Not so "baby" dedication

Baby 1 & 2 were dedicated around six months old...baby #3 not so much! For reasons that we had no control over we were unable to have Sylvi dedicated at our church until today. Not only was today going to be a celebratory day because of that, but it's also Palm Sunday, and the older 2 children were going to be waving palm branches as they walked through the sanctuary during some worship time...essentially their first "performance". Needless to say I was very excited to see my children praising and whatnot today!

This should have been my first warning that things would possibly not go as planned. But I was naive and as the morning started well and I had things running as smooth as could be, that this fantasy would play out. And oh would I have the greatest video and still shots of the whole occasion to document and post for all of you to see!

We arrived at church in plenty of time to prepare and settle in without feeling rushed. I was even able to grab a coffee before service and a bite or 2 of a cookie. We dropped Lilly & Finn off with their SS teacher to prepare them for their "performance", and then sat down with Sylvi. As we sang our first song I readied the gang (a.k.a. my family) to help out with the video and stills as I held Sylvi letting her munch on the rest of my cookie! AND HERE COME THE KIDS...walking up the aisle with their palm branches...but where are my children? I don't see either of them...and then I hear them! Finn is screaming at the top of his lungs and lilly is reluctantly being dragged up the aisle by a family friend only to begin yelling "mama mama" at my mother awaiting her to "save" lilly from this charade. But still no sign of finn...just the sound. Scott at this point decides he'd better go check it out...just as he leaves a great family friend walks in and say "he saw me and started screaming for me just as they were going in...I didn't know what to do. I felt so bad". Now I get it...Finn freaked out and Lilly didn't want to go in without him (2 peas in a pod those 2). I am completely DEVASTATED that this did not work out as dreamed...that I did not get the photos/video that I had dreamed and that my children did not behave as the sweet dears that they usually are! But there is still the dedication right?

Lilly and Finn proceeded to sit with my parents as Scott, Sylvi & I approach the front of the church to dedicate out sweet 16 mos. old baby. She was definitely not perfect...but behaved and squawked minimal sounds and didn't torture the baby inside me too badly while I was holding her! But at the end of the day it was a beautiful experience...dedicating our baby to the Lord and asking our church family to commit to helping us do that.

So as these are not the photos I "dreamed" i would post...these are pretty darn cute as well! What a gang huh?