Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Our Special Day


Sweet Bella made her First Communion last Saturday. Jill at Sweet Gluten-Free made this beautiful cake. Those of you who are regular readers know that I love to bake. But I know my limitations! This is a gluten and casein free cake, it was chocolate with a coconut oil based frosting and so delicious. Not overly sweet, moister than any cake I could ever bake. Jill did a beautiful job for us. She delivers in Fairfield County and into the city and Westchester as well.
Autism Moms, can you spot the "I am a raptor and will protect my child" stance I assumed? I thought I'd have to help Bella, but she walked right up to Fr. D. and took her Communion on her own. Mark and I looked at each other with surprise and joy. Bella was beaming when she sat down, clearly pleased with herself.




Bella wore her first pair of patent leather sandals. We usually stick with sneakers, and have had Land's End sandals, but never something with a small heel and cut out fancy-dan hearts! My good friend Amy lent me her daughter's dress. It was elegant and simple and perfect for Bella. Kimmy don't need no Jon Benet Ramsay "Look, Ma I'm 24!" dresses on her kids.

This photo matches the one we have from Mia and Gianna's First Communion. Not sure how I remembered we needed to snap it - but we did. My Mom handled the digital camera with ease. And look, we even have heads! (Family joke, my Mom reads my blog. Hi Mom!)
That's the cake after our party. It was gone by Sunday. I made GFCF cross cookies and bought a small Wilton cake topper as a decoration. I did not sully the perfectly professional cake with the cake topper, she simply sat on the cookie dish.

I am grateful to our Parish and Miss J. and Frs. D and G for supporting my girls. I'm usually pretty tough on "The Church." But at the grassroots, I'm pleased with how my girls have been welcomed.



10 comments:

Jules Boise said...

Sounds like a perfect day =)
It is so wonderful to hear Bella did such a great job ... and no surprise to see your "famous" stance - you have always been right behind your girls, ready to take on anyone !

jess said...

Congratulations to you all, Kim. What a wonderful moment!

Kathy said...

choking back tears ... Kim beautiful. I can only imagine what a blubblering idiot I will be when my son does something publicly like this ... we're raising him Jewish (I'm Catholic) so I guess I have to fall apart at his Bar Mitzvah in 3 years. God knew what he was doing when he gave you these three angel girls ... love the protective momma stance too .. you rock Kim.

kim mccafferty said...

Wow, she walked right up by herself, I'm impressed. Congratulations for her and for your entire family!

Kim Rossi Stagliano said...

Kathy, my fav chapter in Susan Senator's Making Peace with Autism is when Nat has his Bar Mitzvah. It's beautiful. I wish you the same. Rites of passage are always special. Thanks.

Christine said...

I'm a full advocate of the stance. Come on. We all have it.
: )

Anonymous said...

Congrats to Bella. What a huge accomplishment and she did it with such ease!

On another note, don't know how you picked up that book. I can't take the "vaccinations have nothing to do with autism, let's ambrace autism yet put our kid in a residential home" attitude from that woman. She also influences parents with newly diagnosed kids with that attitude which is a shame. Many go down the wrong path because of her and her book.

-Donna

Kim Rossi Stagliano said...

I've known Susan for many years and we agree to disagree on a lot of subjects. That book is her personal experience. It's well written and I like it. And I like Susan very much too.

I don't think parents in any direction are all that influenced so much as they gravitate toward one way or another. If that voice in your head says, "there's more I can do" you're not going to stop base on one parents opinion.

Pedro'smom said...

I have just discovered your blog and I love your creativity. Thank you!
My son who has just turned 8 will be making his First Communion in May 2011, Can you offer any tips that helped make this a special and meaningful occasion for your daughter. We have a very supportive parish.
thanks very much

Maria T PhD said...

I have mentioned the "stance" in my dissertation. It is a universal autism mom posture, but for Catholic moms, I think it is augmented within the walls of a church. Thanks for posting that photo. It illustrates it beautifully!