Please forgive us.....

We didn't mean to stay away.  We've been right here, at home, enjoying our days with not much on our plate (which has been really nice). If there was a contest for how many episodes of Sesame Street one person can watch in a day, Delaney would be sure to win!  Delaney gets so excited when it comes on you would think each time is the first time she's ever watched it.  And by "it" I mean Elmo.  She has no use for any segment that doesn't include the furry red creature!

And here she is about to pull the plug, literally!  She will not leave the cord to the laptop plugged in!

Be sure to pay attention to her mouth---"If I could just get over these toys"........it's a hot mess in our living room and it drives me nuts.  For now, I bite my tongue, someday I'll only wish I was tripping over toys (and books and babies)!

 And of course when I grabbed the camera to snap this picture she grabbed the camera case!!

Delaney is............

I've left the cursor sitting here long enough flashing, just waiting for me to type...but what can I type about this little girl that I haven't typed already?  What can I type that you don't already know (gosh, if you read this blog I hope you know Delaney, I can't imagine not knowing her)!  This picture was sitting in my phone and I thought it was such a good representation of Delaney.  She is often found in her pajamas waaaaaaay past morning time.  She rarely has her hair done (despite all of her hair bows) and she is always, I mean ALWAYS being silly and entertaining people! Everyone keeps bringing to my attention how quickly she is learning, remembering (my land does the girl have a good memory!) and TALKING.  I have narrowed down my her future job possibilities based on her skills (albeit 23 months worth).  First and foremost I think she will be a news anchorwoman.  She could easily have her own talk show someday also.  The two other careers that top the list are pilot (did you know the girl has an obsession for airplanes?) and train conductor (although this one doesn't excite me her as much).  She LOVES trains and can hear them coming from a mile away and says "choo choo" long before I ever mute the t.v. to hear it myself.  But I guess we've got awhile before she settles on a career choice!  The girl is pure entertainment.
I have noticed so much in the last month I don't know where to begin so here are some fun random facts I want to remember...........

• Delaney can identify A LOT of people.  We are extremely social girls as you can imagine and she knows tons of people by name.  When I am on my blue tooth in the car she recognizes them by their voice and smiles and points to the radio.
• She repeats (or tries to repeat) anything you tell her.
• She is still a very, very picky eater (I didn't expect this).  I struggle so much what to give her and I need to just relax and be happy she is eating and if she's hungry...."she'll eat it".
• Her obsession for Elmo is beginning to become quite worrisome to me.
• I just discovered Elmo is coming to our town next month.  I think buying tickets would only exacerbate the bullet point above.
• I think I'll buy tickets anyway.
• I think I'll rob a bank first.
• Not really but man are those seats expensive (Delaney is not free).
• I always worry Delaney isn't getting enough milk (I cannot stand milk) and just read that you can actually give your child too much milk and if you do that fills them up and they won't eat other foods that provide nutrition.  I read 16 oz. a day is sufficient.  That's probably what Delaney has.
• Who knew you could give your kid too much milk....I thought it "did a body good".
• Speaking of body, I think Delaney still weighs about 29 lbs.  I can't find on my Erin Condren planner if Delaney has a 2 year check up scheduled.  Surely kids have 2 year check ups???
• Delaney fights me all the time on diaper changes and having her nails clipped.  I will remind her of this when she's begging me to go get a manicure and pedicure.
• Delaney does not know the concept of walking--she runs all the time.  She gets this from her dad.  I am not nor ever will be a runner (well, except for the time I ran down the aisle to get to my groom---ok, so I didn't run, but I wanted to).
• When Delaney does walk she walks on her tip toes.  I hear this is completely normal but I still plan on taking her to her pediatric orthopedic physician so I won't continue to lose sleep over it.
• Ok, maybe I"ll just Google it first...then still take her!
• Delaney loves her baths, yes, random I know but it's 12:30 a.m. and these are the kinds of thoughts I have at this hour.
• My mornings start when I hear "mommy" "mommy" "mom" on the monitor.  Each.And.Every.Single.Morning!
• My days end thinking I can't wait until my morning starts (although I am not crazy about being called "mom" already).
• Delaney is loving all of the new pastels that are out for Spring and may or may not have just gotten a pair of colored jeans!
• And a shirt to match....
• The next time I write a monthly post, Delaney will be 2 and it will be about her birthday.  I just pinched myself and although I should be asleep dreaming at this hour, I'm not, it's true, my baby is going to be 2.  
• I read online (I am sure Pinterest--is there any other reason for getting online) that I need to record Delaney's laugh so she'll have it for when she's older.  
• Delaney loves to snack and loves to eat sweets.
• She is a climber.  Enough said.  If it exists, she climbs on it.
• She uses "whoa" and "uh oh" when appropriate. A.LOT!
• I need to get more pictures of me and Delaney together.  Right after I get my hair cut (again).

