Christening

I know, I know, it's been too long since I last posted. But, I'm making up for it by making THREE posts in one day! And, I'm including a lot of pictures, so I hope I'm forgiven.

This past Saturday, on the babies' 4 month birthday, they were christened. I worried and worried about it for a while leading up to the christening -- mostly the logistics of getting three babies christened, and while the babies are supposed to be kept inside and germfree.

The babies were christened at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Hoover ("POP"). POP was great in working with us to make sure the babies were kept as healthy and germ-free as possible (and didn't even balk when we requested that "clean" holy water be used). We had them christened on a Saturday so that they could be kept away from other people, and in attendance had only immediate family and Ann (the NICU nurse who is now the babies' primary babysitter).

My biggest concern, other than germs, was getting all three babies there on time, in their christening gowns, and then home in time for the next feeding, without any of us having a major meltdown. So, I had it all planned out in advance. The morning of the christening, we fed the babies right before we left for the church. Right before they were fed, they were bathed and placed in white onesies with little pants. Before we left, Gary took the strollers out of the back of the Expedition, and we used that as the "dressing room" for the babies. When we got to the church, Gary handed me one baby at a time. I stripped off the baby's pants, put on the christening gown, then passed the baby to my mom. Mom then held the baby while Aunt Cindy buttoned and tied the back of the christening gowns and slips, and then the baby was passed along to one of the waiting men to hold the baby and put on their little hats. Following are pictures of the assembly line in the back of the Expedition, and a picture of Nana and Papa (my mom and dad) helping Henry get his hat on, Uncle Doug holding Piper, Papa holding Henry, and me holding Rosemary while cousin Andrew looks on:

Once we got in the chapel, we had some waiting time while Father McDaid got ready for the christening (and ran some "clean" holy water). Following are pictures taken while we were waiting, which are Aunt Cindy with Piper (which I think could be the best picture of the day), Gary with Henry, and me with Rosemary:

Father McDaid did the ceremony. We were thrilled that he was able to do the babies' christening, because he had been to visit me while I was in the hospital, which really lifted my spirits. Following is a picture from the ceremony. In the picture you can see Father McDaid, Uncle Doug, Aunt Cindy with Piper, Gary with Henry, and me with Rosemary:

After the ceremony, we took some pictures of the babies (and baby holders) that follow. In the group pictures, from left to right you have Piper, Rosemary, then Henry. In the pictures of individual babies, first is Piper, then Henry, then Rosemary.