LONGGGGG overdue...

The title is fitting.. one because I have been a terrible blogger and two because we had visitors this weekend.. that were long overdue! Granddaddy, Grandy, Aunt Shell, and cousin Katelyn came to visit us this weekend! (We were sad that cousins Daniel, Karson, Dawson, and Lindi.. along with Uncle Shane, Aunt Jenn, and Uncle Jeff couldn't make it, but we will see them at the beach in May.)


Friday we took them to Pelancho's, which has become our favorite Mexican restaurant. It is rare we get to experience international cuisine (if you can call tacos, taquitos, and fajitas.."cuisine") with the Kepley family. Usually when the Kepleys visit, Kris' grandpa comes and he doesn't do anything but an American fare! It was lots of fun and Grace Anne enjoyed smiling and keeping everyone's attention. Luckily we did take a picture of the big annoying mascot-Pelancho's-parrot that kept messing with Daddy... and trying to play peek-a-boo with a 3 month old. (Grace Anne looked at that bird thing like it was an idiot!)

Saturday, Daddy and Granddaddy watched basketball--like the good ol' days-- while the girls shopped! After the shopping and basketball (which included a major Volunteer win over the University of Kentucky Wildcats), we went to Litton's. Litton's is a Knoxville favorite that dates back to the 1940s. ESPN has visited on "Todd's Taste of the Town", Peyton Manning often stops by when in town, and It has also become a Granddaddy favorite! OWe all love their burgers and onion rings.. and even fresh cut fries, but the desserts are AMAZING! The lemon cookies are a Mommy-favorite, but I opted for the Neapolitan cake last night.. jealous? Well, come to Knoxville and we will take you!


We had a great weekend. We finished our Sunday off with naps, playing, and a real fun splish splash bath for Grace Anne. She wore herself out with visitors, playing, and talking. We are hopeful of a good night's sleep for the whole family! Our little runt, weighing in at a mere 11lbs and 7 oz., seems to grow and change everyday! Her little blonde hairs are sticking up a lot, she's sleeping through the night more often, and she is continually making her Mommy's and Daddy's hearts happy!

AMEN! It was an all nighter!

I'm not saying what you are thinking.. we weren't up all night. It wasn't like the college days, I wasn't re-living nights like the night before that Finance final, nope... it was a much more pleasant experience. The all-nighter I'm referring to is... Grace Anne sleeping ALL night. The very first time! She has been doing much better, going to bed around 11 or 12 and sleeping until 3 or 4 and then going back down until 7 or so. Last night she slept from 11:30 until 6am! It was amazing. I woke up a couple times to check on her because it seemed so surreal. Daddy even woke up to check on her. Since she's been sleeping well and only waking up once, Daddy has been letting Mommy take that duty-- which is alright since he probably needs a night's sleep more than Mommy. Well, when she woke up at 6am she ate and was back asleep by 7am! At 9:30 Daddy got up with her and Mommy got to lay in bed! It was fabulous! Mommy laid there listening to Daddy talk to her and hearing her coo.

The weather was great and Mommy was able to convince Daddy to go to Sequoyah Hills and take a stroll down Cheerokee Blvd. There were tons of runners, walkers and even pups out on the trail. We walked about 3 and half miles with Grace Anne happily strapped in the Baby Bjorn! We even ran into Dr. Many (Mommy's ob/gyn). She said "Hey, I know you all!"-- Daddy and Mommy gave her a puzzled look wondering who was hiding behind big sunglasses and sure enough.. it was Mommy's doctor. She stopped and chatted a second and was happy to see Grace Anne out soaking up a healthy amount of Vitamin D.

We returned home and Daddy resumed to his post on the couch. Sundays are for resting-- Daddy truly lives by that adage! Grace Anne and Mommy went to the Tacketts for dinner. We had lots of fun hanging out with the Tacketts and Shirleys. Brenda cooked a yummy dinner. Kim and John, with Channing's help, started taking pictures of Grace Anne and I'm pretty impresssed. Yeah she is a beautiful baby, who wouldn't want to take pictures of her... but, I love the ones he shot and I definitely think we need to take him up on more photo shoots (not that he necessarily volunteered... I'm just volunteering him). All the pictures on the post today, he took!

Valentine's or Christmas?

Wow! It has been like another Christmas for Grace Anne. She has gotten LOTS of Valentine cards... and goodies. She got a couple out fits from her great Grandma and Grandpa. She got a ZUTANO dress and mittens from Granddaddy and Grandy. She got a sweet blabla owl from Aunt Beth. She got panda pjs and a toy from Mommy and Daddy. A doll from Poppy. A valentine's doggie from Pa Gene and Sandra... It looks like she racked up!

