A woman of God

We did Lily's baby dedication in February.  It was actually on Valentine's Day!  For some reason this is the best picture we have of all of us.  This is our pastor, John Lindell holding Lily and my mom was able to be there too.  Can you tell Abby did not want to be up in front of the crowd?  (It was a very small crowd too.  They do baby dedication once a month, so there are only about 10-15 families there.)

Anyway, it was a very special service.  Small and personal.  I don't know why I expected it to be different. I guess because the church is so big.  Doug and I were very touched by the words of Pastor John during the dedication and just how personal they were able to make it for each family. 

He held each child and prayed a prayer of dedication over each one...not the same prayer, but a different prayer for each child.  What was so special about the prayer he prayed for Lily was that he prayed she would be a woman of God.  He didn't pray that for any other little girl. I know that may not seem like a big deal or an unusual thing to pray either, especially during a baby dedication.  But here's the deal, I have been praying that over my girls since I found out they were girls.  I'm sure lots of parents pray that for their daughters, but God has always prompted me to pray that specific phrase and blessing over them and their lives.  It was just a confirmation that God hears my hearts cry for my girls. 

You know when God speaks to your mothers heart about your children it is just hard to put words to it.

Lily actually wore the same dress Ella wore for her baby dedication.  Lily was 15 months and Ella was 3 months.  The dress runs big, but that is how tiny and petite Lily is too!

Funny thing that happened during the service.....

Ella noticed a table in the front with "presents" on it as soon as we got there.  The "presents" were little New Testaments for the babies with their names on them.  The family before us had a little boy about the same age as Ella and the pastor asked him if he would like to hold it for his brother.  Someone took mental note of that.  As soon as we were ready to sit back in our seats after Lily's dedication, Ella headed for the table and as John was ready to hand us Lily's gift,  Ella yanked it out of his hands.  It made for good comic relief.  Guess she is going to be the bold one:)

Lily is going to be 16 months old on Sunday.  Where has the time gone?

She will soon be the same age Ella was when she was born.  I cannot imagine bringing another baby home with her right now.  She is a little rough.  We are trying to teach her to be gentle with our babydolls. 

She is so funny.  Always on the go!  She comes up to me right now and hugs my legs while babbling "Mommee, Mommee"

She loves to eat, even though she barely weighs over 20lbs. 

To her right now, everyone is either Elmo or Abby. (except for mommy or daddy.)

She loves to give kisses and hugs.  When you tell her bye-bye she puckers up like a fish!

She repeats everything we say.  Especially Ella.  Ella recently taught her how to say mine,"MY NNA."

I guess you could say were working on that with both of them. 

Fun to watch the two of them start playing together.