Harrington House

Introducing...

Jack Edward Barber

Born April 17th, 2009 at 9:16 p.m.

8 pounds 10.4 ounces    20 1/4 inches

  

Hi, y'all!!  As you can see, we had a baby boy...and he is BEAUTIFUL!  I'm absolutely moonpied!  I'm completely and totally in love with this little thing.  I think I'm still in shock over having been given a son.  I really don't know a thing in this world about little boys, but I'm so excited to learn!  I can't believe I got me a little boy!!!   

Mike is ecstatic!  He had convinced himself we were having a girl (much like myself), and the expression on his face when he saw that our baby was a son was priceless!  I seriously thought he was going to knock people down to see for himself!

My labor and delivery was actually harder this time around than with Amelia.  But oh so very worth it!  I like to go as naturally as possible, although I had to have Pitocin like I did with Amelia's delivery.  I could not have done it without Mike.  He is my best coach!  The nurses were beyond excellent, too.  I'll write Jack's birth story soon.

We just got home a little bit ago.  It feels so good  to be home!  To our surprise, Amelia Kate has just jumped right into her new role as big sister!  She has been so sweet and nice to "Baby Jack" and is almost constantly squealing "It's Baby Jack!"  We are loving it!  I have so much more to write and so many more pictures to post.  

If I haven't said so yet...  

I love my little Jack!  

Headin' to the Hospital...

Is This It???

Well...last night I was having some goooood contractions, the kind that are coming regularly and lasting for over a minute and have some pain to them.  We were beginning to think something was fixing to happen, but then they spaced and faded.  I was disappointed, but okay with it.  Then, this morning, I had some, um, "other signs" signaling that labor is on its way!  And tonight again, I'm having some strong Braxton Hicks.  I hope its developing into something.  Woohoo!!  

Everybody's been on "standby" all day!  Momma just got here this evening, and she took me to the mall to walk.  I'm thinking she is ready to meet this new grandbaby!  ;o)  

This afternoon, the UPS man stopped by the house to deliver a package.  I was on the phone with my sister Kelly (aka Aunt Kiki), and she said that maybe he was bringing the baby!  Ha!  Wouldn't that be easy?!?!

  

Actually, he did bring a baby....Amelia's Bitty Baby from Aunt Kiki!

I'm so excited for her to see her Bitty Baby!  She will love her!  Bitty's eyes open and close...so it's automatically going to be love at first sight.  We are planning to give her the doll when she comes to meet her new younger sibling at the hospital.  Maybe that'll soften the blow...   ;o)

I'm sure she will make a wonderful big sister!

  

Hopefully, I'll be able to make an announcement soon!  I'm beginning to think that baby is going to stay in there forever!!!!!  

I really want to say a huge "Thank You" from the bottom of my heart to all of y'all who've commented and emailed me that you are praying for us.  You have no idea how grateful I am of it, and just how precious that is to me.  Prayers for others are one of the most loving and selfless gestures.  

So...THANK YOU more than you know!

Neiman Marcus Bars...Mmmm!

You HAVE to make these.  I mean it...you HAVE to...it's an order!

(Forgive the blurriness of the picture...I go all shaky around good food!  Haha!)

Like I mentioned yesterday, we went to Adam & Rachel's home for Easter dinner.  This is one of the things I took.  I've been told the name of the recipe comes from the fact that these are so rich.  Here's the recipe...

Neiman Marcus Bars

For the crust, mix together:

1 box butter pecan dry cake mix

1 stick melted butter

1 beaten egg

1 tsp. vanilla

Press this mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 greased pan.  (It will look thin, but it's perfect!)

For the filling, mix together:

1 stick melted butter

1 8 oz. brick softened cream cheese

2 beaten eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 2 lb. package powdered sugar

Spread that mixture over the crust layer in the pan.  

Sprinkle the top with two cups of chopped pecans, and bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour.

When it comes out of the oven, it will look loose and kinda "soupy."  That's perfect!!  It will need to set up overnight on the counter.  

Then in the morning, you can cut it into squares for serving.

