The joke of the day...via 3 year old

Daddy and the Bear were walking Rosie dog the other night when she turns to Daddy and says...
"Daddy if Rosie met another dog they would be friends and they would play ring around the Rosie...that's funny!"
Daddy was astounded by his 3 year olds abilty to tell her first joke.

More fun at Hilton Head

Fun with a crazy water chasing dog.

Beach Fun!

Fun at the beach! Little Miss had a Blast on the beach throwing sand back into the ocean.

Dancing Bear

Bear loves to dance around the house so when I heard that one of the girls in her class had started dance class I looked into it because I thought she might like to take class too.
I asked Bear if she wanted to go to dance class and she said, No.
Thinking that she didn't know what dance class was I scheduled a time for us to go watch a class. When the time came it was like pulling teeth to get her to go. Finally after the promise of ice cream after dance class I got her in the car. We went and watched she was intrigued and watched all the girls dance but refused to join when asked by the teacher.
After class I asked her if she liked dance class she said, No.
When Grannie asked how dance class was she said, "It was fun but I didn't want to dance."
Convinced that she will change her mind I purchase leotard, tights and a dance skirt I also schedule a time to have her fitted for the required dance shoes.
On fitting day I pick her up from school and told her we were going to see Miss Deanna and get her foot measured for new shoes!
Bear - "I already have shoes."
Me - "Yes, but these are special shoes for dancing."
B - "I already have dance shoes."
M -" Yes, but let's just go see. Miss Deanna is waiting on us."
So we go and I think she will benefit from seeing Miss Deanna without everyone else and decide that dancing might be fun...
After trying on the shoes Miss Deanna asks her if she would come on Tuesday to dance with her and the other girls. Bears simple response is...No. (Not your typical three year old NO! but just No...not going to do that.
One last attempt. My thought is we'll play with all the new clothes and dance all weekend then we'll observe the Tuesday class and if she participates we'll sign up but if she doesn't we'll pass for now.
Friday try to get her to put on ballerina outfit...No
Saturday try again...No
Sunday...No
Monday...No
Tuesday morning...No
Me - Ready for dance class? Let's go show Daddy!
Bear - No...I don't want to dance.
Should I have listened the first time? Yes! Lesson learned...maybe.

Whirl Wind Update This is long

Just to catch up...
August 19th - found out that baby sister is actually a baby brother just as I suspected. Little Miss went with us to the Dr. office to see the ultrasound. We had been talking about what was going to happen for a couple of days but just before we left I asked her what we were going to do at the Dr. office? She told me we were going to the Dr. to crack open Momma's belly and bring home the baby. Needless to say we had to talk about it some more but in the end she was pretty excited to see the baby on TV...even if it was a baby brother :0)
August 20th- The packers descended upon our house and began packing us up for our big move. The Bear the dog and I holed up in Daddy's office with all the do not pack items and watched TV most of the day. Luckily a P&F's Mom came and rescued Little Miss for a few hours to have lunch and play. Two packers worked from 9:00am until 6:30pm packing all of our stuff. Thankfully an AECPTA friend brought us home made tacos and all the fixings for dinner. Friends are wonderful!
August 21st - Movers showed up at 8:00am Turkey Girl was supposed to go with friends again but she said she wanted to stay home. Thankfully she decided to go play when O&A's Mom showed up to get her. I think the packers were thankful too, even thought they lost a "helper".
That night the girls threw us a going away dinner which was a lot of fun. The children had a BLAST running around the private room at the restaurant. Hard to say good bye.
August 22nd - planned to work on the finally cleaning of the house. My P&F's Mom came over to help about the time we got started I got a call saying they wanted to show the house from Noon to 2:00pm AARGH! So we cleaned fast and made it. We then headed to Chick-fil-a. Mamie was supposed to get in around 1:50 but her flight was delayed. We picked up Brian and took hime to get some lunch then headed home so I could take a shower FINALLY! The phone rang again and apparently the showing was late so now they needed the house until 3 ARGHH! Eventually we did get to go home and I got a shower. Mamie was picked up from the airport and I went to meet my girls for dinner we had a fun meal at Nelda's then hit Borders where we wandered and avoided the inevitable. After a quick and tearful goodbye I headed home.
August 23rd - loaded the car and headed for Beaufort (see previous post)
August 24th - more driving, baby gorilla antics and more wild child before bed
August 25th - three hours to go on our journey and then we got to see our new home. Our stuff still wasn't due to arrive until Thursday we stayed in a hotel for a few more days.
August 26th - Drove to Bluffton to shop at the outlet stores and get some cleaning supplies at Target. This turned into an all day adventure. I also went to meet the teacher at Little Miss's new school while she played with Mamie.
August 27th - Our stuff arrived at 8:15 they began unloading and Mamie worked hard to keep Miss priss occupied and out of the way. There are three little boys that live right in our neighborhood when I saw them riding their bikes I said oh look there are some little turkeys for you to play with. Miss still refers to them as the little turkeys...I am going to have to explain this to their parents at some point! We spent the afternoon unpacking the kitchen. I swear that is the hardest room!
August 28th - Hannah's meet the teacher morning. She had fun made two crafts and discovered a love for glitter! We then headed home and continued to unpack the kitchen. Kitchen finished for the most part and fell into bed
August 29th - drive to Savannah for the Grandma swap. Put Mamie on a plane and picked up Grannie! What would I do with out such wonderful family!
August 30th - Worked hard to get all the boxes in the house unpacked and stuff put away.
August 31st - Bear's first day of school! Pics to come... More unpacking
Sept 1 - More unpacking finished all but 3-4 boxes in house. House looks good.
Sept 2nd - Bear to school, Dr. appt for me with the nurse, then to pick up Bear, called back to Dr. for actual doctor appt. Daddy, two uncles and Poppy arrive but have no keys, have to meet Grannie at hospital where she and Bear are waiting on me. Bear won't leave Daddy's side so they switch cars. Head home and beat them to the house so have no way of getting in.
Sept 3 - Uncles leave early and the rest of us work hard on house...looks ok but looked better before the boys showed up. :0)
Sept 4 - Grannie and Poppy leave. Hannah has school and Daddy has to go into work....I'm on my own for three hours
Sept 5 - Daddy off work until Wednesday morning.
The next 4 days are spent working and playing and just enjoying being together.

