 |
| wearing the tiara I wore on my wedding day; her veil and gloves were purchased for Greta's first communion, and her dress is brand new! |
what an incredible weekend for our sweet Cecilia Marie! she has been learning and preparing for her First Holy Communion all year with her catechism class at church. she also wanted to participate in the First Communion mass with her classmates at school (affiliated with a different parish). the mass at our home parish was held on a Saturday and the school mass was held the next day, so, with the blessing of both pastors, she participated in both! she has such a sweet, rich devotion to Jesus and it seemed very fitting that she experience this special occasion twice. of course, her "First" Communion Mass on Sunday was technically her second, but well worth it for her to be able to participate with all of her school friends and be listed in the same program with them.
 |
| sweet hugs from her sister (wearing a winter hat for reasons only known to a three-year-old) |
 |
| it was Cece's idea to take pictures on the sidewalk on the exact spot where she was born (full birth story here!) |
Cecilia needed to be at the church an hour before mass started, so Nick took her separately while I followed with the other girls a bit later. watching Nick open the car door for her and help her into the seat broke my heart into a million pieces ... a foreshadowing of her future wedding day.
Cece was at the head of the line to process in and I am so grateful for the professional photographer who captured the stunning photos below (all copyright
Allison Girone). parking near the church is hard to come by, and by the time I found a spot and hustled the other girls into the church, I had missed the procession. Nick said Cece was very solemn and focused, and she later told us that she took her role as line leader very seriously.
 |
| before mass. Cece is the blurred figure in the background, chatting with her friends. |
 |
| a beatific smile once she arrived at her seat! |
I was ready to snap some photos of my own as the children processed out, and blinked back the tears as she came down the aisle singing the recessional hymn in her sweet voice.
the official group portrait (credit again to Allison Girone):
 |
| Victoria and Sophia holding hands just slayed me! |
 |
| Greta fixing Cece's tiara. these two have a prickly relationship and it means so much to me when they are actively helping each other! (hence why I proceeded to take a picture even though Cece is shooting me the "MOM YOU'RE SO EMBARRASSING" look) |
 |
| godparents and honorary cousins! |
 |
| her saintly religious education teacher, who has taught the First Communion preparation class for years |
we had been so busy planning and preparing for her party the following afternoon that I hadn't thought about doing a special lunch after mass, but after a brief conversation we decided to go out to one of our favourite German restaurants with our friends and it was absolutely perfect.
 |
| the best pretzels ever. Andrew's face just mirrored what the adults were feeling on the inside! |
then we were off to a nearby park pavilion for a group First Communion party for several of Cece's friends, then to pick up catered chicken and fruit salad from Chick-Fil-A for her party and drop it off at home, and then finally to a carnival at school where Cece requested a very apropos design at the face painting station. the face painting itself inspired Greta to ask if we could set up a face painting station of our own at her party the following day. my initial instinct was to say "no I cannot add one more thing to my list of things to do" -- but then I quickly realized it would be a good way to keep Greta engaged with the party and also would just be fun. Instacart to the rescue: I was able to place an order for a nontoxic kids face paint set to be delivered the next morning, and spoiler alert, it was a great idea!
 |
| Cece asked for them to paint the Eucharist! I just love her devoted little heart! |
that evening, Nick continued his reconstruction of the playset in anticipation of having dozens of kids over the next day. we are the third owners of this playset and many of the original wood beams were starting to rot or crack. he had been working on it as much as possible but his actual work obligations did not allow for much extra time to devote to the project, and also, the project itself was much more involved than I originally imagined. this photo is time-stamped 7:54 PM Saturday night, at which point I told him just to abandon it and we would tell the kids the playset would be off limits the next day. we would still have plenty of things to entertain the kids with our big yard, trampoline, corn hole, and now the face painting station. I just imagined him spending hours on it and still not having it done while then being exhausted and falling behind on his work obligations (knowing that he would have no time to work on it Sunday morning between playing for 9 AM mass, choir rehearsal, and then Cece's second communion mass at noon and then the party immediately following).
