The day Sebastian was originally to be baptized, was the day he was in the hospital. I can remember glancing up at the clock at noon and being so disappointed and scared. He was supposed to be in the arms of Father Brian, being anointed with oil. Instead, he was swaddled in a hospital blanket, having his lungs suctioned.

Thankfully, a day later we were on our way home. It is not lost on me that our stay was so incredibly brief. I am extremely grateful.

As we put Sebastian in the car, the phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, so I answered. It was the church, checking on our sweet baby. If he was still in the hospital, they were going to send over a priest. They asked if we would like to do a special baptism on Mother’s Day since we missed his special day.

I sat in the front seat of the car and cried. Thankful that we were going home, sad that we had missed his first day, and incredibly thankful for a Church that reached out to see what we needed.

The next few weeks were a whirlwind of making sure Sebastian was okay and end of school activities.

I didn’t buy a special gown just for him. I didn’t announce his baptism or invite people to attend.

I realized this meant that it would only be us. No out of town guests. This would mean that Nate would stand in for Grandpa Eschbach as Godfather. This meant there would be no large party or dinner like all the other kids. This meant that there wouldn’t be any pictures of all of us together.

But my sweet friend, Jerry, took the camera and told us all to get together. Thank you, Jerry!

Julia asked me to show her how to work the camera and took pictures of my brand new boy and I.

She did a great job! I’m so thankful for these pictures.

The day was sweet and quiet and beautiful. As always, I can’t imagine it any differently. So Sebastian, once again, your celebration was quiet and small, but oh so very special. We are so thankful you are here.