Or you can just go out and grab a shovel to start shoveling it in...soo good.... ;o)

I also took over one of my most FAVORITE dishes!  It's Tina's Cornbread Salad.  This is her picture...

She says it's "friendly like potato salad."  Oh yeah...me and this cornbread salad are real good friends.  I have to restrain myself around it, and every time I take it somewhere, people always fall in love with it, too.  Must be the pint of mayonnaise and bacon...can't go wrong with that!  ;o)  By the way, her site has a lot of really great recipes.  I've made most of them, and she hasn't steered me wrong yet!  Wouldn't it be nice to go eat at her house??

Happy Easter!

I hope everybody had a wonderful Easter today!  We had a such a nice day.  Even though I was in the nursery today and didn't get to experience what I was told was an excellent service, it was still a blessed day.  After the service, in our congregations's grand Easter tradition, everyone hauled outside to stand in front of the church for the annual group photo.  The gentleman setting up the camera to take the shot announced how excited he was because he thought this year's group photo was the BIGGEST one yet.  I leaned over and told Mike that was partly due to me!  Haha!  

After that, Amelia had her first Easter Egg Hunt.  She was actually pretty good at gathering those eggs!  

This is Amelia's little friend, Carson.  A seersucker Easter suit with saddle shoes...how cute is he?

If WHEN I have a son, this is how I'm going to dress him.  ;o)   Mike and I were dying laughing watching him hunt eggs...serious business, y'all...

After church, we went over to our friends' Adam & Rachel's (Carson's parents) for Easter dinner.  We had a ton of delicious food.  Rachel made Amelia a little basket of goodies, too.

Carson and Amelia played outside for forever while we all got to visit.

When we got home this evening (because we were out of time this morning before church), Amelia got her Easter bunny goodies.  Aunt Lisa & Uncle Mike sent Amelia the majority of this stuff.  Thanks, y'all!!  Amelia was mostly excited about the books and, of course, the Elmo shredded paper that lined the basket!  Haha!

Psst..............still no baby....................   ;o)

Still Waiting...Patiently?

This is a present I'm really ready to open!!

Last night, I was trying all the tricks...

...we finally got to eat at Scalini's, so I had the famous Eggplant Parmesan...(Amelia thoroughly enjoyed her 'sgetti as you can see)...

...and it was a full moon last night...

...and we walked and walked...

...and I closed out the evening in what has become my signature way - chocolate ice cream smothered in Gummi Bears... (I'm sure gonna miss that belly shelf)...

I did have some strong Braxton Hicks all night and all day today, but nothing too exciting.  I have 48 hours to go into labor for Sugar Bean to be an official Scalini's baby.  At which point, Sugar Bean's photo will go on the baby wall at the restaurant and we will get a Scalini's Baby onesie.  So, we'll see...   

Some of y'all have asked about Amelia's new big girl room...  *SIGH* I am so stumped on what to do for window treatments.  I have a couple ideas, but nothing I'm completely set on yet.  I would hate to cut the fabric and do something with it unless it's exactly what I want, you know?  I'm really feeling pressured though to get it done (like, yesterday) because I know once the baby is here, there will be no time.  Hmmm............

However, I have almost finished the bedskirt I've been working on for her room.  As you can tell, it needs some serious tweaking.  But you get the idea...

The white bedskirt was the one from the twin bed in the nursery (it's actually queen-sized, but I had folded it under the twin mattress to make it work)...

Now, on this twin bed I have a new skirt.  I made it from some chenille I found at an antique store.  I have absolutely no idea what this used to be.  It's a couple of long pieces of chenille...

Like I said, I have no idea what it used to be, but now it's going to be a bedskirt!

It even has pale blue nubbies along the edges that match the nursery walls.

Some of you had asked about the chandelier in the nursery, too.  I got that at Home Depot online for $29 (regular price!) about 3 or 4 years ago.  It kills me that they don't still have them, because I would love to put one in Amelia's new room, too.  I loved that they were white and plain so that I could embellish them however I wanted.  I covered the shades with coordinating fabric and added the little pink floral candle rings.

I've also been wanting (needing) to make Amelia a bow holder.  Well, here it is...

