"Extreme Couponing".............

Could very well be my "new favorite show"----although now that I've watched The Voice, it's a toss up!!! Anyway, I learned on Extreme Couponing that Kroger has a new coupon program and boy am I excited for it!!! I have often referred to myself as "The Coupon Queen" so this is right up my alley. You create an account on www.kroger.com and you enter your Kroger plus number and from their website, you load electronic coupons onto your card. Then, when you go to checkout, you give them your card as usual and in addition to getting the discounts for using your card, it will deduct your "electronic coupons"!!!! Isn't this a genius idea????? I love the fact I don't have to print off coupons because is there really a savings when you've had to buy paper and ink for your printer---I THINK NOT!!! So, I'll be doing this very soon and shall report back! Oh, and if you're not a Kroger shopper or live out of state, you can look on their website and it lists their sister stores that offer the program. BRING ON THE SAVINGS!!!!!!!

"INTRODUCING............."

Her Royal Highness.....Princess.....................

Delaney.............
Catherine................



Don't you just love a good wedding??? Delaney does! I nicely explained to her we would NOT be getting up to watch The Royal Wedding. But, she is apparently already defying her mother. I heard her "talking in her sleep" as I like to call it on the monitor at 3:45 A.M. I think she was trying to get me up to watch it but I didn't fall for it...as a matter of fact, I just let myself "fall" back to sleep and we got up at our usual 9:00 A.M. and have been watching the highlights all day!!! We LOVE LOVE LOVE Kate's dress but we both agreed we didn't care too much for her bouquet----not sure why they didn't consult with us! ha ha ha


*ADDENDUM ----after typing this post, I saw on t.v. (yes, still watching The Royal Wedding coverage) that Kate Middleton did her own make up for her wedding! I think my mouth flew open when I heard this! I mean even a "commoner" like me had my make up done professionally! ha ha ha I think that says a lot about her (but what the heck does it say about me???) And oh my land, as I am sitting here typing this they just said the wedding is estimated to have cost $65 MILLION DOLLARS!!!!!!

Well, I better go to bed now just in case Delaney decides to start talking in her sleep again tonight! She has an exciting weekend planned with TWO birthday parties so HRH (Her Royal Highness) BETTER sleep through the night tonight!

New Shoes, Headless Easter Bunny, Book Club and Royal Wedding

It's not that I don't have good intentions or that I don't TRY to put shoes and socks on this girl. What can we say, we like to go barefoot! (P.S. I bought this outfit for Delaney in Texas and meant to have her wear it for her birthday but completely forgot!)But, I realize she can't always go barefoot so off to Stride Rite we went! What girl can leave the shoe store with just ONE pair of shoes??? Not any girl I know! Note her shoe size (4 1/2 EXTRA WIDE!!) For Delaney's birthday I was going to get her some Nike Shox (like mine of course) but then I decided I wanted to hold off until she was w-a-l-k....oh geez, I can't even type it but you know what I mean, when she started w-a-l-k-i (nope, still can't type it)....I doubt Nike makes EXTRA WIDE shoes so I decided to get her a pair at Stride Rite.

What girl doesn't need a pair of white summer sandals??

And some pink tennis shoes! I CANNOT BELIEVE I bought Delaney velcro tennis shoes. I sure didn't see that coming! But, I remembered how she loves to untie shoe laces so we'll go with these for now!

It seems as though we have a headless bunny in our house! I think a certain someone is crawling out of her crib at night and sneaking into the kitchen for a late night snack!!! Oh wait, I don't sleep in a crib!!!! Man was he good!

I went through all of Delaney's books the other day. These don't include the ones she got for Easter! Delaney wants to know if anyone is ready to start a baby book club! I hope she always has an interest in reading. I think it's one of those things you either enjoy it or you don't, there's no in between......

Oh and as far as The Royal Wedding.....we are in full swing around here gearing up for it---the re-broadcast of course because there ain't no way we are getting up that early! I just learned that Kate Middleton's name is Catherine Elizabeth!!! For those of you who don't know.....that was one of my names for Delaney....but I think most of you know by now I had no say in naming Delaney!!! I just knew my girl was Royalty! ha ha ha.....

Wordless Wednesday

13 Months!

At 9:15 A.M. our doorbell was ringing (clearly, our UPS driver forgot he is NOT suppose to ring the door bell when we have deliveries!!!) and I realize normal people are up at this hour but no one ever said we are normal!! Of course, it was for Delaney....................... But nothing too exciting (unless you think 260 diapers is)!! Delaney sure did like playing with the box though!!!

So what do you think?? Haircut or no?????

Definitely not in the back though!!

