Topsail Beach (8/4 - 8/7/09)

A few days after our Cherokee Trip, we headed to Topsail Beach in NC. It was the first time the kids and I have ever step foot on a beach. It was a glorious experience and one that we hope to repeat again! But our trip started out on a bad foot. A few days before our departure, Thing 2 came down with a fever. We thought it may be just a garden variety fever and that we would still be able to head out, albeit a day later than planned. But on the day we were about to leave, Thing 2 stopped talking and stopped opening her mouth. I looked at her throat and it was red. Just the night before, my throat began to feel sore. For me, it was an impending strep-throat. This was the 4th time I had gotten it in 5 months. And because Thing 2's throat was red, I was pretty sure it was also strep throat. So the morning of our departure, Daddy brought Thing 2 to the hospital (the kids were still in VA medicaid at this point and could only be seen through the ER outside of VA). And I headed to the local Urgent Care. By lunch time, we headed to the beach packed with antibiotics.

This was our first evening at the beach. I coaxed the girls to get on the water, but they were scared. I worked with Thing 1 for a while, and got her to be confident of the water. But Thing 2 was not meant to be. She was not feeling well.
(Thing 2 in pink, Thing 1 in green)

Everyone enjoyed the sand!

Thing 2 looks for the perfect sand to play in.

Curious George was the most excited of all! He jumped right in on the water with Daddy.

In between playing in the water, he played in the sand and dug tons of holes looking for crabs.

We brought a canopy with us, which allowed us to stay pretty much the entire day at the beach the next day. Here is Thing 1 obsessed with sunscreen.

Poor Thing 2 conked out. Her was low grade after being on the antibiotics, but she was very tired. On our last day, she even developed scarlet fever.

On the 3rd day, a storm came. But after it had passed, we packed up the sand toys and chairs and headed back. Daddy and nephew got to enjoy the bigger surf and had fun body surfing.

Before bed one night, Daddy had the urge to to go the beach. I don't know why. But I went with him anyway. It was pitch black, windy, but very peaceful. All we could manage is blurry pictures though. The camera fogged up the moment I opened it.

It can't be a beach trip without someone getting buried! Thing 1 and I got busy burying a very giggly Curious George.

And of course, Daddy! I had to give him a sexy figure, complete with preggo belly. He is cupping his boobies here and was a little disappointed. He said he didn't mind boobs as long as they were ginormous. I thought I did give him big ones, but apparently they weren't big enough.
We just love Daddy's sense of humor!

Sexy Daddy!

Digging around with Cousin B.

Thing 1 got a beautiful tan!

Curious George outside the beach house.

Thing 1 in our room.

Incidentally, Daddy contracted H1N1 during this beach trip. He complained of sore body the last day we were there, but we thought it was normal considering he was on the water body surfing everyday we were there. But when the body ache lasted a few more days after getting home, he went to the doctor and tested positive for Type A flu. Being in the middle of summer, Type A flu was pretty much a sure thing that it was H1N1. A week after he got better, after Thing 2 recovered from strep throat, she contracted H1N1 as well. The poor, poor little angel. Both Daddy and Thing 2 didn't have high fever, but they had the severe body ache. In fact, Thing 2 couldn't even walk for a good week. We had to carry her around, she was so sore.

Also at this time, being that this was my 4th time with strep throat, I was given 2 very strong antibiotics to finally kill off this antibiotic-resistent bug. We didn't know I was pregnant. Thankfully, baby is just fine and the strep is finally gone!

(I will post beach videos next.)

update on the 3 silly ducklings

Curious George:

He is going to pre-k 3 days a week in preparation for kindergarten. His mood continues to be dependent on the amount of sleep he gets. He is a Lego fiend at the moment asking for small Legos whenever we go to the store. For a period of 2 weeks, he kept a Lego catalog close to him at all times "reading" it whenever he finds a second and plans his future with it. "I want this for Christmas, and this one for my birthday, and the next Christmas..."

He continually amazes as with he says everyday. For instance, during past conversations I've told him that when we look for a new house it may have to be a house without stairs because Mommy's knees hurt. Then several days later, he told me out of the blue that it should be OK to have small stairs and that he, his sisters and Daddy would sleep upstairs and I stay downstairs so that I don't have to hurt my knees using the stairs.

