None of my sons are baptized. I’m actually embarrassed to say that, especially since it’s something that is very important to me.
We were living in NYC when William was born and we never joined a parish there, it just so happened that I got pregnant with Alexander when William was 3 months old, so we made the decision to wait till he was born and baptism them both. I got pregnant with another baby when Alexander was 3 months old, and we had just moved back to Rhode Island, so we decided… “Let’s just wait till this baby is born and baptize all 3 of them.” Sadly, I miscarried that baby. And then, all of a sudden… all I could think about was getting pregnant again, not anything else. I got pregnant with my Benjamin when Alex was 9 months old, and it was the best news in the world for me, but also scary… I was so nervous about his pregnancy.
I went to church every single night for the first 12 weeks of Benjamin’s pregnancy to do a novena for him. I prayed for a healthy baby boy and a healthy pregnancy. And during that time, I made a vow to Benjamin and to the church that someday I would baptize him at this church. I promised and I prayed that I would do it…
And then I got pregnant with Henry, and still the novena continued for me and my baby-to-be, which was my Henry.
So now… 3 years later, well… truthfully 6 1/2… it’s finally time to baptize them. It’s a special moment for me and my husband. This is something that is very special to us and I’m upset with myself for taking so long to get it done (my mother and mother-in-law have not been amused).
Tonight we went to the church for the Baptism Prep Class with the boys. We were the ONLY family there with kids, the other 4 families all came without their children, and we are the only ones with kids over the age of 6 months (not surprised there). I thought my sons would feel awkward about it, but I was wrong… as we sat there tonight listening to the Sister talking about why people get baptized and even watched a movie about a baby getting baptized, my sons – William and Alexander in particular – were mesmerized. They were soaking it all in, and seem ready and (actually) excited about Sunday.
Of course, the only question we got as we left church tonight was from Benjamin, he wanted to know if he needed to wear a white dress.
Probably worse… they’re all in matching little suits. 🙂 They’ll love these photos someday, I’m sure!
Audrey,
Enjoyed reading your story about boys’ upcoming baptism. My youngest son didn’t get baptized until he was five and didn’t make his First Holy Communion until he was 10 so I feel ya.
What a great and special day it will be for your family. A day to remember; at least you won’t forget when each was baptized.
Hi Audrey,
Please don’t be so hard on yourself about waiting to get your children baptized.My husband and I had a similiar situation,3 babies in 2 years,building a home,husband acts as contractor while running his two offices alone,I take care of premature twin babies and 1 1/2 yr. old alone 12 hours a day and all night (husband helps at night)OH! by the way I nursed them for six months.At the same time as all this an immediate family member needs financial support we help.My mother gets diagnosed with breast cancer,luckily caught early (ladies get your mammograms!!!!!)We were in survival mode,we needed our church and faith at that time more than ever but sadly we just existed from day to day.About a year and a half ago we felt like we could finally catch our breath and started attending our church and our children started sunday school lessons.Our wonderful pastor had faith in us and knew when the time was right we would be there.This past december our 6yr. old son and 5yr. old twins were baptized in front of our congregation,I was soo emotional and still am just thinking about it.Because to me it symbolized so much of what we had been through and how truly grateful and blessed we really are.I believe getting them baptized when we did was far more powerful and more meaningful as a family than if we had been able to when they were infants.I have no regrets,I hope this helps.
I love this story Audrey. We all do things in our own time and in our own way. I hope you take lots of pictures for us all to see. I can’t even imagine how cute they will look in their matching suts. Congratulations in advance on a perfect day with your family and God.