I bought the wooden frame at Michael's for $1, and the ribbon was on clearance for $2.  After I painted it and put her monogram in the frame, I added the bow on top with an pretty brooch I had bought at an antique store.  I love it so much I almost hate to put it in her closet.  Haha!

Cue the Tumbleweed...

...because NOTHING is going on over here on the baby front!  PHEW!  Playing the waiting game is tough stuff.  I have been having pre-labor symptoms for a week now.  I keep thinking it might be The Time, but alas...nothing.  Everytime I call my momma or my sister Kelly, the first thing I hear on the other end of the line is:  "Are you in labor?!"  I cannot wait till the time I can say: "YES!!!"

Mike took me to Scalini's for lunch today for the famous labor-inducing eggplant parmesan dish.

Unfortunately, they don't open until 4:30 for dinner service.  So maybe we will try to fix it at home.  Their recipe is here, for any of y'all mommas out there who don't live close enough to go to Scalini's.  Good luck!  We did it with Amelia, too...

I think we have everything in order.  The two carseats are ready to go, the car is gassed up, the bags are packed, and the nursery is quietly and patiently waiting....

I've really not changed the nursery because I couldn't bear the idea of tearing it all down and starting again.  Partly because it was Amelia's nursery...

...but mostly because I still love all the clean, fresh white and calm, pale blues and pinks.

And if this is a boy I'm carrying, then I'll just take out all the pinks and add in either some grass green or a light brown.  

We had a very busy weekend as I tried to finish up some last minute cleaning projects.  Mike helped me finish washing all the windows.  Why is it that when you are in that "nesting" phase that you feel the need to get everything just right??  Like I'm going to bring this baby home, and he or she is going to really notice the corners are dust-bunny-free, the windows are sparkly, and underneath the fridge is spotless??  Why do we feel that way?  Maybe it's just that we know how busy we will be and how it won't get done after the baby is here.  Who knows!  But it's done now, and it feels gooooooooood!

Amelia had a lot of fun watching her Daddy wash the windows!  

We have some windows on the top level of the house that we can't reach well, even with a ladder, so we used this stuff from Windex...

I was really surprised that it did a good job as it did.  You just spray it and let it sit for about 15 seconds and rinse.  I was impressed!  

On the outside windows that I can reach, I use a Meguiar's car wash brush and a bucket of water with my all-time favorite soap, Dr. Bronner's liquid castille soap.  

I use it on just about everything in my house.  It's an organic, vegetable-based soap without all the synthetics and petrochemicals, and thus better for the environment and safer for us.  I've used it for over a year as part of my "cleaning green" routine, and I absolutely LOVE it!  The peppermint flavor is my favorite.  On my inside windows, I use one of these microfiber-type towels with just water.  

I like not using any chemicals on the inside windows because I have a little Missy who likes to press her face against the windows and lick them.  ;o)  Plus, if you notice on the bottom of the package, it's a proud NASCAR sponsor.  Haha!  ;o)  And I just leave the screens off my windows, because in the summer it's both too hot and too dusty to benefit from keeping them open down here.

A couple days ago, we also went and tried out some new double strollers.  I want something I can take with me on our nearby walking trail (for when I start walking to lose my 60+ baby pounds!!).  My friend Rachel just bought this one.  I really like the way it's made, but the colors are so masculine.  What do y'all think?  Does anyone have any good recommendations on a good walking/jogging stroller for two?

That's about all I've been up to lately.  Even though I am ready to welcome my new one, I'm still trying to relish my last few days/weeks (?) with just the three of us...me, Mike, and Amelia.  I admit that I'm feeling so torn in ways and have some bittersweet feelings about all of this.  I remember some of my girlfriends talking about it when they were about to give birth to their second one...feeling anxious (and kinda sad) about the times with just you and the first one are almost over.  I never understood those feelings they were experiencing till recently when I did myself.  But I've always wanted a whole mess of kids!  A litter!  I was always so thankful to have had a sister.  And I know I have more than enough love in my heart for Amelia and my future children.  So, here we go!  When this baby finally comes, I know I will be SO excited to introduce him or her to my two favorite people...