Mommy isn't really "into" Valentine's but she is very thankful for her new pandora charm and Edible Arrangement that she got from Daddy and Grace Anne. Mommy cooked dinner and enjoyed spending the night having dinner and cupcakes with Daddy, Alexis, and Alyssa.

Burn Baby Burn.. and not in a good way

When I say burn I mean burn and I'm not talking about a good burn! Tuesday at work Daddy got BLEACH in his eyes. Apparently the bleach wasn't properly sealed and packaged nor was it properly labeled. When Kris dropped it down the bottle splashed! So while this is happening, Mommy was trying to feed Grace Anne. When I got the call that Kris was going to the ER I packed up the screaming, half-fed baby and rushed to the ER. When we arrived Kris was already in the room with the UPS safety supervisor. The doctor came in, examined his eyes, and determined that the right eye had a pretty bad burn. They numbed his eyes and checked under his eyelids and found no damage there. So then they said they'd have to flush his eye with a bag of fluid. The machine that would flush them was basically the piping and mechanics used for an IV. The difference was that there was a suction that was shaped to fit the eye. The suction was placed on his eye and a continuous fluid went to the eye in order to flush it out. They began flushing both eyes, each hooked up to a bag of fluid. Kris couldn't stand having them both being flushed simultaneously. Since the left eye didn't seem to have any damage, they removed the left eye flush. He was very uncomfortable and looked very tense. Grace Anne and I were right by his side the whole time. The flush took about 40 minutes and he was a real trooper. Unfortunately when they removed the towels around his neck and chest he was beginning to hive up. The doctor walked in as the towels were being removed and he ordered steroids and benedryl. After they kicked in, the rash began fading and we were released. I took Daddy home to relax on the couch. Grace Anne and I went to the pharmacy to get the prescriptions filled, then dealt with the workman's comp stuff and finally got home about 2 hours later. Mommy got Grace Anne ready for bed, Daddy rocked her to sleep, and Mommy left yet again to go get Daddy's car from work-- thanks to the help of "Mama #2" (Kathy). Finally, I was home by midnight! Whhhhaaattt a day!

Wednesday the saga continued as we had to communicate with the union steward, manager, and safety supervisor. Apparently the hospital release didn't outline specifically that he shouldn't return to work. The doctor had mentioned not to drive or anything on pain meds and had said work was out for at least one day. After several calls to the ER, super Mom got a hold of someone that was willing to discuss the technicalities of what the release said. By 7pm on Wednesday, after being on the phone for what seemed like all day (which of course I hate talking on the phone), I was on my way to the ER to pick up the doctor's note. Wheeww what a day, again!

Friday, well I guess that is today, was much more fun and enjoyable. Grace Anne and I went to the fourth grade class to visit the kiddies. They were very excited to see Mrs. Kepley and the baby! Afterward, we went to lunch with two girlfriends at La Costa on Market Square and to the little shops.

Just another marvelous MONDAY..

So we should be working on getting Grace Anne to bed, but she is already asleep. I've been reading up on how to establish a schedule, how to get her to sleep in the crib and adjust her natural clock. I started this new process yesterday... the bedtime rituals went well, but she didn't sleep much last night.. neither did I! But, the schedule isn't on track tonight at all-- which is probably bad news. Although, I felt better after talking to another new mom today in a children's boutique. Her little boy is two days younger that Grace Anne and he is sleeping no more than 5 hours.. and that is in the bed with her. I don't let Grace Anne sleep with us because it is not a habit I want to have to break... He also isn't rolling over or pushing off the way Grace Anne is. He is also almost 12 pounds! Ultimately I've decided, everyone has their own style.. maybe mine will pay off, if not I'll make alterations to make it work!

We had a good weekend with a visit Saturday from Poppy. Poppy came up to see us and to open Grace Anne her first savings account. We have to teach the little one good saving and money habits. She also got a really cool Valentine's Day present. It's a doll with a rattle. Its the perfect colors and its so stinkin' cute (Mommy helped pick it out.. can you tell by the rave review I'm giving it?!) We are calling her "Dollie."

As you can see, Grace Anne and Daddy enjoyed dancing to The Who during the halftime show. We weren't overly thrilled with the results from the Super Bowl. For one, we have to support Peyton.. he was a VOL! He is still very loyal and generous to the university and as a fellow alum I feel we should root for him. Secondly, as Kris said... that "WHO DAT" crap is very annoying! I'm sick of hearing ESPN report that New Orleans "needed" this win and we are humored by the facebook status updates of those loyal Colts fans such as.. "i hope katrina hits new orleans again." or "if one more person says that the city of New Orleans badly needed that superbowl win last night because of hurricane Katrina, someone's going to have to come get be from the county jail tomorrow." even though we shouldn't wish harm on Louisiana... or anyone for that matter!!

