Oh Blessed Day

A couple weeks ago Briggs was blessed. For ALL my favorite, non-Mormon readers, a blessing is when a baby is formally given a name and then the priesthood holder who's giving the blessing has a chance to invoke a blessing for the baby's future. It's very sweet and something I look forward to with each of my kids. Mostly because I love that it's a special moment between the kids and their dad. And, let's face it, it's a PRIME photo oportunity to color-coordinate our outfits for church!

Oh yeah Baby! Can you believe how good that all turned out?! Now I know that's not SUCH a big deal to some of you, but it's my thing. I noticed a few years ago that I was constantly looking for a theme in what all of us were wearing. And Sundays were THE worst (or best) opportunity to all look our best and to match. It started small with the girls wearing matching colors or outfits and then I'd pull something out of my closet that matched. Once the boys came along it was a matter of picking the right color shirt (no biggie, right?) But when I was packing for our last Disneyland trip and ended up telling Tyler what colors he should pack for the week, I knew it was an issue. And it's not just colors. If we're not matching color-wise I will notice little things like, "Oh good, we're all wearing jeans" or "Everyone has a collared shirt." I know. It's wierd. And in the big scheme of things it's not important, but I do it unconsciously now. UNLESS it's an "occasion" like Briggs' blessing. So, Caylee and I hit up Kohls for new dresses for the girls, grabbed a couple shirts for the boys, a tie for Tyler, and a shirt for me (WHICH, upon looking at the pictures I have determined was NOT a good buy since my ba-zoobs look even more jumanji in the "shimmery" material. But hey! It matched.)

The kids have all been so great with Briggs from day one. They're all very patient with the time it takes away from their attention and they've been very willing to help. The only problem we've found is they argue over who gets to hold him. (Caylee won on his blessing day.)

We've played the "who does Briggs look like?" game and I think he looks more like his dad at this point. Really, he still looks like a little old man, but he's getting smushier as he chubs out.

Here's shots of Briggs' with the other kids.

I really debated about who all to invite to Briggs' blessing. In the past we've let our extended family know and invited friends from out of town, etc. but this year I wasn't really feeling up to having SO many people. Afterward we were having everyone over for lunch and I didn't know how much I could handle with little kids, people, chaos, noise, etc. AND it was a good thing I was a little cautious because I was totally sick the day of Briggs' blessing. The night before I awoke a couple times feeling all sick to my stomach, but I thought it was nerves. Oh no, by the time I woke up on Sunday I totally puked! UGH. I couldn't believe it. And then I felt like I'd been hit by a mack truck so getting everyone to church on time was really hard. I guess it even made the bishop nervous that we didn't breeze in until five minutes before church started. By the time the lunch was over after church I had to go take a nap before everyone even left; you know I was tired if I missed out on conversation.

I do want to say (again) that I do love my family. All of them. In-laws, out-laws, etc. (Missed you Lane, Amy & co. and Uncle/Elder Mike!) Here's some action shots at lunch.

Right after church I took some pictures of Briggs on the baby afghan my mom made for Briggs. He's wearing a blessing suit that Grandma Dodie made for our boys. I had framed that sucker in a shadow box frame after we had Brevin and we got to pull it out for use one more time :) on Sunday morning. We'll do pictures of Briggs in it and then re-frame it for the last time (SERIOUS!)

Anyhow, it was a good day and I'm hoping I'll remember it in the years to come. I'm beginning to recognize how bad my memory is and how important it is to write this kind of stuff down. I want to share a little of my testimony that I bore on Sunday since I thought a lot about it the week before Briggs' blessing (well, actually, since Briggs' pregnancy.) I would consider myself a planner and when we found out we were expecting #5, I was not pleased at something I had not planned or expected. But I can bear testimony that He knows us better and what we can handle (or not handle.) I know that the sweet baby boy that was sent to our family is part of an incredible plan for me EVEN THOUGH I didn't plan on it. I shared that my mom had given me a card right when I found out I was pregnant and how much the words meant to me. I couldn't remember what it said exactly when I stood at the pulpit, but this is the actual quote: "Willing sacrifice of deeply held personal desires in favor of the will of God is very hard to do. And yet when you pray 'May thy will be done,' you are in the strongest position to receive the maximum help from your loving Father." - Elder Richard G. Scott. And I'll just say Amen and Amen.