Days with the Dorans

Our Thanksgiving Day began at 2am when our first born, Pele', began to have seizures- and they didn't stop- so Jeff had to bring him (once again) to the animal hospital. It is very scary, and very sad and also the reason we haven't been able to spend holidays far from home. We are thankful that my parents live nearby and we were able to spend the day with them, my brother, his wife and daughter, and my dear Nan! My dad was very excited to have all his grandchildren together and gave them all matching Wolverine hats (much to the dismay of my Buckeye mom). As always it's a little tough to get Zach in a picture. But everyone had a great time! I brought two dishes, green bean casserole and sweet potato balls. The sweet potato balls are from a recipe my Nan always used and thankfully I remembered it and they turned out quite yummy! (There are no measurements in the recipe- a little of this- a little of that- so I felt like quite the cook!) The food was delicious an...

Sometimes pictures can tell a good story all on their own! (Videos don't hurt either...) And as a P.S., Sean Asher decided he could roll over today. It was his second day of having 'Tummy Time'' and I guess he decided he liked being on his back better. Thought it may be a fluke but he did do it five times. By the time I took this video I think he was tired of 'performing'.

Our babies are all bald for about two years... Ali Jane unfortunately has thin, fine straight hair (like her mother) and the boys have had beautiful curly hair (like their dad). All I can say to Ali Jane is, "I tried..." Jeff, my dad and my brother have been trying to get me to cut off Zach's curls for a while- I've been dreading it because the curls are so cute- especially when they are wet or it is humid. I've also been dreading it because Zach has officially hit the 'terrible two' stage. I took Zach to see my wonderful friend Diane. She is a miracle worker when it comes to Ali's and my hair and she was a miracle worker today. Zach wouldn't sit, so we started out with me holding Zach and when that didn't work anymore, she followed him around the salon, snipping away. I will miss the curls, but I still have a very handsome little man- who suddenly looks a lot older- (Maybe he'll forget he's a 'terrible two.')

My kids love books- in fact- Ali Jane is asking Santa for princess books (though the last thing this house needs is another book in it...) One of her favorite books is " Pinkalicious ." In the story, there is a little girl who makes pink cupcakes so my little girl and I often make " Pinkalicious " cupcakes. Her brothers showed up in time to lick the spoons, frost the cakes and of course eat them! I think that they were all thankful that one brother can't yet eat Pinkalicious Cupcakes which means more for them! No doubt Sean Asher was noticing all the excitement in the kitchen and maybe even his big sister's obsession with the color pink! They decorated the cupcakes with sprinkles and thankfully, daddy and his friend didn't eat all the cakes so they had some for dessert the next day too! The cupcakes are now all gone, but they are kids that love their sweets and are already asking about the next batch! For now we'll just read about the cupcakes......

Ali Jane and Zach have been hanging out togethera lot more now that Joey is in kindergarten. Here they are in one of their 'houses'. (Rarely are the cushions on our couches anymore.) Since hanging with his sister, Zach is beginning to test his boundaries- and while we have never spanked our children they have gotten their fair share of time-outs, and (if you've been reading for a while) one of my 'things' is that our car does not move if there is a whining or screaming child in it. (Usually Ali Jane- I'm putting a label on this blog in case you want to see her melt downs...) Well- today I broke my own rule. It started with Zach wanting to sit in Ali Jane's car seat on the way to preschool today. I told him "No." and put him in his seat and he screamed, and screamed and screamed. After five minutes with no let up, (look at the clock and see how long five minutes really is and imagine a screaming two year old the entire time) Ali Jane said, "...

I was in the market for a new camera. I love my Nikon C ool Pix , but I wanted something with a better zoom- (for when I am taking pictures of the kids and I'm far away... Christmas programs- etc) and I also wanted one with HD videos and stereo sound. Our cam cord er is on the outs and I wanted to have a camera where I had everything (stills and video) together to make it easier. I ended up getting a higher end point and shoot camera. After some research I chose the Canon Power Shot SX 20 is. I have had such fun playing with it. I love the macro feature, but again it is the zoom that is blowing my mind right now... Check out the video below and these two pictures will make a little more sense- this is another 'must have' in my mind! Sorry for how shaky I was at the end... I don't think I'll ever need to zoom quite that far for school/ church programs or sports... watch out neighbors... I could be watching! (tee hee hee )

It's hard to believe that Sean Asher is already one month old! We went to his doctor apt today and he is doing great! He weighs 7lbs 15 oz and is 20 1/2 inches long! He is much more alert than he was the first two weeks of his life and overall he is a great baby. I feel like he is going to have a similar personality to his brothers, but we shall see. Each month on my babies' birthdays, I would write in their baby books and take a video telling them what they are doing. It has been such fun to look back at our other children to see how they are similar and how they are different! This picture is from Jonasen's baby book. Here he is at one month old. He was a little bigger than Sean at one month. (He was 8lbs 3 oz) Joe was the easiest baby in the world and I often wondered why everyone said having a baby was so hard! Ali Jane reminds me most of Sean. She was more petite and remains the biggest peanut in the family. (which is o.k. I guess since she's the onl...

Sean got his first bottle today! Thankfully after nursing three kids for a year each- pumping comes pretty easy for me. (Though I am not a fan of it- and will not be missing it a year from now...) There are many reasons why I choose to give this liquid gold to my babe. #1. It's FREE! And I am as cheap as they come!!! #2. It's so healthy and I'm giving Sean my immunity- which will hopefully keep him healthy through this scary flu season. #3. I'm very lucky that it's easy for me. I've learned that it isn't for everyone so have really come to appreciate this lately. While in the hospital one of the nurses suggest I supplement with formula because of Sean's size. For some reason I almost had a fit- and had he not been the fourth baby I'd nursed, I may have given in and given him the supplement - but I'd gone down this road before- stuck to my guns and he's doing great and didn't have to have a supplement of formula!!! Ali Jane and Zach wer...