The Faith of a Child

When my husband and I were pregnant with my daughter, we bounced around name after name after name for our new baby.  We just couldn’t agree on anything.  I liked the names "Tia" and "Arianna" and he wanted a more basic "normal" name.  One day, I looked up the meaning of the name "Arianna" and found that it meant "Holy One."  It was at that moment that we knew that THAT was the name for her.  Even during pregnancy we could feel her little sweet spirit, and there was no doubt that she was going to be a child of God.

Arianna has lived up to her name, and has always been a particularly spiritual child. Once, when she was about 2 years old, we were sitting in church listening to a beautiful solo being sung by a man with an amazing tenor voice.  The song was very reverent, spiritual and moving.  My sweet little daughter looked up at me and whispered, "Mommy?  Have you ever heard music so beautiful that it made you cry?" It was then that I noticed that she had tears streaming down her face. (SHE WAS 2 YEARS OLD, PEOPLE!!!!!!)

When she was about 3 years old, Arianna and I took a trip to the Seattle Temple.  I remember her asking me where heaven was, so I asked her where SHE thought heaven was.  She told me she thought it was inside the temple, and even though it doesn’t seem big enough to hold all of our spirits, it would be big enough because it’s like there’s a whole other world inside, almost like another dimension. (What 3 year old thinks like that????)

And now, at 8 years old, it is time for my little girl to be baptized. She is SO EXCITED! She has been helping me plan the event, and just can’t wait until her big day.

Of course I did a photoshoot with her for the invitations.  They turned out so cute, but funny enough, it wasn’t at ALL what I had in mind for her photoshoot. It has rained non stop here in the Seattle area for weeks, so doing an outdoor photoshoot was impossible.  We ended up having to make do with our dining room and some props, then having fun in Photoshop with textures….things just work out sometimes, because she LOVES her pictures!

So here is my little girl, who isn’t so "little" anymore, all beautiful in her baptism dress and sassy blue shoes.  *sniffle sniffle….*tear…cough…..

Jeez, if I’m this bad at her baptism, imagine how bad I’m gonna be on her wedding day……

And here are the adorable invitations that I stayed up all night making…..

Arianna:  I love you SO MUCH, baby girl!  I am so proud of who you are, and who you are becoming as you get older. You amaze me on a daily basis, and we couldn’t have been luckier to have you as our daughter.  Never, ever change, because you are an amazing girl who is growing into a beautiful woman of God.