Dear Delaney Cat,

Oh my little sweet cheeks, we are closing in on turning 2.  I just know you are not going to let go of this potty training--I just don't get all the hype!!  Isn't being potty trained overrated?? I have always said I knew you would be a quick potty trainer and transition easily like every other stinkin' thing you have done, giving me no trouble at all.  You make parenting you so easy.  Even though people tell you before you have a baby it's the hardest job you'll ever have.  I think it's more accurate to say "there are days that are harder than others" but never ever have you been hard to take care of nor have I ever considered you a "job".  I thought as you got older I would be less paranoid about you but that could not be further from the truth.  I do not think like a rationale person when it comes to you.  I am not sure that will ever stop so if you're currently a teenager reading this then I am sorry, but I am your mother bear and we take care of our cubs!  Speaking of Cubs, you know you are only allowed to be a Cubs fan or Red Sox right?  Daddy said so!  I suppose I'll have to put you in red for both!  I can't wait for Spring/Summer to get here (and not just because you have some adorable new swimsuits) because you LOVE to be outdoors.  Ok, I've written enough, it's off to bed for me so I can wake up to "mommy"..........

Love "Lou" 

Your mommy. 

Story time

In my defense.............

 It wasn't this nice (43 and obviously sunny as seen in picture above) when we left for story time yesterday!

We didn't make it to story time last week so I wanted to make sure we went this week.  I didn't even recognize my daughter.  When we are at story time she stays right on my lap or stands right by me. She never runs off or talks a lot.  She acts very shy...........EXCEPT YESTERDAY!! Oh.My.Word. I was chasing her all over the room and thought for a second we were going to have to leave.  In the program we go to the kids are allowed to wonder around the room.  They are not expected to sit still--thank goodness!  I just know the other moms all thought I had given Delaney fruit loops for breakfast!!!

"She Said 3"

I often find myself wondering why Julie and I don't have our own sitcom........now that I have your attention allow me to explain..............

I can remember quite vividly Julie telling me "now you know that realistically Delaney will probably be 3 before she's potty trained".  I replied "yes, and I am perfectly fine with that".  You see, I do NOT MIND buying diapers, I do NOT MIND changing diapers (oh and I haven't told you this but Delaney is "one of those" people who can only do #2 at home so no messy diaper changes when we are out).  Ok so, I BELIEVED HER!! Julie has potty trained 5 kids so the woman knows what she's talking about right????  Well, I thought I had another year but if you've read the blog lately then you know Delaney has other ideas and her own "timeline".  I"m just really struggling with this like the other night when she stood at the bathroom door (that she shut earlier) and started saying "potty".  Doesn't she know that I am not ready for potty training??????  I thought I had until she was 3!!!

Julie can really tell it like it is in a non "know it all" way!  Like the time when she called me and said "Did you watch Dateline last night?"  "No, why" "Well, I am really getting worried about your eggs because they said that women's eggs begin to drastically deplete at the age of 27".  "Ok thanks, I'll tell Dave"...............and my VERY favorite story....DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!

