Days with the Dorans

It's so nice to go to the mailbox and see a personal letter instead of just getting notes from friends via email- I was really good about sending cards for a while, but lately haven't been so good. The kids were THRILLED when they got a letter in the mail, but this letter was a little different because when they opened it up there were a lot of little puzzle pieces... It took a little while but both Joe and Ali Jane got quite a few puzzle pieces together with few tears... until, we had to put the pieces that they were each working on together to make one big puzzle. The puzzle was of this cool tiger cat that you can find in Arizona where our Great Aunt Barb & Uncle Gary live! When we turned the puzzle over, she had written the kids a cute note and they were excited to hear about how snow is only in the mountains in Arizona which seems hard to believe since we have snow all around us here in Michigan! The puzzle is still getting much use of putting it together and taking ...

At Zach's 9 month apt. the Dr. did all the regular things, like taking measurements and things and I was shocked to learn that my little chubby baby was only in the 5th percentile for weight, the 25th for height and the 50th for his head circumference. Because of this, the Dr. told me that we should go to Beaumont and have an ultrasound of his head to check for fluid on his brain. Needless to say this was a little scary, and while my heart told me that he was fine, and my head told me that he was fine (I looked up Joe's stats which were the same), something in the back of my mind said, "What if..." Like that Shel Silverstein poem. Well, I got Zach on the prayer list at church and school and people came out of the woodwork with not just prayers, but encouraging words of their own stories.... long story shorter- God answered this prayer and Zach just has a big head (like his mother) - but it taught me that sometimes, the power of prayer is just to know that others care...

Once again, Mommy didn't have her camera- but this time it was because she left it at Nana's. Last night Mommy was feeding Zachy while Daddy was at the store and Joey and Ali Jane were getting ready for bed "All by themselves" to help Mommy. When Ali Jane came in to say, "I got your toothbrush Joe." Mommy noticed that the toothbrush had A LOOOOOT of blue toothpaste on it. Mommy was so proud that Ali Jane got the toothpaste all by herself, but asked her to wait and put the brushes by the sink until she was done feeding Zach. As Ali Jane turned to leave the room, Mom noticed the blue toothpaste mark all down Ali Janes hair.... and later found in the sink... on her clothes... in the carpeting... But how can you be mad with such a good little helper. If only we had the camera! (use your imagination and x10!)

Could this be what Zach was busy doing while Mommy, Joe and Al were outside enjoying the snow? Looks like he's found a new friend in Lisa.... Ali Jane was furious when she saw Zach with her Dolly in these pictures. He does have some smooth moves eh?

Well there was a rumor that we were going to get a lot of snow and on New Year's day, we said prayers and asked God to give Mommy a snow day... Can you believe that they wanted them to go back on the 2nd??? Well, though it wasn't the most important prayer- God said YES and we got hit in our area with 12 inches, so school was closed- and we had a blast! Jonasen lost his boot in the snow which came up to his knee and mom had to help him. They had fun making snow angels in the snow but it was too dry for our original plan... SNOWMAN! When we couldn't make snowballs, we decided to go to the backyard and play on the 'snow slide' and swing. Joe had fun dumping snow on his sister! Unfortunately Zach was too little to come out in the snow so Daddy stayed in with him. Joe had so much fun that he didn't want to go inside. Like her big brother, Ali Jane followed suit and screamed when it was time to go inside. Even the lure of hot chocolate didn't ease the pain of mo...

Introducing Ali Jane's new friend, Ruby who was born on her birthday, 2007! She joins the other new additions from Christmas: Princess, Lisa & Emma. For Ali Jane's birthday, her God-Parents, Auntie Jodi and Uncle Eric took her to Build-a-Bear. Auntie Jodi thought that mom should come along too because you never know which "Ali Jane" you will get. Al was a little overwhelmed with all of the things at the store, but after looking at two dogs, Ali Jane settled on making herself a pink bear She stuffed the bear, gave it a heart and then combed and washed her. Her Godparents let Ali Jane pick out a special outfit for her bear, and of course she went for the 'girly' outfit with the ruby red slippers. When choosing a name for her new bear, Auntie Jodi suggested "Ruby" and it stuck. Ruby got a birth-certificate and everything and we think it is special that they share the same birthday. It was an exhausting day though...

It is hard to believe that Ali Jane is really only three. Although she is only a whopping 23 lbs, she is so 'grown up!' Some of the things that come out of her mouth, you would think that she was a 17 year old! The word "Actually" preceeds almost all of her thoughts now, and it is hard not to smile. We had a small family party for her on the 29th, only many of the 'family' part couldn't make it because they were sick. Grandma was Up-North, but she sent A.J. some dress up clothes complete with her favorite... MAKE-UP! Mom actually spent the hour and a half before the party started at the Dr. with Zach who had an ear infection and double eye infection. This is new to Mom and Dad because Jonasen and Ali Jane were never sick! Must be all the germs the big kids are bringing home to their brother. So the cousins couldn't make it, but the 'almost'cousins (Harts) did. Ali Jane enjoyed telling Griffin, Gavin and Joey that the toys they were touch...