Many of you know that we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of our customs is for the children to baptized at the age of 8, After they have been interviewed to be sure that they understand the doctrine, of course. What does this have to do with autism, you wonder lol! Well, when your child is unable to understand the commitment they are making by being baptized, you may choose not to have have them baptized. We had to make that choice with James. It was especially hard because he's the last baby, numero cinco, and I was really looking forward to savoring all the 'one last time' moments in his life. This was going to be the last time I would have a child baptized.
And then he couldn't be baptized.
There are so many 'last times' that I don't get to experience, and I feel a bit cheated. I'm looking back at my experiences with Jack, thinking to myself 'if only I had known that THAT was actually the last time'....anyway, I digress. James didn't get baptized. It was hard. We got over it. End of story.
Except......my beautiful friend saw my pain, and did some special photos for me of my sweet autism baby, to celebrate his 8th year.
She made secret plans with my amazing girls to sneak over to my house and take pictures of James while I was out. She's a professional photographer, so, of course the pictures are gorgeous, and my little dude is sooo handsome. Can I say it too many times? I really do have the best friends, and I don't know how I would have gotten through the last few years without you guys.... *sniff, sniff*.....I have been so blessed to have you as part of my village.
Anyway, Please enjoy the following pictures of my lil dude commemorating his 8th birthday.....he's going to be 10 this fall, and he looks so young here....Time flies....
Awesome pictures of James!
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