"Ashley, I have something important to tell you and I've been holding it in because I don't know how". "WHAT? just tell me"......"I heard the Target by you is shutting down" AND THAT MY FRIENDS WAS THE DEFINITION OF DEVASTATING!!!! See, she knew that was MAJOR news in my world and if no one else was going to be brave enough to tell me then she knew she had to be the one!  (I was thinking of this story yesterday when I text Julie asking her if she "needed" to go to Target).  She replied she was at the gym.  I replied "that thought nauseates me".............So, if there are any t.v. producers following this blog there's plenty more where those came from (ha ha ha)....

Notice the RED tags??? These were my Target Deals ($.60) and boy did they have tons (well maybe not now since I came home and told everyone about them) I'm guessing because we have basically skipped over winter weather this year!!!  Who needs the Dollar Bind???

Ok, gotta go, someone wants to start our marathon of Sesame Street!!!!

P.S. I have another funny Julie story to tell you about baby names.  I am thinking I need to do a whole blog post for Delaney to read someday on all of our David's baby names.  I am also thinking I should have asked Julie permission to do this post! ha ha ha

A "New" Babysitter

Are you wondering what Delaney is watching so intently??? (and yes, those are her rain boots, she is obsessed with them)

 Really?  You had to wonder????

While I talked on the phone got dinner ready I turned on "the babysitter" tonight.  It was a huge success (so was dinner).  I discovered a few things about Sesame Street.  A.  It has "new" episodes on during the day at 1:00---REALLY??? Whose bright idea was it to put Sesame Street on right at universal nap time?  Which brings me to B.  What in the world did we do before DVR?  C. The computers on Sesame Street remind me of the ones we used when they first came out---dinosaurs!!!  D.  Now that we are watching "new" episodes and not just the ones On Demand I noticed they changed the beginning--modernized it, but it's the same song. E. I have lost count of how many episodes a person can watch in one day!  I thought Delaney was never going to learn the other characters (is that what we call them? they seem like monsters but I really don't think that's appropriate) besides Elmo on this show but she has finally said Cookie for Cookie Monster, Bi Bir for Big Bird and just tonight she said Bir (which sounded like book) and then said her version of Ernie!  PRAISE JESUS!!! Maybe now I won't have to fast forward the non Elmo segments!!!

Delaney and I have had a very quiet week with no plans and it has been so nice!  I did make a trip to Target today (I was afraid they would shut down if I didn't make an appearance) and you know what I learned??? It IS possible to walk right past the dollar stop and not buy anything!!  Who knew!!!

And then I came home and made the dreaded call--I have been putting it off for awhile now.  I called the baker to make an appointment for her birthday cake!!!! What?? Did you think I was going to say to make an appointment to tour preschool???????? YOU KNOW BETTER!

"I'm Just".........

Wild over this little girl....but you probably already knew that huh????

Would You Believe.....

While I was in the kitchen this evening, I heard the toilet lid go up and ran to the bathroom to find THIS BABY standing at the toilet holding her new Elmo potty seat (thanks Grandma) saying "potty"?  I mean how could this 3 week old baby possibly be ready to potty train?  Look at her, she can barely stay awake she's so small.  So I sat her up on the potty and she reached back for the toilet paper, wiped herself and got off the potty and flushed the toilet (I didn't have the heart to tell her there was nothing to flush)...........

Maybe....

Maybe she'll be an architect.................

Maybe she'll be a teacher (Lord knows how much she teaches me).......

Maybe she'll be a nurse.......................

Or Maybe.................

 Just maybe........................

She'll be a professional golfer just like her daddy wanted!

Wordless Wednesday

I know we haven't done Wordless Wednesday in awhile but I thought this was a perfect picture to do it since I AM NOT EVEN REMOTELY READY TO DISCUSS THIS! I HAVE NO EARTHLY IDEA WHAT WOULD POSSESS THIS KID TO THINK I AM READY FOR THIS.........OR EVER WILL BE!!!!

My Sweet Valentine

Are you still racking your brains trying to figure out how the heck I am going to discipline Delaney? Ya, me too, but for today, we'll just talk about things we love....

