Beach vidoes

Here are some beach videos that went with this set of pictures .



This is at the beach house. We rented a beach house that has 2 separate units. This one is where Nana, Papaw and Cousin B stayed, which connects to our unit.

Notice Thing 1 stuffing an Oreo under her armpit. I guess it's a way to mark it as hers. Thing 2, sick with strep, cuddles with Daddy.



Daddy brought body boards for him and Curious George. But the surf wasn't that big until it stormed one day. After the storm passed, we crossed the street to the beach and enjoyed some stronger winds and bigger surf. The waves slammed Daddy on the sand a few times, but he enjoyed the successful ones.



Cousin B introduced Curious George to sand fleas, so he caught a bunch. He enjoyed them immensely. Curious George insisted we take some back with us, but we explained that it's not a pet we could keep because they need ocean water.

big changes on the way

Daddy accepted a job in Texas, to start in little over than a week so it's crunch time. He will go ahead and make the drive to Texas next week without us, and return to us for Christmas. We will then all make the drive there right after Christmas.

In the meantime, we need to return most of our belongings we took with us to live with the in-laws back to our house, so that the moving company can pack them all up. I want this done before Daddy leaves next week because it won't be easy for me to do all that by myself. It's exciting, it's scary, it's worrisome, but we are all eager to start this new chapter of our lives.

In the meantime, in the midst of all changes brewing, things are still the same...at least some of it. Yesterday, I took Curious George on an errand with me. While walking around at Kohl's, we passed by the intimates section. He grabbed a bra and snuggled his face against it, "Mommy, you need to get this, so your boobies can be warm and soft and snugly!" All I could do was grin. :)

Then late in the afternoon, I asked him to try some Pringles chips. He is very picky and would only eat orange chips (Doritos), so we always encourage him to try new things. But he absolutely refused to try Pringles. I kept on pressing the issue, being the stubborn mom that I am though. Finally, he got frustrated and said, "MOMMY, IF YOU KEEP MAKING ME EAT SOMETHING I DON'T WANT, I WILL RUN AWAY FOREVER!"

I looked at him with serious face, and said, "Well, if run away, you may get left behind when it's time for us to go to Texas."

He didn't have anything to say about that. :p

The other day, it was Thing 1 that provided the amusement. I was using my laptop browsing through purses, when Thing 1 sat beside me, crinkled her nose and cocked her head and asked, "dot com, Mommy?" It will only be a matter of time before this little girl become as savvy on the computer as her big brother.

Thing 2, on the other hand stays pretty much under the radar. Even she starts trouble, we happen to mostly miss it. But what's amusing is that when we tell her to go to time-out corner, she says, "Ok, Ok, Ok." She also continues to call Thing 1 "Jojo". We remind her that she's Jojo, but she does it anyway. Oi!

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.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yesterday, I had my 20-week ultrasound. I was worried and excited...worried that something may be wrong with the baby, and excited at the same time. Well, we found out that we are having another baby boy!!! Both Daddy and I are excited that now we have 2 boys and 2 girls. Who could ask for anything better? This baby is a surprise, coming at what many would thing is a "bad time", being that Daddy has been unemployed since February. But we see this baby as a complete blessing. Being unemployed for this long is unfortunate, but with God's help, we've survived.

A long time ago, Daddy and I have told each other that there is nothing we can't handle as long as our family is together. Family is the most important thing there is. We can survive with much less, and still be happy as long as our family is taken care off. Due to a series of decisions we've made throughout our marriage, this time of unemployment could have been a lot more stressful and devastating than it really has. This is not to say that it has been easy on any of us, but we can definitely see the forest for tress. (Is that how that goes?)

Daddy has received 3 job offers recently, and 2 of them are viable. We are now just thinking of what is best for our family: Texas, or Northern Virginia. There are a few more hurdles to overcome: driving with 3 kids, moody pregnant Mommy, and a Daddy who has to deal with us all. But it's a task we would gladly undertake.

This Thanksgiving, we can't help but think of the never-ending things we are thankful for:

• Daddy's parents who have welcomed us with open arm,
• time the kids have spent with their grandparents
• time the kids and I have spent with Daddy
• being blessed with one more healthy baby boy
• a smart, highly independent, strong-willed son
• 2 beautiful, fascinating, smart, sassy daughters
  
• great and soulful, going on 13-yr marriage (whoah, that's long!)
• all the people that love and care about us
• and many many many more.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Kiddie Festival (4/18/09)

Who knew I have pictures from April that I haven't posted. Back in April, there was a Kiddie Festival that we decided to bring the kids too. It's nothing big, but definitely enjoyable for the little ones.

The girls had their first encounter with mascots and surprisingly, they did just fine. They even played with them. :)

Thing 2 is showing off the pin wheel she won. Incidentally, this was the only time these dresses fit the girls.

Curious George and Thing 1. Notice the girls' hats. They were a part of their Easter Baskets.

Of course...Curious George in a fire truck and grinning like a fool.

We came home with a pet, too. This boy was beyond himself when he won a goldfish. He named it Punky. Punky is still alive and thriving today.

NC Zoo videos

10/31/09

Here are videos from the zoo (the pictures are posted here). How did these kids get so big so fast? Curious George is slightly over 3 1/2 ft tall, wearing size 11.5 shoe and 6-7 yr old clothes. His sisters are about 3 ft tall, wearing size 9.5 shoes (Thing 2's feet are ever so slightly bigger) and 4T clothes.

Thing 2 is wearing pink, Thing 1 is in white.



Here are the kids loving the colorful poisonous frogs. Notice Curious George holding the Zoo map. He planned our route the entire time based on which animals he wanted to see. We didn't see the entire Zoo since it is too big.



You can see in Thing 1's face how tired she is and hungry. Curious George's excitement is still going strong here. He loves animals! He has told us many times that he wants to be a Zoologist and Entomologist...among many other things of course.



On the move again, following Curious George. They were all hesitant to walk on the floor vents.

NC Zoo (10/31/09)

With Trick or Treating out of the way a few days prior, we were able to enjoy the Zoo on Halloween. The forecast was rain starting midday, but it actually started in the morning. But we went ahead with the plan to go to NC Zoo. Good thing, too. There was barely anyone around!

Fascinated by the Lions.

Thing 2 on the Carousel with Daddy. Thing 1 was with me, but the photo is too blurry to post.

Curious George chose this frog to ride on.

Thing 1 guzzling water. This was about 2pm. The girls were tired but were absolute troopers. She's wearing a necklace she won by tossing bean bags through a small hole (a fund raising for the Bats part of the Zoo).

Giant Bumble Bee!

Posing Turles.


I wonder who got scared first?

Crocodiles! They're all real!

Nana and the girls. Is Thing 2 showing her assets to her sister? I wonder.

Mommy and Thing 2.