authentic and unconditionally loving…all the while pointing to Him. that is our ultimate goal and underlying purpose in everything we do or say as we raise you, my little sweet one. i pray God will pour His grace and mercies on us as we, in our own humanity, will most certainly fall short of what you deserve. i love you baby-it is mine and daddy’s pleasure and privilege to walk toward Jesus with you=) and i suppose now is an appropriate time to let you know that Jesus loves you more than we ever could-His is a love that is uncontainable and unfathomable. we will never understand and never appropriately reciprocate. one of my biggest prayers for you is that you can rest and thrive in that love and be forever changed by it. that you will get a glimpse of His love for you and that you could see yourself for just a second the way He sees you-that you will fall madly in love with Him-that all this will change you in a way that spurs you on to run with reckless abandon toward Him...

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

~Ephesians 3:16-21

i'm fairly positive this isn't the first time i've told you about this passage. and i'm pretty sure it won't be the last. it's my favorite. =)

i love you babe-

mommy

playing with grandaddy before you got dressed for your baptism=)

family picture before we left for church

hamming it up when you saw mr jeff taking pictures of you!


you love your sweet daddy=)

you were trying to climb up our stomachs the whole time we were up there...silly girl=)

sweet church family praying for us

happy family after church=)

i love your tongue=)

ps-we have to be at uva at 7:30 tomorrow morning. you will go to the OR an hour or two later i'm guessing. i'm nervous about it. i hate that you have to go under anesthesia again. every now and then i feel guilty that i'm "letting" this happen to you-i know that's ridiculous, but i sometimes feel that way anyway. i know you have to have this done-you have to go to the OR and have a little minor surgery again and that the next couple of days might not be your most comfortable...but i know that, for lack of the right words to describe what a big deal this is, i'll just say that the things that will happen over the next few days will make your life a lot easier. we can't wait for that part=) i'm praying for as little scar tissue as possible, you recovering well from anesthesia, for you to have a seamless transition getting your trach out, your sats to stay up, your airway to work appropriately, etc, etc. here we go baby=) Lord hold her close.