Directly after our temple sealing, we blessed  Stella at our home, surrounded by friends and family.

I say every part of the weekend was my favorite part, but Stella’s blessing was seriously probably my favorite.  It was the most special moment.

Typically in the LDS faith, a baby is blessed shortly after birth.. like within a couple months.  An ordained Elder of the church performs the blessing.  Brady’s dad blessed Harlo at 3 months old, but when we had Stella we decided to wait it out.  I wanted Brady to bless her and since we weren’t active in the church at that time, we didn’t know whether we should bless her in the LDS faith, or dedicate her in the Christian faith.  We decided to wait until we felt good about a certain way.  We didn’t realize we’d be waiting 2 and a half years!  But honestly, it was the most perfect timing for our family and I couldn’t imagine having it another way.  It was the cherry atop our cake for the weekend.

We had originally planned on blessing her in our living room.  Typically blessings are done in church, but I loved the personal setting of our home and I thought it was a good opportunity to do it while our family and friends were in town for our temple sealing.  As the guests started piling in and we realized we weren’t all going to fit in our small front room.  We decided to head to the porch and it made it all the more spiritual, I think.  It was a beautiful day, the warm sun was shining with a perfect light breeze.  All we could hear was the leaves rustling and the slight sound of chirping birds.

The neatest part about her blessing is that I was able to hold her on my lap in the middle of the circle.  That was such a sweet experience for me.  Holding my baby as she was blessed by her Daddy, I can’t explain the love I felt in my heart in that moment.  It’s an experience I probably wont have again. (typically the men hold the baby in their arms without mama) Brady gave her the sweetest blessing.  It was his very first blessing, but you would never have known.  He thanked the Lord for bringing Stella into our lives, the little light she is.  He blessed her with a name and blessed her that throughout her life she will let her little light shine.  She sat so still, eyes squeezed shut through her whole blessings with the hands of the men in her life laid softly on her head.

I sure love this babe of mine.  She has been the perfect spirit to come into our family.  I feel grateful every single day I get to be her mom.  Her blessing day will be one that stays in my heart forever.