Michigander Moves Abroad!: Early Adventures of Baby H: Baptism in Dubai

When I was pregnant with Baby H, my sister asked us to try to meet her in Italy in August since she was planning to be there with her in-laws for their 50th wedding anniversary. We tentatively said yes, pending Schengen visa approval for Miss J (approved!) and passport and UAE visa stuff sorted for Baby H (almost sorted!). We very very very briefly entertained having Baby H baptized in Italy, since we wanted Danielle & Jonny to be her godparents and we would all be there at the same time. I started looking into the logistics of it though, and quickly decided a UAE baptism with proxy godparents would be much, much easier. Had I known you could proxy godparents, Baby L would probably also have Danielle & Jonny as godparents, but having Dad and Mary is ok.

We asked Eric, one of my coworkers, and his wife Tracey to stand in as proxy godparents for Baby H. His family moved to Abu Dhabi just before G and I did, and his family also moved from Abu Dhabi to Dubai just before G and I did. Eric had given me tons of advice about moving (both times!) and his family was kind and welcoming to us, we asked them to stand in and they immediately said yes!

Eric and Tracey, sweet proxy godparents to Baby H!

Since Eric was moving back to the USA over the summer, we had a short window between when Baby H was born and when Eric's family was scheduled to leave. The Catholic Church in Dubai has baptisms every Tuesday, so we settled on 04-Jun since it would be during Eid (and thus we'd be able to easily find a dinner venue that would let us eat before sundown). This also happens to be G's birthday, so dual celebration!

I chose a dress that Granny gave to L that she never got to wear. Baby H also had some white and silver mittens that Ba Ngoai gave her, and I found some matching gray socks. I had also picked a white and silver headband, but I never managed to get it on Baby H during the baptism ceremony. I took some photos of her wearing it later, along with her baptism quilt.

G wore the same shirt and jacket that we had made L's baptism, but opted for jeans so he could wear his boots like a true Texan. Ba Ngoai had given L a pretty white and pink dress that seemed appropriate. I was at that awkward stage where my maternity dresses were too big, and my normal dresses were too small, so I dragged myself to the mall and took a page from Meghan Markle's book, opting for a belted trench dress. I like it enough that I'll probably have it taken in after I lose the baby weight!

I asked Jo, my favorite photographer in Dubai, to come take photographs, and as usual, she was fabulous. Here are my favorites - G and I joke that it was Baby H's baptism, but L totally stole the show with her wide eyes and adorable curls. We invited some of our other expat friends to join us for the baptism, and L -- who is super shy around new people -- let Jin hold her for almost 20 minutes! It was a long night since the baptism included a full mass (unlike L's baptism, which was short and sweet. I actually don't remember most of it because I had a fever and felt miserable that day), and while we couldn't have our family with us for H's baptism, we had our "expat family" with us, and that made it just as special.