He... is Here

Yes, the post we have all been waiting for. Jack Russell Harrington was born on October 6, 2012 at 2:25 AM. He weighed 6 lb 15 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. And besides all of that, he is absolutely perfect. 

We'll start with the hospital pictures (do you see that? It's a BLUE hat!)...

Can you tell these two are a little bit happy?...

And the proud papa with all of his little ones (isn't he cute with four kids??!)...

Mom, Dad, and Junior (I haven't actually called him that out loud, but as those are his initials, it may or may not happen)...

And leaving the hospital (in the blanket Russ left the hospital in... as a baby--not recently)...

And now for the good stuff. Glamour Shots by Deb  (Haha, just kidding Deb, I couldn't resist) Our good friend Deborah with FunnyFace Photography came and took some pictures. Which I tried to pick out just a few, but it was tough. I love ALL of them. But here goes:

Our little handsome guy... 

Now give us a man face (awe!!!)...

So. Cute...

 I know, I know. I won't give commentary on all of them, but... how sweet?! (Oh, I love him!)...

Do you notice he is wrapped around daddy's finger in the last picture? Oh, how it is the other way around. He has us all wrapped around his, teeny tiny little fingers. And he doesn't even try.

A word about our little newborn:

I love having a newborn in our home. It is amazing to me how much my thoughts are directed heavenward. What a miracle it is that he is here. What a miracle that all of his teeny tiny parts are so perfectly formed--his fingers, his fingernails, his toes, his eyelashes, his little heart, EVERYTHING. What a miracle that he was in Heaven not long ago. In the presence of Heavenly Father, with our sweet little Kamry. What did they talk about those last moments before he came to earth? How I want to be a better mother than I am now. I want him to know that I love him. And most importantly I want for his sweet spirit to stay as close to Heaven as it is now. 

There is nothing more perfect than holding this sweet little boy, eyes wide open, perfectly still, tiny fingers resting on my chest, the only sound are his little breaths. That is truly Heaven on Earth.

Summer Favorites

Since it's been a while, I thought I would just go through my (painfully few) summer pictures and just share a few of my favorites (note: several major events are admittedly not included--I'm that lazy).

This camping trip had some of my favorite pictures of my girls. The first set is Hallie painting a stick. Her concentration was adorable...

Cleaning the brush...

The masterpiece in progress...

And the our good friend and AMAZING photographer, Deb, took these:

Taylor, posing (what else?)...

Oh, this one melts my heart!..

This one captures these girls to a T. Nothing better than having your children become best friends (except for having that coupled with "and never worst enemies" But a mother can only ask so much)...

And, yes, Brecken was there too (I love the tooth-losing stage he he)...

Most of the gang...

And this little girl (a favorite camera smile here)...

Turned two! This is her on the big day, showing off the birthday eating goodness...

A word about the terrible-two's, if I may:

Are they really terrible? Yes. Yes they are. With the favorite pastimes including, getting into toothpaste, the makeup, the pantry, and every other item attached with the phrase "no-no," there is a lot that is terrible. BUT (and a big huge but here) as terrible as it is, it is every bit compensated by cuteness and beyond. This is by far the most fun stage of toddlerdom. Every little, "Eekie my weedee, eetha MOON!" (which translates into "Look out my window, it's the MOON!" and "Ope! Pff" is heart melting. I could go on, but, I'll stop. She's cute.

And this little girl (that's Taylor under there)...

Turned FOUR! Didn't four used to seem older? I did get a few pictures on her actual Birthday, but they didn't make the "favorite pictures" cut. So that's all you get. But these did:

Taylor's FIRST haircut (I know, four years without a trim is pretty pathetic) She was pretty ecstatic to be the one under the shears this time.

And I know what you're wondering: Is that a garbage bag caped around her? Yes. Yes it is...

And Ta-Da! Yeah. she looks the same, only in this picture it's wet...

This one is just cute (no back story, she was just whining)...

And I know this seems like a Taylor-Hallie post, but Brecken gets in here also. Here is the first day of school. She is attending The Harrington Academy of Private Education and she is #1 in her class. Her teacher goes on and on about her, and we are all so proud ;)...

And a highlight of HER summer was a butterfly that she caught AND it liked her ;) so it stayed around long enough to snap a few photos...

Well. That's a wrap. Not a particularly climactic ending. But summer was good. Very, very good.