Making sound holes

I'm new to fotmd and also this group. My first dulcimer is a Cripple Creek Dulcimer kit that has sat in its box in the basement for too many years. It is about half complete. I have the sound holes made for the top, but my question is whether there can be/should be sound holes on the bottom. Early on I started making sound holes in the shape of a cross. I realized that these would not be big enough, so I moved to the other sheet and made the doves. There are two options for the bottom, both would entail cutting out the second cross, but should I leave these as sound holes on the bottom, or should I find some spare material and cover over them to block the sound holes? I've attached (not sure how to do this yet) several pictures with the top sound holes from the top and bottom view and the single cross with the penciled shape of the second. Comments, critiques, and bits of help would be appreciated.