Almost spring.

Dani got a taste of spring when it was warm and now she's always begging to go outside. It's been cold, but I've been trying to take them out a bit every day. We're fully stocked on bubbles and sidewalk chalk. Today was Dani's first experience with chalk. I was standing on the wraparound porch pushing Tori on the swing. I told Dani to look up so I could tak her picture--she took the command a little too literally. Even bundled up, Tori enjoyed the swing!

They really do say the darndest things.

Some Dani sillies that amused me today: She stood up on the diaper box, raised her hands above her head and yelled, "Ladies and Gentlemen." During dinner, she took the serving spoon out of the vegetable bowl and handed it to Big Man, saying, "This is for you, daddy." When he asked Dani what it was, she said "a flower". So he asked what kind of flower, to which she replied, "a spoon flower".

Has decided that Daddy is "brown all over" but she is "white all over" and she isn't sure about Tori. She announced this tonight at dinner.

Apparently, I still have "Dora hair" according to Dani. And she has "Boots hair".

Tori's secret.

Wow, I wonder what Tori's secret is. I just can't keep up with her, and I take my Flinstones vitamins every day. That baby just wears me out. I'm just going to lay here for a minute and recharge my batteries.

(Meanwhile, Tori is refeuling.)

So, that's her secret--mommy's coffee!

Just like in Stand by Me.

Really, that's how it was at my house tonight. Let me set the scene for you. I brought the kids to my office at around 4pm, because Big Man thinks he's going to have to work a double due to mandatory overtime tomorrow, and I figured he could use a little extra sleep. I bring them home, and make a little mac and cheese; the note from Big Man said not to feed Dani too much as she's just getting over a cold and wasn't too hungry today. So, Dani wants to watch Mickey on the couch, while we eat, and I'm all, that's fine with me because I'm tired too. So, Tori's walking around, I'm feeding Dani mac, and give Tori a bite or two. Then, Tori coughs up a noodle and starts projectile vomiting on the couch and rug. Seriously, I think she had 3 gallons of liquid in her tiny body. I'm terrified because she's never puked before and she's just unloading. Dani then looks at Tori and gets this look. Before I can say, "nooooooooo" Dani is now projectile vomiting all over the couch and Tori. Dani's sick was just a reaction to Tori's as Dani, covered in puke, is still trying to feed herself macaroni. Remember the scene in the movie Stand by Me? Yep, that was my house. I stripped them down to their diapers and put them in the pack and play where they giggled and sumo wrestled and were fine, while I cleaned up the mess. If Big Man hadn't been sleeping upstairs, I would have considered packing the kids in the car and torching the place and just rebuilding a new puke-free environment. Ain't parenting fun?

Balls!

How awesome would it be if, on a really stressful day, you could just climb into one of these: I think it would be far more fun and relaxing than a bubble bath!

Tori thinks so too!

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.

Tori finally gets some fresh air!

It felt like spring today. I was up at about 4:30am headed to NYC for court, and basically got back to town about 12 hours later. It was so nice out that I had to let Tori have a few outdoor firsts, and Dani always wants to go outside, regardless of the weather.

Tori had her first ride in the little red wagon. We went up and down the street and they loved being in there together! We went to the "playground" a/k/a our backyard, but Dani calls it her playground. She wanted to help push Tori on the swing.

Tori loved her first swing ride! She laughed and laughed! The yard's a little too bumpy for her to be able to effectively walk, but hopefully by late spring she will be able to handle it.

It just felt so good to get outside tonight! Hoping to do it more often, of course the weatherman says snow? The nice thing about late winter storms is that they don't last.

And, 3d ultrasound is Friday; stay tuned for a baby peen update.

Deep Thoughts, by Dani McGhee

This afternoon I took Tori to the grocery store while Dani was napping. She was wearing a coat that used to be Dani's. When I carried her inside, Dani was awake, and saw me holding Tori, to which she exclaimed, "Baby Dani!"

So I turned to her and said, "No, silly, this is Tori. If I were holding baby Dani, then who would you be?" Dani scratches her chin, and thinks for a minute, and says, "But mommy, I'm older now."

Speaking of older--this little munchkin is turning ONE soon!

