We celebrated a big moment in Caroline's life this past weekend: her baptism! We were so excited to have lots of family in town to witness the big event. Our guests included Marmee, Grampy, Grandparents Hepper, Great Grandma DeNiro, Great Aunt Heidi, Aunt Allison and cousin Sophia, Uncle Michael, Aunt Erin, and Uncle Tate and Aunt Donna. It was quite a crowd!
At our church, they perform the baptism during the Mass, so Caroline was also surrounded by our fellow parishioners when she took the "big plunge." Caroline handled all this attention (and the slightly chilly water) with her usual happy demeanor. She "talked" most of the way through the Mass, gasped but didn't cry when the priest doused her with water, and did her best to smile for the millions of pictures of her that got taken over the weekend. We were so proud of our little Sugarboo.
Having so many family members present made Caroline's big day even more special for Paul and me. We were especially excited that she got to meet her Great Grandma DeNiro and Great Aunt Heidi for the first time. An added bonus of having my Aunt Heidi in town was that she brought her fancy camera and happily snapped away taking pictures throughout the weekend. It was like having a wedding photographer except that we didn't pay her and Caroline wasn't getting married (thank goodness that's YEARS away!).
One of my favorite parts of the weekend was going out to dinner on Saturday night, without the babies. Three of our wonderful friends volunteered to come over and hang out while the babies slept so our families could enjoy ourselves out on the town (Thank you Katie, Jessica, and Celeste!!). Dinner was great, depsite the fact that Carmellos ran out of Jack Daniels two cocktails into the meal! Paul was devastated, but quickly recovered when a bottle of wine landed on the table in front of him. We also enjoyed a
private dining experience because by 8:30 we were the ONLY patrons left in the restaurant! Sadly, I think that's par for the course here in Charlottesville. I certainly wasn't complaining. We could be as loud as we wanted without embarrassing ourselves.
The weekend was a lot of fun and I think a good time was enjoyed by all. Caroline probably has no clue why so many people were focused on her all weekend, but we'll have lots of pictures, mementos, and cards to show her what the hoopla was all about when she's older. When I opened Caroline's cards and gifts after our guests left, I had a good chuckle when I read Uncle Michael's note in Caroline's baptism card: Dear Caroline, Congratulations on avoiding Limbo!
Here are a few pictures from the baptism. I haven't gotten Aunt Heidi's "professional" pictures yet, so I don't have pictures for both sides of the family, but I'll post more when I get them.
Caroline and her loving Goparents: Aunt Allison and Uncle Tate
Caroline sharing her toy with cousin Sophia
The Heppers
