Look Whooooo's TWO!

Wow the day has come.. no more multi-syllable responses to the famous "How old is she?"
Now, she's just two. It's as simple as that! Okay it's really not, she's really terrible two. Not always terrible but we have some terrible moments. This whole throwing thing... it can go! Oh and the few instances where she's laid down on the floor and thrown a fit.. yeah not a fan.

Okay enough about the terrible twos because she isn't really terrible. She is a blast! I love this little girl to pieces and she definitely keeps us laughing! Her vocabulary is growing as fast as she is and she amazes us with the things she says! "Cookie" "cupcake" "turtle" "OH NO! It's a mess" (yes it is always a mess, a mess she's made) "Stop, dog." "What's that?" "It's a ____." "That's right." "Helllo?" etc. But, beyond her verbal ramblings I'm truly amazed by her ability to recognize letters. It all began with the letter T. As Vols fans we have several Tennessee Power T's lurking around the house. Her first letter was T and it was mostly because she saw it so much we told her what it was and she began pointing it out. She'd see a T in a sign or on a building and scream "T" and she's even see the Texas Rangers T etc. Then one day she spotted a capital T in a book title and asked "What's that?" to the letter beside it and the trend began. She has letters in the tub and she ask what they were and we'd tell her and she'd repeat. She now knows and recognized several letters accurately-- A, B, C, D, E, G, I, K, O, P, T, W, Y, Z. She will get the other letters sporadically though. She usually defaults to 'Dub Ew' (W) if she doesn't recognize it immediatly. I think she likes saying it. Oh well, so yes, we have a baby genius on our hands-- what can I say. (kidding)

The party-- this section is for all the family and friends that are 1800 miles plus away here is the scoop.
Theme: Look Whooo's 2, owl theme (ya know she has so much owl stuff)
Venue: The Kepley's Nest (ya know owl.. nest... get it) It was at our house incase that didn't make sense to you
Entertainment: BOUNCE house and backyard fun... yes backyard... it's South Texas... it was warm!
Food: HOOT dogs (ya know... Hot Dogs but owl theme... HOOT), chips, veggies, grapes, chips, and cupcakes
Gift/Favor: Treat bag (owl finger puppet, owl bubbles, owl crayon roll. and a "2" rice krispy treat. Grace Anne LOVES rice krispy treats!!!

Last but not least--- the stats 33.5 inches tall, 26.5 lbs

It's SPOOKtacular!

Halloween will always be a favorite. I love this holiday so stinkin' much.
We had a great time with a wonderful Halloween Party (which became a Game 7 or the World Series party too!). We had 17 kids, lots of adults, lots of yummy food, hot apple cider, and a brisk night for South TX! The Kepleys dressed up like the Flintstones!
For Trick or Treating, Grace Anne was the energizer bunny... the most fitting costume-- hands down. It was cute and a major hit! She loved Trick or Treating! She was a little confused by the people sitting outside (in garages, on the sofa in the driveway (which is a S. TX thing I'm convinced), etc). She was determined that ringing the doorbell and screaming "Trick Treat" was the only way to do it.

Hello World, we are back in BLOG-land.

