It's Christmas in September!

How fun is this... we come home from work and there are gifts everywhere!!

I don't know if you can see how cute this little onsie is... but first of all..it's my favorite kind - it has FEET! Also it's monogrammed for Tristan! Thank you Rhonda and Craig for this fabulous little get up. Can't wait to get my litte guy in there!!

We are also pretty dang excited about this tub... it seems idiot proof but knowing me I'll scald my little guy.... I have to be vewy, VEWY, Cawefuuuul! This came from our pals Nancy and Doug Zirkel from Chicago - so fun!! Thanks guys!

Aunt Kelly and Uncle Lee sent us this rockin Booster seat. AND IT TRAVELS!! Who wants to have us over for dinner? Come on... you know you do!! Hopefully this will keep the little guy busy and us from going bananas at the table! Yeah.... right.

Aunt Kelly and Uncle Lee (oh and cousin Zach too) ALSO sent us the Rainforest Jumperoo! I was going to take it out of the box and build it but then I have to clean it like 20 times. Soooo, here it is in all it's glory. God bless Holt, he'll have so much to build in January! Ha!

Below is a picture of the beginning stages of Tristan's room...on the wall we put up his quilt (from my dad - looks so cute!) and the rocker will go below that. Yeah, we're a little tight on space... oh well! On the floor is the cute little matching rug that Michelle Bobart sent us!!

Then here, Holt fixed my attempt at putting up the valances...also from Michelle.... and they look MUCH better than when I did it. And if you could feel them....they are SOOO soft!! AND perfectly matches, Holt, Kimmie & Ruth Ann's paint job!!


Now this is getting fun!

This is the car seat (WHAT A BLESSING) from my dad... it's for Holt's car... and the green is the stabilizer for T's head (I know...it's upside down) and that's from our friends Stacy & Troy Johnson...they live in Miami now but Stac has family in Dallas so we'll get to see her when she visits with Troy, Rowan and Cade! YIPPPEE! Her blog link is on my page... go check her out! Together... we are Romey and Michelle - (Stac, that still makes me giggle!)

Below are 3 little bath towels from the Johnsons too... so cute - I LOVE TIGGER....

and of course... have to have a little Pooh in your life! (I'm about to have a lot and I bet it won't smell like honey!)

Please note the soccer ball below...I'm not pushing but I'm just saying ...

....if soccer is his thing right out of the birth canal...who am I to say?

Ok.... well, this needs some explaining. My sister LOVES Beanie Babies... so what if she's 42... ha! Sorry Kel...

So she sent Tristan her FAVORITE one. His name is Sweetheart. She wrote Tristan this sweet little note... but Holt found comfort in the darn thing. It was hard to pry it away!

The note is there on the bottom right... basically, we had to swear to never give him away and as long as I can keep me OTHER boys away from him... I think he'll be safe in the jungle room with my little monkey T!

I don't know if you can read it but Auntie Kelly is in love with a baby she's never met. She even planned a trip for she and Lee to come and see us for a week in March. Well, I'm no dummy, she's coming for the baby! Ha!

I know it may seem odd to blog about gifts but so many of my friends and family can't come to my shower so I wanted them to see their stuff in action. Well, the action shots will come later when you get picks of Tristan doin' his thing in your gift. I feel sorry for whoever gives me the diaper genie! HA!

I want to make sure that everyone gets "press" and plus, for those of you that aren't here, I like for you to be a part of it all and see all the fun stuff we have!

If I could take pictures of the DRAWERS and BINS of clothes that Kimmie has let us borrow you would be as THRILLED a I am. As you and I know, this is a tight economy and EVERY bit counts so to not have to buy any clothes is HUGE!!! So thank you, thank you, thank you Kimmie for having the wisdom to save it all!

My friend Nicole at work also gave me bags of maternity clothes and is giving me her hand me down clothes. It just so happens she has a friend that gives her sports gear so Tristan will be wearing some Cowboys gear AND NY Giants... oh I'm in trouble for posting that part!!

Wait til you see what he's coming home in.... oh man... SO CUTE!

