Monday, May 6, 2013

Child Dedication and Birthday Party

Yesterday marked two major milestones for Caleb: he was dedicated at church, followed by his first birthday party!  His actual birthday is on Wednesday, but we had the party yesterday because our family was already in town for the dedication.  It was a busy but joyous day!

Caleb refused - I mean, refused - to nap in the morning and had a meltdown shortly before leaving for church.  He was exhausted and I thought we'd be the one family with the screaming, crying kid up front, but we took a short drive before heading to the church, which calmed him down, and then he was a spectacularly adorable, non-crying little man as we stood before the congregation and declared our intentions to raise our child to know and love the Lord.  I maybe got a bit emotional during the prayer :)  It was a beautiful moment for us!



dedicating our son to the Lord during the church service


We were incredibly blessed to have both sets of grandparents plus our dear cousins come to Duluth for this momentous occasion.  My parents flew in for the week, and Eli's parents made the drive up from St. Paul, and Eli's cousin/best friend (and his family) also drove up from St. Paul.  We were beyond grateful to have them all here and incredibly encouraged to have their support as Caleb was dedicated.  Our son is cherished and loved SO much and we cannot thank God enough for this!

After church, everyone headed back to our house for lunch and a birthday party!  Caleb was tired enough to fall asleep on the car ride home, but still wouldn't nap once we got to the house.  He must have smelled a celebration in the air and he didn't want to miss a thing!  So we charged forth with our small party and Caleb enjoyed being the center of attention :)



moose and evergreen sugar cookies!



moose cake for our moose baby: marble cake with chocolate frosting



he was very intrigued by the cake as we sang Happy Birthday



Caleb loves candles and kept trying to grab the fire, but then stuck his fingers in the frosting and was soon trying to get more, which meant it was time to put him in the chair and let him go nuts!



Someone said, "Caleb, this is such a rite of passage!" to which Eli responded, "Yeah, when we strip you naked in front of all your friends and family, strap you to a chair and cover you with chocolate."  Now that's a unique perspective :)



He decided he likes cake :)



Is your heart not melting????



Next on the menu was a moose cookie, which he also thoroughly enjoyed :)



By the way, whenever he sits in his chair he always puts his feet up like this.  Too cute!



After bathing the chocolate off, it was present time.  He really doesn't get the concept yet, but he was particularly intrigued by his new sunglasses.



I found this onesie while I was pregnant and desperately wanted to get it, but Eli wouldn't let me yet.  Then I came across it again while we were in Grand Marais in March and I had to get it this time!  



Another popular present was this inflatable moose head that Eli's mom found.  Isn't it hilarious?  It's not the most accurate-looking moose (in fact, Eli says it's a white-tailed dear despite what the box says), but that's neither here nor there since Caleb loves it.  We came downstairs this morning and he instantly started babbling to it, rather vigorously I might add :)  Every once in awhile he realizes that it's still there and starts making tons of noise again.  It's hilarious :)



Here we are!


It was a fabulous day celebrating the life of our son.  We are so blessed to have him.  He's changed our life for the better and we cannot imagine life without him!  


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