We wish you a Merry Christmas!

and a Happy New Year!

Look at me!

This little guy wants to move! He is just starting to "army crawl" but here you see him reach and lunge. It's quite a work out and believe me, he needs one! Lee is getting to be a big boy! 8 months old tomorrow :)

O Christmas Tree

Laney helped us pick a good one this year. Last year we cheated and had a small fake tree (one from my teaching days) because Laney was 1 1/2 and touching everything. We didn't think having a real tree would be worth the constant battle. This year at 2 1/2 she better understands the concept of "no, don't touch" and it's consequences. Lee is not quite on the move yet so we don't have to worry about that. There is just something special about having a real Christmas tree - maybe it's the tradition, maybe it's the smell...we are enjoying our Christmas tree :)

Happy Halloween & Happy Thanksgiving too!

Sorry it has been so long since I've made a post. The swim season is finally finished and I hope to have more time for the little things like keeping my blog updated!


Both kids were cows for Halloween - thanks to our cousins Mya & Owen for letting us borrow the cute costumes! :) We had fun showing them off to the grandparents and a few friends.


This week we celebrated Thanksgiving. We had a big feast at the Doll house, then we all took a big nap. We have so much to be thankful for!!!

6 months old!

It is incredible to think a half a year has past since Lee entered our lives! He is such a joy - just look at that smile :) Thanks for all the love and kindness you've shown to our little guy. He is a very special part of our family. We are so blessed to be a family of four!

Laughing Lee

Here is our little buddy - about 5 months old here - He is so much fun! He is laughing more and more at me, Dave, and especially Laney. His little laughs are the best sound in the world (in my opinion)! Enjoy!

Fun at the Fair

This year Laney enjoyed the fair much more than the year before...she was pretty scared last year and cried whenever we got close to the larger animals...this year she was very excited and wouldn't stop talking about them! Laney LOVES animals. We rewarded her with a sticky, sugary mess - aka push up at the end of the night. Baby Lee loved looking at everything and everyone - he crashed just before we got back to the car to head home. Next year will be even better - when both kids can REALLY enjoy the experience - we may even have to take them on some of the rides!!! :)

Baby Noises

2 Busy 2 Blog!

Sorry it has been so long since my last post! August was a crazy month. I started coaching the girls swim team, Dave finished up youth group and is getting ready to go back to school. Can't believe how fast the summer went. It always seems to fly, but this one went faster than most!!! Probably because we were traveling all over MI and have 2 kids! Anyway, here are some recent pics and I'll try to keep it more up to date for you all... (Especially you Tammi :)


Our little lady has really enjoyed spending time outdoors this summer. She has a blast catching bugs in her net - just yesterday I allowed her to torture/play with a grasshopper for half an hour. She loves bugs! She also loves to pick and smell flowers. Here is a sunflower from our garden. She is quick to point them out in other peoples gardens when we are driving around.



Here is our little cabbage patch...can't believe he turned 4 months old this month!!! He is such a good baby - he is very predictable and has fallen into a nice schedule. I love that he is sleeping through the night. His smiles and coos are the best. His recent accomplishment is rolling over - it's only happened a few times on his own, his big sister likes to help a little too much sometimes :)

Brown & White

Aren't these some of the cutest kids you've ever seen? The white ones are mine, the brown ones are Jen's :) I think our family needs to spend some more time in the sun! Hopefully we will be able to do that next week when we stay out at Sandy Pines! :)

We LOVE summer

We have been having a wonderful summer! Laney loves to play in the sandbox up at the cottage, or go fishing off the dock. She also has some new "boy" friends next door. They are so sweet to share their toys and swing set. Laney also loves her brother Lee. Lee is so responsive right now - smiles and coos all the time. He is trying very hard to roll over - but doesn't get much time to practice on the floor :(. Laney smothers him with hugs and kisses. It is so fun to see them interact with each other. It has been so great to have Dave around during these summer months too. Too bad they are going so fast!!!

The Greatest 4th in the North?

It's the time of year we make an annual trek up to Lake City for some quality Doll family time at the greatest 4th in the north. This year the weather was very wet and gray :( providing us with lots of quality Doll family time :)














It was so nice to pass Lee around(Auntie Dana latched on to him as much as she could - making up for lost time while she was in Africa!) and watch the aunts and cousins entertain Laney and take her to the playground when it wasn't raining(Aunt Betty's the coolest!). We ate a lot of good food (especially waffles) and had a fun time(Quiddler anyone?).














On the 4th we attended a parade for about 10 minutes, until Laney saw someone dressed in a teddy bear costume and freaked out! "I scared of the teddy bear" she told us :) Since she wouldn't stop crying we ended up walking back to the cottage to take a nap. We'll try again next year!?!

