Blessing & Birthday

I am officially O.L.D.  I turned 24 on March 25th.  The only thing that held me together that day was that we were able to bless our sweet baby.  Otherwise, I would have been in a pit of despair, wondering if I would live until my next birthday.  Haha, ok, ok, it’s not quite that bad. :) I actually completely forgot it was my birthday until I woke up to a text from my best cousin Whitney wishing me a happy birthday! But in all reality, blessing Gwen on my birthday was the best birthday present I could ask for.  We were able to spend the whole day with family, and it coordinated perfectly with my sister’s spring break, so she made the trek out here from Colorado with her 3 kiddos.  The day was perfect, aside from us almost being late.  Having a baby really throws off my ability to time things.  Feeding times always seem to interfere with when we need to leave.  But don’t fret, because we made it, and we were even a little early, thanks to Dan’s maniacal driving.

The blessing was beautiful and Dan did an amazing job.  Literally brought me to tears.  I recorded it so I could put it in a book for her, and I’ll share it here too, since this is like my journal.  Some of the words were muffled, so this may not be exactly what he said, but you’ll get this jist.

{Our Father in Heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood which we hold, we take this infant in our arms and give her a name and a blessing.  The name which she will be known in this life and upon the records of the Church is Gwen Catherine Schofield.  Gwen, at this time we’d like to give you a blessing. We bless you that you have a rich life and an understanding of God’s love for you and his plan for you.  We bless you with the compassion to help others and to follow the example of you mother; to love always and to find the good in people around you.  We bless you with passion for life, and learning and that your mind may be intelligent and contemplate the important doctrines of the gospel, that you will always understand that you are a valuable daughter of our Heavenly Father. We bless you with the ability to continue learning, and striving to be strong in all things that you do. We bless you with the courage to withstand temptations and to always stand up for what you believe in and to not swayed by the adversary.  Gwen, we bless you with love.  We want you to understand that there are many people around you who will love you, and take care of you and protect you.  We want you to know that we do this for your own good, and that you will always have the opportunity to look up to them and come closer to them as you strive to serve others and understand our Heavenly Father’s love for you.  Gwen at this time we want you to know that your Heavenly Father is proud of you and your decision to come to earth and accept this challenge and be ready to live according to his will, and we say these things in Jesus’ name, Amen.}

Afterwards, we had a little brunch at Dan’s parents house for all our family and friends who were able to make it.  We did a cereal bar, homemade parfaits, muffins –some homemade, some not- and juice.  It was great.  Thanks to everyone who helped out.
Here is the little angel with grandma and grandpa Cornell…my mom and dad.
This photo of her sleeping was after the festivities.  She was exhausted and just zonked out on my shoulder.

And here she is again with grandma and grandpa Schofield…Dan’s mom and dad.  Also, with the majority of those who stood in her circle to bless her.  Missing is:  my dad, Dan’s dad, Von, Landon, and Michael.  I forgot to get the photo before everyone headed out, so these are just Dan’s brothers. (We missed you, Matt!)

And here are some photos of her in her beautiful dress.  Soon I am going to go have a professional shoot of her in her dress, once she is smiling a little more on command.

Here is an upclose at her dress and accessories.  Gotta love little girls!
Shoes & bracelet made by Dan.  Have I mentioned that he totally out-crafts me?  Sometime to the point where I actually get depressed because he’s better at everything that I “should be” good at.  Oh well.  It’s nice to pawn it off on him, cause he knows he’s better, so he’ll do it for me.  Don’t you think he should quit his job and become a shoe maker?  I’ll have to take a photo of the 7 other pairs of shoes he’s made little Gwen.  It’s actually pretty amazing. And to make the day even better, my wonderful sister made me a HOMEMADE chocolate-peanut butter cheesecake.  It was simply to DIE FOR.  Seriously.  I don’t know how she does it.  Well, we didn’t have any candles, so I pretty much just blew on the cake.  Do you think my wish will still come true?
All in all, it was a perfect day.  Thanks to all who came and supported.  It meant the world to us!