Isabel's dedication

We had Isabel's dedication at our church, Hosanna!, this past Sunday. She did really well considering that by the end of the service, she had been awake for four hours! She had started to fuss toward the beginning of the service but with the Daddy magic hold, she calmed down and made it through with very little noise. Daddy's arm was about to fall off by the end, though! The service was really nice and our pastor, Derek Rust, had a very meaningful message. We are committing to, in his words, build a spiritual greenhouse over our daughter, introducing her to the Lord Jesus Christ and teaching her to know, love, and serve Him. This is a huge responsibility and one that we feel so honored by (and also a bit overwhelmed by sometimes!) I was much more emotional during the service than I had anticipated, and coming unprepared with no tissue, I was dabbing at my tears with Isabel's burp cloth! We had our family and close friends over for a celebration at our house afterward and it was so nice to be able to spend time with everyone and to entertain which is something I love to do. The guest of honor slept during the first two hours of her party but then got up to meet everyone. She was so tired from all the stimulation that she took an evening nap, got up to eat one more time, and went right back to bed!