Kate's Big Day

On Sunday, Kate made her formal debut at church when we blessed her before our congregation. I'm not sure whether Devoted Wife or I was more nervous for the event. I was nervous because I was offering the blessing and had never done one like it before. My dad had recently informed Devoted Wife that when I was blessed as a baby, I screamed through the entire blessing and my screaming nearly prevented him from being able to think of what to say. I was hoping that karma wouldn't strike and cause my child to inflict the same fate on me as I had inflicted on my dad. I think Devoted Wife's nervousness lay more in the very real possibility that Kate could have an ill-timed accident while wearing beautiful white dress Devoted Wife had found for the occasion. However, everything ultimately went smoothly: Kate smiled calmly through the blessing, I didn't drop her and she didn't make any messes. After the blessing I even ignored the strong urge to mimic the Lion King and hold her over my head while singing "The Circle of Life."

It was great to have so many family and friends with us that day, as both Devoted Wife's and my parents were there, as well as several of our brothers and sisters and their families.

Kate seemed to enjoy the whole day, particularly the fact that everyone seemed to want to hold her. There was almost a showdown between Grandmas, as both sought to maximize their time with Baby Kate. However, Devoted Wife's mother graciously let my mother take a major portion of the time, given that my mom doesn't get to see little Kate nearly as often as DW's mom. I enjoyed the fact that they even enjoyed changing her diaper and I didn't have to do it all day long.

The day before Devoted Wife and I had taken my sister Margo, her husband Ray and their three kids to the Underwood Family Farm a couple of miles from our house. The animals there didn't seem to trust me and kept eyeing me suspiciously:

The kids had a great time feeding and petting the animals, and we even got to see the Jolly Fat Man (no, not Uncle Rookie Dad) and go on a wagon ride with him around the farm:


For those of you with children who are contemplating visiting us at some point in the future, take note: the farm is only minutes away and is open throughout the year.

One final thought: as we go through our first Christmas as homeowners, its is dawning on me that at some times a small home beats a large home. Putting up Christmas lights is one of those times. Our home is certainly not huge, but when it comes to decorating for the Holidays its making living in our condo look pretty appealing. There, we stuck a wreath on the door and called it good. Here, we seem to live on the street where all of the neighbors compete with one another to see whether their inflatable Santas, lighted 20'-tall palm trees, animatronic carolers or electric polar bears (that was a new one to me) best capture the spirit of Christmas.

Not sure my icicle lights can compete. But there's always next year.