Ella's Special Day!

Well, today was Ella’s baby dedication at church (see a link to the pictures on the right-hand side), and despite some concern from Mom and Dad about how she would do up on the big, it all went well. She wore her beautiful satin pink dress that Gi Gi specially made for the occasion. I was paranoid that she was going to spit up all over it, so she had a bib on and was covered with a blanket until we got to church. She had her white Mary Jane socks on and her white bloomers with her initials (thanks to Judy and Jennifer). I might be biased but she looked absolutely adorable!

She got a good nap in before we got to church, so we were hopeful that would keep her in a pretty good mood. It didn’t work out as such. As soon as we arrived, our biggest fear of her screaming the entire time on stage looked certain to occur as the noise from all the people startled her into crying. She cried up until about 1 minute before we were supposed to go up on stage, then all of a sudden she stopped (God heard our prayers). She was perfect for the entire dedication. She just looked around and at one point even gave a big yawn. She let Pastor Don hold her without a fight and all through his prayer over our precious baby she was perfectly silent. Pastor Don handed her back over to Joe and we walked down to our seats. She gave us about 1 more minute of silence then the cries began once again. At that point we weren’t as worried. The main part was over and she did a wonderful job. Way to go Ella Bella!

Pastor Don does great at baby dedications, so we knew he would do great with ours too. At one point he asked us if having Ella has challenged our faith, to which we replied, “Oh yes!” During the dedication Joe and I committed to raising Ella in a home where she would learn the love of Christ and that we would teach her to walk in the ways of the Lord. He told Ella her life verse (John 10:10) and prayed over her.

Uncle Curby and Aunt Gina (and Ella’s 2 cousins-to-be) drove up from Charlottesville, VA to participate in the event. After church we went to Red Lobster for lunch. Joe and I did the switch-off routine where I would eat and he held Ella, then he would eat while I held her. It’s hard going out to eat because you don’t have all the baby gear that makes eating possible, like the swing, bouncy seat, etc. We made it through and when we got home we changed Ella’s clothes and she settled in for a long nap.

It was a great day! God is so good. He continues to bless our lives with precious Ella. God has used her little life so much in her 12 short weeks; I can’t wait to see what he has in store for the rest of her life.

Katie