Washington, DC

It was a wild weekend here on the home front.  We are a mere one week from our international move now and for some reason (back in January) we thought it’d be a grand idea to schedule Nia’s baptism in the midst of all our shopping and packing.  Chaos adds to the fun, right?  Right.

So in come the relatives.  10 of them, in fact!  It was a jolly crew – the 4 Grandparents, my 3 sisters, their beaus, and the 2nd Godmother.  Blend them with our foreign service ‘family’ and we had quite a group to celebrate with.

But first, how about a few anecdotes from the night? (cuz I know you’re dying for a few stories):

Ahhh, Nia.  Not the most mellow of kids.  We like to call her spirited.  Let’s just say that her normally fiesty SPIRIT was even more magnified by the presence of the HOLY SPIRIT.  We knew we were playing with fire by scheduling the Baptism for 5:30 in the evening.  That’s prime witching hour and she’s usually fussy, at best.  However, they told us that it was her day and that she could make whatever noise she pleased.  (I’m pretty sure they didn’t know what they were getting with this one).  And let me tell you, she took full advantage.  She screamed, shrieked, sang, shouted, giggled, cooed, and burped.  She squawked loudly when the priest was solemnly talking about the death of the Parish’s matriarch and drowned out the important update about the Pastor being in the hospital.  What can we say, it was her day!

The hand’s down best moment came at the very beginning of the mass.  The priest came over to do a short blessing and draw a sign of the cross on her forehead.  I should preface this story by saying that he was a very old man, probably in his 80′s (see picture above).  As his shaky hand began to slowly make it’s way toward Nia’s forehead I looked down, saw the glint in her eye and knew we were in trouble.  Just a few short seconds later she had captured the priest’s thumb in a two-handed ‘death grip’ and was rapidly licking his finger from bottom to top (much like a dog would lap a bone).  Alas, he was no match for Nia.  Try as he might, he could not extract his finger.  He eventually just dragged her hands up with his thumb as he managed to make an awkward cross on her forehead.

She wasn’t sure what to make of the Baptismal Water Rite either.  I believe she thought it was bath time (her favorite) and intended to kick and catch water droplets on her tongue.  When she realized that wasn’t going to happen she immediately began to scream, prompting the Priest to say, “I don’t think she likes me.”  Oh Nia.

After Mass it was back to our place for a party.  We were fortunate to have many friends and family join us to celebrate.  Being that it was Cinco de Mayo, it only seemed fitting to give them a delicious Mexican feast!  One of the many treasured guests was Patricia, daughter of the Filipino woman we named Nia after.  Her Mother Marisa had a special bond with Nia and agreed to be her guardian angel on her deathbed.  She was a marvelous woman and we could feel her presence everywhere that day.  Most touching was the gift that Patricia brought, a silver baby spoon that Marisa always gave on occasions like these.  I couldn’t help but smile at how happy Marisa would be knowing that my family is now interconnected with hers.

And so the big weekend has come to a close.  I’m exhausted and coming down with a cold, but boy was it all worth it.  We had a magnificent weekend full of wonderful memories.  Thanks to all that were able to join us and to those who were praying for Nia.

For the full gallery of photos, head HERE.

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We’ve hit the 4 month mark!  We celebrated this milestone by retiring the first of our 3-6 month clothes that she’s already outgrown.  Our little girl is growing steadily – she’s 14 1/2 pounds (75th percentile) and 24.5 inches (60th percentile).  Her happy-go-lucky demeanor is really showing now that she’s outgrown the reflux.  But watch out for the slobber and the pincher fingers… get too close and you’re sure to be a victim!

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Big week in the Novak house – Nia has learned to roll at 14 weeks old!  What amuses us most about this is that she has to get really agitated before she’ll start contorting her body enough to do a complete roll.  The not-so-amusing part is that she hasn’t yet figured out how to roll back, so she launches into a wail shortly after arriving on her tummy.  We’ve been rotating who’s on ‘flipping duty’ since once she starts into her rolls, she continues it for awhile even though we go through the stuck/frustrated/wail cycle each and every time.  Here’s to hoping that she gets that second part down soon!

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