Squeaky Clean

Declan received his first sacrament on Sunday. Fr. Don, on his last day at our parish, baptised him during the 8 a.m. Mass. Many of our local friends joined us for the celebration, then came to the house afterward for breakfast.

Declan slept through the entire Mass! Liam on the other hand, behaved like a two-year-old. Gahhhh! He is normally pretty well-behaved during Mass, but on this special ocassion we were asked to sit in the front-most pew on the side opposite to where we normally sit. This pew is basically just a bench. It has no kneeler, and has direct access to the altar. It is a recipe for chaos.

Liam ran around and made lots and lots of noise. His Dad removed him from the service on at least three ocassions. He spent most of the time secure in his Daddy's arms, but any time he wasn't, he was causing a comotion. It was a bit exhausting.

After the candle-lighting, when the father accepts the candle from the godfather--that part? That was an exercise in agility for Patrick. He held (30-pound) Liam in one arm, and held the lighted candle in his other, free hand. Once Liam discovered the candle it was his mission to blow it out. He preceeded each attempt by loudly proclaiming, "Blow da candle, Daddy?" and then blowing with all his might. This caused Patrick to s-t-r-e-t-c-h the candle-holding arm out as far as he could to protect the flame, the very Light of Christ! I was laughing, the deacon was laughing, but what could we do? Liam made three or four attempts at dousing the light, when finally Patrick was given permission to "hand it off to the godfather". Whew.


Declan Joseph was baptised in the Name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.


Sean assisted the priest by drying off Declan's little head. He also helped out with the jar of chrism. When Declan was baptised and anointed, the priest took my baby from me and walked him slowly back up the aisle of the church for all to see.

It was a beautiful event!


...and now his head smells like chrism. Heaven on earth!

He's Here!

Surprise! Baby #5 decided to show up early. This is a first for our family. Holly was 8 days late, Laurel 10 days late, and Sean a whopping 15 days late. Liam was induced (so that doesn't count) to prevent going past dates. Never did I expect to deliver early! It took many hours of labor before I was convinced I'd be actually having a baby that day. I'm sure the nurse thought I was nuts. Whenever she'd mention giving birth, I'd squeal, "Today? I'm having a baby today!"

Declan Joseph arrived ten days early weighing 9# 5oz. It was a grueling labor--15 hours--but well worth it, of course!

Anyway, here he is! Beautiful and healthy.





Liam makes a fine big brother and asks "Baby kiss?" 10,000 times a day--and then plants a big old smooch smack onto Declan's face. So far, baby brother is taking it all in stride.