Eva’s Baptism

Over the weekend our last child was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. What a milestone to host our final baptism! 

The most recent baptism in our family was Zoe’s, and that took place in December of 2020. The Church’s COVID procedures for baptisms allowed us just enough people that we could have our immediate family and Zoe’s grandparents attend. Then a few days before her baptism, due to a spike in cases, they changed it to household members only (and a presiding member of the bishopric). So we had a very small event broadcasted over Zoom to family and friends (they secretly loved it because they all watched from their beds in their jammies). 

A few years later, it was quite the experience to have a “normal” baptism! With people!

Here’s how Eva’s special day went:

Dress #1

When Daisy was baptized, I decided that since we had three daughters, it would be a fun tradition to have a dress they could all be baptized in. 

All three girls in their shared baptism dress

The sizing wasn’t exact, but for being dunked in water, it didn’t need to fit perfectly. 

(Note that if you want to go this route, you’ll probably want to have the child wear a slip as well to prevent the dress from being see-through when wet. For underwear, my girls have all worn white cartwheel shorts because it’s not easy to find affordable all-white underwear). 

Now I’m deciding - do I keep the dress for possible granddaughters? (Will it yellow?) Or should I offer it to another family so they can have the same tradition?

Big decisions here!

Dress #2

After the baptismal ordinance, the child typically changes into “Sunday best.” A lot of parents will buy their sons a suit or new church clothes and their daughters a white dress. This is only a tradition and not a requirement or expectation of the Church (I didn’t have a white dress for my own baptism). 

When Daisy was baptized, I made her a dress out of my wedding dress. I hoped that all my girls could wear it, but the sizing didn’t work, and I really don’t know anything about sewing, so I didn’t dare take on the project of trying to adjust the sizing of the dress. It was a miracle I fashioned a dress freehand to begin with (I just begged everyone not to look closely at it). So Zoe and Eve each ended up getting her own dresses.

I found Eva’s dress for $8 at the DI (she doesn’t know that), and I took the belt from Daisy’s dress and added it to Eva’s. 

The Baptizer

Nicky was eligible to perform the baptismal ordinance, so he baptized Eva. It was really sweet to see my son get to do this, and he did great! 

The Confirmation

After her baptism, Eva was confirmed and given the gift of the Holy Ghost by her dad.

The Lunch

After Eva’s baptism, we hosted a lunch for family and friends at our church. This is another common but optional tradition. We wanted to do it, especially since we didn’t get to gather following Zoe’s baptism, and I love to feed people.

We had pot roast sandwiches for the main dish, and I also made a potato salad and a strawberry romaine salad. Our extended family pitched in with fruit and veggies, another salad, chips, eclair pie, and tarts. 

I thought it was a great lunch! Hopefully everyone else did, too!

Eva’s Thoughts

My kids have never been very spiritual at age 8. I always wonder whether they should really be getting baptized, but then I get little glimpses of something within them, and even though I don’t fully comprehend it, it ends up feeling right. 

After Eva came out of the font, and I was helping her change from her wet dress to her dry clothes, she said, “Mom, I kind of liked getting baptized!” It was really cute. 

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As this milestone approached, I was, once again, made aware of how fast time is passing. My baby is eight! My children are all baptized. I’m okay with it, but I’m always surprised by how fast we got here.