Third time's the charm.

We found out today we're having a boy.

I walked in the door tonight and Dani came running to me saying, "Hi mommy and Tommy!" I'm happy for us, for Big Man.

How we ended up having a third should probably be noted. When I was pregnant with Tori, about 7 months along or so, Big Man said to me, "Don't you think we'd look back and regret it if we didn't have a third?". I'm pretty sure I told him I didn't want the one I was carrying. (Sorry Tori; I was a grumpy pregnant lady.) I am sure I told him hellz no, I didn't ever want a third. And I didn't. (Sorry Tommy.) I'm still on the fence. (I'm sure I'll love you eventually, Tommy.) But when I started to think about what Big Man said to me that night, the words he used....regret. It really sunk in. Surely, I'd never look back and regret that I had another baby (well, unless they were in a Girls Gone Wild video or something). But I already knew that Big Man would look back and regret that we hadn't had a third. And I never wanted him to look back at anything in our life and be able to say he regretted it. Because I knew that there isn't a single thing I will ever regret about my life with him.

So I asked the doctor and he said wait 6 months after Tori. At about month 3, I told Big Man that we could start trying, since I figured it would take a few months. Big Man said we were done, because I didn't want more babies. I insisted we weren't because he did. He said no. I said yes. I cried. I won. We bought the book How to Make a Girl or Boy Baby and Big Man followed the rules, tracked my cycle meticulously, and made a boy.

And so, friends, our family will be complete. Tommy, I love the concept of you, and Big Man, I love you as completely as I can imagine loving anything in the universe.

Tommy, you are being named after the two men I love most in this world, your daddy and mine. I hope you have your father's gentleness. His quiet strength. His temper--your daddy never reacts, he reasons; I have never heard him speak a word or act in anger. I hope we show you by example what a loving marriage and happy family is so that you may create your own someday.

Tommy, I hope you have your grandpa's ease. You're going to love him. Your grandpa is comfortable in any social situation, which is a rare thing. He can blend into a room of dignitaries and know which fork to use as easily as he can (smoothly) palm a twenty into the restaurant host's hand so we get a quicker table, as easily as he can fix the brakes on your car. I wouldn't be who I am without him, and neither will you.

Finally, and most importantly Tommy, I hope you have your older sisters' ability to sleep through the night. Please be a good sleeper. If you are the competitive type, you should know that both your sisters were sleeping almost all night by about 3 months. You should try to beat them, you know, show them whose boss. Make 8 weeks your goal, Tommy, and you and I will get along just fine.

So, son, you probably won't have a baby book, or nearly as many pictures of your childhood as Dani has, but know now that it's not because we love you any less. We're just tired--your sisters keep us pretty busy. As will you. Welcome.

How do they do it?

Holy crap. Two kids alone is HARD WORK. How do single moms do it? How do people who have 3 or 4 or 5 or more do it?

Big Man went back to work, so I come home from the day job, say hi, he goes upstairs to sleep, and then I'm on mommy duty. So far, Tori's been amazingly fussy and mad that I am in charge, so she makes sure to scream her head off. Dani, cute as ever, just wants to go outside and play and have the attention of somebody...so it ends up being a delicate balance of songs, and snacks and playing Tori peekaboo to get Dani to settle down and not be jealous of Tori or lament the loss of daddy who is sleeping.

But holy crap she is so smart and so much fun ......And I can't figure out why McScreamy decided to become screamy again............hope it ends and is just a product of the different schedule. I snapped a pic before she went to total screamy meltdown phase.

There you go--unedited. (MILF I am not.)

But we ultimately work out the Dani time with SKYPE calls to grandma and grandpa and lots of mickey mouse vids.....

Peeps from my past life--can you believe this is me????????????

It was good while it lasted.

Get used to more frequent blog posts...Big Man is returning to work tonight. He and Dani are upstairs sleeping right now and Tori's in the swing, so mommy has some free time! It's going to be quite an adjustment for the both of us--we are both going back to being sleep deprived in our own ways, and spending much less time together.And, I will look on the bright side and say that I get a king sized bed to myself all night, instead of lamenting sleeping alone. The cats will be pretty happy to have room to get back on the bed again.

I also told Big Man that he needs to take more pictures--I am always the one with the camera in my hands, and have very few pictures of me and the kiddos!

Tori is quickly earning the right not to be called McScreamy anymore; we may have to change it to McSmiley.

We've introduced Dani to crayons, and have a budding Jackson Pollack on our hands. She totally favors her right hand for drawing; I was hoping she'd be a lefty like me.

