The End

Thanks for following our stories at the Doll House for the past 3 years. I have decided that this will be my final post. I just do not have the time to keep up with it. Here is a beautiful smile of my baby boy on his 1st birthday :) The other is Laney's 3 year picture. If you'd like to see more of the kids or catch up on our life, give us a call and come over for a visit. We hope you'll keep in touch!

Spring Break Part 2

We had a wonderful week in Florida with Nana and Papa at Orange Lake in Kissimmee. The weather was perfect and we swam in the pools twice a day! It was great to see Laney become more comfortable in the water as the week went on. By the last day she was jumping in to me and swimming back to the wall without help. Lee also amazed me when he wanted to put his face in the water time after time. We love the water!!!
Nana and Papa were a huge help and took turns watching the kids in and out of the water allowing us to relax and even go on a date! We ate at Maggiano's and then went shopping. Some of the other highlights include mini golf, outlet shopping, enjoying fireworks and the discovery launch from our balcony, downtown disney, the lazy river and water slide, and an Easter egg hunt when we arrived. It was an awesome vacation. Thanks for all the memories!

Spring Break Part 1

The first part of our spring break was spent in Asheville, NC with Aunt Betty. The trip went very well except for the fact that Laney got a little car sick around midnight and we ended up staying a night in Kentucky. Friday we arrived at Aunt Betty's just in time for a wonderful lunch outside on her deck. We took it easy for a little while and later went downtown to check out the city. We saw lots of cool shops and restaurants as well as a drum circle. It was a lot of fun! On Saturday we ventured out to the wildlife nature center. It was like a mini zoo. Laney was in her glory! It was such a beautiful day to walk around together. Saturday night we just hung out, played wii fit, watched a little of the MSU game :( , grilled shrimp and started to repack. It was a lovely time!!! Thanks for letting us stay with you Aunt Betty you really are the coolest!

Bananas!

Lee's favorite food is bananas.....here is an extreme close up of his first two teeth! He has a third on the top and another one not far behind!




If you are a fellow fan of Gwen Stefani, you may recognize the next clip...hey, it's educational :) B is bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s!

what's new?

It's been a while since my last post - we've been very busy! This winter I've enjoyed taking a yoga class that meets once a week. The peace and quiet is wonderful! Dave is coaching wrestling and I am coaching volleyball - it's so fun to work with kids outside of the classroom. My team is doing well and I love to see the girls improve each game. Dave is also meeting with a team of teachers about their upcoming trip to Kenya this June! Enough about us...I know you REALLY want to hear about the kiddos!

As I attempt to write this post, Lee is constantly trying to crawl under the computer desk and get at the cords. He is crawling now, climbing stairs and has 3 teeth just poking through, and is getting more vocal. He says, da-da, ma-ma, naynee (laney), bye, and na na na na (no, no) and shakes his head at the same time (my favorite!) He loves to eat waffles and bananas but hates having his face wiped clean. He's a happy camper most of the time!

Laney is still working on potty training, depends on the day...she loves to play with the ladybugs we find in our house. She loves playdates, going for walks and painting with water. She still loves watching movies and now enjoys playing games on the computer too. It's amazing how quickly she learned to use a mouse and get around on a website - incredible! She'll want a laptop for her 5th birthday!!!

Sorry life has been so busy - I'll try to update again soon!

Little Man

Recently Lee has enjoyed standing up by the couch. I think he looks like such a big boy when he is standing up sort of on his own :) He has also discovered the stairs and will army crawl over and get up on the first step and then flash us a big smile! I can hardly believe he's our 9 month old little man!

Lee's first word...

I have to admit, Lee's first word was da-da. He is such a stinker! But he has quickly learned ma-ma even though I can't prove it in this video. Sometimes we think we hear him say Laney too, but it could just be our imaginations...it's cool to hear him babble to himself when Laney is not around. When she is around all he does is watch her and listen to her. It's been so fun to see brother and sister interacting with each other. We are so blessed!

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!