Two women a three year old and five baby gorillas..

August 27
Two women a three year old and five baby gorillas set out on an adventure to South Carolina. Sounds like the beginning of a joke huh? That's been my life for the past few days...
We left Arlington, Texas at 11:30 Sunday morning. Car was packed tight with all of our things, clothes, toys, child entertainment items, movies for the DVD player and snacks. All went well, the child put on her headset and began watching a movie...I'm sure she didn't notice we were even in the car with her! We made three potty stops then stopped for the night just beyond the Mississippi state line.It was at this point that things got interesting. Apparently the docile child in the car seat had merely been storing up energy throughout the drive. Upon unbuckling said child we released said energy onto the world. I've never actually seen someones eyeballs vibrate! But I have now!! I believe she was physically unable to walk she zoomed from place to place and bounced as she was standing still. So here I am exhausted from driving and being in the car and then there is this little turkey flying around all over. Luckily Mamie signed up for this adventure too. She knowingly captured the wild child, stuffed her into a swimming suit and took her to the hotel pool where she insisted that she kick kick kick around the entire pool! Whew! On to bed time...I envisioned reading a book while my child cuddled up next to one of us and went to sleep but no. She chose to sleep with me. And while I expertly ignored her chatter and went to sleep I was awakened several times as the sleeping child tested all four cardinal directions for achieving the best rest. With her head facing the foot of the bed I began to worry about being kicked in the face so I turned her around and just in the nick of time because she then began swimming in her sleep. What a blissful nights rest!

Catching up

Since it is now July 24th and my last post was about events occurring a month ago I'm going to give you a brief synopsis of what happened.

July 1- heard the baby's heartbeat - Bear thinks it is so much fun to listen to it on my phone (where I recorded it). She loves her "baby sister".

July 4 -we celebrated Bear's 3rd Birthday with a kitty cat party at the Mall carousel. We had a BLAST! Thank you to my friend who planned the entire event and found all of the kitty cat goodies. All I did was make a cake, few yarn party balls and show up. Love that!

July 4th evening- again thank you to wonderful friends who came to help us load up the u-haul that was headed to T-town with all of our belongings not destine to move with us. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

July 5th - load up the car hit the road to T-town (Binky got lost on the way to Grannies....bummer)

First night with out a Binky and we all survived it was surprisingly anticlimactic. We had been telling her that when she turned three she wouldn't need her Binky any more. We kept referencing that on party day we would give up the Binky. She finally told me she didn't want to have a party and would just keep her Binky...What kid does this?? Denouncing a birthday for a Binky!! Geesh!

