Julia's baby blessing

Julia Rebecka Feger’s blessing
June 29, 2014
Seminole Ward St. Petersburg, Florida Stake
Blessed by her grandfather, Donald Bruce Beckman
Also in the circle, her dad Steven Feger, her bishop Alex Patrick, and her Uncle Mark Harward

Heavenly Father, by the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood which we hold we are gathered here together to give this child a name and a blessing. The name by which she shall be known as is Julia Rebecka Feger.
Julia, we bless you now to understand although you are small in stature, you are large in spirit. You have an abundance of talents and gifts which you will bring to your wonderful family.  We bless you to know that Jesus is your savior and he is your older brother. He loves you like our Heavenly Father loves you and brings you all the blessings which you would have. We bless you to be an instrument in His hands as you are a great example among your family, among your neighbors, your friends and in the future your own spouse and family. We bless you to be aware of the sacrifice which your savior has made for all of us, all of us, his brothers and sisters. We ask that Heavenly Father will bless you in knowing that you can enter into the waters of baptism that you will receive personal revelation when you are able to understand the importance of taking the savior and his name upon you, even Jesus Christ and being a disciple.
We bless you to use your free agency, your agency to decide what is right and what is wrong. Discernment which will be yours to be able to provide guidance through the many choices you will have through your life. We bless you to be strong and healthy and be able to help others as well, to be a guiding light when things are dark or scary to be one that people will turn to and that the savior is the light of Christ.
We bless you, Julia, to know that your parents love you dearly. They are providers for you at this time. You have three wonderful brothers that have love for you in their hearts and care for you in their hearts. We ask that you will continue to appreciate the great blessings you are given through them. Julia, we seal this blessing unto you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

In our church, babies do not get baptized. They will go to heaven because they are innocent. Children wait until they are old enough to really know right and wrong before they make the decision for themselves. But we do bring the babies to church for a special blessing as stated in the Doctrine and Covenants section 20 verse 70.
 70 Every member of the church of Christ having children is to bring them unto the elders before the church, who are to lay their hands upon them in the name of Jesus Christ, and bless them in his name.
It is a sweet day. Through the priesthood, (which was restored to the earth after it was taken away after Christ's death) we can receive blessings. I mean they're like prayers that are given to us as specific people. The worthy priesthood holders hold the baby together. Kids and adults may ask for blessings in time of worry, sickness, or for anything and instead of holding him/her, the men lay their hands upon the person's head.
We usually have baby blessings on the first Sunday of the month when the congregation is fasting and has a chance to go up for an impromptu testimony. But for a baby, exceptions are made. My friend had her baby blessed on June 29th and I asked if I could do join her. She said sure. Her husband is a pilot so would not be there the next weekend. We were going to the Keys the next weekend ourselves plus my dad said that he could come on the 29th! So, last minute, I invited some close friends. And some came!! Corrie and Malia came, my neighbor Eirit came, Marissa and her two kids, one of which was in Isaac's Kindergarten class and that's how we met, came. And Barbie and Clara surprised us too! Steven went early to save seats but didn't know we'd have such a crowd. Most everybody sat in the back. They were probably more comfortable there because a lot of churches have extra rooms for young children so they do not disturb the worship service. We like having the little kid noises and like the families being all together. Next time they come they can sit with us (or we'll sit in the back with them :)

There's a poem called "My Three White Dresses" that a mother wrote for her daughter on her baptism day. I like it because it shows how significant the choices are in our lives and the symbolism for the white baby dress, the white baptism dress, then the white wedding dress.

My Three White Dresses Elder L. Tom Perry shared this poem written by
his daughter which she read at his granddaughter's baptism. 

My mom bought me a white dress,
Not red or pink or blue.
She said it was a special dress
Like very other few,
There has been just one before,
A dress now put away,
That I wore some time ago
Upon my blessing day.
As a little baby clothed In my first white dress,
My dad held me in his arms,
There to name and bless.
So pure and clean was I just then,
With time to grow and learn
About the Father's plan for me.
My glory I must earn.
Now I've reached the age to judge
The wrong road from the right,
And I am here to be baptized
In this dress of white.
So once again I'm free from sin.
The path is clear to me.
I'll grasp the rod and hold on tight, I vow with certainty.
Just as mud would stain my dress,
Sin would stain my soul.
The key is to repent or bleach,
For whiteness is my goal.
And if I try my very best,
Then richly blessed I'll be,
Wearing inside God's holy house
White dress number three,
So today I make this pledge:
I'll strive to choose the right,
Through this sacred baptism ordinance
In my second dress of white. (Linda Gay Perry Nelson, 1993)