As you can see, she cannot manage to keep both socks on, ever. She's starting to stretch out, and is a little less of the chubby mcdubbs she's always been. And she and Dani are starting to meaningfully interact. Tonight, when Big Man was taking Tori upstairs to bed, Dani said, "Goodnight, Tori. I love you." Totally unprompted; she also grabs her and hugs her, and walks behind Tori with her hand on the small of Tori's back to be sure she doesn't fall (although this tends to make Tori fall forward instead). Adorable.You'll notice that the slide is tipped over. Big Man turned it on its side today (it will go outside tomorrow) because little miss daredevil (Tori) can now climb it unassisted, and tries to every time we turn around! I'm still utterly terrified about the chaos that three will bring (well the trouble the two will get into while I'm distracted by the new one), but I have a little more time to get used to it, I guess.

Kid Quote of the Day.

While lifting up a bottle of eye drops tonight, Dani exclaims, "These are mommy's raindrops!"

Silly Sunday.

Today was silly Sunday. We spent the day making silly faces.
Pretending to be rock stars. And getting strong with Play Doh barbells!

What a fun day!

"We don't wanna," a St. Patty's Day photo shoot.

But mommy, we don't want to sit down for pictures right now, we're playing.

It's clear to us that there are two of us, and you have two hands, BUT, you have to hold the camera with one of them, mommy. Tori, I'll break right, and you break left...on my count, 1...2....3...go!
Good work, Tori. Remember not to smile.
Oops, I just smiled. Well it will be the last one, I promise. Mommy, sooner or later you're going to find out that we are in charge here.

You can make us sit, but you can't make us smile. And only one picture, then we bail, mommy. Okay, time's up, mommy. We're outta here!

Better luck next year.

Sqooshy!

Wow, I don't really post for two weeks, and the kids just explode with cool new things. Tori is now freely and fearlessly walking around the house. Falling frequently too. And trying to climb the stairs. These are all things that my more fearful Dani never tried until she was around a year old. But Tori's smiley and happy. She says "hi" and waves to everyone and everything. When she hears us laugh or having fun, she shrieks and claps. She can say "no" as well. She's trying so hard to be a little person who can play with her big sis. And Dani. What a little ham. She's just a little ball of energy, who is always asking to make a "Dani and Tori show", which means she wants me to take videos of she and her sis so she can watch them. Her language has just exploded. It's amazing. She's 2 years and 3 months old, which seems so young for real sentences.
Some recent examples of Dani speak: "Daddy, what makes you happy?" "Mommy, my tummy's rumbly." "Mommy, I don't need a tubby tub tub. I'm fresh and clean." "Where's my handy fishing rod?" The stuff that comes out of her mouth totally cracks us up. She's also making strides with the potty. I'm starting to actually be optimistic that we won't have three in diapers all at once.

And she loves to sing. Everything. Just like I do, so it's lots of fun for me. She discovered Play Doh at a friend's house, and has been asking me to go back to Mary's house for some or to buy her some. I picked some up this weekend.
"Its sqooshy," she exclaims every two seconds. We only play with it when Tori's sleeping because I'm sure that Tori would ingest far too much of it, and despite the nontoxic pledge, I'm not willing to test it out, given Dani's propensity for feeding things to her sister. We get out cookie cutters and make shapes and just act silly. Sqooshy fun!

Slacker!

Wow, I've been really bad about posting lately. (Sorry Dad.) We've been busy, and pregnant plus two babies is hard work.

Dani and Tori have been growing like weeds--Tori sprouted some more teeth and the kid is walking. Walking! Short little steps for now, but still, scary. When we aren't looking, she tries to climb up the slide. The kid is completely fearless, in a way Dani never was. She's giving me gray hairs!

And Dani is still mommy's helper. Sunday she helped me frost cupcakes, and then happily ate them.

I promise to be less of a slacker this week! More pics coming!

Party girls.

The whole family went to a late afternoon birthday party in Clifton Park at a place called Bounce Around. It was kind of like a Chuck-e-Cheese, but without making any effort to make parents actually want to be there (by serving food or beer). If you are having a party you can bring your own, and the party room we had did have some chow from the hosts, Aimee and Seamus McNulty, and 3 year old birthday boy Liam.

The place was like walking into a toddler's dream. It was bright, and colorful, and loud and every square inch was packed with something to bounce on or play with. Dani spent some time in a cool car.

She adhered to her rule that cupcakes are best eaten by licking off all of the frosting. Dani's rule was slightly modified today, as she dipped popcorn in the frosting, and seemed to think that was a great nosh.
She was on the young side, so we stuck her in the 1-3 year old only farmland bouncer. For the first few minutes, she was the only kid in there, and just kind of walked around trying to figure it out. Then a more experienced kid came in and started leaping around, and that was all Dani needed to get rolling.
Tori was too little for much, but we bounced her on the wall of the toddler bounce house while Dani was playing. She was screeching and waving and saying hi to everyone and everything.
Dani insisted in going in the "Go Diego Go" bounce house. She was alone for about 5 seconds, and then an older toddler came in. Of course, they bumped heads in less than a minute, and two crying toddlers rolled out of the bouncer.
Undeterred, she continued to play and eat and have a blast!

