John's Baby Blessing

On Sunday, September 2, 2012, John Robert Wagner had his baby blessing. I am so thankful that Seth worthily holds the Priesthood and that he was able to give John his blessing and a name. He is named after his two grandpa's, my dad, John and Seth's dad, Robert. My dad and brother Jacob, my Grandpa Shepard, our friends, Matt Buetler and Sam Barker, and our Bishop, Matt Maughan also participated in the circle.

John was blessed

to stand as a witness of Jesus Christ,

to learn and develop,

to have understanding and clear vision and direction in life,

to know what decisions he should make,

with faith to face challenges,

and to learn the importance of prayer and how to receive help from his Heavenly Father.

Some of our dearest friends, Matt and Marie Buetler and there son Samuel came all the way from Cincinnati, and we were so happy to see them. 

My Grandma Pat and Grandpa Shepard and my Aunts Diane, Laura and Candi came up from Columbus too to meet John and be there for his big day.

We were so thankful that so much of my family was able to be there with us. Michael and Hannah and there son, James (not pictured) came all the way from Seattle, and Jacob, Ashley, my mom and dad and Trey drove from Chicago. We really missed my sisters Claire and Martha and all of Seth's family, but they were there in spirit.

My sister Hannah came for a whole week to help me, it was so nice to spend time with her and to have her help. She worked so hard, and she had to chase James around because he was so curious about everything in our unbabyproofed house, and he got jealous whenever Hannah tried to hold John, she had to hold him too. And whenever I fed John (at least 8 times a day), James wanted his mom to nurse him too (even though he's 15 months old). I am sure that in a few more months, he'll get more used to his cousin, and we're hoping that one of the other Shepard kids will name one of their sons Peter so that we can have an apostolic trio in the family :)

We are very grateful to have John in our lives, and we're glad to have survived a whole month of parenthood already. We are learning so much everyday (mostly about how much we don't know!). Hopefully as the time passes, we'll get a bit more sleep, but we are enjoying the little moments like when John laughed in his sleep this week, and when he smiled at me when he was awake today (I think it was a real smile!), and when he squeaks when we pat his back, and when he tries so hard to hold his head up (he's getting really strong).

See lots more photos from John's baby blessing day: HERE