So, let's face it.. I'm a terrible blogger, but I'm also terrible at that little thing known as a baby book. So there is a major gap in Grace Anne's growth documentation... in terms of "first word" and that sorta stuff. I will say, she has grown and developed fine. She's now got a mouth full of teeth, head full of hair (well compared to the amount of hair I had at her age, its not like its a TON) and enough spunk and personality to keep us busy-- we are convinced she is the Energizer Bunny.
So a quick "catch-up"---
*This little girl still doesn't sleep a whole lot. She does take a nice afternoon nap and sleeps from about 9pm to 6 or 7am... most of the time. But there is no 8pm bedtime at our house.. that'd never work. Strangely enough I remember my Mom talking about someone else requiring little sleep... and Kris says I've not changed
*She is strong willed and full of personality. She seems pretty social and content around any crowd, although she seems to love men. (scary),She is a smart cookie. She learned the letter T some time ago (see unable to tell you when with my lack of documentation) and so after T she seemed to show interest in letters, so i rolled with it and she now knows A, B, C, G (Sometimes), O, and T. She only knows them in capital form-- but she can find them anywhere.. in magazines, books, on licenses plates, road signs, shopping carts (and yes i know what you are thinking... she does know the Target sign)
*She talks a lot. We might not always understand her, but she babbles nonstop! She has been using complete sentences like "It's a dog." The other night she was looking at a picture of Kris and I. She pointed to Kris (in the photo) and said "It's a Dada." then she pointed to me and said "It's a Mama." We laughed-- she hasn't learned possessive pronouns. She then saw a picture of her and she said "It's a YOU." -- so as it turns out she hasn't learned pronouns at all! I tried to encourage her to say "It's ME." instead but that's a hard concept when I'm constantly telling her "That's you."
*The questions have begun. We constantly said "What's that?" or "Who's that?" and even "Where's ____?" when she started talking. Well now she will say "What's that? It's a dog." or test me "What's that?" and wait to get an answer like we used to do to her. Today she asked me "Where's Dada?" and later she pointed to the TV and asked Kris "Where's a Ba-Ba?" (Ba-Ba being Barney)
*She's fast! She can run, jump, walk, crawl, spin, and twirl! She is on the move and really quick! She loves to play chase with Kris and I. (Which is fun at home, not fun in public!) She also loves JUMPING! 9 out of 10 times she's say "UMP" before each jump. So she sounds so cute because it's like "UMP, UMP, UMP"
*She loves books! Loves them! I wanted her to love them and she does. We read for 30-45 minutes every night and I often read to her several times through the day, but she flips through books and reads to herself ALL the time!
*Animal sounds. There are hilarious. What's a cow say? "BOOOOOOOOOO" (sounds more like Boo than Moo and it's by far the loudest animal) The second loudest animal is the lion... it says ROAAAARRR (and let me tell you I never realized how many lions lined the entrances of Chinese restaurants through out the town. She spots them from the car and roars!). The neigh of a horse is still one of my favorites. A dog doesn't bark or say WOOF WOOF, it sounds more like "ooFFFF OOOfffff" and a pig sounds more like "Ka-Ka" (she stresses the K sounds but not the first part). Lastly, we are humored by her cat sound... she says "oEW".
I'm sure I've left out so much, but... oh well. My new blog style is going to be less detailed than the past and will probably also include rants about the findings and daily life in South Texas. After all.. it's a land of its own!

Yes, we are alive!

Texas has taken us by storm! We are busy people lately and therefore we honestly would have lots to blog about, but... I'm a major slacker! I didn't know anyone still checked out the ol' blog until I received a few emails that made reference to missing the blog! I am not making promises, but here is a quick recap...

February was filled with food poisioning, an unhappy colon, and way too many trips to the doctor (all of this was Mommy issues, but now when Mommy has issues it affects the whole family... but we juggled, shifted, and made it through!) March was much better and included our Anniversary and Grace Anne's first trip to NYC! (oh how Kris and I have missed 'the city')

April has been great so far. Grace Anne got a swingset and we've had a blast in the backyard... everyday!

So the real reason you check the blog... Grace Anne updates!!!

Grace Anne is a busy little tot! To begin with, we are very active in attending playdates! We are part of 2 playgroups but over the last several months we have made very good, dependable friends. Grace Anne 'hangs' with several friends each week and seems to enjoy being so social! (would you expect anything less from my daughter?)... She is walking very well and has been running quite often! She keep trying to figure out how to jump but hasn't mastered it yet!

She is very talkative and expressive, but her vocabulary is still limited (in less you include the jibberish). She of course says MaMa, DaDa, and now clearly says Elmo. She never misses a dog in a book, on the street, in a store, or on TV! She points and proclaims "DOG"!!

Hi and Bye have been around for a while but she has begun twinkling her fingers when saying "Bye" and she usually says "BYE. BYE.... BYE" in a manner that is very adament and loud.