I need to take a minute and tell you how totally amazing little Dani is. She can identify the colors: red, blue, yellow, green, purple, pink, black, and orange and say them by name. She can visually identify and say by name about half of the letters of the alphabet (a random assortment of those easier to identify, and all of the letters in Bears Football as Daddy is always wearing something that says Bears). She will walk up to something and point at the letter and say "B" or whatever the letter is. She can visually identify about half of the single digit numbers, say them, and can count to three. She can also make most animal noises and is using multi-word phrases. She also knows most body parts, from hair to toes, and can point to them and say them.

She loves her books, and her current obsession is Mickey Mouse. She loves when I sing to her, or tell her rhymes, and she tries to say them or sing them along with me.

Every day, I think it can't get more fun, and it does.

Two Month Stats.

Big Man took Tori to her two month doctor's visit today. (And yes, my parents went home today, but I'm feeling a little too emotional to write about that today.) She's 23 inches long, and 11 pounds 8 ounces.

That makes her one-half inch shorter than Dani was at two months, but 4 ounces heavier!

She is really starting to develop a sweet little personality, and to sleep well at night.

Bubbles and Rain.

Dani sitting with the angry whopper. It's so rare that Dani's sitting still and McScreamy isn't fussing.

I got home from work tonight, and quickly got changed to take Dani outside. She was asking for "bubbles" and holding the cool bubble blower that Auntie Barbara got for her. Don't you know that two minutes after we got outside it started to pour! Dani didn't mind, which is funny, because she screams if water gets on her head in the tub! So after a few minutes, I yelled for Big Man to get the camera...and here you go. She had a blast.

They are both getting so big!

Surprise!

We pulled up at around noon.  Gram has "the macula" (aka macular degeneration) so I knew she wouldn't recognize us until we actually got to the doorstep and she heard my voice.

Happy 90th, we said, and meet your newest great-granddaughter!

To say she was surprised was an understatement.

She couldn't get Tori in her arms quickly enough!

She was a great sport and wore her "Birthday Princess" hat we brought.  Aunt Barb, Uncle Dick, Lisa and her family showed up bringing ice cream cake!

And, Auntie Barbara brought this awesome bubble shooter!  Dani had a blast!

Packing 2 babies, two diaper bags, two tote bags, a portable crib, and mommy and daddy into a car, gas, tolls, food on the way, and nearly 8 hours of driving.

Celebrating someone you love's 90th birthday, priceless.

Totally worth it.  Happy Birthday Gram!

New camera, just playing around.

So, I've barely read the instructions, but have fired up the new camera...it's a Nikon Coolpix L110.  Super zoom and tons of features, although I must confess already that I wish I had the dough to spring for a digital camera with a lens you can adjust with your hands, by turning it in a circle, old skool style, but, the ol' wallet isn't there yet! 

Anyway, I went to a Chamber of Commerce event tonight, and brought a few balloons home for Dani, who was thrilled, yelling "balloons", and even Tori was fixated on the bright colors.

Dani and I played around with the camera this morning---she wouldn't sit still!

Unlike Dani, Tori, at 8 weeks old, does the sitting still thing pretty well.  It's amazing how different she looks in different pictures and poses, like a different baby.

I am really looking forward to better photos and videos with this new camera...now I just need a new laptop to use it! 

Don't shoot!

Instead of daddy-Dani matching shirts this Father's Day (last year I got them Batman t-shirts), this year we went with Dani-Tori matching outfits for the Big Man. It was all part of a plan that Dani cooked up.

We went with the cop theme (read the onesies).

Here's Dani telling Tori the plan...(Tori, we are going to play cops for daddy, okay? Just do whatever I tell you to do.)
(Now Tori, since you're just a baby, I need to give you a gun safety lesson before I can let you hold your gun. Never put it in your mouth, okay-like this-don't do it.)

(OK, now I will hold my gun pointed at the bad guy and you keep yours at your hip Tori, because you are just backing me up on this one.)
(Now, you get to be the bad cop Tori, yell at the bad guy, then I will be his friend and he will confess. That's a great angry face, Tori!)

(Hey Tori, now I will put my hands in the air, just like a bad guy and then you can practice cuffing me. You're pretty good at playing this cops and robbers game.)

(OK, now Tori, make your toughest face and pretend you're punching into your palm. Good work! Nobody's gonna mess with us!)

Big Man--you're the best daddy and husband; we love you sooo much--on Father's Day and everyday!

And Happy Father's Day to my dad, the bestest grandPA!

Dip, a Dani guest post.