Other updates, Daddy has a lead on a job he is really interested in. It is with a company a friend of mine's husband works for and seems to have advancement potential, so we are hoping to hear more about that. We are also really hoping that the lead goes somewhere. I hate to even mention it because we don't want to jinx ourselves!

Oh yeah, based on this chart... we have a little genius! (This picture makes her look super cute but, super old! she is still less than 10 1/2 pounds! and I love her blabla... Daddy wants her to get the panda and Mommy can't decide if she wants her to have the owl or piggy next-- she needs them all I guess.) She has mastered the 3 AND 4 months "mastered skills" ... She also turns toward loud sounds, bats at toys, does a mini push ups, recognizes our voice (we tried it with Daddy on the phone when he called today), she squeals, gargles, yells, blows bubbles, and of course rolls over from tummy to back. She's a smart cookie I tell ya.

CRIB TIME?.. no thanks, Mommy.

Anyways, we hit the 12 week mark TODAY. Yes, our baby is 12 weeks old. I can't believe it!
Last night I decided that the sleeping in the bouncy seat or on our chest on the couch should come to an end. I never ever thought my child wouldn't be sleeping in a crib by now.. but guess what.. she isn't. I'm a terrible Mommy... she won't sleep a long time in the crib or bassinet. It is not going to happen in one night (even if I thought it would I managed to prove that theory wrong last night). I have hit a level of exhaustion though. Daddy is okay with letting her sleep on his chest, but he stays up until 3am and then gets to go get in bed until 9am or so... Mommy on the other hand gets up at 3am after only sleeping a couple hours (because getting in bed early has gone out the window with Daddy's new work schedule) and then I get the morning feeding duties with a little one that is an early bird. -- which may not come to a surprise to anyone that knows me or better yet Gran Gran Grace..! She is wide awake and ready to play at 6am. So, needless to say, I am in need of some sleep and it doesn't seem be quite that easy! We just haven't managed to get to where we sleep in bed and she wakes us when she cries. By the time she goes to sleep we seem to be dosing off on the couch. I know we aren't doing this whole parenting thing by the text book and probably not how you'd do it-- but its our kid, our lives, and we aren't soliciting for advice! Thanks though. I think what really set me off was the fact that a girl I know had on facebook that her baby, that is like 8 weeks old, slept all night-- I knew at that moment I was a terrible mother and I had to work on getting my sweet pea in her bed or bassinet or something.

Today I set up the Jumparoo. The instructions say 4 months and older. But, I figured that our little runt could try it out.. simply because she is strong enough to hold her head pretty steady. Keep in mind she is still only in the 18th percentile for weight! Her feet don't come close to touching the ground (hence the blanket and towel in picture above) and it took 3 receiving blankets stuffed all around her to fill in the gaps around her in the seat, but she liked it nonetheless! She is not a big baby by any means! As a matter of fact, we went to Wal-Mart tonight and the cashier, whose name happened to be Tiny (ironic I know), said "Oh hunny, she is very small for a 3 month old." But, Tiny said she was precious and we were welcome to come through her line any day!

SPLISH-SPLASH Grace Anne loves taking a bath!

Tonight Grace Anne had her first splish-splace bath. In the past she has been in the bath sling that is a mess material that keeps her from being submerged in the water. She has gotten where she loves taking a bath and she has really gotten strong enough to hold herself steady. The baby tub has a seat basically so she can't go too far.. but she loved splashing her feet. I think a video may be in order... but I'd prefer to video that when Daddy can help... and Daddy is working tonight.

This week has been exciting because Grace Anne got to meet her other great grandfather. Pa Gene came to visit. (Family Treen Info: Kris' mom's dad) He and his wife Sandra showed up Monday to see the little one. Pa Gene loves to travel and loves to drive... so with that being said.. you never know where he will be or when he will show up! Mommy and Grace Anne got to visit with them for a couple hours. Daddy was working because UPS has been laying people off... he has to work on whatever shift he can get on! But, we did get to go out to breakfast with them on Tuesday morning before they headed on their way... Needless to say they were ready to kidnap her. I reminded them, as I do everyone, taking my baby is going to cause me to make a phone call to the "authorities" and I don't care if you are family! But, they were in love with her! They got to see her show her pretty smile, fancy rolling over, and they were even lucky enough to see her show her strength! We hope they come back real soon!! We love visitors!

In other news, it was basically Christmas at the Kepley Casa. Today was National Signing Day and that is like Christmas morning to Daddy-o. The Vols came through with some strong recruits and Daddy was in a very good mood! He, as always, is excited about the Fall and what the new season will bring! So Happy Signing Day, Daddy! I'm so happy you got Da'Rick for "Christmas"... I'm so happy we took him away from UGA and all our little UGA fan-friends (like Uncle Mitch.. haha).