Dear Internet World.. Remember me?

In Atlanta before the move, Grace Anne playing with Davis (he's a year and a day older)

So,wow... where to even begin? It's been nearly a month and a half without a blog. Is that terrible? Yes, don't even answer.. I know it is. I am so sorry! So much has happened and I'll do my best to fill you in...

In Mid July Kris interviewed for a job with Nestle USA. He was immediately flown to a 2nd/3rd interview on a Friday and by Monday he had a verbal offer. They loved him and he was selected from a pool of 12 canidates at the face-to-face interview level. By that Friday he had the offical offer letter in hand and accepted the job. The position was to be in Corpus Christi, TX. Kris continued working at UPS while I began preparing for a 1,100 mile move. I began the process by hiring a company to manage our Knoxville house and rent it. Then sorted through our belongs to determine what to keep, throw away, pawn off on family, or put in storage. Luckily I have a wonderful aunt who was able to help in that process! We then recruited help from Kris' fellow UPSers and rented a U-HAUL. We put a lot of the antique furniture in the climate control storage, but we still seemed to have plenty to move. The company paid to have movers pack it move it and put the boxes in the "correct" rooms in our new TX home-- which turned out to be a disaster!!! In late July we made a trip to Corpus Christi to find a home. Kris had already accepted the job and the first day we were visiting we were about to withdrawal his acceptance. After major discussions and analyzing the situation we woke up the next day with a fresh slate. We are so glad that we did because that day we found our new TEXAS home. -- so that's the pretty condensed version to how we got to Texas. (and accounts for part of the reason we've been blog-less)

Now, we are in Texas.. with lots of boxes... some of which are empty. Kris' first day was Monday and he left Monday to go to San Antonio and was gone until Friday. Luckily Grace Anne and Mommy got to visit him Wednesday since San Antonio is a 2 hour drive. Grace Anne is very mobile.. crawling is now very speedy and she cruises along the coffee table and sofa... and boxes... and practically anything she can. She's very curious and fearless! So, we got as much as we could done...

the pack n' play won't usually allow for a nap... but Brewski is on guard

Before the furniture arrived-- notice she is strapped in! haha

Summer Weekend FUN...
in the SUN

This morning Daddy informed Grace Anne that Saturdays are much different in the fall... and to be prepared. That's right.. this is football country in the fall... but today is only July and its only fitting to enjoy the sun and splash in the water. Grace Anne loves the water... there is no doubt she got that from her Gran Gran and my Mom would have loved spending the day with her today. Fortunatly, her Daddy loves water just as much and truly enjoyed spashing in the water at the Splash Pad and then going to Miss Connie's pool (We didn't open our pool this year.. and we've been much less popular because of it). Grace Anne loved the time in the water and almost 5 hours in the sun! Daddy is sunburnt and exhaused... Grace Anne is still going going going like the energizer bunny (no nap mind you).

Also, this weekend Poppy bought Grace Anne the "big girl carseat." The carrier days are over... but I am very happy to have the new careat for safety reasons... after much research and reviews I feel very good about her new seat! Mommy isn't sure what to think about her moving out of the carrier.. why is she growing up so fast?! But, I will admit.. these days are great and I loved her being tiny but I love watching her grow and crawl now.

The most amazing thing happened today...
Grace Anne Kepley took a NAP..

Our child is queen of the catnap. A 10 or 15 minute nap is all she needs and then she is ready to go for hours. I've tried to break this and tried very hard to get her to sleep more than 15 minutes. For months I've struggled. Over the weekend we spent some time with Kris' grandparents and four of their friends. All six of them were amazed at the fact Grace Anne needed such little sleep and was so smiley and active on very little ZZzzz's. BUT, today I told Kris I was putting her down at 1pm for a nap. It ended up being nearly 1:30, but she went to sleep and slept almost 2 hours. She woke up, had a bottle and slept another 20 minutes. It was so amazing. I got sooooo much done. I didn't realize it was possible to mop, clean the bathroom, straighten up the den and do other tasks during the afternoon. We usually play all afternoon. So, I'm going to try this again tomorrow. I hope I'm as lucky, although I am realizing that she had to be absolutly exhausted after an exciting weekend and waking up at 5am... But, maybe my theory of exhaustion is wrong and she will atleast sleep an hour a day.. maybe?

Other milestone news, our scooter is a crawler. Yesterday we saw the big transition from scooting to crawling. So watch out world. Tonight she has been ALL over the den!


Daddy thinks Grace Anne is ready to try driving the BMW... Mommy disagrees!

What doesn't kill us... makes us stronger!

Let me go ahead an not even begin to apologize! Yes, that is right.. I haven't blogged and I'm nto even saying I'm sorry! I am glad that your here though.. reading my updates! I'm guessing some people have given up on us... which brings me to my next thought.. a thank you to all those concerned and caring friends that have reached out to us during the series of Kepley catastrophes!
Kepley catastrophes? Yes, we are in the midst of a bad luck... plague! Daddy's job search-- no luck, washing machine--shot... lawnmower has gone to lawnmower heaven .. we've had electrical issues.. air conditioning issues.. and the latest costly catastrophe.. a gas leak. But, the gas leak has been fixed.. its amazing what money can buy.. On the same token, its also amazing what all these catastrophes can cost!

