Baptism part 3

I think the best part about the Baptism weekend were all the family. Here's a great shot of some cousins hanging with Nev and the glowing dad. 

Having tidbits from home really made it feel like many more people were present than actually were here. The pillow that my Cioci (aunt) made was one example. The blue in it represented all the men in our family and the purple represented all the women (purple was my grandmother's favorite color).

Father Kevin was absolutely fantastic. Nev is protesting the conclusion of the fun times at Church.

We invited our neighbors, Maureen & Barry, seen here and also Julie and Paul who live in the other unit. Tony must have been saying something really interesting to them!

Here is the whole group with Paul & Julie at the far left, Tony, me, Michelle, Nick & his kids, MaryEd, Cam, Barry, Maureen, Mam, & Prue (Nick's wife). We had a small group, but it was full of great people.

Baptism Ceremony

We had lots of photos, especially of Nevlin Clifton Hartnell, seen here. He slept for part of the day, and was overall really great. He loved the stained glass window and cuddling with everyone in his blanket.

Nev's Godparents are Cam's cousin Michelle and brother Nick. They both flew in for the occasion and were all smiles!

I made a wonderful candle for my Godson, William, but completely forgot about one for Nev. Luckily, my Mam was on hand and she reminded me we needed one. She used the material from his outfit to make a cross and then we put his initials in blue bling on the other side. Funny, but we used some "big red" to make sure it stuck in its holder, which Nick was able to cover with his hands in this photo.

My Mam really wanted Nev to enjoy water, so she has made it a mission to bathe him almost every day. He really loves the water and perked right up when he heard Father pouring the water in the baptismal font. I think that his cousin Amelia, visible in the middle left, was afraid he would be dropped right in.

There were 3 total baptisms in the church on that Sunday, so it looks packed. Nev was by far the youngest & the cutest.

A few more shots from Church & then we will move onto Nev's first party!

Baptism part 1

Nevlin was baptized at St. John the Baptist church on Sunday April 14 2013. We had a professional photographer, Deb, take many of these shots. There are also some photos from C & E's camera.
Here is a shot of the front entrance to St John's.

There are several stained glass windows, but this is the one behind the baptismal font.

The star of the day, of course, was Nevlin Clifton. He wore an outfit lovingly chosen by his Busha Mary (my Mam) and a bib created by his Cioci Gerrie. There is an image taken by Cousin Russ of an angle that is at our family's parish of St John Cantius, in Cleveland, Ohio. It was really important to have a piece of home with us. 

Cam & I really were so thrilled with having Nev baptized. He was wrapped in a home-made quilt designed by my Aunt that had images from our Norris family church in Cleveland. They were images of angles that hold the holy water that you make the sign of the cross with as you enter & exit St John Cantius Church. The back was finished by my cousin Melissa. My Mam chose the white outfit of Nev, who christened it himself during the ceremony!

Here is one of the 3 priests associated with this church, Fr Kevin. He met Nev a few weeks before this photo when he was only 3 days old and tried to convince me to name him Kevin.

Tony & MaryEd look like the proudest glowing grandparents that they really are, times seven. Nevin is the most heavenly since he is the seventh grandchild, third grandson and the most angelic as he is the youngest.

We had the baptism so early so my Ma could be there too. Nev was smooshing his face with his hand, making the rest of us crack up. Such a great photo & an amazing occasion. We have lots of photos, so this is the first of a few posts. May get another one done before Nevlin wakes up. We will see!

Fun with Mam & Nev in Adelaide

We showed Mam around Adelaide a bit including Glenelg where we saw this amazing sunset.

 We also had lunch in Hanhdorf. We parked on the other side of this park, where we fed Nev his lunch. The street was packed and I enjoyed a bit of an Aussi- Reuben sandwich.

Nev has gotten lots of toys, but probably one of the best is this Baby Einstein play mat. He can look at himself, play with the fish and whale or octopus. We will be naming them in due time. Thanks Moc!

We also went to Port Adelaide and hung out with the ships along the waterfront. Nev slept most of the time, but was awake for other parts. He does a lot of sleeping.

Finally, Mam really enjoyed seeing the historic buildings. This one in Unley is called Ackland House. Its estate has been divided up and made into a retirement community.

Volleyball & Midwives

Nev has a great midwife, Heather. Here's a shot of her during one of her visits to our place. She's been around since the second half of my pregnancy. Although unable to make the birth, she really has helped with all the breast-feeding challenges I've been having. Thanks Heather!

While Mam was in town, Cam played and help to win the volleyball championship game! Here's the gang with their championship mugs after a shared pizza celebration.

 

 You can see Chris serving with Cam, Ben and Em in the background.

And Cam serving here. We usually play the best of 3 games over the course of an hour. I go to cheer, but have only been a few times since Nev's birth. Hope to get back to it, but must finish healing first.

