Peyton's Baptism

Jared and I were overjoyed to be surrounded by our amazing family and friends for a very special occasion with our daughter last weekend. Peyton was baptized at our church, Good News Church, on Sunday, July 20th during the morning worship service. She did extremely well and didn't even mind the water on her head! This was her very first time at church and I was relieved that she was so well-behaved for the entire service. Thank you to our pastor, Andy, for baptizing our daughter. It was a beautiful moment that we will never forget.

It is the practice of our church to perform baptisms during the regular worship service, not private baptisms, because we believe that the entire church congregation plays an integral role in supporting and loving those who are baptized like an extended family. In fact, part of the baptism ceremony involves the entire congregation standing and vowing to encourage and take care of those being baptized. This was my favorite part of the ceremony. I loved getting to see all of the people in our church, in addition to our friends and family, making that promise to help us raise our daughter and nurture her love for Jesus. It truly takes a village to raise a child and I'm so glad that our "village" is full of faithful Christians.

Prior to Peyton's birth, I was already thinking about her baptism. I really wanted her to wear my christening gown that I was baptized in, so I knew we were going to have to baptize her at a time when she was still young enough to fit into it since I was 6 weeks old when I wore it. When I realized that July 20th fell on a Sunday this year and that Peyton would be around 5 weeks old by then, I knew that was the day we had to baptize her.

We lost my dad two years ago on this date and it also happens to be his birthday. Although July 20th has become more of a sad and difficult day for my family over these past two years, I wanted to have my dad there with us spiritually for this important day in Peyton's life. It was also significant to me for Peyton to wear my christening gown, mostly because I just really love family heirlooms, but also because the last time it was worn was when my dad held me in it when I was being baptized, so I wanted Peyton to have a little piece of him on her special day.

Peyton's baptism was such a special occasion for our family and one of my favorite moments as a parent thus far. For Jared and I, one of our priorities has always been that when we had kids we wanted them to grow up with a close-knit church family and we have been lucky enough to find the perfect church for us.

I think that Peyton's baptism was an overwhelming and wonderful occasion for Jared and I because she is our little miracle. After battling infertility for a year and a half, part of me started to think that I would never be blessed with this ultimate gift of motherhood. Thankfully, we had the love and support of our family, friends and church to help us through that difficult time. I firmly believe that the months and months of prayers from all of those people are what finally brought Peyton to us. Therefore, it was so important to have all of those people there with us for this special moment. She is truly a gift from the Lord and we are so blessed to be her parents.

My mom hosted a luncheon at her house after the baptism to celebrate little Miss Peyton!

Motherhood is the greatest gift I have ever been given. 

4 generations of my family 

4 generations of Jared's family

This is only part of our church small group, but that group of people is such an incredible part of our lives. They have been a huge support to us during this entire journey and we are so thankful for them. The ladies of our small group prayed with me week after week for months and held my hand while I cried waiting for the good news of this pregnancy. I can't wait to raise our kids together since Peyton will now have two new girlfriends in this group!! Lindsey and Eric (not pictured) welcomed baby Mary Claire in June, along with Rebecca and Mike (pictured above on the right) who adopted baby Lorelei Elizabeth yesterday! Mary Claire is only 2.5 weeks younger than Peyton and Lorelei is 6 weeks younger than Peyton. I'm so excited that these three little girls are so close in age and that we will all be able to watch them grow up in our church together.  

Peyton with her maternal grandmothers and great-grandmothers on both sides!

I love how all these guys were fraternity brothers in college and are now daddies together! We are thrilled to be living in the same city as our college friends and that these Kappa Sigma babies will get to grow up together. 

Kappa Sigma wives and babies club! 

Left to right: Baby Hall {12 weeks preggo}, Peyton {5 weeks old}, Adelyn {4 months old}, Joseph {7 months old}, and Jackson {5 years old} 

Children are a gift of the Lord.

Psalm 127:3