Katherine Marie's Baptism

On Saturday November 14 Katherine Marie Speyrer was baptized and initiated into the Catholic Church at St. George Catholic Church in Baton Rouge, LA. The private baptism ceremony was conducted by Deacon Albert Ellis and witnessed by many of Kate's closest family and friends.

Marcus and Lori Speyrer are Kate's Godparents and they were chosen because of their strong Catholic faith and how they have practiced this faith as the parents of Kate's oldest nephews (Caleb and Pierce). And of course we need to explain, particularly to our family/friends from Alabama, the called names of Kate's Godparents. As customary in South Louisiana, Kate will call Uncle Marcus and Aunt Lori, Parrain and Nanny respectively.

Mom and Dad with Katherine Marie. Kate wore the same baptismal gown that her Daddy and Granny wore.

Kate with her Parrain. Unfortunately, Nanny was not able to be with us on this special day as she was recovering from a contagious illness. As you will see in the next picture, Nonna proudly stood in for Nanny.

The baptismal water being poured over Kate's head.

This was a powerful moment during the ceremony and I don't think there were many dry eyes at this point. Deacon Ellis laid Kate on the altar as a sign that we were placing Kate back in God's hands.

4 Generations - Granny, Poppa, Momma, Baby Kate

4 Generations - Mama Speyrer, Pop Pop, Daddy, Baby Kate

As we mentioned, we were honored to have so many of Kate's friends and family with us. The following individuals attended the Baptism - Granny Johnson, Poppa, Nonna, Uncle Donny, Aunt Kay, cousin Audrey, Mama Speyrer, Mama Lahaye, Pop Pop, Parrain, Aunt Fannie, Uncle D, Aunt B, Aunt Dana, cousin Braxton, cousin Karoline (our Godchild), Uncle Sherby, Aunt T, and Mom and Dad's good friends Uncle Scott, Uncle Matt, and Aunt Jesse.

A baptism party followed at our House. While keeping with the old-school Catholic tradition, we found it important to baptize Kate in the first few weeks in her life. While we are really glad that we did do this, having a party for 30+ people less than two weeks after having baby number one may have been pushing it. But we had a lot of help: Poppa smoked what seemed to be 400 pounds of pork for some good ole fashion redneck pulled pork sandwiches (we literally have 25 packets of frozen pork if anyone wants a sample), Nonna cooked some baked beans and put up with Daddy's OCD behaviors leading up to the party, Aunt Kay brought tons of goodies (homemade hummus, cake), and Aunt Dana picked up the cake that her sister made for us. All of the food was great!! We appreciate all of the help!

Aunt Fanny holding Kate. In the background are Uncle Donny, Aunt Kay, and Audrey. They live in Mobile and drove in for the day. We were really glad that they were able to make and they claim we are their closest relatives (most of their family still remains in Florence). Since this is the case, we assume they'll take some babysitting turns here in the future.