Cooper's Baptism and Tante Christina

What a full month. Peter’s sister Christina came to visit us, and it really could not have been a more perfect visit. Probably much more for us than for her. Christina is a kindergarten teacher, so she is incredible with kids and so it was only natural for her to fall right into aunt mode. I can’t even begin to describe how helpful she was, anticipating our every need and doing everything from laundry to cleaning to shoulder massages for her brother and of course, taking excellent care for Cooper. August was the month that I had to go back to work in the office full time, so she could not have come at a better time. I went to work knowing that Cooper was in the best hands. It didn’t take any time at all for Cooper to fall in love with his newly aquainted “Tante Christina” (Tante means “Aunt” in German for those of you who don’t know).

August 12, 2007 was a very special day in particular. Cooper was baptized on this day at Grace United Methodist Church in North Augusta. We had a beautiful Christening gown for him, and we waited until the last possible minute before church started to put it on him so that he would not mess it up. We were called before the church and our family was invited to come and stand with us before the congregation. Cooper did great up there in my arms despite the fact that he was due to eat at that very moment. When I handed him to Dr. Jimmy Adams and the water was sprinkled on his head, I was waiting to hear him object, but he was just as content as always. Then Dr. Adams walked Cooper up and down the aisle of the church and held him up for everyone to see. I was standing, white knuckled, in the front beside Peter both incredibly proud of his performance and petrified at the same time that white chunky spit up would come spewing out all over himself and the minister at any moment. Alas, he made it through perfectly and charmed the crowd with his sweet smile.

After 3 weeks of bliss with Christina, it was time to say goodbye. We were so sad to see her go, and there were tears all around. If Cooper was old enough to understand, he surely would have been crying as well. I can never thank Christina enough for all of the help she provided us in those two weeks and also for the great sacrifices she made to come here on her small teacher’s salary. We were honored and blessed by her presence.