Catching Up

Lee was baptized on June 21, Father's Day and our 7 year wedding anniversary. It was a very special day!



Baby Lee is 2 months old here 12 lbs. 2 oz. He is growing so well! At his doctor's appointment he took his shots like a man :)













Our friend Stephanie came up from IL to visit us at the cottage the week after school got out. It was so fun to catch up! She spoiled our kids with cute clothes and bubbles!!!



Check out that double chin! Here is Lee about 1 month old sporting his first MSU outfit :) Daddy's favorite. Here is Dave relaxing with the kiddos. As you can see Laney loves her little brother. She has become MUCH more affectionate towards him lately. Guess she figured out we're going to keep him!

Lee 2 weeks - Laney 2 years

One Month Already???

Where does the time go? I can't believe Lee is one month old already! He continues to be a blessing to our family. He eats and sleeps really well. He's given us a few smiles and has only pee'd on himself once! It has been a joy having a boy!

I finally got around to making his birth announcement - thanks for your help Jen! And thanks to our pastor's wife for the photo shoot. They turned out really great, I'll post more pics soon!

Laney turns 2!

The Very Busy Weekend!

This past Thursday we had a combined birthday party for Mya (3) and Laney (2) with the Wolbert Family. It was crazy! The girls had a blast and wore us out!!! It was fun to see them having so much fun! I just love how close the cousins are in age and how much they enjoy each other!!!
Then Friday and Saturday, Dave went up north to take a grad class - so I slept over with the kiddos at my parents house and took in some of the tulip time festivities. Laney had a great time exploring the park, smelling the tulips and watching the dutch dancers. At one point she stepped into the street and almost joined them! Ahhh! We ended the night with a very yummy elephant ear!
Sunday was Mother's day and I enjoyed being pampered by my wonderful hubby who cooked, cleaned, and changed diapers all day long! :) It was very nice to have a break!
Monday was Laney's actual birthday - we slept in, watched a bunch of DVD's during the day, had her favorite meal for supper - mac & cheese and smoked sausage, and then celebrated with the Doll Family at night with cake and ice cream. It was another nice party. I still can't believe my baby girl is 2! She is such a blessing to our family! Love you Laney jo!

Lee's First Photo Shoot

Here is Lee, about a week old...He already loves the camera! He is such a good baby, I can't complain at all! We are so thankful for a healthy and happy baby boy!!! God is good!

It's a BOY!

Lee Alan Doll entered the world on Thursday, April 16 at 6:33 p.m. He weighed 6 lbs. 2 oz. and was 22 inches long. Praise God for a healthy baby boy! His name is special because it honors people we love - Lee is after my dad and sister, David Lee and Jennifer Lee, and Alan is after Dave's dad, Larry Alan. My labor and delivery went very quickly...we had wonderful doctors and nurses at the hospital and now are happy to be home! Big sister Laney is adjusting well, not too interested in baby Lee, which could be a good thing for now. Lee is sleeping a lot and eating well too. We are enjoying our time getting to know this little man! He is a gift!!! Can't wait for you all to meet him!

Mini Van Momma

Check out our new ride!!! It's very practical for a soon to be family of 4 :) I especially love the push button sliding doors - will make carting around 2 kids or getting groceries a little easier! Hopefully it will serve us well for many years.

By the way, I'm 38 weeks in the picture...could be any day...or another 2 weeks or so!

Spring Break 2009

Wow, this week is going fast! We've enjoyed having Daddy home, but boy have we been busy! First, we took Laney to her first movie in the theater - Madagascar 2 - she did great! She laughed a few times and sat fairly still. Her favorite part was probably all the popcorn we let her eat! :) Then we played in the mall and she was finally brave enough to go down the slide - backwards! :) Yay! After that we worked on selling our Grand Am, it sold in about 1 1/2 days! FAST! Then we were on the hunt for a mini van!!! We looked all over Grand Rapids, Holland, Zeeland, and finally fell in love with a 01 Town and Country LXi. It's a little wierd to accept the fact that we are to this stage in life, but we're finding out that it's a great place to be and for a mini van we think it's pretty cool. :) Now, we have the Tahoe for sale...check it out on Craigslist if you know anyone who's interested. Tonight we took Laney for her 2 year pictures, they wen't so well, I am so happy and can't wait to get them back! Then we planned to take her to the GR Children's Museum but the line was about 60 people out the door! We passed it by and went to Millenium Park instead. It was awesome, we had the whole playground to ourselves! We'll do the GR Children's Museum another time...Tomorrow is another doctor's appointment for me - and hopefully a relaxing weekend before it's back to the real world...

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