It’s been quite awhile since I last wrote here on my blog. The first months of motherhood were really challenging for me, a newbie mom, most especially the weeks right after giving birth. I couldn’t do anything but nurse and care for my baby and it made recovery and adjustment quite hard. Now, he’s turning 3 months in a week and things are so much better! Our little family of 3 has somewhat adjusted and we’re finding our rhythm on our everyday lifestyle bit by bit. Ken and I continue to survive without a nanny for Elian and we love being hands on with him despite it being so tiring. Thankfully, our little guy has outgrown his colic since his 2nd month. Now, he’s so much happier and chill that I can start doing my own things again little by little.

Last Saturday, March 12, we celebrated Elian’s Christening. He got baptized in my mom’s parish church, Twin Hearts of Jesus & Mary in West Triangle Homes. Afterwards, we had an intimate Thanksgiving gathering for our families and friends in Mateo’s a cafe near our home.

This was the first event we organized for our first born so I wanted to make it as special as I possibly can without spending. I wanted to keep it simple but personalized so I tried to put touches of Elian on some of the details like the candles, table decors, giveaways, etc; which I made at home during the little spare time my son would grant me on some days.

For the candles, I tied a blue ribbon to go with the white candle holders from the church. Then we printed his photo and mounted it on an old cardboard and painted the edges blue as well. For the table decors, we placed personalized photos and quotes on the long tables. This I made using the app, Rhona Design (which I always use when I need to easily create something with photos and texts). I put quotes with his picture, had it printed and put it in frames that I painted silver gray. I also made letter templates (again with Rhona Design) for the guests. Our baby boy’s hashtag on Instagram is #DearestElian as it’s our everyday letters to our little love about all our random moments and milestones as he grows up. So for his baptism, I thought of engaging the guests as well and asking them to write “Letters to Elian” about anything they’d like Elian to remember about love and life as he grows up in this world.

For the souvenirs, each of our guests received a pack of crown and stars sugar cookies created by Early Bird Breakfast Club. As tokens for E’s Godparents, we gave them each a bookmark with a poem I wrote from Elian as well as personalized cookies containing his emblem and name which was created by Swell Sweets.

This day was really special to us not only because this is E’s day to get blessed and welcomed into the Christian world but it’s also officially our first event as our little family of three. We are really so grateful to everyone who came to be with us especially our friends who drove all the way from the South. We decided to have his baptism early even if he was only 2 months and a half during this time so that he will already be blessed and we can be more confident in bringing him out little by little. Ken and I will also be going on a trip for a wedding and we will be away from him for the first time for 3 days so we wanted him baptized before we leave.

Little as he was, I was worried about his crying as this was the first time he’ll be exposed to a lot of people. We were so proud though that he didn’t cry during the entire baptismal ceremony. Even when he was dipped into the water and anointed with oil! He only cried in the end because he pooped and he absolutely hates having a dirty diaper! 😀 Unfortunately, during the reception, it was sweltering hot and it got crowded in the venue that he didn’t feel well enough to mingle with his guests. He just ended up sleeping in the other room.

But all in all, I’d say we successfully pulled through our first family event and the first one I mounted as a mother. I was stressing a little nearing the day as I particularly wanted to style the venue and put together the props I did but since I’m breastfeeding and he’s forever latched on to me, I couldn’t physically do it. Ken ended up doing it in the venue and I’m proud of the results hehe.

I will end this post with a short letter to our son.

Dearest Elian,

Now that you’ve been baptized, always remember that more than praying and religiously going to Church, what really matters most is living a life of kindness and goodness. We pray that we will get to raise you to be a person with a good heart and character. There will always be things or situations in life you will not fully understand but in any moment wherein you feel like you have to choose between being right and being kind, always choose to be kind. And we hope that we will always set that example for you.

May the Angels guide you always and bring you light. May your days be filled with happiness, laughter and love. May your feet wander all the places in the world that you wish to explore. May you always find passion in everything that you do. May you always have a loving and a forgiving heart. And lastly, always remember that whatever happens, we will always be here for you.

Love,

Mom & Dad