Baptizin' the Biscuit

This is nearly a week late, but I still want to memorialize the event in blog post form. Someday I envision a binder of printed-out blog posts that I can flip through in my old age to remember all the good times we had when my kids were young (while purposefully forgetting early mornings full of screaming like this one). A nice pot of tea will also be involved.

Anyway, I was going to write this post earlier, but it's been a week of emotional ups and downs and I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to do it. On Wednesday I was super busy at work- much busier than I'd hoped to be my first week back and it made feel very sorry for myself that we couldn't afford for me to use my firm's "phase in" option where you work and are paid about 60% for three months. But it is what it is and by Thursday I was feeling better and recommitted to feeling grateful for the 3 fully paid months that I did get. Thursday night was a celebration dinner for the big case I worked on earlier in the year. My sister babysat so JP could join me for a free evening with one of the top five best meals I've ever had in my life, so that was great. But then I got something Friday morning that made me upset and angry and put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day which did not help the absolutely impossible research project I was tasked with finishing. I was also very tired and still a little sick, so by the time I got home last night I was just emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausted. I read books on the couch with the kids, had a handful of dark chocolate m&m's and 2 glasses of red wine, and then put myself to bed with a book I've read a hundred times before. I'm feeling much better today.

So, the biscuit is baptized! It was a wonderful, low-key weekend and the perfect way to spend my last few days before returning to work. On Saturday my best friend Molly drove over from Kansas with her husband (they're the godparents). She's two years younger than me and we were big competitors in swimming - she broke nearly every record I set - and we became best friends somewhere along the way. We haven't lived in the same city since 2001, but we've stayed close. She just got married (I was supposed to be in her wedding, but it was 4 days before Claire was born) and it was so great to spend some relaxed time together, even if it was only about 20 hours.

We took them out for Mexican food and margaritas as soon as they drove up at 6:30 and Landon immediately took to her husband Tim. At dinner he kept telling Landon to "look over there!" by the bar. After falling for it a couple of times, Landon finally threw up his hands and exclaimed, "I don't know what you are talking about!" Cracked us up - particularly after a round of grande margaritas. After dinner Molly and I stayed up until 2 a.m. talking and eating m&m's. It was just like the old days except that instead of morning practice waking us up too soon, it was my kids.

We spent Sunday morning relaxing with the kids and prepping for the party. I had braised two pork shoulders for 6 hours each on Saturday. Now they were shredded and warming in BBQ sauce for sandwiches after the baptism. I also had my mom's award winning pasta salad, cole slaw, and CAKE! (When you hear Landon refer to it, it's hard not to picture it in all caps.) Landon announced that he was going outside to mow the grass so "it would look pretty" and then clean the porch. I really can't wait until he can actually do those things.

Claire was in a great mood and spent lots of time smiling at everyone and looking pretty.

My parents drove over from Houston, my brother drove over from San Antonio, and my sister drove over from a few blocks away, so we had a nice little group gathered at the church by noon. The baptism was a private ceremony in the small chapel, which was perfect when you have a squirmy three-year-old in attendance. Claire decided she was starving just when the ceremony was supposed to begin, so she's drinking her bottle in nearly every picture.

Landon was most concerned about his sister, so he stood on a chair and kept his eyes square on the Pastor the whole time. He looks very solemn and a little wary in most of the pictures- particularly when the Pastor dared to sprinkle some water on his baby sister's head.

After the baptism a few more friends joined us at the house for a BBQ pulled pork feast. It was delicious (a new recipe, which always makes me nervous when you have 14 guests eating it) and lots of fun.

Claire slept through the whole thing, but I'm sure she was really glad that everyone was there. Landon lost his cake privileges in a meltdown at the church before the ceremony. It was probably one of the worst things that's ever happened to him, and normally our punishments don't involve taking things away that are so highly anticipated, but you have limited means available to you in public meltdowns and once you've said it, you've gotta stick by it.

Luckily he was able to earn it back through perfect lunch behavior and a nice nap. He thought it was worth the wait.

All in all, a fantastic weekend. Now I'm just going to relax and recharge for my first full week back on Monday.