I have once again managed to avoid getting my body in any photos and for all of you complaining... go have a baby and YOU SHOW THE WORLD YOUR GRANDNESS... I prefer to suffer quietly and battle it out with the mirror. I am not alone.. the preggos I work with and a friend in Chicago all feel the same way so THANKFULLY I do not feel alone!!!

Don't forget to check out Holt's blog link on here too... he's becoming quite the writer and Oh... for those of you that didn't notice... John and Ginger's blog is on here and you can see her new little baby "bump". SHE BARELY looks preggers... I'm gonna go smack her now. Oh yeah, no can do, she's one of my best friends and I may need her to babysit one day! Ha!

Enough chatter... Thank you again to all... we are SO EXCITED!

all in 5 days...

Well, most of you are aware, my mom made it. She made it EARLY if you can believe it. IKE can't keep Margie away - she was coming! Holt and I ran to the airport prior to my mom's arrival and picked up Tommy Walker (friend from LA) and his crew. He was coming to lead worship at our church that weekend so I popped in to surprise him. At first he didn't' recognize me and said - "Hey, you cut off all your hair and it's not very blond and it's straight! Not fair!!" and I laughed and said..."the sheer size of me hasn't confused you either?" He laughed and said "I heard you were pregnant" - I think he probably saw me from the friendly skies but doesn't dare mention it!

Well, we drove some of the guys to their hotel and then I headed back to the airport to pick up my mom. She - "Ms. I NEVER EVER have flights that are on time" had to give "hats off" to United for the perfect flight to Chicago (even though there was major flooding) and then here. I brought her to the house and then the three of us headed to Texas De Brazil for dinner. YUM! Other than me dumping a full glass of wine down my arm, all was well. We ate and ate and ate and ate...

The day after, only the dogs were full speed ahead!

Then in the morning, we headed off to church - Ruth Ann (Mom II) came too and it was a blast. They were finally able to see Tommy and they loved him! Then Holt had to head to work so my mom and I went shopping! We bought the crib..here is what the room looks like so far.... isn't my bedding and crib cute!? Both compliments of my parents!!

Changing table still to come!

LOVE IT! Sunday night we went to Dad & Mom II's for a BBQ and had a blast. My mom and my mom II are great buddies so it's awesome to see them just chatter away. For those of you not married or even for some that are... you know what a HUGE blessing it is when the RENTS all get along.

Monday I worked but after, my mom and I quickly ran to Baby's R Us and picked up my Aunt Trisha and Uncle Mike's baby gift to us - we got our Pack and Play! It's awesome..here's the pic. We popped it together and my mom oooo'd and aaah'd at how "they didn't have these when I was pregnant" and then we came up with a thousand scenarios to use it. One VERY important.. to keep the dogs off little T! He'll get licked to death.

THEN... CAME THE COWBOYS PHILLY game started off with some healthy razzing by Tracy Poole. Of course, we won... but Holt and I did some celebrating in our Marion Barber jersey's and made my mom take a picture. That will follow later once she gets me the CD. We spent the evening running around, screaming, etc. my mom loves Donovan McNabb so of course, she cheered for the Eagles and we OF COURSE screamed for Dallas. Oh what a game it was. And for those wondering, I still love the Giants too..... sorry Holtie.

Yesterday, I had the day off but still came to work. Who the heck does that!? Well, my mom had to meet Layman and the others at the office. We came down to have lunch with EE (Kimberlee May) and it was YUMM-O!

THEN...IT happened...

What you say? What could be such a crisis? Hmmmm, let's see. THE MATERNITY BRAS.

Seriously, I mean SERIOUSLY. I won't go in to too much detail because my poor dad reads this... but let me just say, I may need surgery after this whole process. It's some rotten joke that is being played on my body and I don't appreciate it. I exclaimed from the dressing room "That's it... this has done it... I NOW NEED THERAPY!!!" My poor mom... I heard her squeak "uh oh" and then I whipped open the curtain. To my horror, her face showed what I thought... I had to keep going UP a size. What a beating. Finally, I made it out but man oh man, I was in a bad mood. The cute little salesperson behind the counter is due 2 weeks after me. She said "I totally understand" - I wanted to smack her, she's still a size two and I swear she's an A-cup. WHATEVER!

