Family reunion.

We went to a family reunion today. Technically, the family was one by marriage, but family that we love and hold dear nonetheless.

Tori started the day snoozing.
Dani went in a hammock for the first time. She and grandma had a blast in it.

I managed to grab her for a quick second for a picture.
Grandma and grandpa and Tori had a blast!Dani also got to bounce on a trampoline. She loved it.

And Shannon and Angela were good sports. I'm sure they would have preferred to bounce much higher, but once Dani got on she didn't want to get off!

It's so much fun having my folks here. I so wish they lived closer!

Don't tell Dani, a Tori guest post.

Pssst. Pssst. Down here. Shhh. Be very quiet because I don't want my big sister Dani to know I'm writing to you.

I'm Tori. But, I get called lots of things. I hear mommy call me McScreamy, and daddy calls me the angry whopper. But most importantly, I'm Dani's little sister. I think you know Dani. She's my big sister. She sometimes posts here. She really likes to be the center of attention, so I don't want her to get mad that I'm posting today. I mean look at that scowl, I don't want to mess with her...at least until I'm bigger.


But, I'm 9 weeks old and I figured it was time that I introduced myself. And, I have exciting news! I met my grandma and grandpa today, and they are so awesome! But before I tell you about them, I wanted to show you a picture of my daddy. He's such a good snuggler.

So, anyway, my grandma and grandpa came to visit from North Carolina today. They are lots of fun. My grandpa is so silly. When we went outside, he wore my sun hat!

And grandma took me for a walk and we sat outside on the porch while Dani got to swing. When I get a little bigger, grandma says I can go on the swing too.

So far, it's not so bad being a little sister. Dani is pretty nice to me, but she only calls me "baby". I wish I could tell her that my name is Tori, but I can't talk yet. Sometimes it seems like she gets mad when mommy holds me. She's always running around the house laughing and playing, and I'm stuck in some dumb swing because I can't even crawl yet. But I'm working really hard at it. I can push myself up on my hands, and can almost turn over. Pretty soon I'm going to get to play too. I have to hurry because grandma and grandpa brought a little bear and blankie for me but Dani took it when they weren't looking.

Anyway, grandma and grandpa are going to be here for a while so I am sure we will have lots of fun.

Don't tell Dani you met me. I don't think she can read yet, so she won't know that I wrote to you. Anyway, I hope I get to talk to you again soon. Love, Tori.

Foiled again!

This was me yesterday, in the quest for the perfect blond:

It's been years since I actually had a professional color my hair, and Big Man was super about me coming home late--even held dinner for me despite my urging that he and Dani eat without me. Sometimes, we all just need to take a few minutes (or in this case, hours) for ourselves.

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! 

Drugs are bad, hmmm.

So, I stumbled across this website called in20years.com

You can upload a picture, and tell them whether you are over 20 or over 30, and whether you use drugs, and it ages you 20 years.  It puts the original picture with the altered one.

Now, for the fun, my headshot, plus 20 years, according to this site:

Someone tell Big Man that he's going to need to upgrade to wife 2.0 (younger and hotter) soon, before this happens.  (For those of you who know my mom, you know my youthful genes will do me much better than this!)

And when I picked the setting for the pic for me as a drug-user, here's what I got....it's like an anti-drug billboard!

Scary!  It's like an anti-meth billboard!

In other news, we had a bit of a splurge, and I purchased a new Nikon camera and Big Man got a Sony MP3, both of which arrived today.  So stay tuned for much better pics and video!!! Woo hoo!

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!

A typical dinnertime.

Took some videos at dinnertime tonight, of our fun little circus. Dani, the perpetual star of all videos, is 18 months old today. Can't believe how fast the time flies. It seems like just yesterday that I was blogging about little Miss Fussy, and talking about Dani as the fussy one..instead of Tori. Now, she's tearing through the house, talking her head off. She charms the pants off of everyone she meets, and laughs all the time. She's got a hair trigger temper, but can be distracted into giggles quite easily. I adore my Dani.

Tonight, Dani decided she liked ketchup, so Big Man put a little bit on the high chair, and instead of dipping things into it, she leaned over and just put her face right into it and licked it up. OF COURSE, as soon as I got the camera, she decided she didn't want to do it anymore. But, there's still much cuteness to be seen in the two vids.

Here's the second one, a few minutes later...little miss chatterbox.

She certainly makes our dinnertime entertaining!

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!

Kids say the darndest things.

Dani is talking up a storm. She runs through the house naming objects, and parrots back most everything we say. It is absolutely adorable, but there are some things, I don't quite know how to address.

She refers to all men as "daddy". This means that when we are at the grocery store, or anywhere, she points to people and calls out "daddy". Kind of makes for some awkward moments.

Today, at breakfast, Dani was using her fork, pretty successfully. She was managing to poke her eggs and sausage and get it to her mouth on most attempts. She was waving the fork in the air triumphantly after every bite and saying "f*ck". We know she meant fork, but it sure sounded like she was throwing f-bombs at the table. This should make for interesting glances from strangers in the event we take her out to eat.

To keep with the awkward theme, here's a shot taken at dinnertime last night. Dani's less than thrilled about the baby on her lap.

Sadly, I'm missing a party that friends are having as I type--a big one--30th, 50th birthdays and a MSW graduation! After multiple unsuccessful attempts, Dani has still not taken a nap, and she would be a train wreck if I tried to take her anywhere until she does. I'm not letting her out of her crib again until she sleeps--which should be for a few hours when she finally gives in. She still hasn't taken a bath today, so by the time she gets up, gets clean and dressed for going out, and eats something, it will be dinnertime or later--factor in a 30 minute drive and we're almost at bedtime.... Sorry Tom and Ali--wishing you all the best on your big day!

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!