Diagnosis: Strep Throat

Brent and Gracie were no better this morning, so they went to the doctor this afternoon. It was a little surprising to hear that they had strep throat when some of the symptoms were more like flu symptoms. Anyway, they are both starting antibiotics. Gracie let me take a couple pictures of her during her sick day, but I didn't even ask Brent since he could do the same to me someday in an attempt at revenge. I'm including a picture of Ella too since the grandparents are all missing her and feeling the need to hold a baby.

Ella's First "Real" Bath

Now that Ella's belly button is healing, she can take a bath in her bathtub. She hated sponge baths, and as you can see from the pictures she didn't enjoy her bathtub much better. She actually did pretty good for a while, but when I got the camera out and wasn't washing her or touching her she got mad. Maybe it was Gracie's Dora bath doll that was scaring her!

Sickness Prevails

Well, if you were considering a visit to Macon this week, avoid the Doolin house. Brent had the flu symptoms yesterday morning when he woke up and he came home miserable yesterday. During the night I knew Gracie had it as well. Ella and I are avoiding them as much as possible, but it's kind of hard when they need to be taken care of. We are hoping and praying that Ella and I don't get it next.

I took this picture of Ella because it kind of looked like she was winking at me. I feel like the two of us are conspirators right now, because we are literally avoiding Brent and Gracie like crazy.

Happy One Month Birthday, Ella!

Ok, I had to sneak the second picture back in since Vian caught me. I had one picture posted and then decided to change to a different one. Little did I know that she was online looking at the blog as I changed things around. Sounds like I was playing tricks with her mind!

Gracie's "Photo Shoot"

Today we took the girls to Columbia so Ella could get her 1 month pictures taken. I made the appointment for 1 child, but then Gracie became desperate to have her picture taken too. I guess I should have known this would happen, but I didn't see it coming. She usually despises having her picture taken. I tried to buffer the situation by letting her wear a beautiful dress and her sparkly shoes. She was all dressed up with nowhere to go. Brent took her to the play area while I went to Ella's photo session. He took numerous photos of Gracie so that she would feel like she had her picture taken as well. It actually worked. We left the mall that afternoon with her never asking another question about pictures. Obviously I won't make the same mistake again. Next time both girls will be involved in the photos!

Saying Goodbye

Brent had to say goodbye to his dad last Thursday when sickness ended up taking his life. He had been ill for a very long time, but he always seemed to overcome it and get better. This time was different, and it kind of shocked us. We stayed in Unionville with Brent's mom until Sunday evening. The outpouring of support we received has been amazing, so we wanted to thank you all. We have been receiving cards by the stack full everyday from new friends, old friends, our new church family, our old church family, old co-workers, new co-workers, and on and on it goes. We were blessed to have many of you come to either the visitation or funeral. Thank you for the miles you drove to be near Brent and the rest of our family during this hard time. It was moving to see how many people loved Raymond and his family. We counted over 580 people at the visitation and the funeral was very large as well. So thank you to anyone who called, sent a card, brought food, made the trip to Unionville or just said a prayer. We appreciate you all.

Did you know...

I don't have too much to post right now, so I guess that's my excuse for not posting anything at all. Life with a newborn is a lot of fun, but it's not like she's doing funny or monumental things that I feel I need to write about. Ella is doing everything babies should do...eating, sleeping, pooping, crying, so I guess she's normal. We are having lots of fun holding her and getting to know her.
I titled this post "Did you know" because until today I didn't realize how confusing some things still are for Gracie. For instance, the first time Gracie saw me nursing I knew it disturbed her and she didn't like it, but she has accepted it. She told me a few days ago that she still thought babies were supposed to drink from bottles, but she didn't challenge what I was doing. However, today we had to go to Hannibal for my check-up and we stopped at Sutherlands for Brent to check out a few things. Ella wanted to eat so the girls all stayed in the van. Gracie just said, "Well, I guess Ella wants more of that milk from your stomach." Apparently she thinks it's coming from a straw in my stomach up to the baby's mouth! Isn't that a funny visual?! So, did you know that milk comes from the mommy's stomach? Me either! :-)