Yesterday, Daddy and I attended a 5-week hr-long parenting class. Daddy and I were quite excited about what we learned and having an animated discussion about it. Curious George thought we were fighting and told us to stop. I explained that we weren't fighting, but instead discussing what we learned in class. He asked what we learned, so I told him it was all about what we could do so that we are not always yelling and getting mad at him. His response was, "I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THAT ALL MY LIFE!!" Daddy and I burst out laughing.


THING 1:

Thing 1 is a sassy little thing who seems to be always at odds with me. Daddy says she's just like me...stubborn. I've said a few times that Thing 1 is Daddy's girl, but she does come to me when she's sick. ;p She is a rough and tumble girl, it seems. During a period of a couple of weeks when Thing 2 was sick, Thing 1 and Curious George played a lot with each other. Curious George throws his weight around and surprisingly, Thing 1 kept up with him. Even now, she and Curious George wrestles with each other. Thing 1 sometimes protests but usually all smiles and giggles.

Thing 1 has also developed a love for her big brother's shirt. She demands that whatever shirt she is wearing be taken off and then she grabs whatever shirt she could find of Curious George's. Sometimes she grabs a PJ he takes off as soon as he takes them off.

Her language explosion was a few weeks behind Thing 2's but they are both very good talkers. She loves to watch Dora The Explorer and Diego and eagerly responds when asked to join on their adventures.

We have noticed several months back that Thing 1 seems to favor left-handedness but it was too early to be sure then. Nowadays, it is becoming more obvious that she is left-handed. All of us have noticed a few instances where she tries to do something with her right hand only to find it very awkward so she just switches hands immediately.


Thing 2:

Thing 2 continues to be a few pounds behind Thing 1. She has been sick a lot this past month, battling strep throat for a few weeks. But after only being well for 1 week, she contracted the flu. It was a mild flu, but the body soreness she experienced for a few days was unmistakable. The illnesses caused her to lose about 5 lbs.

She talks very clearly and can tell on both her sister and big brother. She loves cuddles and would rather be on our lap when the other 2 are rough-housing.

She hates buildings that look like a doctor's office. We went to the Department of Social Services one day and she let go of my hand and headed for the parking lot as soon as she could see in after I opened the door. Thank goodness she didn't take off on a run!

She loves to ask for things using a very small cute voice. "Mom, can I have milk?", she asks in the morning. Recently, she's also mastered the art of begging. She asks for something and when I don't move fast enough, she holds her hands together and puts them under her chin, closing her eyes, and says "pease, pease! [please]"

She loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! If I can't think of anything to feed her, I could never go wrong with PBJ. She also loves any kind of cereal, much to her brother's annoyance. Curious George absolutely hates any kind of cereal and would run the opposite way from it.

Thing 2 loves to pretend to read. She grabs paper with print on it and "reads" proudly, "A, F, I, B!"

An Unforgettable Christmas

We used the camcorder for Christmas so I do not have pictures. But here is a documentary of the after-Christmas happening. These pictures were taken about noon and shortly after, Daddy started throwing up. At about 6pm, my stomach didn't feel well and by 7:30 it was my turn to empty my stomach. Matty started doing the same thing at 3am the next day. Katie had her first vomit session at 5am, and then Jojo at 10am. It was a family affair.

Here is Matty with the trike that Santa left him. He was so excited! He rode it around and around the house tirelessly.

This is Katie with Daddy (just before he got sick) while he uses the laptop. Katie didn't warm up to her grandparents until the next day.

Jojo showing off a lovely smile just for Daddy.


Matty with his Papaw lounging around watching some Noggin shows. Matty ran around until he got tired and sleepy, he would then crash on the couch and watch TV to recharge and then he was off again.

Jojo and Matty hanging out with their Nana.

We were all so happy until after lunch on the 26th and then it went downhill fast after that. I have heard some friends on the opposite coast go through the same thing and I believe it's the same bug. It spread like wild fire through us, affecting 10 people in a matter of 2 days.