Hi everybody, Dani here. I wanted to tell you about something I learned! Have you ever heard of ketchup? It is super yummy and you can dip your food in in and it makes everything taste all ketchupy and yummy. It even makes your fingers taste yummy. At dinner tonight, mommy and daddy let me have my own bowl of ketchup.

It was so yummy I rubbed it on my arms and face so I could lick it off. Some might have gotten in my hair too, and on my clothes. I heard daddy tell mommy that it was a bad idea for mommy to give me my own ketchup, but he was wrong--it was a great idea! Afterwards, mommy made me go in the shower with her to get the ketchup off. I sure love ketchup!

And, look at this--Tori's not crying. In fact, she was smiling at me so I took this picture. She still cries a lot, but when she smiles it makes me happy. Almost as happy as my own bowl of ketchup.

Older sister wins, today.

Tori spent some awake time on the couch today, snuggling with Dani's stuffed chicken. I wondered how well Dani would handle Tori's first time with something of Dani's. To date, Dani hasn't been too interested with Tori, other than to say baby, or kiss her, but the attention span is brief. Here's Tori with Dani's chicken. Dani notices that Tori has the goods and tries to grab the chicken!

Mommy tells Dani to share with her sister. Dani says ok, looks to be sharing per mommy's instruction.
Dani tries to distract mommy with shows of affection for the baby. Dani, the girl with the ulterior motive. Dani says, SUCKA, I got the chicken!!! (Tori smiles at the irony...she really just wanted Dani's love and didn't care about the chicken.)

Fun times.

Weekend wrapup.

The weekend was kind of a washout, but Dani and I spent some time outside on Friday evening. She's talking up a storm, and keeping us on our toes.

I took some videos outside--I've been trying to get her to master saying "grandma" and "grandpa" for my folks' visit in a few weeks.

And in the front yard:

Here, Dani had just woken up from a nap, ad I plopped Tori into her crib...it looks like they are sharing secrets.

I know they are going to have so much fun together when Tori's a little older!

One month stats, a Dani guest post.

Hi everybody, Dani here. Mommy said I could do this post about my baby sister, Tori. She just had her one month doctor's visit, and as I suspected, I still win. More on that later.I'm pleased to announce that Tori is 9 pounds and 14 ounces and 20.5 inches long. I'm also pleased to announce that, back in the day, at my one month visit, I was 10 pounds and 1/2 ounce and 21.5 inches long. Clearly, I win. I'm the bigger, badder baby! (mommy's note: Tori was almost a pound lighter than Dani when born, and is clearly the winner in the weight gain category)
So, please join me as I raise my bottle to the best little sister ever. I love you Tori, even if you cry all the time. I can't wait until you are bigger and less fussy and can play with me. But remember, I'm the big sister, so I am always going to be in charge.
Kisses for you, my favorite little sister. (Now, hurry up and grow and play with me. And, stop crying so much, okay?) Really, could you please stop crying so much? I am sure I didn't cry this much back when I was a baby. Even my kisses don't make you stop crying.

I took this picture of Tori and mommy this morning. Tori was fussy and wouldn't smile for me, but mommy smiled!

I know you guys probably don't believe me, but Tori is fussy. Way more fussy than I was when I was a baby. If you don't believe me, just watch this. It's really like this all the time. I think that is why mommy says she doesn't have time to update this blog anymore. So, readers (grandpa) don't blame me for mommy's failure, blame Tori. Always blame Tori.

Anyway, to my little sister, Tori....it's on. Keep working hard to get big and strong so we can play. Just remember that I'll always be the bigger, stronger, sister...so you better do what I say!

Camping.

Well we didn't actually go camping. We drove to visit our friends who were camping. There was a whole big possee of folks we knew with their campers and motorhomes, and we popped in for a few hours. It was a great excuse for Dani to play in the dirt with a bunch of other kids, and for Big Man and I to talk to other adults. And a great opportunity for other adults to get to hold our baby, who was decidedly non-screamy while we were there.

Dani had a blast! She got to eat tons of food and play with dogs and kids! Here she is with my Aunt Renny.
It was just nice to get out for a few hours; we even grabbed a soft serve cone on the way home-- my first since Tori was born.

Things have just been kicking my butt this week. Work's slamming busy, a good thing. Dani is talking up a storm. But Tori.

Oh, my little Tori. She seems to have a fussy period that coincides from the minute I walk in the door until about 10pm. The unconsolable kind of fussy.

It looks kind of like this.

