Church

I's been a long time coming, but Julia finally got to go to church last Sunday! She (and we) attend the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul in downtown Charleston. Because Julia was in the NICU, then on oxygen at home, and because it took us so long to get her the vaccine for RSV--thank you, Coastal Pediatrics!--Julia was about 5 weeks old before she graced the doors of this venerable institution. I finally talked to our pediatrician, who convinced me that Julia (and we) needed the support of our church family as she grows up, and I too would love to see her finding friends and becoming an integral part of this environment.

Also, we wanted to take her to church before my mother left to go back to Hungary. It was, as always, a multi-tiered process. Julia eats very slowly, like a little lady, and so it takes her 40 minutes to breastfeed, and about as long to supplement that food with high-calorie formula...would that I were on such a diet!

Then, there was the matter of what she would wear. We wanted her to wear a little smock made by the mother of one of my students, but it was so big on her that it literally fell off. Then there was the velvet newborn dress, but the tights were huge, bunching around her legs. So we (meaning I, the only one anal about these things) finally decided on a respectable pair of pants and a nice top. Of course, all of this deliberation on my part made us run late, and so you have this harried picture of us in the church parking lot:

We finally settled down, took our traditional seat by the side door (I used to have to sit there to run out and pee when pregnant!), and let the service begin. Julia was really well-behaved and slept through most of it, although I'm convinced that she loved the music:

And after the service, everyone ooh'd and aah'd over this beautiful baby of ours! It was really precious, and it meant so much to us. Here's a picture of us with our rector and Dean, Peet Dickinson, who will baptize Julia:

What a beautiful, blessed Sunday! Since then, mom has gone back to Hungary, and we all miss her, but Julia is thriving!! In fact, this hat, which was HUGE on her head when she was born, fits perfectly now, so one could say she's growing a big head:

The hat was given to her by her other grandma, Patty Rogers, whose website I would link to if she ever made one!! For now, I gotta go feed the child, but I'll keep posting!