Blessing

On December 2nd (my birthday!) we blessed Molly at our church in San Angelo. It was beautiful and special. It was too bad we couldn't have more family there with us, but we were lucky enough to be able to do it while Jay and Millie were visiting us. My dear friend Lori Barton (the principal at Fort Concho Elementary where I have done a lot of dance outreach) and her husband were also sweet enough to come, which meant a lot to me. So with Grandma and Grandpa Wardle and both of her "aunt" Lori's, plus our wonderful ward of people we truly love, we felt surrounded by family on this special day.

Molly was a little fussy before and after church (plus we were in a bit of a rush to leave the house) so I didn't get very good pictures. I keep intending on putting her back in the dress and taking more, but it hasn't happened yet.

The blessing was beautiful. I always feel a special love and appreciation for Bret when I get to see him exercise the Priestood. He is such a good husband and father. He is my best friend and I look up to him in so many ways. It was wonderful to watch him hold our sweet Molly and give her a blessing through the power and authority of God. 

I couldn't find a blessing dress in San Angelo and all the online dresses my mom and I looked at were kind of pricey, so I used that as an excuse to sew her dress (something I had secretly wanted to do but wasn't sure I was capable of). I already had the material for the bottom of the dress - something I got out of a remnants box at the fabric store for super cheap - so all I had to buy was a little bit of white cotton and some buttons! I found a tutorial online that was helpful, but it still meant I had to create my own pattern. It definitely quadrupled production time, but it was fun and I learned a lot in the process. 

My mom gave her these cute white shoes when she was born and they went perfectly with her dress. (Side note - baby shoes are so cute but it is so hard to keep them on!)

We love our girl.