July 6th- Bear's actual birthday! Party at Grannie and Poppy's with all of the family. Little Miss is convinced that she is now 4. Mamie tries to convince her otherwise and is told as only a three year old can, that she was three at her Mall party so she is 4 now! Kid is logical if nothing else. Took us all week to convince her she was still 3 years old.

Relaxed at Grannie and Poppy's all week. I was a total slug but it was a wonderful week of playing in the pool and sunshine.

I'm not actually sure what has happened between the time we got home and now but it's been crazy busy. Our house is clean and decluttered (believe it or not) and ready to show. Now, if we could just find people that want to see it!

Bear's funny for tonight: "Momma, I'm gonna ride on a giraffe. I'm gonna ride on a giraffe with my baby sister."

"Really?"

"Yep, next time we go to the zoo, I'm gonna ride on a giraffe and be way up high."

Where does she get this stuff??

I'll back track a bit...

I can't believe it has been almost a month since I posted. ARGH! I'll try to do better. This may be a very long post.

June ended with a bang and a whirl-wind trip to South Carolina with Poppy. Now, I believe most of my trips are whirl-wind, but I'll tell you nobody does whirl-wind like Poppy! We flew to SC to see what the base housing looks like in order to get an idea of what furniture we can take and what we needed to store. We (the Bear, Poppy, and I) flew from FTW to Savannah on the 24th. Our flight left at 7:30, which meant a 5-5:30 start time for me. I thought I was a morning person but apparently I'm not. I got up with enough time to shower and get dressed then get the Bear ready. However, while showering I completely forgot to shave my legs (I do this every morning!). Not only that but I stood at the sink actually discussing with myself whether or not I really forgot to shave. I honestly could not remember, I had now memory of any of it. EEK Scary! We made it to the airport and Bear was very excited to go see her "brand new house". While waiting for our flight to board Bear and Poppy went off to find something to eat. They come back with coffee for Poppy and Peanut M&M's for Little Miss (a breakfast only a grandparent would let you get away with!) Luckily I stashed an apple in my carry on. :0)

Plane trip was uneventful Miss played and stayed busy while I wished for a few more minutes of sleep. We landed in Savannah and headed directly to Poppy's job site in Bluffton, SC. Actually we made a brief stop at our hotel to drop off luggage then headed for the job site. The Bear and I left him there to do his inspections and we hit up the outlet mall. I forgot that Gymboree had an outlet there. We had 45 min. Somehow we managed to get 4 outfits for Lil miss and ice cream for everyone before we had to pick Poppy up and head to our appointment on base. It's 2:00 p.m. and my two year old daughter has been up since 6:00 a.m. with no nap! The drive from Bluffton to Beaufort is about 25 minutes. I am convinced she will fall asleep but no she is awake and chatting the entire time. Suddenly about 5 minutes from base all is silent she is sleeping.........

We arrive on base and are shown to the "model home". I reluctantly wake my child as she has been waiting for this all day. She is ecstatic about her "brand new house". We walk in and immediately loose her to the bedrooms done up like children's rooms. One bright pink and the other with bunk beds! She was in Heaven! Convinced that it is actually HER new house she decides that the baby gorillas (Have I mentioned them?) There are three imaginary gorillas that go with us everywhere and tend to be quite unruly (more on that later). So the bunk beds are for her baby "sister" (who will sleep on top) and the baby gorillas (on bottom). The pink room was immediately claimed as hers. In fact it was so her room that she decided to climb in the bed and finish her nap!

She IS a mess!

Poppy and I took several pictures and finally convince the Bear that we had to go back to our hotel (which she calls Mexico because of our trip to Mexico in January. Apparently all hotels are Mexico because that was the first hotel she had ever been in.) We head to the hotel in hopes of resting which is a miserable failure so we went to eat. After a significant restaurant melt down and a quick dinner we headed back to the hotel for bed. I was exhausted and I know Little Miss was too. However, that little Turkey would NOT go to sleep. It was well past 11:00 p.m. when she finally held still long enough to fall asleep.

With another early flight we had to be up and ready by 5:00 a.m. because we had to drive from Bluffton to Savannah and return a rental car all before our 7:00 a.m. flight. When I woke up the Bear from her peaceful slumber I told her we had to to get on an airplane. Her only response was, "Again?". This flight was even less eventful as the first because upon boarding Little Miss and I promptly fell asleep.

Our arrival at DFW was met by Grannie who had lovingly agreed to come help me with my garage sale that coming weekend. Although I believe she is still questioning her decision on that one.

More on that tomorrow....it's late.

This post is on our events for two days. I want you to realize that during our whirl-wind trip we were out of Texas for less than 24 hours! Like I said Poppy takes the cake when it comes to whirl-wind trips.

