Andrew's Baptism, 5/1/2011

Andrew was baptized this past Sunday at St. James' Episcopal Church in Warrenton. Our church is very special to us. It's where I was baptized, where Phil and I were married, and where Philip was also baptized. Our priest, Father Chris, performed Andrew's baptism which was a wonderful surprise as he has been in recovery since suffering from a very serious pulmonary embolism about 6 weeks ago and has not been leading services. Father Eric was originally scheduled to perform the baptism which was fine with us, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit disappointed that Father Chris wouldn't be the one to baptism Andrew as he married Phil and I and also baptized Philip. Needless to say finding out he would be leading last Sunday's service was a very happy moment for me as he is very special to us and it means a lot to have him involved in this very important piece of Andrew's spiritual life.

We had asked Phil's cousin Brandon to be Andrew's godfather and he drove up the night before from South Carolina to be a part of the day. My sister Natalie was asked to be Andrew's godmother.  Prior to attending the service, we had a fantastic breakfast at the church cafe. Afterwards the service got underway and both boys were fantastic. I couldn't believe how patient and well-behaved they were. Andrew was all smiles and even took a nap during the sermon and Philip sat quietly and listened and looked at his books. When it was time for the baptism to be performed, Andrew was the perfect candidate. He didn't cry at all when the water was poured over his head, he even seemed to enjoy it. Not surprising at all since he loves baptism. He would have probably been content to splash around in the font if we had let him! 

After the service, we hosted our family and friends back at our house for a luncheon of baked ziti, salad, and cake. It was a great day and we were so blessed to have our family and friends there to share in our celebration.

Brandon and Andrew

With Fr. Chris, after the service.

Andrew's baptism cake, made by Phil's mom

Andrew with his grandmas

 

Four generations

Andrew with his Great Grandma

Andrew with Phil's parents

Andrew with my mom

Checking out his cake

Our family

Andrew and mommy

Andrew and my dad

Andrew with Uncle Greg and his daddy

Andrew and his buddy Brandon

Hanging out in his jammies after a busy day