7 Quick Takes Friday (Take 42)

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We flew home Monday from our 16 day trip to Colorado.  It’s so weird going away for such a long time with a newborn – Lucia came back double the age of when she left!  Some of the newborn/0-3 month clothes that we didn’t bring with us no longer fit her when we returned.  Here’s a picture of us when we arrived at the airport in Denver on Christmas Eve – she doesn’t look like that tiny baby anymore.

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It was surprisingly easy traveling with a newborn.  She slept or nursed the entire plane flights to and back (and we even had two flights there because of a layover).  I have a feeling it’s going to be a whole different story when we fly once she’s a little less sleepy and a little more mobile in only a few short months from now.

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Lucia was baptized while we were in Colorado.  She was so great, slept through the entire Mass including when the water was poured on her head.  It was extra special because she was baptized on January 1, a holy day of obligation for the feast day of Mary, Mother of God, so the homily was about motherhood.  She wore the dress I wore at my baptism, and even though I was 5 months when I was baptized and she was less than a month, it fit her well enough.  I wrapped her in the blanket my husband had at his baptism, which was made for him by his grandmother (who was at the baptism and recognized the blanket!).  We invited friends and family from the area and were very blessed to have many of them join us, including several who were not Catholic or from faith traditions with infant baptism.  We had a small party afterward and enjoyed celebrating with our little one. 

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I’m sad to leave family, but very happy for the comforts of home.  A few of the things from home that I missed while we were gone:

• Real maple syrup: The “maple flavored” syrup at my parents and in-laws just doesn’t cut it.
• Cloth diapers: I know it’s possible to travel with cloth diapers, but there was no way we could have done enough loads of wash while at my parents to keep up.  Unfortunately, the disposables were expensive, leaked way more than our cloth diapers, and we experienced both diaper rash and blowouts which we haven’t seen before or since with our cloth diapers.
• Changing table: I hated having to get out all the diaper changing necessities each time she needed to be changed.  Having them all together already at the changing table makes life so much easier.
• My own bed: Is there anything nicer than sleeping in your own bed after a long time away?

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My husband brought me roses Wednesday!  The first several months of marriage, he brought me roses at least once a month, but because of finances, it’s been a long time (I had to find the box with my vases in it, so it means that I haven’t received flowers since we moved here in July, if that’s at all telling).  I absolutely adore roses (after all it is my middle name and the middle name of our baby daughter). 

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Have you seen this video of Mark Wahlberg on the “CBS This Morning” show earlier this week?  In recent years, I have been very impressed by his faithfulness and his willingness to speak about it publicly (and in such a nonchalant manner).  If you don’t have time to watch the whole video, skip to the second half where he speaks about the new Roman Missal translation, his prayer book, and his gratitude to the Lord.

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My husband and I met on the online dating site Catholic Match. The company sends out onesies for babies of couples who met on their site and ours was waiting for us when we returned from vacation.  Here’s a picture of our Catholic Match baby:

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