First Communion Gift Ideas

A few weeks ago our middle daughter received her First Holy Communion.  In the few days leading up to her First Holy Communion day the big question from some family and friends was, "What can we get her?"   It seems like every time we get invited to a party for a child who has just received this sacrament there's always the question of what would make an appropriate gift.

I think gift ideas can fall into two categories for this occasion, the expected or traditional gifts and the off the beaten path gifts.

A more traditional type of gift would be a crucifix for the child's wall.  You can find ones that commemorate the occasion or one that looks like it would be nice for a child's room.

A bible is always a great gift idea.  We have this Catholic Picture Biblewhich we use for our Jesus tree during Lent.  If you'd rather give a bible that the child can use for years to come I'd recommend this beautiful bible.  I reviewed it here last year.  We have the Douay Rheimsversion but it's also available in the NABtranslation.  I can tell you my daughter feels so grown up now that she has a bible that isn't a picture bible.  As soon as her communion party ended she pulled out this bible and asked me to show her to look up scripture passages.  

I think a missal for Mass is another great gift idea for a First Communicant.  Our daughter received this missal (in white).  The missal has a nice dedication page that makes it a great gift idea for a First Holy Communion.  It's a missal that she will be able to use for years to come.  

If you attend the Extraordinary Form Mass, this lovely prayer book and missal would be a nice option.  I love how beautiful the prayers are in pre-Vatican II prayer books, so I brought a copy of Jesus Make Me Worthy for my daughter.  (You can learn more about it here.)  She likes this prayer book and was interested in learning about the Latin Mass.  

I'm of the opinion that a First Holy Communion is the perfect time to give a child a beautiful rosary.  Ellie's First Holy Communion Rosary came from Trendy Traditions.  I like how Melanie offers personalization to give the rosary an extra special touch.  Check out Trendy Traditions, she has rosaries for the trendy fashionista, the sports fan and even some lovely First Holy Communion designs.  I knew that Ellie would love a rosary in her favorite color so I asked Melanie if she could put a chalice and host center on the design I liked best to make it a First Holy Communion rosary.

A nice box to store a rosary and other jewelry keepsakes from a First Holy Communion also makes a good gift idea.  Ellie received a very pretty box that had the Guardian Angel Prayer on the lid and a personalized message inside.  

A musical First Holy Communion box is also another great idea.  Last fall I reviewed one from Catholic Family Gifts. 

Typically when I give a child a gift for his or her First Holy Communion I like to give a book.  There are a lot of great books to give a child for this occasion.  Some of our favorites are:

Glory Stories from Holy Heroes are also a great gift idea.  The CDs are great dramatic retellings of the lives of the saints.  There's even a Glory Story that's perfect for a First Communicant.

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real} First Holy Communion

Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life...

{Pretty}

Those of you who saw the blog post about Ellie's First Holy Communion earlier this week probably already saw this picture, but I thought the picture was pretty enough to share again.

The day after Ellie's First Holy Communion the girls were singing in the children's choir for the noon Mass.  Several of the little girls in the choir made their First Holy Communion on Saturday so they wore their dresses to Mass on Sunday.  On our way into the church Ellie and her friend met up and held hands on their way into the church.  I had my camera in my hand the the other girl's mother told me to take some pictures.  Aren't they adorable?

{Happy}

I love the look on Ellie's face in this picture.

Ellie was so happy to surprise one of her good friends who was making her First Holy Communion in the Mass after Ellie.  Ellie ran right over to her friend and gave her a big bear hug.

{Funny}

Just as we were getting into the car to head home after Ellie's First Holy Communion Mass I spotted our friends taking pictures of their son who was in the second group of first communicants for that day. Ellie and this little boy went to preschool together and his older sister plays on Madeline's soccer team.  So we see a lot of this family and Ellie and the little boy are friends.  Both of them were a little embarrassed that we took pictures of them together.  Ellie's arms are crossed in protest of the picture taking.  Too funny, but they sure are cute together!

