Ellie's Big Day!

Ellie was christened yesterday in a beautiful ceremony celebrated by Uncle Ig - it doesn't get much better than that. Unfortunately, my brother and sister in-law and their three kids could not be with us because of a family emergency so it was little bit hard to not think about them yesterday while we celebrated mass. Karla's sister was in a serious car accident Friday night and is in the hospital waiting for surgery - we are all praying that Vicky does well in surgery and has a quick and easy recovery but for obvious reasons Karla and Pat needed to be with Vicky and her kids on Saturday.

Auntie Beth showed up on Saturday to get Ellie dressed for her big day but was met with a needy little niece who wanted some auntie hugs! I was a little jealous of the five minute snuggle Auntie Beth got - Lizzie is usually ready to get down on the floor and play!Uncle Colin and Auntie Beth had a newly bathed Ellie to get dressed and it was no easy feat! Ellie got to wear the same dress that my mom, Patrick and I, Tyler and our 3 other girls wore on their christening day! 1st try - dress is on backwards!Her look says it all - what the heck are you two doing to me? Luckily dressing is not a requirement of godparenting and Auntie Beth and Uncle Colin get an A for effort!Proud godparents! They still have the dress to put on - this is only the slip!Our beautiful girl!Looking a little stuffy in the full dress!The Ellie look - just gorgeous and about to become a Catholic!Smiles for Mama!Uncle Colin got Ellie a beautiful silver cross to wear for her christening - it looked adorable on her!Ellie and her godparents!Beautiful day for a christening and Ellie looks like a little cherub with her godparents!Ellie with her parents and godparents! We were lucky enough to get some time with just the babies - Kk took the three big ones for us and met us at the church so that we could get Ellie dressed and take some pictures.Mommy and Daddy with their baby girl!Uncle Ig starting mass with a prayer for Ellie and the sign of the cross on her head.Auntie Kara - my fellow photographer, graciously agreed to take pictures for us during the ceremony and she did a wonderful job!I love Auntie Beth's face in this one!Auntie Meg and her goddaughter!A not so angelic moment from Ellie.Uncle Ig blessing the water for the baptism.Ellie Bean is baptized.Ellie is annoited with the oil.Auntie Beth and her goddaughter - it's official!Uncle Colin lighting the candle.Auntie Beth, Uncle Colin, Peter and Molly brought the gifts down before communion.Our friends from the 4:30 mass - the Baranowski's were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and received a blessing from Uncle Ig.Grammy and Papa with Ellie!Grammy and Papa with the whole H-W clan!Grandma Betty with the whole H-W clan.Ellie with her godparents.Ellie and Auntie Beth in the post christening glow.The best picture we could get of the 5 kids!Uncle Ig and Ellie - what a blessing it was to have Uncle Ig home and able to do the christening for us - it made the day that much more special!Papa and his girl.Auntie Ann outdid herself with the cake and it was delicious, too. Uncle B and his beautiful goddaughter!Our nearlyweds!Auntie Beth and Auntie Lisa!Uncle Scott always has a baby in his hands - here he is hanging with Reillyn - what a sweetie pie he is!We did have one uninvited guest - Auntie Jane! Just kidding - I sent invites out with 42 cent stamps by accident and so Auntie Jane never got one - luckily she has no life....I mean loves us so much....that she would never miss Ellie's big day!Auntie Meg and Lizzie!Cake cuttingAnnie and lizzie both scrounging off of Daddy's cake plate!Uncle Tim with his soon-to-be brothers in law.Much better picture! BTW - how handsome does Uncle B look in his gree shirt and tie?Auntie Beth reveling in her goddaughter!Another shot at the 5 kids - everyone was cranky and tired but Uncle Ig needed some pictures and they aren't half bad!Auntie Beth got Ellie ready for bed and got one more last snuggle before Ellie drifted off to sleep - our newest Catholic!

Most of the girls - ready for goodnight kisses and some Auntie Beth snuggles. Auntie Beth has spent so much time with the kids that if she is not at our house for more than an hour they start asking if they can call her! The fact that Auntie Meg is also here makes it hard for Auntie Beth to stay away so we have her hooked.

My little friend Ricky is hanging in there - he is home with his Mom and Dad and loving life. I'll keep you updated and thanks for all of the prayers!

GNM - ILY!

Miracles!

I asked my friend Casey (weird that we have the same nickname huh - she is Catherine) if I could post some pictures of her new baby boy, Ricky. At 20 weeks pregnant Casey found out that Ricky had Trisomy 18 - which is an extra chromosome that causes such severe birth defects that it is considered "incompatible with life". Ricky was not expected to live through his birth but as you can see he exceeded all expectations. 90% of babies born with Trisomy 18 die within the first few days of life so, as you can imagine, life is pretty unpredicatable and scary for Casey and her husband Rick right now.

