Sunday, April 19, 2009

Grace's Welcoming

Yesterday was Grace's Welcoming and it went very well. We woke Grace up early and headed to Nantasket Beach and met up with Loriann. We took some family photos and then an hour later our families arrived and we started the ceremony we made up.

Our promises to Grace:
A year and a half ago, Cole and I shared our vows of marriage. These vows represented promises we made to each other in order to ensure happiness and dedication as we grow as a married couple for the rest of our lives. Today we are making promises to Grace with the same love and compassion we had when we made those vows to each other. We vow to keep these promises and exercise them throughout your entire life.

We promise to always love and respect you for who you are and not who we want you to be.
We promise to give you space. Space to grow, to dream, to succeed, and even, sometimes, to fail.
We promise to create a loving home environment and show you that you are loved, whenever and however we can.
We promise when necessary to let you know we disapprove of what you do, not who you are.
We promise to tickle your toes.
We promise to set limits and help you find security in the knowledge of what is expected of you.
We promise to make time for you and cherish our moments together, realizing how important, and fleeting, they are.
We promise to not burden you with emotions and problems you're not equipped to deal with, remembering that we are the parents and you are the child.
We promise to check for monsters.
We promise to encourage you to experience the world and all its possibilities, guiding you and taking pains to leave you careful, but not fearful.
We promise to take care of ourselves physically and emotionally so that we can be there for you when you need us.
We promise to show you the stars and teach you how to reach them.
We promise to hold your hand when you learn to walk.
We promise to show you we love you every day through words and physical affection.
We promise to listen to you and let you know we value what you say.
We promise to praise your accomplishments and efforts towards those accomplishments.
We promise to allow you to make your own mistakes and to learn from those experiences.
We promise to try to be the kind of people we want you to grow up to be-loving, fair-minded, moral, giving, and hopeful.

We had every else write letters to Grace, they were all so beautiful. I know Grace will treasure them for a lifetime. I don't have many photos from the ceremony, but we hired Loriann to take pictures for us. She was great to work with and I can't wait to see the photos!

I did steal a few of Auntie and Uncle Josh's photos, thanks guys!

sleepy Grace

Cole performing the ceremony

Grace and I



Grace all dressed up for her big day!



After the beach Cole and I headed to the hall to set up for the party. The party was great and it was nice for Grace to see our friends and families!
"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!"
Grace and me again!
Grace and Papa Jackson
Some decorations

The cake
Tables

Grace playing
Grace and Auntie Cassie
Jacob loving Grace's stroller

Cole, me, Grace, and Cole's Mom (Nana)
Cole, Grace, and I
Playing on the floor at the party

Grace and Jacob hanging out while we cleaned up.
Party girl all tuckered out
Gracie trying on some of her new clothes this morning, and yes they're 18 months, how is she this big!
New bathing suit and cover up (both 18 months)

Pretty new dress
We had a wonderful day yesterday. We feel so lucky that Grace is loved by some many. We just want to thank everyone who helped make this such a nice day for our baby girl!