{Real}

Ellie's hair is really curly!  I'm amazed at how well those foam rollerswork.  I thought it might have been a fluke the first time around but apparently not.  

Ok, one more photo repeat from the earlier post.  Did you see the cake (and cupcakes) that I made?

I used a cross cake panand a chocolate moldfor the chalice and host decoration.  I was afraid the icing and candy melts weren't going to match, but they were exactly the same color!  

Visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more pictures of contentment.

Ellie's First Holy Communion

O My loving Jesus!  I love Thee.  I am about to receive Thee into my heart.  I open my arms to Thee.  O! that the great God should come to me, a little child, and dwell in my breast!  O stay with me forever.  I do not wish to live a single day without Thee.

~An act of love and desire from Jesus, Make Me Worthy

This past Saturday Elisabeth celebrated her First Holy Communion.  We were blessed with nice sunny weather for her big day.  I cannot tell you how incredibly happy I felt when it was time for her to go up and receive communion.  Ellie was simply beaming afterwards.  It was an amazing day.

I took lots of pictures of her, but we didn't get many pictures of her with the whole family.  In fact, I'm not sure if we have any of her with just me and Bryan.

She was very excited about the cake, cupcakes and lollipops that I made for her party.

Before I dropped her off with her class before Mass, we took a few pictures outside at the church.  I realized much later in the day that my lens had some spots on it.

The children processed in two at a time just before Mass began.  I loved that Ode to Joy was the music they selected for the children's procession.  We weren't allowed to take pictures during the Mass, although I did sneak a few of one of Ellie's adorable friends in plain view of the deacon who is our DRE and our pastor.  I couldn't help myself.  She kept turning back with the biggest smile on her face and I knew I had to capture it for her Dad who couldn't see her from where he was seated. Unfortunately, there was no way for me to take any pictures of Elisabeth while she was sitting in the pew with her classmates or of her receiving First Communion, but there was a photographer on hand to capture the moment.

Ellie is simply beaming in this picture with our pastor.  

I just love the expression on her face in this picture.  It looks like a mixture of wonder and happiness. 

We had a small party back at the house after the Mass.  Poor Ellie isn't much of a morning person so having to get up so early to be at the church and ready for 8:30AM took a lot out of her.  By the time we got back to the house a little after 11AM she was spent.  All the excitement of her big day took a lot out of her.  Within minutes of our last guests going home Ellie was asleep on the couch.

She is so thrilled that she can now receive the Eucharist at Mass.  Yesterday the children's choir sang at the noon Mass and she had the biggest smile on her face when she went up to receive communion.  

Small Successes

Celebrating the small things in life that add up.

1. I survived Madeline's First Holy Communion.  The entire day went smoothly from her hair to the party and everything in between.  It all added up to a very nice day.  Even the weather cooperated.  I am very relieved that all the craziness leading up to her big day is a thing of the past.  Four more years and I'll be repeating all of this for Ellie (she's already talking about her Communion).

2. I managed to eliminate the menacing mountain of laundry that was threatening to take over my basement. Everything is cleaned, folded and put away!

3. Finally, after 8 days of rain, I got the mulch laid in the front gardens.  If the claim on the bag is true, I shouldn't have to battle weeds for another 6 months.  That'll work for me!

First Communion, Mother's Day and a Birthday, oh my!

I have had a busy past three days going on four.  Friday, I ran around my house like a crazed lunatic making sure everything was ready for Madeline's First Communion.  I also had to run out and buy Mother's Day plants for the grandmoms.  To say that I am exhausted right now would be an understatement.

I'll start off with Madeline's First Communion.  I started the day off at 6 AM.  I successfully got Madeline's hair into her up-do.  That took me about 45 minutes to do.  I have been worried since January that I wasn't going to be able to get her hair right on the big day.  I'm very happy to report that it went up perfectly and that she looked like an absolute princess.

