After Ireland's baptism, Julie stuck around for a few days to hang out with us. She's been to Chicago before so I wanted to do something different with her. Once the older 3 girls were back in school and Sydney had finished her dance class for the day, we headed downtown to the Chicago Art Institute.
Even though I know very little about art, there's something that feeds my soul when I spend time in a gallery. There are some pieces that catch my eye and I love just taking them in.
Sydney thought Van Gogh looked like Brent. I'm guessing it's the beard.
Chagall Windows. Sooo pretty!
Monet
Degas dancers. Sydney was kind of a tableau vivant in that part of the gallery! Except she never stops moving, ha ha!
I always come across pieced I don't recall having seen before.
Sydney busted out her pharaoh dance moves in the Greek, Roman and Byzantine gallery.
Julie had never been to a Shake Shack and there happens to be one right across from the Art Institute.
Those shakes really are top notch!
YUM!
Julie is such a fun lunch date! Sydney was happy to have her to herself.
Having recently discovered the Hancock Tower, we headed down Michigan Ave to take in those sights as well.
I've heard a saying that a coincidence is what happens when God chooses to remain anonymous. It just so happens the Saturday following Ireland's birthday was St. Patrick's Day. What a sweet little coincidence that was! As with Liesel's baptism, we read the Book of Mormon as a family and finished right in time for Ireland's interview with Bishop Tomlinson.
These fantastic Elders traveled from opposite ends of the United States to preach the gospel, and Ireland was lucky enough to be taught by them. There on the left is Elder McGee (from Arizona) and Elder Stevens (from Vermont) is on the right. We had a devil of a time trying to keep our snugly Ireland from holding their hands and hugging them.
Brent and I took her out for a birthday dinner and gave her the intimacy talk. I will never forget the look on her face when the penny dropped. Her eyes were wide open and her face said, "WHAT?!?!?" all over it. While we were at it, we told her about Santa Claus and then told her when Christmas time rolls around, she gets Elf on the Shelf duties with Liesel. She took the Santa news much better than the sex news.
Ireland and I sneaked off for a mani-pedi amidst all the chaos.
It was nice to get some alone time with my girl.
On the day of the baptism, I wanted to get to the church nice and early so we'd have plenty of time to set up and take pictures. As we prepared to leave, Brent set the trays of CTR cookies on the dashboard. Julie and I had been up very late icing those suckers. Even though I followed the recipe exactly, the first couple of batches were awful, so even getting the shield to look right was a process. Brent realized he'd forgotten something and as he is not a delicate man, he slammed the car door shut and the trays toppled to the floor. They were covered in saran wrap so they weren't ruined, but they sure weren't pretty! My heart broke a little.
Even so, Whitney managed to get a decent photo and I was told by more than one person they tasted good. In the future, we are saving ourselves the trouble and just ordering these!
I arranged the water bottles in a shield shape to compensate, ha!
The quilt arrived the day before and Mom spent the whole afternoon and evening attaching the binding. She's never done that in one fell swoop; it's a lot of handwork. There's a lot of love in that quilt, for sure!
Uncle Tim kept Ireland happy and relaxed while we all ran around getting things settled.
Brigitta had to think extra hard about what to write on the photo mat.
Whitney did a spectacular job on the program!
Jeanne was a doll to step in and play the piano...
...which Sydney danced to.
We had plenty of time to get those all-important photos!
The program was beautiful, and Reagan put together such a sweet video for everyone to watch while Brent and Ireland dried off and dressed.
Annie made a little crown which worked beautifully with the braided updo.
Wally Pollack conducted the program and he had Ireland go up front and look around the room at all the people who had come to support her and wish her well on her baptism day. Ireland pronounces it "bathtism" which I am not sure is a remnant of her lisp or because she was in a font, which is kind of like a bath. Whatever the case, I love that little quirk of hers! Ireland bore her testimony and I was so impressed with the things she said. She talked about how she had prepared for her baptism and how she felt about the scriptures and her Savior.
So many cute kids came out to support Ireland, and there was a basketball game that morning but uniforms were green so it worked out perfectly!
The entire Larson family dressed in green in her honor.
Mom made her rolls (that's becoming a baptism tradition!), can you see the steam rising? YUM!
Mom and Dad gave her a set of scriptures specially bound in yellow leather and engraved with her name.
So many sweet friends!
We were lucky to get Julie to come out, she's such a love and she was really instrumental in helping us pull everything together.
We are lucky to have Whitney and Tim nearby as well. Ireland snuggled up to him as she prepared for her confirmation.
All her grandparents were able to be there for her, which is really special. As we were testing the audio-visual, I noticed BJ tearing up at the video. They love Ireland so very much!
We're pretty fond of her too.
Congratulations on your "bathtism" sweet girl, I hope it was a day to remember!
I'm so grateful the elementary school offers an ASL club! The concert is always short but sweet and the place is packed. Luckily, Brent arrived early and saved us seats in the second row. However, we happened to be at an angle where both Liesel and Ireland were covered up by the person in front of them. The best laid plans of mice and men...
It was still a wonderful concert!
Count on Me
Give Love
For the record, I'd braided the girls' hair so they would look nice and spiffy but they both took them out before the concert- making them look a little ragged. The best laid plans of mice and mom...
My parents were already planning to be in town for Ireland's baptism, but they came a little early to catch the concert.
We were able to snag the most fabulous photographer for Ireland's baptism photos- Kelly Miccolis. The Miccolises were Ireland's Primary teachers a couple of years ago. I'm pretty sure they'd adopt her out from under us, if it were legally possible. They have so much love for our little girl and they happen to be incredible photographers to boot. I know they don't charge us nearly what they are worth, so much of this is literally a labor of love.
I learned my lesson with Liesel's baptism photos at the temple (see here) and so these were actually taken the previous September. The weather was balmy and Ireland danced all around the temple grounds in her pretty dress. I spotted the dress on zulily for a good price and ordered it immediately. However, the size was really off. Luckily, we have a fantastic tailor in town who made that dress fit Ireland like a glove. The long waist and bow at the back made her look like a little princess.
Ireland LOVES her baptism dress!
Kelly was so creative in these photos of Ireland with her blessing dress. She's photographed many weddings at the Chicago temple and so she knew this discreet spot at the back. I'm absolutely in love!
While Kelly was getting these close up shots of the CTR ring, a ladybug landed on Ireland. Ever the insightful photographer, Kelly snapped a couple of photos of that sweet little moment.
This was the last shot of the day and I just love how it captures the temple, the flowers and the fountain. As a kid, we called that the "dandelion fountain" and I'm so excited my kids get to appreciate it as well.
Ireland's birthday was full of the regular traditions such as breakfast in bed:
