Tori's Blessing Day

A baby comes,

a household hums,

love welcomes

sweet perfection.

A prayer ascends,
the Lord extends
His blessings
and protection.

Yesterday we blessed Tori and spent a wonderful day with our family. Tori looked so pretty in her blessing dress. I bought this dress only a few weeks after I found out we were having a girl. I was shopping with my mom and sister when we found it and I just loved it. It has been hanging in her closet waiting for her for months. I think it was a perfect fit.

A few weeks ago I ran all over town looking for a pair of frilly socks so I had to include a picture that showed her feet. (Sorry she looks kinda angry in this one)

Happy family. Man, I love these two kids! And my hubby!

This picture is one of my favorites. Tori surrounded by a just a few of her cousins. Look at these adorable future mothers! They just had to be around the baby, stroking her cheeks, playing with her hands, telling her how pretty she was. They were so cute!

What a cute, little face! (Couldn't you just squeeze those cheeks?!) Of course I couldn't get her to smile like this while she was in her blessing clothes, but I'll take this one anyway. Thank you to all of our awesome family that celebrated this special day with us. We love you!!

Easter Fun

Happy Easter! (A few days late) We celebrated this weekend with the traditional coloring and hunting of the eggs, and, of course, getting all dressed up in our Easter best to attend church. (First time back since the baby was born. Missed most of Sacrament meeting due to an urgent feeding, followed by blow-out cleanup)

While we were coloring eggs I tried to explain to Tate the real meaning behind Easter. It's kind of a difficult concept for a two-year old to grasp and I think he is now just extremely confused. Something happened to Jesus because he loves me, there's hard-boiled eggs that we dip in colored water, some sort of scarey, ginormous bunny breaks into my house to hide plastic eggs, and, the saving grace of the whole holiday, the plastic eggs contain candy.

Chubby Bubby

Tori is now 3 weeks old. She had her two week check up last week which confirmed my suspicion that this girl knows how to pack on the pounds. She was up to 8 lb 15.5 oz, which puts her in the 70th percentile. She was also 20 3/4 inches long, which is the 65th percentile. So our girl is definitely getting chubby. I love it!

Tate, Tori, and Daddy, just hanging out.

So serious. Tori is starting to smile a little bit, but they are so few and far between that I haven't caught one on camera.

This is how Tate spent conference weekend. Watching movies while we all watched the prophet.

This picture was taken just this morning. I got up the nerve and took both kids grocery shopping with me! It was a daring adventure that actually turned out quite well. I got every item on my list, Tori slept quietly in the frontpack, and Tate downed lots of snacks while "driving" in the front of one of those carts that looks like a truck. While I unloaded all of the groceries from the car, Tori was laying on the floor and was starting to get a little fussy. I finished unloading, and then headed upstairs to get her and I found Tate laying by her, blanket thrown across both them, saying "It's okay Tori, it's okay." So cute :)

Cute Pics

Tori is now ten days old!! Time flies by way too quickly. She's practically a toddler. Okay, maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but why do kids have to grow up so fast??

One of the most fun parts about baby number two is seeing how baby number one interacts with her. Tate is so cute with her most of the time (he has his moments). He likes to help burp her, give her a binky (even if she doesn't want it), and get in on all the pictures mom is taking.

Oh. The other most fun part about baby number two is that she is a little girl with lots of cute little clothes and bows. Sooo much fun to dress her every day.

I particularly love this outfit. Too bad we're cooped up in the house during a blizzard so nobody gets to see her in it. Thank goodness for the magic of blogs.

Love this little face!

Tate also shares his blankey with Tori every once in a while. Which shows me that he really must love her. Usually he piles it right on her face, but mom prefers the sharing that's going on in this picture.

Punctuality

We try to instill good values and positive attributes in our children. But there is one trait that both of our babies came into this world already possessing: puncutality. Our little girl was born Friday, March 13, 2009 at 7:08 pm. Right on her due date just like her big brother. Her arrival was fast and furious, but also wonderful and amazing. (Call me if you want the details) She weighed 7 lb 10 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. She is beautiful, if I do say so myself, and, as of a few hours before we left the hospital, she officially has a name: Tori Kathleen Handley. Here are some photos of her first few days.

Mom and Tori not too long after delivery. What an incredible feeling to finally have our little girl here.

Dad, Mom, and Tori.

Tori and big brother, Tate. I love the look on his face! I don't think he felt as excited as he looks because it was way past his bed time. But he really is such a sweet older brother. (As I was posting this he saw her picture and said, "Ooooh. There's my baby!"

Aunt Andrea and Tori. I have a feeling this girl will learn a lot of girly tricks from her Aunt.

Tori Kathleen Handley. What a sweetheart!

Full body view. We love this baby girl!!

"Precious one, so small, so sweet,

Dancing in on angel feet,

Straight from heaven's brightest star,

What a miracle you are!

Little sunbeam, come to earth,

How heaven smiled to bless your birth,

And how the morning shines like new,

To see a lovely child like you."

My Crazy Kid

I've been thinking a lot lately about how fast Tate went from being my little baby to being a self-sufficient, independent, grown up boy. Well, maybe not completely self-sufficient. But he thinks he is. Anyway. It makes me sad to think how fast he's grown up, but at the same time, it has been so fun to watch him learn and grow and get so excited about doing new things. He brings so much joy and happiness to our family and I love him so much. It's so funny how the same little person that makes your life so meaningful and happy can cause you so much frustration, anxiety, worry, and loss of sleep. I can't imagine what our lives will be like when this little baby girl gets here to add to the fun.

So because I've been thinking so much about Tate, I thought I'd share a few of the funny things he has said to me lately. He makes me laugh everyday.

- I needed to wake him up to get him ready for daycare the other morning and as I gently rubbed his back , attempting to wake him from his slumber, I said, "Tater. Do you want to come see mommy?" He lazily rolled over, looked up at me with his still sleepy eyes, and said, with disappointment in his voice, "I wanta see Grandpa."

- He has been very disinterested in potty training for the past few months and thinks his potty is merely a step stool, intended only for helping him gain access to things out of his reach. I jokingly said to him the other day, "Tate, do you think if we tried really hard we could be potty trained before Baby Boo gets here?" He excitedly said, "Yes!" Then he ran to his toy box and started digging through all of the toys, yelling, "Mommy! Where is my potty train? Where is the train, mommy?"

- Tate understands that Boo is in mommy's tummy even though I don't think he really grasps the concept that a baby is going to be joining our family soon. But he will pat my belly and give it kisses. One day, he insisted on pushing my shirt up to see my bare belly and he said, "Mommy, I wanta see Boo." I told him she wasn't finished growing yet so he would have to wait. He then pointed to my tummy and said, "Mommy, open it." After I had a good laugh, I told him that we would get to see Boo in March. Now, whenever he's asked, he'll say, "We open Boo in March."

Sooooo Excited!

My mom is so awesome. She always takes such good care of us. She's especially good at making sure we're well fed. Tate and I spent a few days up at her house this weekend and we came home with a box of food storage, several pounds of beef, Sunday dinner, and bean dip and chips to snack on during the Superbowl. She thinks of everything. Not only that, but she makes sure my kids are always warm and cozy by making them cute blankets and quilts. Those are what I'm particularly excited about right now. I picked out the material for a bedspread for Tate's new big boy bed a little while ago, and my mom whipped up the cutest little quilt, and a valance for his window. I LOVE IT!! They brighten up his room so much and are so adorable. She also made a cute little quilt for the baby, as well as several flannel blankets. I love them all and can't wait for this little girl to get here so I can wrap her up in these adorable little blankets.

Tate's quilt and valance. You really need to see it along with the rest of his room to fully appreciate it. It goes so cute with his dresser and laundry hamper.

A closer look. You can't really see all the cute designs in the fabric from this picture, but trust me, they're cute.

The baby's quilt. I love this! My mom used such cute fabrics and put a cute, girly ruffle on it.

Flannel blankets. So warm and soft. These were, and still are, Tate's favorite kind of blanket. Hopefully Boo appreciates them just as much.

A little better look at both sides of the blankets.

This is one corner of Boo's room. I'm going with a teddy bear theme, as you might have noticed. I won't show you the other corners, as they're kind of crowded with a high chair, car seat, swing, bouncer, and disassembled crib.

Belly shot. Okay, I felt guilty because I have so many pictures of myself when I was pregnant with Tate, but none of this pregnancy, so I decided to post one. Yes, that's my big, nearly eight month pregnant belly. I'm so excited for this little girl to be here!!!