Thursday, February 28, 2008

Ben is Baptized!

Ben was baptized on 2/23/08 at Mater Ecclesiae Church. He had the traditional form of baptism. It was a beautiful ceremony performed by Fr. Pasley.



Opening prayers



Preparing for the baptism



Oops...wrong direction, but you get the idea...Cla lights the candle :)



Final prayers.



Ben is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin.



Claudio, me, Fr. Pasley, and John the Godfather



Ben in his gown.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

COMPLETELY MIIRACULOUS, DIVINE, AMAZING,SUBLIME, PERFECT...EVERYTHING.........I can't even take it!
Love,
Suzanna

Anonymous said...

I'm glad I got to see pictures....Can't wait to meet him tomorrow!! Love Aunt Rob.

Petrus said...

precious.

Melonie said...

I found your blog because of the formula question over on Money Saving Mom and since we use Similac also, I wanted to give you a more personal response than making you read through all those (albeit great!) comments!

We use Similac Advance with my son. I also used Similac with my daughter years ago. Here are some things that have helped us save - with things that didn't help out in my son's case:

1) If you are using powder form Similac, definitely check into Costco if you have one nearby. Note: since the "coupons" from Similac are actually CHECKS written to a retailer, Costco will accept them. You may have to explain to the cashier that it is to be processed as a "member check" for the $5, but the system will take it. I've had cashiers say they can't because they are a "wholesaler, not a retailer" and I've politely told them the checks are still accepted. When they grab a supervisor, they're always told yes, DO it. I should think that other warehouse stores like Sam's would do the same. You'll get a much larger container than any regular retail place.

2) Keep an eye out at Target - they sometimes get "special purchase" cannisters of the powder formula that are almost as large as the Costco version for a good price. They take the checks too, of course, but I found I didn't usually have enough of them.

3) If you have CVS or Walgreens AND you have lots of ECBs or RRs to spend, you could get formula there - however, it is normally overpriced in comparison to the above. If you have the extra ECBs/RRs you'll be fine, but if you don't, why waste what you do have to pay more per ounce?

4) If your son can tolerate a change, do consider the store brand, especially the Kirkland Signature. The other commenters at Crystal's blog are right - it's the best bargain and the nutrition is fine. HOWEVER, be aware that it may not work for your baby. We had Similac Organic powder and Kirkland Signature powder stocked up for my son before he was born, along with the Similac Advance. The organic made him badly "plugged up" and the Kirkland made him incredibly gassy. We had to use ready to feed Similac to get him going again and then kept with the regular Similac powder until a couple of months back. Which brings me to...

5) Ready to Feed Similac Advance is close to the most expensive out there, since you have to buy it per bottle, and it's a hassle as it must be refrigerated after opening. However, we ran out of the powder once and could only find RTF at the shoppette (military convenience store) as they were out of everything else that night. Amazingly this stuff turned out to work the best for him at this age so we've stuck with it and will until he's weaned to milk at a year old or so. IF you want to do the RTF bottles, Babies R Us has the lowest price I've seen - $5.42 a bottle. Next up is the commissary if you or hubby have military privileges ($5.61 a bottle); if not, Target is the next cheapest I've found at $5.69 a bottle - BUT right now Target has double packs on sale for $10 - which beats even their sale price of $5.50 a bottle lately.

6) Lastly, for powdered formula, do try Diapers.com. They had the best case price (6 cans) I found while pregnant, including on the organic Similac and they will accept the Similac checks and product coupons if you mail them in advance. They also have fairly good diaper prices, and you get free shipping over a certain dollar amount (I think it's $50?) - but the immediate expense is higher out of pocket since you're buying $100 or something versus one can a time at $25. If you can swing those purchases in your budget, that may be a comparable price to Costco.

Good luck! As much as it can cost, relish the bottlefeeding days. My son is already 8 months and I am already beginning to miss the "cuddle in a chair and feed" times. ;-)