Days with the Dorans

Perhaps I have a different perspective on childbirth and the actual miracle it is. Each night I pray for unborn children, and now tonight I pray for one who arrived very safely- to a mom who did an amazing job- and to a dad who happens to be my little brother! Sweet little Madeline, who couldn't be cuter! When I look at her dad, his love for her is contagious. I remember looking in Jeff's eyes and feeling the same thing. Pure amazement! Something about Daddies and their daughters. I loved when Danny told me the story of his little angel entering this world, what he was feeling, what he was thinking. And I am in awe. My little brother, an amazing man. A man. All grown up. A new life in his hands. A life I know he would do anything for. A life that in a moment changed him- Forever- For the better- For Always! So welcome sweet Maddy! Meeting you has been life changing- and I thank you for making my brother's heart grow even bigger- growing no doubt for his amazing wife, and ...

Ali Jane with Uncle Dan Ali has been a real trooper about wearing her eye patch each night and will come to me with them and remind me that she needs to wear them. Even Zach will sometimes get one (she keeps them near her bed) and bring one to her. The eyepatch seems to be working! I thought for sure that when we went to her last eye apt. they would tell me that her eyes had gotten worse. The way she was answering some of the questions I couldn't imagine that they had gotten better... BUT THEY HAD! Her eyesight went from 20/40 to 20/30! Yee haw! And so Ali Jane picked up some more pretty eyepatches and continues to wear them like a champ! Hopefully at the next "Ali's Eyes" blog- we'll be at 20/20- Here's to hopin'! Ali Jane with her fairy Godmother- Auntie Jodi

I still can't believe that our baby will go to kindergarten in the fall! I had hoped that I would be able to take him to my school (to make my mornings easier) but 'twas not to be. I am actually very happy now that he will be attending our neighborhood school. He was so excited about kindergarten round up. The highlight was certainly riding the bus (as you can see from the picture below) and he was very excited to meet Uncle Dan's old Kindergarten teacher. (Yes, she is STILL teaching- God Bless Her!) I can't imagine teaching that long- I'll have enjoyed many a round of golf by then... during the school day... far away from the politics of education! (Sure-I'll miss the kids for sure!- but golf is good!)

I was surprised at how well Zach did at his party. He pretty much opened all of the presents by himself. (Despite his sister's best efforts to help him...) He also did a great job blowing out his birthday candle. (Which was a little easier since Joey promised NOT to blow out his sibling's candle this time.) We had been practicing and he can say that he's "two" when you ask him but he was pretty quiet at his party. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a blast playing outside. Zach was surrounded by people who love him and he had a great day! (In this picture he's hangin ' with his God-Father "Uncle" Ron.)

Jonasen promised me that this time he wouldn't blow out the candles on Zach's cake like he did his sister's. (See Ali Jane's birthday video...) He did a great job and followed through on his promise and Zach did a great job blowing out his candle. We just forgot one thing... We didn't sing in Polish... Whooops!

I had written that there would be the occasional "Pause" blog on my "Days" blog when it happened. When moments in my life stopped me- and made me pause. That happened today. After school, I had to go back to the car dealer to get my plates transferred. I took the bigs with me because I decided to go right after work (and picking them up from school). As we were waiting for my receipt the salesman said, I thought that you had three kids. (Zach was at home with Jeff.) I was about to explain when Joe said, "We have three kids and a couple in heaven. Andrew is in heaven and so is Baby E." I felt my mouth drop. Jonasen and Ali Jane are very shy with people that they don't know and rarely speak to strangers- especially when not being spoken to. When I heard Jonasen mention his brother- it caught me off guard. I was o.k. with saying that I had three kids at home- but this time Joey wasn't. He wanted to tell our full story, and I think that that is o.k. t...

Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Aleluia!

The bigs LOVE coloring Easter Eggs! Their eggs love it too as you can see from their fun conversations! Zach on the other hand isn't too sure about drowning his little eggs in something called 'dye'- something about it just isn't right...

I am not a car person and never have been. I am not impressed with cars and I do not know the names of different models. A car for me is something to get me from point A to point B safely. Bonus if it isn't a huge gas guzzler. I've always been one to pay for my cars and drive them into the ground. My cars have been held together with duct tape but they've always gotten me safely where I need to go. Last Thursday, while taking the kids to school, Jeff called to say that the minivan was overheating and that he'd have to take it into the shop. We bought our minivan when I was pregnant with the boys because it was big, would get us from point A to point B and had automatic doors (which seemed a necessity to a mom who envisioned two car seats in her arms.) When we heard from our mechanic, we found it was overheating because the engine was shot- we needed a new one and it was suggested that it would make more sense to buy a new vehicle than to fix this one. So I was...