Doesn't Christian look thrilled to be my model?

This is our heirloom dedication gown (I'm not exactly sure what all of the differences are between dedication ceremonies and infant baptisms). At least it will be an heirloom one day. My grandmother made it when I was expecting Levi. When she made my wedding dress, she saved the leftover material and used that to make the baby gown. It's actually made from the soft cotton material that lined my dress and its lining is made from the ivory satin that was the outside of my dress. Like my wedding dress inside out. We knew that Levi would be a boy and we didn't want anything that looked too girly. You know, for a dress:) The gown is very simple. I requested something more Little House than Victorian. It has a thin line of simple lace on the hem. The blue ribbon on the front is easily changed for a baby girl - although I've only had to swap it out once. There is a precious bonnet that goes along with the gown but it is temporarily misplaced. It also has blue ribbon for ties, but I don't change them since Brenna wore my baby bonnet/wedding hankie for her dedication.

All our babies have worn the gown and we hope all our grandchildren (maybe even great-grandchildren!) will be able to wear it. My plan is to eventually embroider the names or initials of every baby who wears it around the hem.
I'd also like the embroider "made by Grandma Mary" somewhere in it.

Most of the Nazarene churches that I've been to don't make as big a fuss over baby dedications as other churches that have christenings or infant baptisms. I'm sure a few of the people at our church think a gown is bit over the top:) It's a very special tradition though, so we tend to go all out. You can read a little more about the ceremony here. After the church ceremony, we've usually gone out to eat with the whole crowd of family, but this time we decided to have everyone come back to the house. It was so lovely. We were able to invite the pastor and his family, my children's "church grandparents" and our friends Debbie and Steve and their precious kids. Plus we could just relax and visit with everyone instead of only getting to talk to the people at your end of the table. If we're ever blessed enough to do this again we'll definitely skip the restaurant.

Traditions are really important to me. I'm not sure if it's because of growing up as an Army brat and moving so often or if it's because I come form such a large but close-knit clan. Or maybe the combination of the two. But whatever it stems from, I love my family's traditions and I love creating new ones for our family. I'd love to hear about your traditions, too!