Baby Dedication

Today marks a very special day for our family, not just because it's Mothers' Day (tho everyday should be declared mommy's day). We dedicated Kayla to the Lord today. For those unfamiliar with baby dedication, here's a quick summary:

Baby Dedication is…
An opportunity to thank God for the precious gift of your child.
An opportunity to publicly declare your intentions to raise your child in a Christian home.
A benchmark you can return to time and time again.
A family dedication, where the parents commit themselves to abide by biblical principles and to raise their children according to God’s standards.

It was a simple ceremony at church this morning with 8 other families and a total of 14 little ones being presented before God. Grandma and Grandpa were there and it'd have been complete if Gong Gong and Po Po who are far away in Singapore were there too (but I know they're here in spirit!). Kayla behaved very well throughout the entire ceremony and didn't flinch when Pastor Eric anointed her forehead and prayed for her and us.

It might just be any other day for litte Kayla, but for us, it's a commitment to God that we'll raise her according to His Word and ways, and that we'll do our best as parents to help her become the unique person God intended her to be. :) It's a huge responsiblity and we'll need a lot of help and prayers along the way, but it's also going to be, I'm sure, an exciting journey.

On a lighter note, Kayla had a great time with her cousin, Emily who visited over the weekend. She got a new rocking horse and a wagon she loves to bits. Emily (who is all of 5 years old) was so loving, holding Kayla by her hand and asking her if she was hungry or thirsty every now and then. They played with the bubble gun, did some water painting on the concrete slab in the backyard and read books together -- really sweet. :) I had a great time watching them.

Grandma and Grandpa, too, helped us plant our first tomato plant (yay!), and how to condition the soil and such. Hopefully we'll find our green thumb soon, but Kayla's already having a ball with her baby watering can. Pictures (dependent on Mikey's schedule) to come.

And it struck me just the other day that I've never written anything about how Mikayla got her name. We originally decided on "Victoria" but Mikey decided sometime towards the due date that he wanted to name the baby after him. (Mikayla is a feminine form of Michael..) Rae-Ann, her middle name, is also her Chinese name. In Hanyu Pinyin, it's Rui-En. In the process of deciding on her Chinese name, we also found out that Mikey's last name "Hong" isn't really "Hong". It's Tang ( as in soup) in Mandarin, but pronounced "Hong" according to his dialect group.

Yes, it's complicated and if you're lost, it's okay... just rem this. Mikayla means "gift from God" and I really can't think of another name that could be more perfect than this.