Our Special Baptism

I was not baptized as a child and it's something I've thought about doing for many years. I considered doing it back in 2012 when Harper was baptized, but never followed the necessary steps. I've known for years all I needed to do is contact our church. They'd be happy to set up a baptism for me - I just never called to look into it. 

After talking with Mitch, I decided that I would be baptized along with Emmett. I talked to my parents about it and they loved the idea. They also mention my brother, Austin had been talking about that very same topic lately. I called Austin and asked if he wanted to share this special experience with us - he was thrilled and excitedly said, "of course!" 

Lord of Life was so great, setting up a private baptism for the three of us with Pastor Peter. Our families were present as the three of us were reborn children of God. It was such a powerful and important experience for me and to get to share that with my son and brother made it even more special. 

Emmett was his sweet calm self during the entire service. (Harper cried during her entire baptism, we were "those parents" up at the alter frantic to calm our infant down - that didn't happen.) He's lucky to have wonderful and loving godparents, Mike and Jennie. 

Afterwards we all headed to Jake's City Grille for celebratory drinks and food. It was such a great day to share with our loved ones, thanks for being a part of it. God is good!

 

We woke up this morning with no agenda. While flipping through the Sunday ads, Mitch mentioned he needed some new shoes - so immediately my mind went to shopping. In code, I asked what he thought of heading to Mall of America. He agreed. 

Harper was tickled when we told her where we were heading for the day. She couldn't stop telling us all the rides she was going to go on. We tried to explain we were also going to do a little shopping, but I think she chose to ignore that part of our speech.  

We had fun at Nickelodeon Universe, Mitch found a pair of shoes and we had lunch at one of my favorite spots in the mall. It was a good day! :) 

 

This past week was pretty uneventful for us. We had our regular routine of dance on Tuesday, which is always a favorite of Harper's (and mine). Harper worked on her eating habits, which I'm proud to report are getting a little better each day. She actually requested carrots for a snack this week and even ate meat sauce in her spaghetti without whining or gagging! Woo hoo!

Emmett has finally kicked his cold, I think. Which has meant better sleep for the two of us. We've started an actual bedtime routine for him, hoping that will help keep him on track. So far, so good. Between an actual bedtime, adding a noise machine to his room and starting essential oils - we seem to have a winning combination. His 2-3 hour stretches have expanded to 5+ hour stretches. Somehow, I'm still waking up exhausted. I'll blame that on my late night reality TV habits. Either way, I feel good about the progress we've made with both kiddos this week! 

Since we missed out on the Music Together winter session, we've decided Thursday nights are family field trip nights. It's nice to get Harper out of the house and let her run off some of that excess energy she always has! 

This past Thursday, we told Harper she could pick where we went for our first week of Thursday Fun Nights. Her first request? The library. We headed to Maple Grove library where she played with all their fun toys and checked out a short stack of books to bring home for the week. 

Afterwards, dinner at Noodles & Co. was a given. Adventurous Harper even added parmesan cheese to her buttered noodles order. It was a fun family night out and I'm looking forward to our adventure this week! 

I forgot about the exciting football game from last weekend! Mitch's alma mater, North Dakota State University was playing in the NCAA Division 1 FCS Championship Football game for the 4th year and row, which they've won the past three years. 

Mitch was covered in Bison gear, as were the kiddos. Matt even came over to help us cheer the Bison to victory! After a very exciting game we celebrated a NDSU Bison win! 4-peat! 

 

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We sure did!

Until next time…

The Helleens