The other day Luke was able to roll over using my legs to push against. But today, he suddenly got it. I didn't get the first one on video, but I got the second. As Laurel would say "woo hoo hoo, hot chocolate!"
Look at that boy roll, it's like he never couldn't. He evens gives this "too easy" look at the end of it!

This has been Jon's birthday weekend.  Grandma and Grandpa came down from Dunkirk to surprise him and Laurel.  She and Luke have been having a blast with them.  Here's a picture from Sunday, Daddy and Grandpa were fishing and managed to catch fish at the same time.  

On Saturday Daddy and Grandpa put up our new fence (in the back).  I honestly didn't think that would ever happen, but it's up and it looks great.  

Luke is almost 4 months old now. Time seems to be going by so much quicker than I remember with Laurel. It's a little bit scary actually. It makes me realize that in no time they'll be in school, then teenagers, then all grown up. But I suppose that fact makes the little things that much more precious. (Like video taping Luke sucking his thumb for the first time, or Laurel singing her ABCs) Life has just been really good lately all around. Laurel has really made this jump into a big sister. It used to be we had to worry a little when taking her into stores, or out to eat. That's not the case anymore. Suddenly she's old enough to behave AND even try and calm Luke. And Luke (when he's not hungry) is just a really easy baby. He smiles at anyone who talks to him. It's just been one of those weeks when you can't seem to say enough nice things about your kids.

Today Luke woke up from his nap crying. As soon as I picked him up though, he started cracking up. Everything I did he'd laugh. (Bear in mind that his laugh doesn't sound much different than the poop-grunt, but a mommy knows the difference!)
I've been trying SO hard to get some video of Luke laughing or smiling. He is quite possibly the smiliest kid around, but when the camera comes out Laurel is right in there, and it distracts Lukers from smiling. She's doing a great job with him though. Always right there to try and help calm him down, or play with him. Of course, sometimes it's that toddler-kind-of-help that does more harm than good. (But her heart's in the right place and that's all that matters.)

Spring has been a blur.  One day it's beautiful and you can't even remember what the cold weather felt like, then the next day it's cold again and it feels like the warm weather is gone forever.  Sun or cold or rain has not stopped Jon and I from running though.  We're in week three of our couch-to-5k program.  Our first 5k is scheduled for May.  The kids have been great, they both sit in the double stroller and enjoy the time outside.  Laurel especially likes finding the landmarks as we go.  Our neighborhood lawn ornaments are a treat for her to find.  There's the family of plastic deer, the cement duck and the ceramic owl to name a few.  

Last night we took them out, but it was a little too cold.  By the time we got back both kids had blankets over their heads to keep the wind and drizzle off of them.  This was a video we took after we got back from our run and were cuddling on the couch.  (Ok...so it's really a walk/run...and it's mostly walking.  But we're getting there!)

This weekend was Easter. We really had a great time. Corey, Rob, Josh and Gabe got to come down for the weekend. Plus the weather was really nice, so we all spent a lot of time outdoors. The kids played and played. They played on the playground, they skated, they fished, they kayaked. There was a brief moment of non-fun when Josh took an accidental dive into the lake Saturday night...but he recovered very well. He also got two fish, plus Jon and Abby each caught one...not too shabby. Fun was had by all. I'm posting pictures and video of the weekend. Including some lovely video of an egg-war that involved our not-so-cooked hard boiled eggs.

Yesterday we went to Abigail's birthday party. It was a skating party. When we first got there Laurel didn't really want to do anything. But after she got some pizza in her she decided it was time to try skating. We thought she'd be really cautious about it, so we let her try out skating on the carpet. (We never thought she'd get out on the floor) Instead she took daddy by the hand and lead him out there. She had a blast. Here's some video of her after one of her many "falls." (She'd fall on purpose...but they were planned gentle falls. She made daddy lower her to the floor while she pretended to be falling)
The funniest part of the party was after the cake had been eaten in the party room and all the kids had gone back to skating. I stayed behind with Luke to feed him. All of the sudden this little boy, about 3, came up and sat at the table and started eating the leftover cake and pizza and drinking the leftover drinks. He then went from chair to chair drinking and eating what the kids had left. Of course there were no parents in sight. Nice, huh?

Finally a new post. Sorry guys, it's rough over here. I've been sick twice in two weeks, Laurel has been sick twice in the same two week period...we're just pitiful. I'm slowly making my way out into the world with two kids in tow. It's hard, but frankly it's harder because I'm nursing. If I wasn't I could just feed him a bottle wherever I went. Not that I would choose not to nurse because of that, it's just a lot less convenient...especially with a toddler. I'm glad I am nursing, otherwise I'm pretty sure Luke would have been sick these last two weeks as well. Anyway, enough about me...more about kids. Laurel is still doing well with her new baby brother (with the exception of the occassional slap on the head disguised as a loving pat). Life is good. Maternity leave is ending soon, the two week countdown has begun...then Jon gets to test his skills with two at one time. We'll see how that goes!

Baby Luke is two weeks old now. Things are going pretty well. Laurel has had her ups and downs, mostly at bedtime. She's decided she doesn't like sleeping in her bed anymore. (She wants to sleep in mine) Likewise, Luke doesn't really like to sleep in his bed. He prefers to be in my arms. So consequently Mom hasn't gotten much sleep lately. But we're working on it.

It's been a busy week for me since Jon has been gone, so if I haven't posted or responded to any emails, I'm sorry. One day I'll get the hang of it all. For now I'm just happy if I have groceries and both kids are bathed.