The only thing that could fix this was.... MY MOM'S SAUCE!

So, last night, Kimmie, Holden, Lane, Hadley, Mom & Dad II came over for dinner with the 3 of us. It was crowded in the dining room but SO fun! We had my mom's famous pasta and I swear I won't waste a drop of it. Mom II tried to bring dessert but I warned her that there would be no room. I was correct. The kids ran around and played and the dogs joined in on the fun and everyone loved it. By 8pm everyone had left and by 8:30pm I was EXHAUSTED. Luckily Kimmie and Mom II had done all the dishes so the rest of the night we were "off"... good thing, my kitchen would still be a mess! My belly was full and I was VERY happy. Even my new bras poking out of the bag couldn't ruin my happy little food coma. Nope, no way. I did snarl a touch though. This is Hadley enjoying the "fish room"...

So that brings us to today. I woke up and left my mom with 3 HUGE bins of baby clothes to wash sort and fold. So, she's been at it all day going through all of Tristan's stuff - new and old - and just loving seeing what the little guy is going to be in. She has saved me HOURS of work and I so appreciate it. I know it's a lot to ask of your mom when SHE is on vacation..but come on, she is a Grandma again ..she eats this stuff up (or at least that's what she tells me!) I have more clothes then I will know what to do with so I am blessed beyond measure. BUT, I think I wore my mom out...... think she's sleepy?

Ok, lots and lots of pictures still to come. I have another sonogram on Friday so they'll be a baby update too. I guess that's all for now.

Orca Barber over and out.....

Y-IKE-S!

Ok, well... as my mom ALWAYS tells me..my life is full of drama! My mom is coming to town tomorrow and her plane arrives right when the rain is supposed to come! They can't make up their minds though and now (as of 5 minutes ago) they are saying North Dallas will not get any "weather" until Sunday. Well, at least she'll be secure in my house when the tornadoes strike! JUST KIDDING MOM! GO AWAY IKE...GO AWAY!

Anyway, we have a week of fun planned so I'll have plenty to share and pictures will be posted! Plus my dad not only bought us a car seat - be bought Tristan's bedding so I'll be sure to update once we get the room set up!

Here's our plan:
Saturday - she lands, gets settled and then we are off to celebrate Holt's birthday early (we do it every year) - YUMMY Texas De Brazil!
Sunday - an old friend from Cali (Tommy Walker) is leading worship so we'll be at church to see him and then off to shop. We will be hitting Target and Baby's-R-Us for sure! Then, we're heading home after we grocery shop... and we'll play in Tristan's room (still can't believe I have a baby's room)
Monday - Holt and I have to work but my mom will be busy cooking up some sauce - SO EXCITED, it's my favorite (although Dad, your macaroni and cheese is a close second!) then Monday night we will be watching the Cowboys stop all over Philly. There will be some fighting as my mom has a different opinion on who should win the game!
Tuesday - I have off, so we will be hitting the malls, talking baby talk and for lunch, we will head to the office so my mom can FINALLY meet EE (Kimberlee) and Durby (Kristin) oh and of course...Layman. That in and of itself will be a "treat"! Then, Tuesday night, the Barber's and the Coggeshall's are coming over for sauce! YUM.
Wednesday - back to the daily grind, my mom will probably help me sort and wash baby clothes and then we'll hang out before Holt and I have to head off to a financial class we are taking. We have cut up (almost) all of our credit cards (others to SOON follow) - we will be debt free! Ruth Ann will be coming over to hang and drink wine with my mom! There is MUCH Grandma talk to be had!
Thursday - I have to work AGAIN (dang) and Holt leaves for his next TiGi trip. I will pick up my mom at 3pm so she can come to meet my Ob/GYN and hear Tristan's heartbeat! Then, later that night, Debbie, Alyssa and Katelyn may come over for sauce...if not, there's always FRIDAY!! I can smell the Italian bread and meatballs now.................. (*insert mouth watering here*)
Friday - I have off again - yipppeee - first hings first... my mom gets to come to my sonogram and get a good look at Tristan! If he poses for the camera, I'll be sure to include those at well. Hopefully, he's a little more modest than last time - ha! Then, it's off for more shopping, more girlie talk, more chillin' - can't wait. I think we'll head to the outlet malls so my mom can get Holt his bday gifts. We do this every year too, keeps things nice and simple! We may even get to have dinner with Ruth Ann again too!
Saturday is the sad day..... my mom leaves. BOOOOO! BUT after I shed a few tears...I'll apply some makeup and head off to Durby's shower... THAT will definitely be entertaining. Corey is my date since Holt is out of town. I love Corey. I'm telling everyone there that Tristan is our love child - ha!