First things First, have you seen this movie yet?  It is soooooo good and I am sure since it's release, Kleenex has seen a drastic increase in sales! GO SEE IT NOW!!!! (And of course, take your Kleenex)

Delaney wanted to mail out Valentines to her grandparents so we got out the red paint and got to work. Actually, I glued the hand prints on upside down so just turn your head upside down (or flip over your laptop) and you'll see in between Delaney's hands is a heart.....oh well, there's always next year.

Delaney woke up this morning to snow (so little the grass is poking out) but that didn't stop her from putting on her new snow suit and snow boots (coordinated from head to toe in her signature colors of course) and going outside!  I"ll let the pictures tell the story (I love the extra pair of gloves hooked to her snow suit--last picture).

After nap time, it was time to get in full Valentine's mode and get ready for our party.  That translates to Delaney watched Elmo while I cleaned.  Speaking of watching Elmo, today while we were watching it together in the chair she got up and went to get the remote and brought it to me and said "Elmo"......she wanted it fast forwarded until he came back on!

Here are some fun pictures from our party (we had spaghetti and salad and bread sticks from Olive Garden)

 Yep, took the "squeaks" out as soon as they were delivered.

 I am addicted to all of the FREE printables you can get off the internet.........

 We thought about going out to celebrate................

 Then we remembered there were small children involved so we had a......

An hour before the girls got here I decided I needed to kick it in gear and go out and get some decorations...oh, did I say go out? I meant go downstairs to the basement which looks like a party supply store! I had us "all pinked out" in a matter of minutes.  After dinner Gracie asked me if she could organize Delaney's closet...."let me think....uuummm, ABSOLUTELY"!

Oh and Delaney got flowers, a teddy bear and candy delivered from her grandpa (who already took her out to dinner this week)!

And then for a brief moment I lost my mind and let her have her first sucker....well, a few licks anyway! And yes, she is topless, I wasn't about to let her get spaghetti sauce on her white shirt. (She will NOT keep bibs on!)

 Let me introduce you to our calorie filled tray of heaven....also known as

And then there's this little sweet treat--she's so delicious--I love her fiercely..................(even if this was last year's picture)

Delaney has fun plans tomorrow (you do know that is code for going shopping right??)  Here is something funny I wanted to make sure I blog about.  The phone rang today while I was in the kitchen and Delaney was in the living room.  When I walked in the living room to answer it, she had already climbed onto the sofa to grab the phone AND ANSWERED IT ..."ELLO"....then said "mom" and handed the phone to me...it was a wrong number!!

"Act Your "Age"

My sweet girl is going to be turning two soon (as in now I have to say "next month") and she is starting to act like, well, she's about to turn two! This "season" is bringing on new daily challenges.  I am not a parent who reads books on raising kids (I have one) and just last week I checked out "The Happiest Toddler On The Block" from the library and not long into it the DVD messed up and wouldn't play so I decided that was a sign to stick with my original parenting plan of "not listening to the experts" because every child is different.  So I ejected the DVD and went back to folding laundry because the maid once again failed to show up and returned the DVD to the library.  So, where does that leave me when it comes to disciplining?  BACK TO SQUARE ONE!  I know how I DON'T want to parent.

• I DO NOT use the word "bad" with Delaney.  I try to redirect her attention when she's being "bad"
• I TRY to ignore "bad" behavior (WHEN I CAN)
• I DO NOT EVER threaten her with going to bed or "night night" when she's being "bad".  Here's why, it's simple, I don't want to associate bad behavior with her bed.  I think that is counterproductive. I don't want her to think she is being bad when she really is suppose to be going to bed or she won't want to go to bed when she's suppose to. Delaney was born a good sleeper and I am not about to mess that up by making her think her bed is where "bad" behavior sends her! 
• Spanking??? hhhmm, well the jury's still out on that and YES, I saw the article published this week on Yahoo on how experts say NOT to spank
• Time Out??? Does anyone have luck with this?  I have heard this doesn't work until kids are at least 2 so I guess I have a month to think about this one!!!