I had the idea to make Julia's baby blessing dress out of my wedding dress and my baptism dress. I went and bought a pattern with the lace overlay hoping I would have enough lace left over from my baptism dress. I actually used part of it to make a "temple handkerchief" when I was 11 years old. (I was baptized by my dad at age 8.) I was supposed to keep it until I could go to the temple then I would wipe my happy tears with it because I had remained worthy to enter the temple. I didn't ever take it to the temple, but I had made it into a pillow so I could actually see it. Back in the 80's I had put too much lace around it so it was too bulky to go into a pocket to use it as a real hankie. I displayed the pillow growing up some. Dylan used it for Andre and Barbie's wedding pillow because I sewed a piece of ribbon into the flower I had appliqued on it.
Back to the blessing dress, I didn't have enough baptism dress lace for the over skirt but we did have enough for the sleeves. I always loved that lace. It's still soft, not scratchy at all and does not need to be hemmed because the edge is so pretty. I had tried to sell my wedding dress once, but the chances of another person wanting a used modest size 6 within driving distance is like zero. And the chances of my own daughter wanting to wear her mom's wedding dress have similar odds. So why not use it. I went to my mom's because she's better at reading patterns. We collaborated but my mom kept trying to find other white fabric she had. She refused to make the first cut into my wedding dress. She's the one who paid for it, does not like waste, and likes the dress! There was nothing wrong with it! So I made the first cut.

We measured baby Julia. 

 Then I fed her while my mom did most of the work.

 Here's the dress, before I cut it up. Notice the pleats? I decided to do the same pleats on Julia's since the fabric is so thick AND lined.

 This is the sleeve, see the edge? That's the same fabric as my baptism dress. I still have that dress and am hoping Julia will want to wear it when she gets baptized.

I spent a couple of nights with my mom. We used the veil from her wedding dress. Don was wondering why we would cut it until my mom told him it was from her first wedding. He replied "Cut it up!" Funny. That lace is a little scratchy but it doesn't need to touch Julia's skin so it was fine. It's so pretty. 

 Julia's dress rehearsal, she loves it! My mom did the top by herself without me and did a lot by hand.

Here are some photos of the day. I made Julia's headband too the night before. 

Clara was able to get some Z's. She usually can't sleep in public so I was glad. Poor baby.

I said the closing prayer for the sacrament meeting. Tyler was attached to me. He went up with me then didn't let go of my hand. I wanted to say hi to friends but he wanted me and only me to take him potty first. Silly baby. Barbie got a good photo of his tight grip.

Here's Jodi and her baby Juliet. Jodi made her daughter's blessing dress and headband too. Only she didn't even use a pattern! She bought fabric and started cutting and it was exactly as she wanted it. Amazing.

I put Julia in the bumbo for some silly photos of her dress.

And to show the headband made from the wedding dress and baptism dress fabrics too. And my maternal grandma made her this white blanket. I was so excited when I got it, and planned to wrap her in it on her blessing day. But we live in Florida. It's too hot! But I DID have to get a photo of Julia w/ it :)

Aw, with her grandma who made the dress. So pretty. My mom made a roast for dinner and had us over.

I made part of the headband detachable since I didn't try it on her and thought it might be too much. So yea, it's attached to my shirt here. Oh well.

Grandparents! Don gave the blessing. I'm so blessed to have him in my life. He's such a good father and grandfather, so selfless, and always looking to see how he can help. Taking initiative and responding to my and my kids' needs.

Grandpa Gille made it!!!!! Julia is so content. She wore her Sunday socks from Aunt Barbie all day, not sure why I switched them. I guess she was in and out of her dress so maybe I didn't think they would show.

And I wanted to lay her down on the huge leaf for some reason. Eh. She's cute.

My friend Jolyn gave Julia another white dress, a casual one. It's more practical for her day :)

So I have to say the funny story about the white door. It is in the middle of a vacant-looking house, like somebody dumped it. It has been laying on its side against a tree for months. I go running and driving by it and it's so random. But I wanted to take a photo of the dress with the light behind it, like people do with their wedding dresses. Our windows are ugly so I wanted to use the door, knowing it would frame the dress perfectly. So I loaded up the stroller with the sleeping baby and the dress. I tied a bow on a regular hanger that could swivel over the door instead of using a fancy padded one I have. I got to the door right at the sunset perfect golden light time. I propped the door up but the dress wouldn't hang on the molding. It was too slippery with its rounded edge. Then Julia cried so I was carrying her and trying to MacGyver it up there. I played lullabys on my phone and got her to lay down again but didn't want to go back home to get another hanger or a tack or something. I was frustrated so was snooping around looking for a stick to jam in there or something. That's when the front door opened and a guy tried to scare me away. He wondered what I was doing in his lawn. I was wondering what he was doing living in a vacant house! It wasn't that bad, but he did surprise me. It was no time to give into him. I told him my damsel in distress story which he did not understand because he is a man. But, realizing I was not there to vandalize him, he brought me some black electrical tape. I knew I could photoshop it out. He said "I guess I've seen worse things around here." He asked if the sun would wash out the dress and I told him I would give him a copy of the photo. (And I did. Monday evening.) He's not my BFF yet, but he's so nice. I want to go fix his fence for him so badly. I also gave him a print of Julia on that huge leaf and a birth announcement to prove that it's normal for me to have weird ideas for my poor baby girl :) This is what I would have had to deal with if he had not saved the day, not framed correctly at all:

So that's a bit of history on my baby girl's blessing day. 

Isaac's Blessing Post http://www.thefegers.blogspot.com/2008/04/isaacs-baby-blessing-at-church.html

Tyler's Blessing Post http://www.thefegers.blogspot.com/2012/01/on-christmas-day-our-little-tyler.html