In which Rhea is baptized (aka, shameless photo dump)

In the Catholic tradition, you are supposed to baptize your child as soon as possible, and for me that has never been any sooner than 2 months. (You Catholic mamas who can manage it sooner than that, my hat is off to you!) Not to mention, Cuban moms have been known to secretly baptize your baby if they think you are taking too long to do it, so I try to get on the ball as soon as possible. There are no fewer than six (seven, if you include me) Cuban moms in my family, so I’m not taking any chances.

     I wonder if my extended family noticed that she was wearing this outfit the night before? Our weekend was just that crazy, folks. My family alone accounted for almost 30 invitees who were attending, so Scott and I were freaking out about hosting that many people at our house for the reception afterward. But I am getting ahead of myself. Firstly, Rhea was baptized! 
   
    

 

   

  The high heels seemed like a good idea at the time, but I was really regretting them later. Also, Ruth and Rose kept wandering up to join us during the baptism. Unconventional perhaps, but toddlers happen.
  

Rhea did perfectly during the baptism. We popped her paci in her mouth, and she was sleeping peacefully the whole time. Scott kept a vigilant eye on her, though, because we are still scarred from the time we brought a colicky Ruth to be baptized and she screamed so loudly no one could hear the priest and the whole church felt uncomfortable. But Rhea even slept through the water being poured over her head. That was a first. Not even Rose was that laid back. I found myself getting teary eyed (common theme here, I know) as the deacon introduced a newly baptized Rhea to the church. Is it weird that I CAN’T WAIT until their First Holy Communions? Talk about being a mama puddle of emotion. Motherhood, what have you done to me?! 

   

 Scott and his dad (Paw Paw)
  

 All hail the paci

   Rosie and her friend, Emma
    

 Wren has been going through a SUPER CLINGY stage lately. Mom says it is new baby jealousy, I say it is the molars she is pushing through.

 Rhea’s Godmother (my SIL) on the far right, Rhea’s Godfather (my BIL) on the far left  

  
  Then it was time for the party at our house. Scott and I hadn’t been stressing about it all week at all. ## (Scott tells me the two pound signs denote sarcasm amongst the young folks on their Twitters. He’s hip.) The baptism was right smack dab during lunch (12:30 pm), so we didn’t know whether to serve lunch or not. We decided to err on the side of not having hungry guests, so we got sandwiches from Costco, chips, fruit, and a full sheet cake. We doubled it because, you know, 30 people! I don’t know what happened because we still have a whole container full of sandwiches and half a cake. I guess we’ll get the hang of this feeding the small army that is our family eventually. Don’t get me wrong, having a huge family is wonderful. We have the best time when we all get together. They are just difficult to feed. Anybody have tips on easy and budget-friendly ways to feed a large family? I guess having too much is better than ending up with too little! 

  
 Ruth and Rose were only there for the cake.

 
Shoutout to my aunt, uncle, and cousins who made the 7 hour turned 9 hour (thanks, Atlanta traffic)  trip from Tampa without air conditioning just to see Rhea get baptized. You guys are the best. We can tell that you love us the most;)

Ruth and Rose had a good time at “Rhea’s party” and were very well behaved. They make me one proud mama. 

   

  I did put pretty bows in their hair, but of course they were missing by the time we got in the car to leave for the church.
Welcome to the Church, Rhea! I shall follow your path toward sainthood with interest;)