 |
| that green tunnel is supposed to be connected to the upper play structure -- the swings hang down from it |
God bless this man, who proceeded to work on it until the wee hours of the morning. I cleaned the house and went to bed around midnight and he was still hammering away in the garage. I again gently suggested that he get some sleep and that the kids might be disappointed but they would survive, but he was determined and reminded me that his friends would be able to help him put the finishing touches on it the next afternoon once they arrived.
the next morning Cece got all dolled up again for her second "First" Communion mass, although she wasn't on board with my idea of doing more photos. we were so touched by the many friends and family who attended this mass, some driving from two hours away!
 |
| "I'm over it, Mom" |
 |
| her second grade teacher is standing on the far right of the photo. Greta was in her second grade class too, and both girls will be altar servers in her wedding later this summer! |
 |
| they have been BFFs since preschool! |
 |
| there should be a word for friends who are family -- not to replace your own family, which I feel like "chosen family" implies -- but regardless, this is the definition! they drove 2 hours down from Erie to be here! |
 |
| my mini-me |
by the time we finished with photos and wended our way out of the packed church, we only had fifteen minutes before the party was supposed to start back at our house (and it's a twenty minute drive to get there). so, I texted our friends that we were running a bit behind. some of our more punctual friends were already there when we arrived, and God bless them, jumped right into helping set out food and drinks. and Nick's buddies grabbed tools and helped finish up the playset. after an hour, I went outside to ask Nick if he would be able to start grilling soon and found this scene, reminiscent of an Amish barn-raising:
and they did it! it's really a good thing too, because when the party was in full swing, we probably had twenty kids running around, climbing all over it and they absolutely had more fun at the party being able to do that. Nick is just the best, and I told him the most beautiful words in any marriage: "you were right."
the afternoon was such a blast. the weather was perfect. friends and family were in and out (the party was an open house style). the food was delicious and easy (the Chick-Fil-A catering was a hit; Nick grilled bratwurst, hot dogs and chicken skewers; we had lots of Costco-sized dips, fruit, veggies, and a charcuterie board, and people brought delicious desserts and appetizers to share). and the face painting station had customers all afternoon long!
 |
| she's a strawberry! |
 |
| the cake unfortunately cracked when I lifted it out of the box, but it was still delicious! |
 |
| I bought this three-dish buffet warmer for the party and it was awesome. |
I was chatting with one of my friends toward the end of the party and we were discussing how this season of life is so busy. the night before this party I had been thinking, "why do we even go to all of this effort? it would be so much easier to just rent out a room at a restaurant and host people there." but listening to people sing along to Nick's party playlist in the backyard, filling people's plates with food, drinking a cold beer on a warm day, taking pictures of happy children, opening the door to welcome in another group of friends, and taking a moment just to be present, I realized that we really like to throw parties, and we're pretty good at it. quiet moments are necessary too, but there is something magical about the adrenaline rush of preparation followed by a whole houseful (and yardful) of people we love and who love us back. it reminds me of the extravagance of God's love, and it's part of what makes it so special.
 |
| taking the face painting into her own hands |
 |
| playing cornhole with a priest: the quintessential Catholic party |
the facepainting masterpiece of the day was Cece's work. my longsuffering friend Amy asked for a small design, "not covering my whole face". well, Cece took some liberties with that and here is the result:
 |
| it may be a while before Amy comes back to visit us... |
on a sweeter note, look at this four-leaf clover one of the boys discovered in the yard! he came running into show me. when I became a parent, I didn't think about how beautiful it is to watch your friends' children grow alongside your own. I am so grateful for our village!
Cecilia Marie, we are so proud of the young woman you are becoming, and we love to see your faith grow. you never miss your nightly prayers, and you are very conscientious about going to confession regularly and learning more about Jesus. God bless you, now and always!
Comments
Post a Comment