As we left the airport with Grannie, Poppy was boarding a plane to Nashville for another whirl-wind trip.

Thanks Poppy it was fun and I couldn't have done it without you!

Little Miss eating breakfast in bed at "Mexico" in Bluffton

For Safety Sake

I've decided to make this blog public and therefore feel it necessary to not use our names in posts. We'll see how this goes.

I wonder...

Where Bear comes up with these ideas. The other night we were driving to dinner and she was reminding Daddy of the fact that her baby "sister" was in my belly (in case he had forgotten) when all of a sudden she stops turns to me and says, "Momma, your belly's gonna crack!" Confused I asked her why was that going to happen. "Because the baby is in there!" She really is too funny.

On Friday she and I babysat a 4 month old for the day. That morning a friend of ours had taken bear to Jumping House for her weekly class and when they returned the baby was already at the house. The baby was very tired and having trouble getting to sleep. He was needless to say crying his little heart out when they walked in. Her eyes were huge as she quietly came into the house and spotted me with the upset baby. I bent down to give her a hug and she said, "Momma is my baby sister so so sad?" I assured her that it was in fact not her baby sister but baby B that we were watching for the day. Guess she thought he was the one we were going to keep! She enjoyed her time with him until he got mad again around her nap time. Then she told me that it was time for him to go home because he was too loud. Isn't she in for some fun.

Today we took Daddy to Cabella's because he has been wanting to go there since we moved here. It's a bit of a drive so Bear and I set aside time to take him today. He happily wandered the store for a few hours and believe it or not the only thing we left with was a fishing rod for Miss! She has been fishing all over the house and even in her wading pool ever since we got home.

Bear's baby sister...

No, we don' t actually know it is going to be a "sister" but Bear insists that her baby sister is in my belly. The other day Bear and I were at the bank and the teller asked her if she had any brothers or sisters. She turned to me, put her hand on my stomach and said, "My baby sister is in there." She kills me. Yesterday she and I were eating lunch and Bear tries to give me a grape. I told her I was finishing my lunch and didn't want a grape. She insisted! I still refused. She then looked me straight in the eye holding her grape and said, "Momma, my baby sister wants this grape and you need to give it to her. You have to put it in your belly!"
Now who can argue with that??

Things are busy around here as we prepare for the move to SC in late August and try desperately to get the house ready to put on the market in July! Agghhh!
I'll try to keep this better updated amid all the chaos.

Ferris the Fish

Bear's beloved fish died today. He was a strange fish, often laying on the plant in his tank (on his side) sleeping. We spent most days walking past and tapping the tank to make sure he was alive. Everyday he proved that he was in fact sleeping. But alas today he did not move. Because of his previous behavior it was rather difficult to convince Bear that he was actually dead. When she finally accepted his fate she and Daddy went out and laid him to rest in a nice plot in the backyard. It was a sweet ceremony and he will be dearly missed.

It's a big girl bed!

My darling girl will be three in July and we are just now moving her to a "big girl" bed. Our closest friends have had their kiddos in their beds for 6 months or so but not Bear. She loved her crib, she never even thought about climbing out. She was very capable of climbing in and I expected on many an occasion to see her little curls peek around the corner as she tiptoed from her room at night but alas that never happened. So today she officially moved to her big girl bed.

We had to go pick up the mattress this morning and the whole way there she kept asking, "Momma, where is my big girl crib?"

"No, honey it's a bed not a crib you don't need a crib anymore."

"Oh,...but then where am I going to sleep?"

"In your new bed."

"Oh...Okay."

After we set it up she wanted to go down for her nap early so I got her ready and we went though our normal routine which she cut short by saying, "I'm ready to get in bed now."

She then proceeded to get out of bed and play with the door and everything else before I threatened to take away one of the 50 stuffed animals and baby dolls that sleep in her bed with her. Rather than sacrifice a bed fellow she took a nap for two hours! Wahooo!

Night time went just as well. This is awesome!

I know I'm so in for it tomorrow!!

Changes on the Kester Front

We'll big changes are about to befall the Kester house hold. First, Bear is going to be a big sister after the beginning of the year. Second is the Marine Corps is relocating us to South Carolina! Yes, we are being sent back to Beaufort. As of this moment Daddy has to report to work on September 15th! That means we have to locate housing in SC, pack, get a house ready to sell in Texas, prepare a toddler for the first move she will remember (or at least be conscious of) all the while battling periodic waves of nausea all in a matter of a few months. Wish us luck!