And for those of you who are "still with me" after reading my two cents on parenting....here are some pictures from our day.......I had no idea that Delaney put the door stopper under the door (and even sent a text to aunt Karey after she left to see if she did it).  I have no clue how she did this.............

 Or do I?

 At this age, Delaney can go from this (she is crying because she wants "another" cookie).........

(Burying her head for "the drama effect")...............

 To climbing right up right next to me on the sofa with her book (even though it's past bedtime)

 Some days are easy, and some days kick me in the....

AND I LOVE IT!!!

It just boggles my mind that my sweet baby girl who not so long ago was completely DEPENDENT on me for everything and now overnight (ok so it feels like it) she is gaining some INDEPENDENCE. And we all know that comes with DISCIPLINE.  Now that I know how I don't want to discipline, I guess I need to figure out how I DO want to discipline AND BE CONSISTENT WITH IT.  Or maybe, just maybe, Delaney won't misbehave and I'll never have to!!! But just in case she does, feel free to leave me comments on what works (or doesn't) work for you.

"Holy Molars"

"Someone" is getting her two year molars and has been sleeping A LOT (as in woke up at 10:30 yesterday morning and went down for a nap at 1:30 and didn't wake up until 4:30) and isn't eating much (except for when her grandpa took her to Macaroni Grill and she ate A LOT of pasta).................Here is Delaney in her pig tails (which make her look like she's 5!)

***Please don't leave me comments about how her straps aren't adjusted right. I know it's suppose to be higher but dang it's hard to do with those big bulky coats on!

What Has Delaney Been Up To?

Does THIS give you any ideas?????

Isn't this dress adorable?  And YES, I said dress.  Of course now Delaney is wearing it as a sweater.  I just can't part with it yet (even if it is a 12 month)!  I know you look at these pictures and think "why in the world don't I do something with Delaney's hair"....I try, I really do.  The girl will NOT keep bows in her hair and if I do a pony tail it will only stay in when I put it up when her hair is wet and we do her baths at night.  So I guess it will just continue to be a hot mess!  I tell Delaney all the time she isn't allowed to eat in the living room.  Even if she goes and gets her food mat out of her diaper bag!!

We set our alarm on Wednesday for 9:00 a.m. so we could get an early start for Macy's One Day Sale (you know, the sale they have EVERY week!).  We NEVER set the alarm but my girl knows there are certain things that are worth getting up early for.  Delaney didn't get anything from Macy's (but I did score a great new pair of I.N.C. jeans--and by that I mean jeans that are NOT low rise!) so then we headed to The Children's Place.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE their stretchies (i.e. pajamas) and their socks.  However, I do NOT love the fact they just changed their sizing.  The last time I bought Delaney's stretchies I bought her 24 months.  Now they are sized 18-24 months and then it goes to 3T (isn't that strange???)  So here is Delaney trying to rip the tag off her new 3T stretchies (I have no clue where she learned this little bad habit).......

The last time we were at the mall, I was in line at Chick-Fil-A (pretty much doing what the lady in black was doing--I LOVE their lemonade with Splenda) and when I turned around, my friend Amy put Delaney on this thing and well, you can figure out what happened when we went back on Wednesday!  I guess this means no more lemonades because we have to walk past this thing to get there.  Of course I wiped Delaney down with wipes after she got off!  Oh, and then I discovered they have more of these down by NY&Co. so I guess I'll quit shopping there!

And by the time we were leaving JoAnn's Delaney was "riding" this thing....You'll notice in the picture above Delaney is wearing a bow.  You'll notice in the picture below she is not (nor is she wearing shoes!)