Valentine's Day.

Mommy, we don't care if it is Valentine's Day and we are wearing matching t-shirts. We want to play. We will sit still for one picture, but we won't smile. So there! Okay, plaaaaaaaaaaaaaytime! Time for climbing on chairs! And spinning! And since we're not posing for you mommy, we will be sure to smile!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Need to custom print? BuildASign.com

Well, as you know it's a very rare day when I post about a product or a service that I've used or been asked to sample. And, it's only when I think stuff is particularly awesome.

The folks at http://www.buildasign.com/ contacted me and asked me whether I'd be interested in seeing what they had to offer. Since I do printing for political campaigns, the law firm and just silly personal stuff, I thought it was a great idea.

I decided to create two very different things, each featuring one of the kids. I'm only going to share one of them with you tonight.

These guys http://www.buildasign.com/ can print all kinds of stuff from banners to window clings to political signs--full color, and reasonably priced.

The best part is that you can design your own stuff right on the site and it's really easy.
Anyway, they even have different art, that you can modify to add text and pictures. So, for Dani's buildasign.com project, I chose Van Gogh's "The Scream."

As you can see, Dani is WAY cuter than the actual screaming guy. The print is 24" by 18" on artboard, which I will frame for Dani's room.

When I showed it to her tonight, she thought it was the coolest thing ever. And, it was easy--I was able to import a photo and crop it to size right on the screen and place it wherever I wanted. And the prices are super-reasonable. So, this cool pic is a keeper, thanks to the folks at http://www.buildasign.com/.

Stay tuned for Tori's project. It's for her birthday and it's awesome--even Big Man was impressed. We will definitely be back to buildasign.com for more cool projects soon!

Snow day!

Hurry up, mommy! You are too slow. We need to plaaaaaaaaaaay!!!

There are snow angels to make! And snow hills to slide down!
And snow to eat! Yay!

The snow is taller than me! I hope it stays like this forever!

Mommy's little helper.

Dani is very interested in helping mommy these days. Every time I start a task, I hear footsteps and a little voice saying, "Help mommy!" When I'm making dinner, we pull up the Costco stepstool and Dani "helps" me pour or mix or something (generally it just exponentially adds to the mess). When it's time to change Tori, she shrieks, "Go on Dani dock!" Dani dock is a Dani-invented phrase for the covered radiator next to the changing table that Dani insists on standing on to help me change Tori. Helping, on a good day can consist of Dani assisting me with the baby powder, and on a less good day, tickling Tori's feet or tummy while I'm changing her. Oh, did I mention that she is usually repeating, "big nasty poop" regardless of what's in Tori's diaper? Yep--no idea where that came from; I blame Big Man.

Tonight, the girls got to sit on the changing table and watch daddy snowblow. Dani wanted to "help daddy shovel".The cutest "help" she provides nightly is sneaking into the kitchen to feed the cats. I never see her do this, but usually once I've put her to bed, I find this in the service stairwell:

Apparently, my talented cats can open cans of food all by themselves. But that's Dani's way of helping, and I think it's adorable.

Oh yes, the other kiddo. She's fearless and trying like heck to walk!

We're supposed to get about 18" of snow tomorrow, so I hope to have some good snowy pics in the next day or two.

When the contractor's away...

Dani will play!

We finally had the ancient, original door and side lights replaced, well technically it's still a work in progress. Having a new door and more insulation makes a huge difference in warmth in our downstairs. And, with an ancient house like ours, every little bit helps--especially when we spend so much time on the floor.

Dani has been enjoying her "drumsticks" and has been banging out solos since the project started!

9 months???

Dear Tori,
You're 9 months old today! Where did the time go? I blinked and you went from a screamy little newborn to a fiercely independent baby trying to keep up with your big sister.

You've surpassed Dani in some milestones, and you're certainly bigger than she was at 9 months, my little hoss. 27.5 inches seems to be the 9 month norm for you girls, but you weighed in today at 20 pounds 1 ounce, while Dani was a wee little 17 pounds, 9 ounces at this age. Keep growing, and smiling and keeping me on my toes!


Daddy said you didn't even flinch when you got your shots at the doctor today. Way to go! We love you little Tori!