Here's some pictures of both of them from over the last few weeks.

So it snowed here on Wednesday, can you believe it? It was really pretty. It was gone by the next morning, but when it was coming down it looked like a real snow storm. When Laurel woke up from her nap we went outside to play for a few minutes. The first trip outside (picture) she was a little dumbfounded and didn't really know what to do. On the second trip outside she and Daddy threw snowballs until her hands got too cold and then we came in for hot chocolate.

On a different note, today is Erik's 19th birthday! Happy Birthday Schmunkle! It took a couple of takes but I finally got Laurel to say it.

We're home. Ok, so we've been home since Friday, but give me a break I just had a baby! This is my first morning alone with the baby...so we're being lazy. We're hanging out, playing, and now that he's resting I thought I'd post some pictures. The labor and delivery went smoothly and we were released from the hospital the next day. Luke Michael Dorman was born at 3:32AM on January10th. He was 7lbs 8oz and 19 inches long.

Laurel seems to be adjusting well. She asked to hold him yesterday, and today before she left for church she came back on her own accord to give him a kiss good bye. So far so good! (Laurel doesn't use a pacifier...she just liked the one they gave Luke in the hospital. She said is smelled like cake, and sure enough it was vanilla flavored.)

It seems like today or tomorrow will be the day that Luke arrives. I've spent the day (along with some helpers) cleaning, decorating, etc. Now that the baby's room is complete I've attached some video of it. It took some effort, but it came together nicely in the end. If we have wi-fi in the hospital...and I have some energy...we'll post baby pictures soon.

Happy New Year everyone! The holidays are over for us. Christmas is packed away in the attic already. Now we're focusing any extra energy on getting ready for the new baby. We've split up the tasks. I spent yesterday priming the bookcase to paint, my mom was sewing his baby quilt and Jon and my dad were installing their gas logs. (Ok so that isn't a baby thing, but I didn't want it to look like Jon wasn't participating!) It was actually a productive New Years day for all of us. (Except Laurel who is skating with her Aunt in the video here) It was however unbelievably cold. We did a very small handful of fireworks in the evening, all of us totally wrapped in blankets.



Once the baby's room is done we will post some pictures. (Or at least mostly done. I'm not sure everything I planned will get done before he comes) The current wager between Jon and myself is the 4rth/7th which are both rapdily approaching. Feel free to place your bets.

Yesterday we finally stopped to see if they had the big-girl bed we wanted from the store. (Mind you we've been meaning to do this now for several months...so this is amazing progress for us) And AMAZINGLY, they did have it. So we brought it home and I put it together with a little "help" from Laurel. As soon as the mattress went on it she jumped and played and pretended to sleep. So we went ahead and moved it into her room and gave her the choice as to which bed she wanted to sleep in. She chose the big girl bed, so we moved over the puppies, the blankets and the aquarium music maker. (All essential parts of Laurel's bed time ritual) We read our books like normal, but when it was time to actually go to sleep she started crying and begged me to read more, which of course I did. (Sucker, I know) Then after I read those she started crying and climbed out of bed. What do you do then? So we struck a deal and I lay on the floor next to her until she fell asleep and then quietly snuck out. Neither Jon or I slept the rest of the night. We listened to every creak of the new bed, every shuffle of the new mattress. She did fine and slept the whole night through. Jon and I on the other hand are very tired. It doesn't seem like Laurel's transition to the big-girl bed will take long, hopefully ours won't either!

It's Christmas day. After a long (but fun) night last night, Jon woke up early to go to work. I managed to get about 30 minutes sleep after he left, but then got up and went to my parents to open gifts. The kids were waiting on us to open gifts, so we were trying to get there early-ish. After a couple of false starts (losing the keys then realizing that they were locked IN the car, and then having to take the unheated truck instead) we headed out. This picture of the unhappy child is right after I woke her up and put her in the cold car. She actually was in a good mood despite her look in the picture. The rest are pictures of Christmas morning. Merry Christmas everyone!!

It's Christmas Eve, but for us it's Christmas Day. Since Jon has to work tomorrow we have to do everything today so that everyone can be together. We went to church, had dinner and opened gifts. We had a lot of fun, despite having to shop at three different grocery stores on Christmas Eve. (which was insane!) Anyway, we wanted to post some pictures and video over the next few days so that everyone could see Laurel's third Christmas. (It was definitly the best.)

By the way, all pictures and video were taken with my new snazzy camera that Jon bought me for Christmas. Woo hoo! I dressed Laurel up with the intention of taking a nice Christmas picture, but all she would give me were fake smiles and goofy faces. But this is definitly my kid, what can I say?

I love love love the ability to put video on here! I've been watching the last clip a couple of times a day myself when I'm at work because it makes me feel like I'm with her. It was a bit of a surprise to find out that there was sound though. After I uploaded it I played it back and I could hear noise coming from the computer. I picked up the headset and WHOA, there was my voice. (It is torture to listen to your own voice) BUT, at the same time I can't wait to start catching the little things Laurel says on video clips that I can watch from work. The potential for cuteness is staggering. (Like the "stink so bad" and the "I think so" that grandma and grandpa taught her)





Speaking of cuteness...Halloween was on Wednesday and Laurel was a kangaroo. She was excited to trick-or-treat, but mom or dad had to carry her to every door and hold her during the process. She's not big on strangers. But she got some good candy. It was hard to get a good picture that night because of the action, and the darkness. So this was actually taken a few days later. We decided to re-enact the trick-or-treating process. The funny thing is, we could only get her to do it from the inside of the house....like reverse trick-or-treating.