Emmaline's Blessing Day

Emmaline was blessed on August 7th in our ward. You would that by having 1:00 church that it would be a piece of cake to get 3 kids ready, take some pictures, have the food for the luncheon ready, and make it there on time. Easy peezy-super cheesy (which is Ellie's new favorite term). Not so. Getting all of the kids bathed and dressed tended to be more of a problem than it should have been. Nathan's dressing needed changing, Ellie had wet the bed, and sure enough just before putting Emmaline's dress on she had a blowout. To the tub all 3 children went, even though they were all bathed the night before so it wouldn't be a problem! It wasn't that getting dinner ready was hard, it was just took time. Emmaline must have sensed that we were in a rush to get ready so she put a halt to all of that by needing to be nursed more than usual. And the list goes on and on...

We were at the church at 12:50. I count that as a small miracle, especially since I had to play the organ that day. After everyone was seated I breathed a sigh of relief that we were there and in one piece!

Jake blessed Emmaline and thank goodness after much teasing that her name ended up being Emmaline Reagan Ellinger. It was a beautiful blessing. Jake was very calm and collected in his thoughts. She was blessed that she would be a leader. She has such a calm personality and I believe that she will be some day.

After sacrament meeting, we went to the clubhouse and had small luncheon. It was so fun to show off the baby to everyone. After we went home that evening and I had a moment to think while nursing the baby, I decided that was the perfect way to end my maternity leave. We celebrated being a family, which in my book, means more having all of the diamonds or gold in the world. My husband and children are the crown jewels of my life.

It feels so nice that for the first time since having children I am not afraid of my baby. You know that first time you brought home your first child and the thought of "What on earth am I doing?" haunts you? I loved Ellie, but it was very different being a first time parent. Then Nathan came along...if I thought I was scared of Ellie, I felt that I had just walked out unarmed on the front line of a battlefield in the Civil War. It was new and very scary territory. But just like with Elisabeth we were blessed with the ability to be able to learn and appropriately respond to his needs. Emmaline's birth was so much different in that respect for our family. We were excited and felt prepared for her. I can hold her and am still in awe of being her mother, but not afraid to face the challenges that might come with her. I feel very blessed beyond what I truly deserve to be the mother of Elisabeth, Nathan, and Emmaline.