 

New Dad & Botanical Gardens

For the life of me, I can't get this shot to turn, but Cam one morning decided that it was time to go clean shaven again. He came out of the bathroom looking like the following. I cracked up so hard, most of the photos were blurry. Magnum PI? 70's porn star? You decide!



 

Here is really what he looks like. That stash only lasted for about a 1/2 hour. We went to the botanical gardens up in Mount Lofty. Cameron had his "koala-dar" on full alert & lucky enough, he found one for my Ma to check out. Can you see it in the following image?



 

Here is a close up of the koala. If you want, look back at the above image & see the little one in the tree. Amazing that Cam spotted it just outside the botanical garden.



 

Nev didn't have a hat himself, so I gave him mine. I think he's going to look great in hats!

Its "fall" here in Adelaide, but not many of the trees actually change color. At the gardens, we were treated with lots of European trees. This photo captures the view that I really miss from Massachusetts.



Semaphore Kites

We took a Saturday up in Semaphore at the Kite Festival. IT WAS AWESOME!!! Check out these shots. Here was our approach to the festival. It was really nice to get in a bit of a walk in the sunshine.

 



Here is more of a close up shot of the kites. Some of them were on the same string with one at the top that did all the floating. The large ones really just blew in the wind while the square orange or blue or white one did all the work keeping the large ones up.





Cam & I wore our bucket hats to help with all that sun.

 The jetty or pier really was packed full of people. They had a kite fight to see who could stay up in the sky longest. It was fun to watch.

The coup d'état was the small train that you could take a ride on. Mam noticed that it was named "Bill"! Funny, Tat (who is still in Cleveland) was with us at the kite fest after all.

Nev's early weeks

With my Mam in for a visit, we had some early shots of Nev and adapting to parenthood in Adelaide. The following are some shots from those early weeks. Nevlin really has this amazing ability to fall asleep in a drunk'in milky stupor. You can see the mark that he had from his forceps delivery between his eye and his ear.

There are many mornings with a newborn where you are up for the sunrise. This is not something that is usual for me, but some are so beautiful. Think of all of those that I've missed!

I'm sure for all of those who have kids and even for those that don't...the following scene is absolutely typical. Dad, who is sleep deprived falls asleep with Nev in his arms. I held my breath that no one would move before or after this shot.

It wasn't all sleep & no play. We made it out of the house a few times including one up to the Mount Lofty Summit. There is a tower there, were Ma & I paused for this shot. The view was a bit hazy and none of those shots came out very well.

Nev has a few preferred items including two that are in this shot. One is his pacifier or "binky" or soother. He really loves that & although we don't try to use is all the time, it can pacify him when we need it & know he's had a bunch to eat already. The other one is that bug that also has a plastic clapper pinned on. Noise is our friend!

As I mentioned, Nevlin is obsessed with having his hands around his face. This is a typical scene in the crib of the little man.

Professional Pics from Hospital

We had a few photos taken while in the hospital of Nevlin. They were really well done & I wanted to share some here. This first one is classic: he has his hands right near his face. I think it is a bit of comfort.

The difference between Cam's hand and Nev's is pretty obvious. I love that from the first day, he was able to hold on tight. Amazingly, he knows who to rely on for all he needs...Pretty scary that we are in charge of something so small & innocent.

His hair has been crazy & these shots were taken after his first real bath. I'll post some more photos that really show off his hair.

Here is Nev with a bit of a smile. Everyone assures me that he had gas. Our midwives say that he is on the edge of being able to smile on purpose at things that make him happy. We are waiting, but perhaps soon.

Finally here is a shot of me and Ma & Nev in an outfit that was purchased by Cam's mom. The shirt says: "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in the womb any more." Its one of our favorites.

Few Images from March

Its been a while since the last post, but here is a few photos to catch folks up with what's been going on here in Adelaide. The weekend that Nevlin was due, we had the Fringe Festival concluding and also Womadelaide. The festival had lots of street performers including this woman from Canada.



She pulled a few men from the audience to help out her act. It was pretty funny, but also the accent was priceless.

 We had a visit from Lachlan who came to Adelaide for Womadelaide. It was a really fun trip & Cam has now been introduced to CIBOs ice cream coffee. We absolutely love the market.

We also went on a hike to the St Kilda Mangrove trail. It was pretty nice, although a very hot day. Here is a shot of me on the trail, still pregnant.

We tried to capture what it was like walking through the mangroves, but it was a challenge with the light. There were soggy bits and also amazing life contained in the canopy.

We also went to the tram museum, which we have wanted to go to for a while. There are as many rides as you can take while there & tons of tram cars that are in various states of restoration or storage. The museum is run by volunteers and a really awesome place.

The place is all about trams, and the woodwork on each is pretty amazing. We packed a picnic and ate it at St Kilda Beach. We then went to the Tram museum and took the tram back to the beach. It was pretty fun.

My favorite part besides the ride was this hand that would tell people to stop because the bus was letting people off. It was from the 1950s I think. Hi FIVE!