(Photography by Julio S. Sandoval)

Last week, we baptized my gorgeous boy, Santiago. Ana, who is my son’s godmother, and her beautiful family came to Denver from LA for the celebration. It was a lovely ceremony and the party afterward was fun and totally relaxed. I cooked arroz con pollo!

Santiago wore a beautiful white guayabera his godfather brought from Mexicali. I was worried he’d cry or at least soltar un chillido when the water was poured on him. Instead, he smiled angelically. It was beautiful.

The baptism took place in the same church his sister Vanessa was baptized in about 4 1/2 years ago. The ceremony was held in Spanish. (I think I might have mentioned that I only pray in Spanish). I love the church because, unlike more modern buildings, it reminds me of churches in my country.

I was feeling kind of bad that we waited this long to baptize Santiago. For the majority of Catholics, baptism is a sacrament that occurs right after a child is born. Santiago turned 19 months a couple of days before his baptism. But the truth is that it took us a while to decide on a godfather. I don’t know if this is only true of the Latino culture, but for us, baptizing a child is more than a religious ceremony. It also has to do with a bit of tradition and customs. Godparents become our compadres and comadres and, in our family’s case, we choose them because we see them as the people we’d trust with our niño’s life con los ojos cerrados.

Both the padrino and the madrina we chose as Santiago’s godparents are those kind of people. After I realized I was pregnant for the second time, I knew right away that I wanted Ana to be my child’s godmother. We’ve know each other since college, more than 17 years and counting. And, while we haven’t really lived in the same city for a very, very long time, our friendship has never wavered.

Our labor of love, SpanglishBaby, has only continued to solidify our friendship. I’m honored that she accepted to be my son’s madrina.

¡Gracias, comadre!

Photo credit: geishaboy500

We’re baptizing our son, Santiago, on Saturday. I feel terrible that we’ve waited this long (most Catholics do this right after a baby is born). His sister was baptized when she was barely 2 months old. Santiago is 19 months today.

I can come up with a handful of reasons why we’ve waited this long, but the truth is that I’m really happy we’re finally doing it. I’m also really happy because Ana — who is Santiago’s godmother — and her family are coming over for the weekend which means our niñas get to spend some time together! It’s been almost two years since the last time they last saw (and met) each other.

Maybe because I feel a bit guilty about waiting this long, I decided it’d be nice if I took Vanessa to get some gifts for her little brother in celebration of his baptism. I wasn’t too sure what we’d be able to find at our local Walmart, in terms of something appropriate for a baptism, but I have to say I was not disappointed.

The first thing we got was a small 14K gold cross perfect for a little boy. I plan on putting it on Santiago the day of his baptism so it can be blessed by the priest presiding over this religious rite. I really like that, because it’s children’s jewelry, it’s small and the chain that goes with it is short enough for my boy to wear. There were only two options, but the other one was a bit more elaborate. I ended up choosing this one because of its simplicity.

The other thing we got, and it’s something I’ve been wanting to buy for my children for a while, was a children’s bible. While there weren’t a lot of options in this area (not when compared to what’s available on Walmart.com), I was happy I found one called My First Read and Learn Bible because it’s published by Scholastic, a company I totally trust.

I like the idea of using the children’s bible to explain certain religious concepts in a simple manner. And, even though Santiago is still very little, I think it’ll be a good for all of us to read together and get him used to the stories told in the bible.

I hope you come back next week to read more about the actual baptism and to see some of the pictures I’ll be sharing of the celebration.

Disclosure: We received a gift card and compensation as part of the Walmart Moms program to facilitate this post. As always, all stories and opinions are our own.