Books are no exception to everything going in her mouth!!!!

And here's Delaney's latest......this is the look I get when I tell her "no-no". I may have told her "no-no" just to get this shot!!! THE THINGS I DO FOR YOU BLOG READERS! HA HA HA

Here is the look I got when Delaney couldn't reach her ball and sippy cup.......

And here is "little Miss determined"..............(I bet by her 14 month post she makes it)

How did 13 months go by so fast????????????????????????

Dear Delaney Catherine,

Sometimes I feel like between your monthly blog posts not much has changed but that couldn't be more wrong for this one! You are up to soooooo much these days!!! You are changing daily!

• I think you still weigh about 20 lbs and are still about 29 1/2 inches




• You are in your big girl car seat and face forward and love to look out the windshield (although you often fall asleep in the car)




• You are eating all kinds of foods now and love bananas, avocado, applesauce, and black beans




• You take your milk from your bottle and your apple juice from your sippy cup




• You are in size 3 diapers and size 4 when you sleep




• You are still such a good sleeper and sleep about 12 hours a night




• You are walking EVERYWHERE!! You are not a full fledge walker but when you are "down" you are basically just walking




• You are starting to say your version of banana (which sounds like nanna), night night, dog, and sometimes you will say momma but most of the time you yell out "da da"




• You pretty much still have daily visitors and you get so excited when people come to see you. You stare out the window and start laughing and kicking like you've never seen them before but more than likely you saw them the day before!!!




• You REALLY get your feelings hurt when you are told "no no" and immediately make a sour face and start crying! It's sooooooooooo darn cute!




• You continue to fight me on EVERY diaper change




• You are so squirmy, you constantly want up then down up then down when I am sitting on the sofa




• From the minute you get up to the minute you go to bed you are EVERYWHERE!! You play with all of your toys and don't really have a favorite




• You are still obsessed with watching me vacuum




• You are wearing size 12 months and got TONS of new clothes for your birthday




• A month from today you return for your follow up visit to the pediatric orthopaedic specialist for follow up x-rays of your hip. He wanted you to return when you are walking so he can check your hip alignment. I HOPE it's the last time you have to visit him

We had such a special moment today. For about 10 minutes or so (the end of Dr. Phil, beginning of Oprah) you were sitting on my lap facing me on the sofa. Normally, you will sit on my lap for just a second before you want back down but you sat so contently and we played peek a boo, itsy bitsy spider and laughed and had so much fun!! But then, the IDIOT down the street started up his LOUD truck (don't worry, I've already called the police about it---YES, I'm THAT neighbor) and it startled you and you got down!

It seems like I was just blogging about Delaney's first birthday ONE MONTH AGO. Actually, it seems like I was just blogging for the first time! I love having this blog to look back on and capture events, holidays, moments, photographs and milestones. SO MANY people tell us how much they enjoy our blog and we love to hear from people! We especially love it when people read the blog and then call us or email us just to tell us how much they loved a particular blog post (Angie R. I hope you know how much I appreciate you taking your breaks to call us especially when we know you could have taken that time to catch up on your People!!) I love that Delaney will someday be able to look back at the blog (and to see how nuts her mom was---Delaney, if you're reading this, I hope you know it was all out of love! ha ha).

"Hoppy" Easter!!

If you're wondering if the Easter Bunny showed up............................... Why of course!!!!

And, I found the solution to NOT having to get Delaney's haircut. Thanks Easter Bunny!

It's not easy to get Delaney to look at the camera these days....so, a little bribery goes a long way!

Still won't look at the camera..........

And she's up!

(Yes, our guests had chairs but they are ugly so I thought the picture would be better without them)..........................

And......there was homemade carrot cake! Thanks for all your hard work Ang, it was delicious!

I have no clue why this picture is so small but this is Delaney and her pink bunny last Easter....
And here is Delaney this year with the same bunny!!!

And here is Delaney at 5:00 p.m.!!!! I think she had a "Hoppy" Easter...................

A little of this and a lot of that.......

As I said previously, this little girl needs a haircut. So, I did what I'm sure all first time moms hate to do....I called Delaney's hair stylist (which just happens to be her aunt Beth) and made a hair appointment. Well, ok, not exactly an "appointment" but more of a "Delaney needs a haircut so I'll call you back next week to let you know if I can go through with it".................I just find it very strange that a little girl who's only One---ooops, I mean twelve months, is already ready for a haircut! She just needs one quick "snip" for those long bangs that hang down in her eyes but I just can't do it. I think my exact words to aunt Beth were "do you think you'll be able to do it or will it be too traumatic for you"....... We haven't blogged about this yet (and won't until afterwards for safety reasons) but Delaney is going to be hitting the beach this summer (but clearly will NOT be getting in the ocean now that I have seen Soul Surfer!!!) so we're gearing up my little Beach Baby with the proper attire (thanks grandma Terry).........