I've been hoping for many months that I would be able to get some awesome pictures of her in the dress.  Unfortunately for me, Madeline wasn't in the mood to cooperate for my camera.  She gets moody with me when it comes to taking pictures outside.  I'm hoping that Madeline's godmother and my mother managed to get some decent shots.  For some reason, Madeline will not open her eyes when she's outside for pictures, so just about every picture of her has her squinting and looking like she's about to cry.  Doesn't matter if the sun is at her back or in her face, I get the same look from her.  It's very frustrating from my standpoint, especially when other kids will face in the same direction and let me get beautiful pictures of them.

Madeline did a great job at church.  She looked like an angel when she processed into the church.  She was very excited to receive Communion for the first time.  As soon as they did the presentation of the gifts she turned to me and asked if she could go up now.  She was a bit disappointed when I told her she needed to wait just a smidge  longer, but she managed to be patient.  Out of 54 kids who were receiving First Communion that day, Madeline was the third from the last, so she really had to be patient.

After Mass we got some nice pictures in and outside of the church.  We even got to meet Fr. Mazz's dog, Pio.  We hear about his dog frequently in his homilies so it was nice to finally meet him.  I wonder if he'd trade his calm and beautiful sheltie for our spastic Oscar. 

Madeline got her hair cut after our guests left the party we had.  She's thrilled with her new do. 

Her hair looks almost exactly like mine now.  So I have a hair twin in the house now.

Mother's day was pretty good.  Ellie had her last CCD class for the year and she made me a handprint.  Both girls gave me presents that they made at school.  Ellie gave me a story that she dictated to her teachers.  It was a riot.  Did you know that peanut butter and jelly is a recipie?  She had a whole page about the PB&J sandwiches that I make for her.  The kid really likes her sandwiches!  

Madeline gave me a coupon book that I can redeem for chores.  It felt like it was Christmas when I discovered the "This coupon is good for: a clean basement".  Our basement is the playroom and it was totally trashed after a playdate Ellie had on Friday and then the Communion party.  Madeline wasn't too happy when I told her that I was going to use that coupon.  

Bryan took us out to Olive Garden after Mass yesterday so I actually got to eat in a restaurant on Mother's day. Usually we just do take out on Mother's day because I don't like sitting at a packed restaurant.  We eat out all the time and for the most part we don't eat in on Mother's Day or Father's Day because of the crowds.  Those are out two designated take out days of the year.

I even got to nap yesterday.  Not sure how long I slept for, but Bryan kept the kids at bay.  I really appreciated that.  I've been running like a crazy person for the past three weeks and I needed that nap.

Ellie had a bit of a mishap yesterday.  When Bryan sent the girls to the basement to clean up, Ellie decided to play instead.  For some reason she was standing on her rocking moose (that I asked Bryan to put in the utility closet two weeks ago) and she fell off.  Poor Ellie now has a cut on her face and a big black and blue mark.  My poor baby looks all beat up.  Something tells me she won't be standing on the moose anymore.

Today is my birthday. I'm now 31. Woo Hoo!  24 more years to go and I can join AARP and live in a retirement community.  Of course, AARP thinks I'm already old enough to join.  I got my preliminary membership package two months ago.  Somebody is confused.  To celebrate my day I'm going to a Mother's Day tea at Madeline's school.  When I come back I'm having cake with my parents and possibly my brother.  It's my dad's birthday today, too.  I'm still not sure if I'm going to buy or bake a cake.  I have to decide soon since I don't have a lot of time left.  When Bryan comes home from work I'm going to have a birthday lemon meringue pie.  I still have to go out and buy that.  I'm tired of cake at this point.  I still have about half of Madeline's Communion cake left over.  Anyone want cake?

I am looking forward to next Monday.  CCD and soccer will be over for several months, and if all goes well, there will not be any cake left over in the house.