Thursday, August 8, 2013

catch up on the blog is an understatement

so much going on. seems like the story of most lately. trying to slow down and see the 'glass half full' stuff. hard when you are in the grind of life. 

remodeling our basement

which means erik has a 2nd job managing house project, and i leave the house because of the noise with 4 children...in limbo

amelia is almost 1

she sleeps in a pack and play in our room still

ella is at a hard age, 3 in november

super sassy and driven

should probably put her in a real bed and get her out of the crib

homeownership...our ceiling is falling down

bikes stolen from our garage 3 different times within 3ish months

erik is hard at work

ayden cuts hair apparently

lots of vacations, which is good, but work with our big family. it can only get easier.

boys seem to be craving attention this summer

i want to give it to them, but there are demands of little baby girl

it's messy, but there are ways i can deal with it if i am intentional.

i can soak in the baby sleeping in my room since she is our last. sniff and smell her.  i can appreciate it when my big boy elijah still wants to sit on my lap and give me hugs.  i can focus on what a wonderful provider my husband is and find ways to help and serve him. i can let housework go just a little so that i can be with my boys during the days they are home in the summer before they leave for school and sports and life. i can be excited and grateful that we even have the ability to remodel our basement. i can try to hone ella's drive and watch her move mountains. i can appreciate that ayden actually gave ella a great, stylish haircut. :)

praying that i can look for my glass half full and maybe even a super full glass.  ;)

it is definitely a discipline and one that i want to work on.

glimpses into our summer:



we lost luggage out of our cartop carrier and circled around for an hour and a half and found our stuff.  whew!

enjoying grandpa and grandmas beach house just the 6 of us








ayden and his carefree heart.  in his own world a lot.  love him.

walking soon?

she is going to move mountains.  my motto for her.  :)



silly papa.  they love him.

don't fall on us!  how do we even fix this?

just being real.  work, but grateful.

she's wondering....is this for real? lovin the smores.










Thursday, December 20, 2012

family pictures 2012

since we recently finished adding "additions" to our family in the form of amelia grace, we decided to get some family pictures done with the final dordal 6.

some friends and clients of erik's, the pratts of glimpse photo, took our pictures at manito park this fall and we love them!  thank you guys so much!

this is a busy, busy time of year for us with birthdays and holidays galore so there will be many other pictures that i should probably post to get this blog caught up. in due time.....  ;)






















Monday, November 26, 2012

Ella is 2!

Long overdue, but it is crazy this time of year for us Dordals!  Ella turned 2 on November 10th!  We had a little party at our house.  It was a fun year because she has grown leaps and bounds from 1 year ago!  She wasn't even crawling on her hands and knees 1 year ago and now she is walking, 'talking', and being her sassy little self.  This fall I have expressed many times to Erik and family that I really can NOT imagine my life without Ella.  She is my sunshine.......she is someone who helps me look at life and smile no matter what.  Here are a couple pics from her birthday:

sweetness





quality control


is this safe?


diva at red robin


so serious about picking her b-day dinner


entering the world of baby dolls


kids, kind of love them all


birthday sundae: get in my belly!


in belly


posing with her thailand shoes