Naming Day

We have a tradition in our family that when our newest baby is around 3-4 months old we hold a Naming Day ceremony. It is somewhat of a secular christening, in which we welcome the baby formally into our community, and we declare (secular) Godparents for the child. We share with our guests the meaning behind our new child's names and how she or he came to be so named. Last week we celebrated Lenus' naming day.

Our tribe at the Naming Day

We're sometimes asked why we give our children Godparents when we actively reject religion and consider spirituality be an highly personal and private affair, detached from religion. To us, a Godparent is an honouring aunt or uncle, invited into the family to take a special interest in that child's life. For us the children's Godparents are people we point to in their lives and say "These people are safe. These people love you like family. You can turn to these adults when you need someone but aren't ready to turn to your parents" which we believe will be more significant in their adolescent years than childhood. It has been beautiful to watch Gaia and Yemaya build relationships with their Godmother and Godfather respectively. They know they are special to those adults and it's a relationship they have with those adults that their siblings do not have. It is also rather lovely expanding our family this way with each baby. We gain a blessed child and two more extended relatives <3

It got emotional

Our son's Godfather officiated the proceedings and everything he said was perfect. He spoke a little about the history of naming days and shared that in some cultures the child's name isn't revealed until the naming day, and before announcing to the world, the mother whispers the baby's name in his ear. I happened to do this with Lenus, but Lenus' welcome to the world was quite different from his sisters'. He required a transfer to hospital and a stay in the Special Care Nursery for a week. With our eldest three we named them while holding them in their birth pools, coming down from the great oxytocin high. We were sad to miss this moment with Lenus, so Eale and I decided not name him until we returned home from special care. In that first week we tried many different names on our son, whispering them over and over to see what fit. Once we've named our children we're quick to share the name with our friends and family (and I could not stand to organise/host a naming day any sooner than 3 months!)

His Godfather also spoke about how special it was to be able to celebrate Lenus' little life, because it was a miracle he lived. We spoke about the Celtic God Lenus and connection between his the other names we gave him which he shares with his Grandfather and deceased Great Grandfather. A friend read a picture book about the preciousness of new life and a poem. And the women who were with me as I birthed him spoke about that experience and their feelings for Lenus and I. It was a very moving day. We also took the opportunity to give special thanks and a small gift to each of the individuals who made such a huge difference to our family in those first challenging weeks.

Lenus was wearing a lovely outfit hand crafted by Frida's Godmother/my very dear friend who drove five hours to be with us, jumped back in the car and drove all the way back in a single day!

It was a very moving day for us and we're so grateful to the friends and family who joined us (some traveling very far). We are very blessed, indeed.

Lenus with his Godmother

xoxo

Under The Stars

We took all the children to an outdoor cinema for the first time this month. It was a lovely evening, a cool breeze, but a warm night. A big inflatable screen, a kid's movies, the sunset, followed by the moon and the stars, a van selling popcorn up the back and banana lounges for hire, which were so comfy.

We packed a big rug for the kids to sit on, plenty of water, warm clothes, a blanket and cushion each. Unfortunately the food trucks that were meant to provide us dinner didn't show up, so I sped off down the road and grabbed a few pizzas instead.

There is something particularly majikelle about having my family all close together at night that fills my heart. I think it evokes memories of being loved and safe as a child, drifting off to sleep in the back of the car on a long road trip. I remember as a child looking forward to one day creating a family of my own and creating that sense of belonging for my children. I often get this wonderful warm feeling when I'm driving us all home in the middle of the night. Everyone is so close in the car, it's dark outside, the children sleeping peacefully or nodding off and then some private time with Ealesy...it's my favourite time to talk...or rather to dream aloud about the future we're creating (not unlike how I used to think about it in the backseat as a child). I was filled with that sense of loving wonder while at the nighttime cinema.

It is one of those moments when you realise that your arms are nowhere near as big as your heart. I had an urge to hold all of them at once...but my arms just aren't long enough. Nevertheless, I could feel them all being held firmly in my heart. Most of the time I'm so swept up in surviving the day, that I forget to feel. It's refreshing to be uprooted from the everyday and find yourself in a moment outside of time, looking in at all that you have...

And as quick as it came, the moment is broken by the shriek of tired toddler, growling "boobee" and trying to rip your breasts out of your shirt in a public space and as you urge her to quiet down, you catch the scent of what you know will be an epic dump in the baby's pants. That's when you realise you forgot to pack the baby wipes. But before too long you're driving all the people you made, home in the middle of the night, listening to the sounds of their slumber while poking fun at the movie with your best mate in the passenger seat.

2006-2016

Click to enlarge

In 2006 two close friends became a couple. To celebrate our anniversary this year I made a collage of a few favourite moments from the past ten years. Pre-children silliness, a wedding, those bathers on that honeymoon, four pregnancies, four homebirths, the baby spew-splosions, the Mexican themed 26th, zorbing, nature walks, the crochet boob hat, lego, lawn mowing, professional family portraits, belly cast mah jong, babywearing, reading stories, the Mario 30th birthday, blue hair, yoga, breastfeeding, the child who licks all the things including her father's bald head, the baby slings for everyone's dolls,the beach, ice-cream, matching rainbow shirts, the first fun run, the giant chicken statue of random, shaving the toddler with the back of  a razor, I even through in one of me lost in tandem nursing (taken during a terrible moment during PND). It's been a wonderful decade...and the best is yet to come....