Last Sunday was a special day for us as we celebrated Maia’s christening and her first birthday with our closest family. Her real birthday is today, December 2nd (yay!!), but we decided to combine the two parties since our families don’t live in London and would travel from far to celebrate with us. It took awhile for us to get around to organising Maia’s christening but we were so busy with the house renovation and move and our wedding last summer that another party was out of the question. Better late than never and November is a nice time to throw a party since it can be a bit depressing time of the year…
The week leading up to Maia’s party had been hectic with my husband’s business trip, me preparing my return to work, general “life admin” and trying to get the house sorted to host guests (always the best motivation!). We were literally hanging up pictures in the middle of the night! To be honest I am not the type to enjoy throwing parties because for some reason, I get very stressed about hosting and feel awkward about drawing attention to myself. I guess I lack confidence in my abilities to show my guests a good time and I worry whether they are enjoying themselves. Nevertheless, I wanted Maia to have a proper celebration and not to miss out just because mummy has turned into an introvert haha! We decided to keep it small and only invite the closest family and godparents (about 14 adults and 6 kids) and to have the reception at our house.
On Monday night we had the christening rehearsal at the church with the two other families whose children were going to be baptised on the same day as Maia. Our church is an Anglican Church just around the corner from our house. It’s very warm and communal and the female vicar is lovely. The baptisms take place once a month as part of the regular Sunday service. The idea is to have the worshiping community present to welcome the little new joiners. I prefer this approach to having a separate, private ceremony with our family alone. 😊
Maia wore her white flower girl dress from our wedding (it still fit our mini girl!) with a white furry jacket to keep her warm. I was going to get her a cute pair of white party shoes but then decided she could be just a tad cooler and wear her golden Converse trainers instead! For a girl who doesn’t yet walk she has an impressive collection of shoes already…
I had not planned my own outfit at all and in the end had only 5-minutes left to get myself ready – a typical mum problem! I didn’t really care, it wasn’t my day anyway, but I had definitely not planned on breastfeeding in the high neck knitted dress I wore (wasn’t even wearing a nursing bra!!). I should have known better… For some reason Maia has been nursing a lot during the day again despite being practically day-time weaned already a couple of months ago. My theory is that she’s going through a significant mental development leap and is looking for comfort and reassurance from nursing (which I’ve given her). Or she’s teething again, who knows. [I only noticed the day after her party that Maia had cut a new tooth which also explains the boobing…]
Because the Sunday service starts at 10am we had to wake Maia up from her morning nap to get to the church on time. We waited as long as we could to let her sleep but this strategy backfired because poor Maia was clearly feeling overwhelmed with the “cot to church in 5-minutes”-transition. Yep, you guessed it, she started head butting my chest and crying for the boob as soon as we got there. I had no option but to sneak out and find a quiet corner and roll up my dress all the way up to get her latched on. Luckily the only person who walked past us was our future nanny (who I had invited). Not really ideal but I wasn’t embarrassed. In fact, very few things make me blush after becoming a mum. If I need to do something for my child, I’ll do it without a second thought.
So the situation was resolved, Maia had calmed down and we went back in to join the service. She actually loved the part where we stood at the altar and was looking around excitedly and even clapped her hands (bless her)!! Her cousins were also a great help keeping her entertained during the one hour service.
Maia’s full name is Maia Olivia. When we were choosing her first name, we looked for an international name, preferably a name found in both Finnish and English languages (our home languages). We wanted the name to be short and sweet without the need to shorten it with a nickname. We also didn’t feel the need for the name to have a connection to our names or the names in our family tree. Maia, pronounced as MY-ah, is the Greek spelling of the name which exists in numerous languages. English spelling is Maya and Finnish is Maija – pronunciation is the same! The Greek spelling was a compromise for us and we also liked the different meanings of it:
In Greek legend, Maia was the fair-haired daughter of Atlas who mothered Zeus’s favourite illegimate son, Hermes. To the Romans, Maia was the incarnation of the earth mother and goddess of spring, after whom they named the month of May. In Hindu philosphy, Maya means “illusion”.
– Nameberry
The name Olivia had been my “baby name” for years, it’s such a beautiful name! It also happens to be in both Finnish and English languages. My husband is called Oliver and he quickly crossed out Olivia from the list of potential names, thinking it’s too close to his own name, but in the end I managed to convince him to give it to Maia as her middle name. So the resemblance to her dad’s name is coincidental but I don’t mind it at all! From “my Oliver” came “Maia Olivia” which to me is perfect. ❤️
We wanted to spend the weekend with our families who had come all the way to London from different parts of the UK and my county Finland to see us. This is why we opted to outsource catering. 😊 I’m not exactly a wizard in the kitchen anyway and really didn’t want the pressure of cooking for so many people! I had ordered a cake for Maia from Patisserie Valerie – chocolate sponge, chocolate cream, strawberries, and pink fondant icing with Maia’s name on it. Delicious and so pretty! We preordered sandwich and mini roll platters, a large spinach and feta cheese Quiche and some sweet treats from M&S and created a lunch spread with salads and dips etc. I particularly liked the “jigsaw sandwiches” for kids which went down well. Nice and easy and delicious!
I had chosen a rose gold-theme for the decorations and had bought balloons, paper plates, cups and napkins off Amazon (took me about 10-minutes to find and order). I also managed to find a big bouquet of roses last-minute at a small Tesco – a total mum win!!😄 I thought everything looked lovely and festive even though our kitchen ware is very lacking – typical to newlyweds! Prosecco from a paper cup, anyone?!
All in all, it was totally worth the hassle to get everyone together to celebrate our Mai-mai! When we were dreaming about our own house, we were hoping to one day have the space to be able to invite our families and friends to our home. It was just as fabulous as we had thought!
Our daughter’s first birthday is quite a milestone for us as well, as first time parents. We did it, survived the first year! And even did a decent job throwing a party for her, I would say! 🙂
xoxoxo,
Sini