While we still have her in her "space saver" high chair, she is getting much better with eating! She uses a plate and a fork... okay well-- lets be honest here-- she uses a fork nearly 50% of the time! She loves having a fork and is pretty good with using the fork... when she chooses to use it to pick up the food. Some days she put the fork in one hand and uses the other hand to eat!

Her favorite pastimes include... swinging, sliding, destroying the living room by pulling out every single toy (and repeating over and over), dancing to commercials (esp. the ipad commercial which she drops everything for), watching Barney, feeding Brewski (she has finally found a way to his heart), reading her books (also known as flipping each page and jabbering away), and kissing (MUUUHHHMUUUAHHH) us!

She is growing way to fast and we are doign everything we can to enjoy her! She is truly the light of our lives and we are so blessed to have her in our lives. While Texas is very far from family and old friends, we realize how great this opportunity and adventure has been for us as a family! We aren't going to be here forever but we are making the best of right now and enjoying life. It does help that Kris likes his job, has flexibility to spend time with us, and its an added bonus to have met some fun friends to hang out with!

Four little Kepleys in a bed...
none fell out or bumped their heads

I should be sleeping, yes... this is true. I am always in need of sleep and I suppose that won't change anytime within the next ummm 17 years..? But, everyone is sleeping and it theory I feel like I could be so productive. That is probably not going to be the case seeing as I am blogging... but to my loyal fans and followers-- blogging is productive! But, I must say, part of my inability to sleep is the mere lack of sleeping accommodations. Currently, only 1 bedroom, of 3, is occupied. Brewski, Grace Anne, and Daddy-o are all in bed with me. I am beginning to think that we could really use a bigger bed!

Grace Anne was sleeping soundly in her crib, but she decided at midnight she wanted to bond... thus, she is now smack in the middle of our queen sized bed. Brewski has a softy, cushy bed of his own though he seems to feel the need to also sleep with us! Ugh!

Oh well.. here are some new pictures! Enjoy!

WAKE UP GRACE ANNE! Caroline heard you were coming to play.. not sleep!

Grace Anne is a BIG girl now! She faces forward!

She is thinking... "ARE THESE REALLY MY PARENTS?"

New year, new you...?
So there is no excuse for the lack of blogging and no resolution to do better! I put making promises away in 2011! No guilt or promises... :) That being said, I'd like to blog regularly again! I have been thinking I should blog for a while and then it gets put on the back burner... then, a few days ago the most loyal of my fans told me how much she missed it and I thought... I should for sure bring it back! So I waited until today since today is that loyal fan's birthday! Happy Birthday, Alexis! We miss you!

To all my other loyal fans and followers, thanks for stopping by!
So much has happened and life in Texas is much different than the days in Tennessee!
Grace Anne is a blast... she is loud, she is fast, she is smarty and sneaky. She has teeth (4 and 1/2), determination, and a substantial amount of hair! She loves shoes and purses-- her own (yes she has her own Vera Bradley) and her Mommy's! She is a girl through and through.. no doubt! She has attributes of both of us and there is no doubt she is our daughter. The new pediatrician has diagnosed her as.. "strong-willed."

Texas is much different in many ways-- the most obvious at the moment is the climate! My Atlanta/Knoxville "peeps" are facebook-ing and texting about their snow and ice... we still have not turned our heat on (granted our house is very well insulated)! Its actually in the 40's today and that is LOW! You would think we were getting the blizzard--people have pulled out their coats, gloves and scarves! I will say, the wind makes it chilly!! And, I will admit... our bodies have adjusted to this warmer climate... but never did I think 40 could feel so cold!
We stay really busy with playdates, walking, storytime, library visits, park playtime, meeting up with moms (and kids) for lunch... etc etc. I've even taken on a roll in a playgroup as an assistant organizer. Who would have thought that these groups had rules and an organizing hierarchies?.. but you'd be surprised. Grace Anne socializes well and really likes playing! She loves following the big kids around and playing with the boys.. go figure!