I'm sure you can imagine the corresponding wailing. I don't remember Dani being this fussy for no reason. There was always some cause--gassy, or we missed her sleep window and she was overtired, etc. Tori doesn't need (or have) a reason to fuss and fuss and fuss.

I've instructed Big Man that he has 5 weeks to fix it...because this will be hard to handle flying solo. Send my baby some calming thoughts, kay?

Long weekend, a Dani guest post.

Hi everybody, Dani here. It's so sunny and warm outside and I'm having so much fun. I love having my daddy home with me and my baby sister Tori's not too bad either. Mommy got me a pool, and she takes me in it every day!

Sometimes, I don't even wait to put my bathing suit on. Grandma Deb came to visit this morning and she and mommy were taking me outside to play on the swingset, but I marched right into the pool in my clothes. Then my diaper got really big and huge and everyone laughed at me.

So far, summer is my favorite season. I get to eat popsices and wear dresses and ride my bike!

I have 3 bathing suits and a great big ball that I bring in the pool. Mommy sits in the pool with me, too!

I love to sit with mommy when she is feeding Tori. I'm also a really good helper. When mommy changes Tori's diaper, I throw it away for her. Then, everyone claps for me!

I can also say any word I want to. Mommy and daddy get so excited when I talk to them; I don't see what the big deal is, but they sure seem to like it. Yesterday, mommy let me have some of her seltzer, so I said "bubbles" because there were lots of bubbles in it. Mommy sure got excited, you'd have thought I'd won a Pulitzer or something.

I get to stay up later too. And when mommy says it's bedtime, sometimes if I snuggle up with daddy she lets me stay up even longer. Daddy's a really good snuggler.

So far, being a big sister's pretty fun, but babies are boring. They just sleep and cry. I can't wait until Tori is bigger so she can play with me. OK, I'm going outside to play now. Bye bye.

Superkids.

We've got a little bit of a superbaby theme going on today.

And, supertoddler, too.

And a supertired mommy and daddy complete the set.

Bike!

You may recall that we got Dani a first walk on bike type toy for her birthday. She was not quite ready for it at that time, despite the cute pics we took. It's been packed away until now. I broke it out tonight---enjoy. Notice she's saying "bike". She is trying to say every word we do--and understaning everything we say. (folks on facebook: apparently my blog won't automatically upload videos to FB, and I'm lazy... so go to: http://www.betsyboothhill.blogspot.com to see the video)


I swear, we do take pics of Tori--just not as much (sorry Tori). But she came to my office today and I posted a pic to facebook. We love her just as much, but she isn't great for action photos!Anyway, so tired. Don't know what I'd do if Big Man wasn't home on paternity leave. I'm at work every day, and he's home. We share time at night and the overnight with Tori (I get to pick the early feeding or late feeding) but we are just so darn tired. He's used to being tired because he works all night and used to hang with Dani all day......I'm used to, and apparently need, much more sleep. By about 8pm he's snoozing in the upright position on the couch, and most nights I am sleeping by 10, knowing she will wake me up by midnight, but saying little prayers that Tori will sleep through the night....unrealistic I know. But, Dani did it by 9 weeks, so I'm hoping by the time Big Man goes back to work, Tori's broken in...or I'll be in big trouble!

Tubby time!

It took surprisingly longer for us to give Tori her first bath than Dani. We were so scared with Dani, and it was winter and cold, we filled the bathroom sink with water that was lukewarm and she just screamed--no doubt typical new parent fear of not scalding the baby. With Tori, it took much longer for her bellybutton cord to fall off--perhaps because the latest hospital security trick is to put the baby security button on the cord........so if a baby stealer comest to the hospital, and tries to leave with a baby....hidden baby button will trigger the firing squad or something.

Part of it was that we are now seasoned parents, and know that our little floppy newborn doesn't need baths every day, and we were in no hurry. We totally buy in to our doctor's philosophy that we only need to bathe Tori when she is stinky, because we don't want her to get dried out.
And, we realize that babies only have the "new baby smell" for about 12 seconds, and then they burp or fart or spit up or poop up and ruin it. Then they smell like sweaty, formula cheesy baby. And trust me, the wet washcloth doesn't cut it..so you need to bathe them.

But first, here's Dani....our little sweetie, always loving the bath!

And our little Tori, who was great for her first bath--and is a good baby all the way around. (I guess. Sleep deprived mommy fussy baby rant to follow when I have the energy).

And here she is all wrapped up after her first bath:

**Note for those of you who recall Tori was born on 4/27 and think we waited 3 weeks for a bath...not so. We did the really shallow sponge bathy things at first because she still had the cord after a week and she needed to be cleaned!