Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Christian Baby!

On June 1st, we celebrated with Iain as he was welcomed into the Christian family through Baptism. We had the great honor and privilege, all thanks to Kevin, of celebrating this Sacrament in St Peter's at the Vatican. God's grace was abundantely clear in many ways, in particular as Iain stayed alert and content and even cracked a few smiles through most of the baptism, despite having not eaten for over 4 hours (a miracle by any mother's standards!)
As you may recall, Iain (the Scottish form of John) is named after John the Baptist. It was our great delight to see, in the baptismal chapel, this painting of John baptizing Christ.
Fr. Tim was generous with his time and performed the baptism, despite feeling somewhat overwhelmed by his studies. God bless you, Fr. Tim! Behind him is the baptismal font.
Heidi and Kevin, Iain's Godparents
Fr. Tim blessing the water
Iain, being born again in the waters of Baptism! Praise the Lord!

Iain, with his white garment
the baptismal candle
Fr Tim, us, Kevin and Heidi (Godparents)
Fr Tim, Adam (Mark's older brother), Mum Archibald, us, Dad Archibald, Godparents
Happy Christian family! :) (well, mostly happy...one of is very hungry and needs a new diaper)
Babi and Grandad holding the newest Christian member of the Archibald family.




Saturday, June 7, 2008

Around the world

Mark, Iain and I have recently returned from a whirlwind trip to Scotland and Rome. Rather than boring you with long-winded paragraphs, I've picked some favorite pictures to show off in chronological order.

Uncle Adam, Mark's older brother, with his favorite (only) nephew. This view overlooks part of Edinburgh. It was a nice little walk, though quite windy; my mother's heart was frightened of gale-force winds throwing my baby, stroller-and-all, over the side of the hill. Needless to say, we didn't stay up there long.

Our little family spent an afternoon walking around downtown (if that's what you call it). Here, we stopped at a little cafe so I wouldn't die of hunger...nursing mom strikes again! Despite Iain's appearance, it wasn't a cold day. Rather, he had (and unfortunately now has again) quite a case of what has since been diagnosed as Seborrheic Dermatitis, or, as our family doctor called it "Scottish skin". How appropriate. The hat and sock-mittens were to keep him from scratching at it.
An absolutely beautiful picture of Iain and his Babi (Mark's mum).
While in Scotland, Mark dusted off the old Super Nintendo which he purchased at age 11. Many an evening was spent reliving the old days for a 1/2 hour or so before bed. Here he is playing "Zelda".
A wonderful golden birthday. I turned 27 on the 27th. This was actually on the 26th, at Babi's house. Natasha, the girl on the left, charmed us all while we spent the afternoon visiting with Mum's side of the family.
Iain and Babi...or rather Great-Babi (?) (not sure what the Polish term is).
After a wonderful week+ in Scotland, we headed for Rome to see Uncle Kevin and Aunt Heidi...and BABY!!!
Aunt Heidi, practicing her moves. She has 7 months to perfect them...if all goes as planned (not that I would know anything about that).

I had to include all three of these pictures. Mark has quite a knack for making Iain smile...though when he's in the right mood, he needs no help! Here, he is smiling and chatting.


Ancient Rome was known for its baths. I don't think they went quite like this.
Piazza Navona is a popular tourist site. This is pretty much how our visit went: we traveled to Italy so we could gaze at ....Iain. :)
A trip to Rome is not complete without the famous and delicious Gelato! (Yes, I am a nursing mom, but that's no excuse for double-fisting it; I'm holding Mark's as well.)
Mark and I marvel at how we are blessed with the cutest baby in the entire world. :) This was in Termini station, as we waited for Mark's family to arrive from Scotland. They were able to join us for the celebration of Iain's baptism!