And don't forget her swim shoes (thanks aunt Trina)!! Aren't these the cutest things ever! I kept saying "she looks like she's going scuba diving" (that comment was made BEFORE I saw Soul Surfer)!! Look where her little heel is--she just won't put shoes on all the way!

And don't forget her swim diapers. Delaney's aunt Ang got these for her last summer for the pool but they were too big. It's driving me crazy trying to figure out what the S/P means. Now, in women's clothes that means "Small/Petite".....surely not???? (I know, you're still loving those swim shoes aren't you??) They are going to be great for the concrete around the pool this summer. Delaney and I will be taking swim lessons soon---stay tuned!

And, after pulling out EVERY SINGLE rubbermaid tub in our storage closet, we finally found....(better late than never...right??)

And we finally removed the tags from Delaney's birthday outfits............. I never realized how small the gap would be from Christmas until Delaney's birthday which is exactly THREE months. I feel like she just got tons of Christmas presents and now this!!!!

and washed them all................................

Delaney is so funny, she gets up in the morning, takes her bottle and IMMEDIATELY gets down on the floor and starts playing. I just wish she had more toys to pick from.............ha! (I know what you're thinking---I BETTER NOT change my mind and go through with the hair appt!!!!)

This picture was taken with my cell phone but I had to get a picture of Delaney eating black beans for the first time! I just wanted to start early to make sure my girl likes--make that "loves" Mexican food since we have Cinco De Mayo coming up!!!!!! She LOVED them! (And, went straight to a bath---although, she really is a "clean" eater--I RARELY have to put a bib on her).

That just about sums up the last couple of days for us. Delaney is getting so "egg-cited" for Easter. She isn't sure which dress she is going to wear yet (she has three strong contenders). Oh, and we're also gearing up for The Royal Wedding!!! We are going to spend all week glued to the t.v. (especially since the forecast is rain FOR THE NEXT WEEK)!!! I can distinctly remember being 6 years old when Princess Di and Prince Charles got married (ooops, did I just tell my age??) and my mom got me up very early out of bed to watch it (I think it was even a school morning) on our CONSOLE t.v.!! WHAT SIX YEAR OLD DOES THAT?????? All I can say is Delaney and I will NOT be carrying on that tradition. I mean the wedding is suppose to air at 4:00 a.m. and ya'll know that "ain't never gonna happen" . I remember being a little girl thinking "I want a long train just like Princess Di's when I get married"...funny, I cut the train off my wedding dress! Delaney better not even think about wedding dresses when we watch The Royal Wedding---she can just stick with picking out which Easter dress she plans on wearing for now!

"Dear Summer"

We know you are two months away but could you PLEASE hurry up and get here? My little "hillbilly" is ready to go barefoot...................................

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

"Mommy, can I call Grandma Chappell to tell her HAPPY BIRTHDAY"?????????????????

Delaney KNOWS we never discuss a woman's age but today is a MILESTONE birthday for grandma!!!!

Jammies to Jammies

Delaney and I have been busy these last few days but apparently we were too busy to take pictures of whatever it was we were doing! So today, I picked up the camera to take a few shots of my sweet cheeks!

I know what you're thinking---and yes, I know, this kid needs a haircut!!!!!!

Is it wrong to go from one pair of pajamas to another???? Delaney and I LOVE our jammie days! (Notice her little foot turned like a ballerina)..................

Momma's Not Very "Hoppy"...........

I mean seriously....would YOU be???? If this is THE BEST Easter set up your local mall had what would you do??? Would you BEG the photographer (who I later determined was the lady who did the setup) to re-arrange the setup or would you just "go with it"???? Well, as you can see, we just "went with it". I was so excited to get Delaney dressed up (in one of many Easter dresses) and take her to see the Easter bunny. We were so excited when we saw there was no line but that quickly changed when we turned the corner and saw ferns, a brown wicker loveseat and OLD, worn out cushions. I immediately asked if the Easter bunny could get up and we take the picture on the stone wall with planted (fake) pastel flowers that was set up around the perimeter (I was told "no"---clearly, I am the ONLY mom who has ever asked this before). I mean look at this picture...there is only ONE cute thing in it................................. (and if you'll notice, the yellow duck is cut out of the picture!!) Dear Easter Bunny, if you happen to live in the North Pole, could you PLEASE get a better setting for your next trip to the Greenwood Park Mall????