Doesn't she look beautiful?
Today was Emmie's blessing. And while my other children's blessing days have been a bit forgettable (not because they weren't special, but because I didn't write anything down and there are no specific memories I have of the actual occasions. But today was memorable...and all because of the craziness that happened at church.
There was a bit of stress from the moment we left for church. Emmie cried most of the way there because she was hungry and tired. We arrived at church a few minutes early, fed Emmie a bottle, and got her to sleep before the blessing. But right at the beginning of sacrament meeting Owen had to go potty. So John rushed him out while I sat worrying that he wouldn't make it back on time and I would be dealing with an awkward moment when the bishop invited us up to bless her. John did make it back in time, in just enough time to be spit up all over.
After that mild craziness, John gave Emmie a beautiful blessing. He did an amazing job and made me cry a little. He blessed her with kindness, discernment, the ability to take advice from those who cared for her, and a love of the scriptures. It really was a beautiful blessing.
From that point on Sacrament meeting took a strange turn. Our ward is usually pretty normal, but today the testimonies that were born were just plain weird. One was almost creepy weird. It just came out of no where. Seriously strange! At one point a visitor bearing his testimony told us about his time spent living in the wilderness where he encountered exposure, dehydration, and starvation. I'm pretty sure he hadn't been to church in about 40+years. Kudos to him for being there, but the sharing was a little different. (I'm waiting to be struck by lightening for judging a man who probably had felt the spirit and wanted to share but didn't know quite how...I'll stop criticizing now.)
After that we headed off to the remainder of church. We did this mostly because, being the first Sunday of the new year, it was Owen's first day of primary. He had been so excited to go so we stayed so he could go to sunbeams. John walked him back to the primary room, I walked by a few minutes later and Owen was crying because he didn't want to go. Totally didn't see that one coming. John stayed with him while I went to Sunday school with his family.
About 2 minutes after I sat down Emmie messed her diaper. So I took her to change her. To my utter dismay, when I pulled up her dress, the whole front of her was covered in poo! I couldn't believe it. I started working, tyring to carefully change her diaper. But by the time I was done there was poop all over the place. Her onesie and tights were covered, her slip was gross, and there was even a little on her lacy overlay. I did my best at scrubbing and changing while she was crying. Finally got her changed and then fed her on the small bench in the bathroom we were sitting in. I think I was in there for at least 30 minutes.
I came out and found John still dealing with a crying Owen outside the primary room. At that point I sent John off to young mens and tried to get Owen to go with his class. There were tears involved and on the way one of the primary workers took Emmie from me so I could convince Owen to to to class.
After my sneaky tricks, I finally got Owen to sit in the classroom, then I lied to him and told him I had to check on Emmie and I would be right back. ( I really had no intention of going back.) He stayed in class (and survived, but told us he was mean in class...I think he was grumpy the whole time and probably didn't participate at all.)
I then had to go and locate Emmie. I walked around the church and finally found her. Being ooh, and aahed over. And then I finally made it into Relief Society where John's mom was patiently waiting for me. What a day!!!
Maybe we should have tried to focus a little more on Owen today. I'm really hoping he likes primary better next week. I think I make the mistake of thinking Owen is the same as Ainsley. I never have to think about her dealing with new situations, things like that don't bother her. I forget that Owen is his own person and struggles a bit with new situations where he feels unsure.
And there you have it, our unforgettable day! A big day for Owen and Emmie!
Owen learned to tell jokes awhile ago, and since then they have turned into quite the conversation piece. He usually throws in a joke when he is trying to stall or change the subject.