Grace Anne is growing like a weed! She is so long!! (or seems like it to us) She isn't crawling really-- its more of a scoot.. or army crawl, but she can move ... and really loves her o-rattle ball and her stacking/nesting cups.There is nothing better than being parents and more and more we realize that Grace Anne is the best thing that ever happened to us. How any parent could abuse or neglect to their child is simply unfathomable. Parenthood truly shows you a different kind of love! Sadly, not all parents can put behind their selfishness-- but Kris and I have embraced the opportunity. There are so many occasions we look at one another and think -- wow we really put Grace Anne first.. she is number one! On that note, I'll add... I have fewer shoes and purses than I've ever had in my entire life.. and that is saying something.

PS Anyone have any leads on a job for Kris? haha

Summer is Sizzling

and the Heat has set in!

(Yesterday Daddy cheered on England against his homeland in the World Cup while his little
girl napped on his shoulder! We want to live in England so that was our salute to England I guess!)

So, as kids we grow up thinking-- "I can't wait for summer! I love summer." The truth is.. I never exactly looked forward to summer-- yeah I looked forward to the break from school and the vacations and of course I loved my Mom being off work and home with me.. but summer wasn't exciting for the heat. I'm beginning to believe more and more that I hate heat. I honestly am not really bothered by the heat until I am at a lack of air conditioning! Not that I enjoy the heat ever, but when its hot in the house I begin to HATE the heat! Well that day has come.. the A/C isn't up to par. But, the reassuring new is... the A/C guy is coming tomorrow to give us relief and hopefully tell us that its a simply, easy, very inexpensive fix!
Tonight we went out to eat (in order to avoid adding heat to the house) and then got Brusters. I let Grace Anne try the peach yogurt... i know.. she is too young.. she is too little and blah blah blah. Nonetheless, she tried it.. did she like it? I'm not sure. We video'd her!

Also, notice the use of the umbrella stroller below. Daddy was very sad that Grace Anne was big enough for the umbrella stroller! Although, I would feel better if she had a bar on the front of the stroller... BUT, When she starts walking Daddy will have a melt down!
Can you believe she is already 7 months old?!

Scooter-- Check
Crawler-- getting there...

She loves this ball. It is an O-ball Rattle. It was a worthwhile purchase!

Boy, time sure flies
when you are havin' fun!
(In this picture she is eating an orange in the little munckin food thing. It was very messy)

So, wow.. its been nearly two weeks since I posted. I can't pass any blame, but I will say... GRACE ANNE has been a bit of an attention hog!

Even as I begin blogging, one eye is fixed on her movement across our den floor. She isn't exactly crawling... she is moving though. She tries to crawl then she rolls and then she scoots and then she is going backwards... and then she tries to get up on her hands and knees... see as you can tell by just reading this--- its exhausting because you don't know the next move. A moment ago she was under the rocking chair with her mouth around the rocker bar. Yea.. she requires a lot of attention.

If we think back all the way to Memorial Day, we have nothing to report. Grace Anne had a virus and Daddy felt yuck--which we are assuming her had what she had. So Mommy had to play Dr. Mom while trying to avoid getting the bug. Luckily, they got better and I managed to successfully avoid their germs!! But, we didn't do ANYthing remotely holiday-ish. Mommy cleaned out closets while the two of them loafed and whined. (Grace Anne did MOST of the whining)

This past weekend we had a Garage Sale. Last year I swore I'd never ever have a Garage Sale again. They are a pain and they are way too much work! Well, I did it anyways. It was as big of a pain as I'd remembered! But, it was successful. I actually ended up only doing it Friday because I sold the majority of my junk and was over it! Plus, I slid on some oil Friday--my knee was killing me, and I could hardly move Friday night! Luckily I delayed going to the ER and felt some better Saturday. Having a Garage Sale on a muggy, hot June day with an infant is just not conducive! Luckily Daddy hauled all the remaining trash/junk/merchandise to the Salvation Army drop box and we are now a little more cleaned out. Don't get me wrong though, moving from my house would still be an absolute nightmare!

Last night, Daddy had a softball game and an idiot in the out field managed to catch the ball Daddy hit. We really think its more like the ball managed to find his glove because this guy probably hadn't caught a ball all season. Nonetheless, the hit would have won the game... instead it was an out and the other team won by one point. Daddy was bummed, but we had fun watching the close -- exciting game. His team hasn't had a lot of close exciting games... they have gotten much better but they are one game away from the end of the season with only 1 W beside their name!

After the game we went to grab dinner. Grace Anne sat in a high chair in the restaurant. This was the very first time she has used a high chair at a restaurant. (And she drank water from Mommy's straw!)