In Her Own Words

No, Grey was not able to walk up to the circle to receive his blessing...but pretty dang close. Brock was finally able to give him his much anticipated blessing yesterday, April 13, 2008. I have taken my doctor's instruction very seriously this season to stay away from the germ factory that is church and have managed to keep him home for five whole months. And Brock was very patient the first, um, two? But as a mother I am the boss. What can I say? :) I could tell my father-in-law (whom I love dearly) was getting a little impatient as well, chomping at the bit to "get that baby blessed." However, I stood my ground, and I'm glad I did, because the day turned out perfect (almost) and it was a beautiful, warm, spring day, to boot.

Our church starts now at 9 a.m. which is very unfortunate for people like me who hate waking up early and are inevitably late to everything as it is. The night before our house was in shambles as we just finished painting our bathroom that day, (a whole other post :)) so we were up until midnight cleaning and cooking. Yes, this is my, slightly pathedic, disclaimer for being late to my first-born's blessing....and so was he. Brock went to church about a half-an-hour early to save some pews for family and friends and I told him the baby and I would meet him there, and we did, just about 10 minutes late. FYI 10 minutes late is almost like being early in my world, so I thought I was doing pretty well. While driving I saw families still walking to church. And just for the record, this has to be THE only Sunday our ward has started on time, since almost every family has about, I don't know, 14 kids.

As I was pulling my baby out of the car, peacefully, I saw my brother-in-law walking out of church. He met my eyes with panic and said "They're ready to bless the baby, and Brock's sweatin' it!" My heart sunk. According to me I was right on schedule.

This was reminicent of my wedding day, which I was also late to and also made Brock sweat bullets. My dad, for the second time had to advise Brock not to be mad at me, but meet me with a smile, when I did decide to show (for his own safety, and theirs) and Brock obediently took his advice, both times.

The worst part is I had told my parents the night before to "please be on time," asking them to lay out my brother's clothes the night before to make sure. Well, again for the first time, say, in my life, my parents were early, and my dad was excited for hi well deserved, "nah, nah, na, nah, nah."

So I walked in with my baby about the time the bishop announced the blessing of Greg Stephens. That was the icing on the cake.

Despite all the turmoil, however, Brock was able to give a beautiful blessing. It was an awesome experience and when he, very proudly, help up his son, the congregation gave an "awwwe," and that was sweet. :)

It was our first big event at our little house, but things went pretty well. There was enough food, thanks to mom, sister and mom-in-law. Everything was delicious! It was so fun to see so many of our supportive family and friends! It really was a fun day. Even Grey was able to enjoy it. He loved being at church with all the people to look at and especially loved being there with all his family. He was so excited.