I went to the hospital and sat in the rocking chair holding Ricky for over 2 hours and I have to say that it is hard to see anything but the perfection of his tiny little body when you are with him.
Auntie Dana and Ricky - Auntie Dana is one of my mom's best friend's since kindergarten and she is spunky and fun - I love being around her! BTW - Casey is her neice and that's how we know her!

Ricky has a heart shaped face and the clearest blue eyes I have ever seen. I know it sounds cliche and every baby is a miracle but there is something special about Ricky. Every doctor told Casey to have an abortion and she refused - she valued his life no matter how long or short!

Sweet baby boy!

You know me and my fingers and toes - this is Ricky with his Daddy's finger - perfect little fingers!

Casey, Rick and Baby Ricky!

I didn't get to see Auntie Beth yet because I left for the hospital but I knew that she would understand - I needed to see Ricky and love on him a little bit. I took a "holding shift" for next week. Ricky has blue episodes and so in order to let Casey and Rick sleep a little people are taking shifts to watch over Ricky - I enthusiastically volunteered to hold him for as long as they would let me!

Uncle B came over to visit with the kids and brought some foam cell phones - Annie loved them and used them in tandem!My friend Tracey sent over some clothes for Molly and the first thing she tried on was ---ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - deep breath - deep breath - a cotton bra type thing. It was more like a half t-shirt type thing but Molly thought it was very grown up. She showed it to Bob and he told her she had just aged him ten years! Needless to say that I hid it once it came off - I'm just not ready yet!Annie had crazy hair and was a little wild the other night so I took some pictures of her!My happy girl!Ellie Bellie needs to get rid of her icky nose before her big day on Saturday - but look how cute her little smile is. I'll give you the updates on her doctor's appointment tomorrow!Lizzard!

I have no idea why but I can not take my eyes off of this picture - she looks so cute! I love those sparkly eyes and chunky cheeks! I'm off to get some sleep - we have a big day on Saturday and a big week next week!

GNM - ILY!

Nothing much going on!

We are having a busy weekend over here at the H-W house. Bob and I are working furiously during nap times to switch Peter to his room upstairs and Annie to Peter's old room. We were hoping to be done by this afternoon but we may have to put off the transition to next weekend - picture me wincing when saying this because I HATE not meeting the goals we set! But then again - here I am blogging right? We had a wonderful day yesterday - started working on the rooms and then went to my parents house for mass in the living room with Uncle Ig. Meg and Tim came and not only was mass intimate and personal but it gave the kids the chance to see how present Jesus is in every single moment of our lives - even in Grammy and Papa's living room. Grammy treated us to pizza and grinders after and we all hung out for a while visiting with Uncle Ig - he had been on a 2 week whirlwind vacation with Father mike Duffy! Later on Molly and I snuck out for a girls night - we went to see Fame! The original was much better but the company could not be beat. On the way home I was talking to Molly about my first grown up movie in a movie theater and how grown up I felt when my mom took me to a PG movie. The movie was Ice Castles and for anyone who has seen it.......well....it's pretty darm pathetic acting and the music is outrageously corny but to this day it is one of my favorite movies. I was explaining to Molly that I love the movie to this day but I thought it was less because of the actual movie and more for the memory of going to see it with my Mom and feeling so grown up. I also regaled her with stories about all of the times Uncle Pat would call me because the theme song to Ice Castles (Through the Eyes of Love) was on the radio and he would call to make fun of me - pretending he was crying, giving a synopsis of the touching moments of the movies and reminding me that I used to use my roller skates in the driveway and pretend I was blind skating around. I treasure these phone calls! Molly and I continued talking about our fun time at the movies and she turns to me and very seriously says "Isn't it great be someone's daughter, Mom?" She has no idea how great it is to be someone's daughter and I hope someday she gets to see how great it is to have a daughter!

The twins hanging out and playing in their footy pajamas!

My little angle refused to go to bed but then could not stay awake a moment longer!

When Auntie Meg gets home from work the girls all can't wait to get some loving!

I love this picture of Molly - she took it herself!

My 2 little ragamuffins! Nice hair!

Annie loves to dress Ellie up in fancy hair bands! Obviously Ellie doesn't mind it so much!

Sticker girl! Auntie Ann brought Annie a sheet of stickers and she made good use of them. She woke up the next morning with stickers in her hair!
Next weekend is Ellie's big day - she is finally being baptized and we are so lucky to have Uncle Ig here to do the ceremony. Auntie Beth is coming in on Thursday and more than ready for her role as godmother. Uncle Colin was born ready to be a godfather so we are all set. Oh and thanks to Auntie Ann who gave us a turkey a while ago we had a big turkey dinner tonight with Auntie Meg and Uncle Tim - life is good!Good Night All!

GNM - ILY!