Marco's Baptism

Our sweet little Marco was baptized today during a Sunday morning mass. We had asked my brother Mark and my niece, Alexa (Mark’s daughter), to be Marco’s godparents and they kindly accepted their new official titles. I think Alexa was thrilled, actually (as was I), knowing how seriously she would take this role in Marco’s life, and also understanding the greatness that a godparent designation/title incurs. We were also elated to hear that my brother and his girls would be able to join us for Marco’s baptism, as this was no easy task. 

(If you can find Giuliana in this photo - you get bonus points! Poor girl - someone should have held her for this photo. Sucks to be short, I guess!)

My brother Mark lives in China. He frequently spends a lot of time in the states during the summer months, but it can be tricky to plan around, as his travel depends upon his business commitments. He was able to plan a trip that had him fly to Texas to pick up his daughters (Alexa & Callie, who had just moved back to the states with their mom), so they could all join us for the baptism in addition to spending some extra quality time together for a few days.

Marco's baptismal day was nothing short of busy and chaotic. But, we all made it to the church in time (10am), dressed, teeth brushed, etc.... so I look at that as a major accomplishment, in and of itself. Granted, we did forget to have Marco wear the baptismal booties that my mom had sent. Oh well, you can't win 'em all, right?

For Marco’s baptismal outfit, it only seemed fitting to have him wear Matteo’s baptismal outfit which included his white shorts, shirt, vest and tie. Rocco and Matteo wore the same baptismal outfit when they were baptized in 2008. The baptismal ceremony was very nice and definitely my favorite to date. Marco was great during the entire mass, and didn’t even get fussy when the priest poured the Holy Water over his head. He even fell asleep in my arms towards the end of the service. This was ideal, as I was worried he’d start fussing so he could nurse, at some point during the mass. In addition to Mark’s family being able to witness Marco’s baptism, our wonderful au pair, Michalina, also joined us and was a huge help that morning. 

After mass, we had planned to enjoy a nice brunch. But… the Navy’s Blue Angels were in town for the weekend and everyone wanted to see and enjoy the Seattle flight show. So, after the baptism mass, we quickly had everyone change into some shorts and Mark, Dan and all the kids headed off to the air show. I stayed home with Marco so he could nurse and nap. 

We finally took some photos with Marco’s baptismal cake later that day. The cake was somewhat a flop, as I had sent Dan to order it for us with the hopes it would say “God bless Marco Matteo”, followed by the date of the baptism. Instead, Dan ordered the cake to read "MAY 5th"... which was 3 months prior! Blame it on sleep deprivation... not sure if he was thinking birth date... and even then the numerical date was incorrect. Ugh! Too funny. I guess we should be satisfied with the correct name being on the cake. :)

In addition to the baptism and Blue Angels flight show, other fun cousin weekend activities included a trip to a theme park, and a whale watching tour out of Bellingham Bay.