"U" is for unbiased

Here we are again celebrating another class of Alphabe-Thursday with our teacher, Mrs. Matlock. She has assigned the letter "U" for our class to work on this week, and I found it a bit challenging until I decided on a subject. The focus of my "U" paper is my utterly, undeniably photogenic granddaughter, Lillian Sarah. Of course you all know that my opinion on this matter is completely unbiased!!!! Sooooo...the ultimate goal of this post is to share with you photos taken of Lillian this past Sunday, June 6, the day of her Baptism.

WELCOME TO LILLIAN'S SPECIAL DAY

I welcome you with utmost pride to participate in celebrating with our family and friends an unbelievable journey of smiles, twinkling eyes, chunky cheeks, and the unabashed posing of a baby girl who always knows where the camera is.

Baby Lillian is ready for her big day and patiently poses in a baptismal gown that is almost 96 years old! She is the 5th person to be baptized in this dress along with her 3 year old brother, her mother, me, and my mother who will be 96 in September. The dress was made in 1914 by a friend of my grandmother's for my mother's Baptism. Unfortunately the gown has some holes in it so I must have an experienced and very skillful seamstress repair the dress for the next generation to wear. I don't know if my grandson's future wife will want their children baptized in this gown, but Lillian has to have her children baptized in it as she is the next female descendant in line. Needless to say, this gown is a true family heirloom....that almost met its demise this past Sunday! My daughter re-wrapped the gown and slip in the white tissue paper I had it in and unwittingly gave it to my husband to hold. As everyone was walking out of the church, my husband said that he needed to find a trash can. I was too busy talking and taking pictures so I really didn't pay much attention to him or what he kept saying. Fortunately I turned around just in time to ask him what he was doing with the bunched up tissue paper (and I mean he had really bunched it up). His reply, "I'm going to throw away the diaper that Karen gave me"!!!!! Thankfully my son-in-law's sister was near me and kept me from falling in the church's main aisle!
In this next photo, Lillian is sucking on the heirloom baptismal gown and undergarment. I don't know if the gown originally had a slip for my mom's Baptism, but the dress now has the slip in this photo. My mother made it for my Baptism and it is cut from her wedding dress slip. The gown is from 1914 and the slip is from my mother's 1943 wedding slip.

My daughter and granddaughter visit with family and friends before the Baptism.
You have to understand that Lillian is a very social baby who enjoys attention and smiles from onlookers.
In the next photo, you can see that Lillian is totally uninterested in what the priest is saying. She was probably laughing for her Uncle Ed who was serving as the family photographer for the event.
Finally the priest gets Lillian's attention as he seems undaunted by her antics. During the ceremony, the priest underscored the importance of the sacrament of Baptism.
You can easily see in this next photo that Lillian is definitely not undernourished.
She has chubby cheeks and the cutest legs, arms and hands.
Again Lillian saw a camera and she decided that posing and smiling was way more fun than having her head and hair wet from the pouring of the baptismal holy water. You can also see a full-length view of the gown in this photo.
Lillian relaxes after her Baptism and she decides that her fingers are pretty tasty. I'll have to remind her that when she is older she can't suck on her fingers or people will think that she is uncouth!
Here is my daughter with her husband and my precious grandchildren posing as the united, loving family that they are.
My daughter had to unfasten the buttons on the gown and undress Lillian in the church so Lillian could wear her regular clothes for her party. Of course Lillian had to smile once again for the camera!
Lillian is enjoying her brother's puzzle and she seems unconcerned that there is a party at her house.
Everyone's unanimous opinion is that Lillian was not uncooperative any time during the day. She was a delightful doll with her smiles, coos, and laughter.
My unbridled opinion is that my granddaughter is a beautiful, happy baby with a personality that draws people to her. I thank God everyday for blessing me with two treasures to love with all my heart and spoil with all my hugs and kisses.

This is linked back to Alphabe-Thursday for the letter "U".