Little Barber update... little as in small...not little as in Tristan....

- We received a FULL price offer on our house in Chicago and so we're hoping our short sale goes through. We NOW have a very respectful short sale attorney and we will be staying on top of this
- Kimberly had her FINAL surgery Wednesday and is recovering well at "our" parents
- My Aunt Trisha has partially retired...YIPPEE
- My mom, sister and bro in law still have jobs - YEAH!
- My dad found a NEW job in Auburn - less gas to pay for - wuhooo!
- My nephew Zachary AND little Rally both turned 20 - SHEESH

I hope I didn't forget anything...if I did, I blame my pregnancy brain!

Storm Tracker...over and out!

Oh my fabuloua friends!

Well, let's see, where do I begin? I almost killed some of my friends in Chicago. There, it's out, I've said it. The good thing is...I didn't do it. Whew! Saved myself some jail time. Our house in Chicago has been quite the nightmare for the last year and we are now at the point that we can't see it (bad market) and we can't afford to keep it. Our renters moved out the other day...well, that's where it began, they were supposed to. Anyway, called the realtor to take new pics of my newly emptied house only to find out it was filled with crap. (Can you see where my mind starts thinking up plans to butcher people?) Well.... this is a happy place so I won't go there other than to say my FABULOUS FRIENDS: JOHN SMITHWICK, PHIL LAKE, MICHELLE LAKE AND NICOLE MIANO went to our house and cleaned for about SEVEN hours and got rid of all the crap. Oh and to mention there were 2 foot weeds and crap in the back (that I wasn't aware of or I would have hired someone) - no wonder why my house isn't selling! Grrrrr!

Anyway, back to my friends, it's times like these that life is humbling. You aren't there to feed people or hug them or jump up and down or cry so they can see HOW THANKFUL you are. So, in our case, you send 40 text messages.

Guys, you've saved the lives of some in Chicago, Holt and I ...and of course Tristan ...thank you. I don't think I would do well in jail. That bright orange really isn't my color.

Last week nothing eventful other than looking at daycare centers. What a beating - I won't even need one until April or May and people are already telling me that they don't know if they will have room. Who would have known? 3 more next week... and I'll tell you about the other one. It was disturbing but I'm saving judgement until I have something to compare it to!

Other than that... this is the big week. We get our baby furniture this week, so the room will be up and ready when my mom comes on Saturday. We'll be washing baby clothes, folding, all that jazz and then of course she's making her famous sauce so the Barbers and Coggeshalls (- Lon, he's traveling - booooo) will be over for dinner!

I'll post more pictures and fun soon!

My dad sent us Tristan's car seat and I'm SO excited because we have a class soon and needed to have one to learn how to get it in and out of our car. FABULOUS! Now....if we could just get him here for a visit. I'll tempt him with a squiggly little baby...that ought to work!

Holt's mom dropped by yesterday and filled our fridge with food (she didn't like hearing that we ate Ramen noodles)...gotta love moms.... and then she gave us our birthday gifts so I'm off to buy some maternity clothes. If you've seen me lately, then you are thankful! Ha!

Ok, enough babbling for now. Don't even know why I'm posting this other than to say:

1) didn't kill anyone (but SERIOUSLY considered it)
2) humbled by my friends
3) excited to see my mom
4) thankful for my family
5) just cuz...............

Ciao!