On Thursday, we went to story time.  When we pulled in there were lots of moms getting their kids out of their mom cars (i.e. SUV's) and we all simultaneously locked our cars with our clickers at the same time HONK HONK HONK and then formed a single file line as we walked in with our babies it was really funny!  It was a good thing Delaney wore her Elmo shirt with her name on it because there were so many kids there (the biggest group ever) that we didn't get to do the "name game".  I cannot tell you how much she enjoys going.  She is really catching on to the songs we sing (Head Shoulders Knees & Toes, Itsy Bitsy Spider and If You're Happy And You Know It). After story time, we went and checked out some new Elmo DVD's.  PRAISE JESUS they had some because if I have to subject myself to one more episode on the DVR that I have seen a million times I don't know what I'd do!!! From the minute she wakes up until she goes to bed she brings me the remote and says "Elmo"!! I told Delaney she needed to put away her toys when it was bedtime.  She said "uppie" and held up her arms.  I had NO CLUE she had snapped herself in the stroller.  So she went straight to grandma to try to save her from having to help put away her toys----oh and as you can guess, it worked! The girl can work it!!!  I can remember being pregnant and laying on the sofa thinking someday this baby is going to lay next to me on the sofa and last night, it happened.  She climbed "uppie" and laid next to me with her baby in one hand and her thumb in her mouth (other hand).  She pulled up the "nenny" (blanket) and laid there for all of 2.2 seconds.  OH.MY.WORD it was so precious.  This girl melts every ounce of my soul.................

Here are a couple of other things worth blogging:

The other day Delaney reached up onto the counter and grabbed the cup I use to feed the dog and walked to the garage door.  She has never done this before so it just reaffirms how much she soaks up what I do! I know you read these things and think they are silly (well, unless you're a grandparent) but when she does these things for the first time it just amazes me!

While we were at the mall on Wednesday, we were leaving and I was pushing Delaney in her stroller.  A new mom was carrying her stroller (it was still folded up) and her mom was carrying the baby in the carrier.  She stopped me and said "oh good, you have a Chicco, can you show me how to unfold mine".  I looked at my mom and she looked at me.  I showed her how to do it and then her mom said "now how do we put the car seat in the stroller".  I showed her.  They said "this is his first outing".  Reinsert my mom and I looking at each other!  We just started laughing and said "this was her (pointing at Delaney) first outing too".  I then told her she needed to take pictures!  I guess she was just going to carry that stroller through the mall until she found another mom with the same one????? I had to tell her that the same thing happened to us (only we did NOT walk around carrying a stroller into the mall that was unfolded!)  When we took Delaney to the mall for the first time, we had NO IDEA how to work the stroller.  It was already unfolded in the garage so I scooped it up and put it in the back of the car without folding it.........If it is possible to "kidnap" your own daughter then I guess that's what we did.  It was Mother's Day and I "forgot" to tell David we were taking Delaney to the mall for "operation Macy's".  After several "missed calls" (and not to just me, David was calling grandpa to see if he knew where we were) I "confessed" that we weren't at home behind locked doors so no one would really kidnap Delaney and David's response was "how did you know how to work the stroller"??? He knew I had NO IDEA how to work that stroller!!!!  SO, you can imagine how excited I was to see that this girl didn't either! Man, they should teach that stuff in childbirth classes and not teach you how to breath because WHO in their right mind remembers how to do that when you are in labor!!! (I suppose it wouldn't surprise you if I told you David did and kept doing it all the way to the hospital!)  Speaking of childbirth class, I was actually thinking about our classes yesterday at story time.  There were two dads there with their sons and I laughed to myself because I think it's safe to say David would be the one taking Delaney and sitting up front (we sit in the back) and would probably end up running the class!  At childbirth class the instructor had the moms-to-be get on the floor on all fours and do some swaying motion that she wanted us to do while in labor.  Which I am sure I would have remembered about as much as I remembered those breathing techniques!  Apparently I was not doing this exercise correctly so David got down on the floor in front of the class to show me how to do it correctly!  MORTIFYING!!!!!!!!

"Love Lou"

Just in time for Valentine's Day my sweet cheeks says "Love Lou" now........

"Super" Fun Day!

Another year, another Superbowl party for Delaney.  This girl really keeps a busy social calendar if I do say so myself! I found these whoopie pies on Pinterest (please please tell me you are on there, if not, then well, I just don't know what to say---and that NEVER happens!).  I cheated and bought the new Pillsbury boxed kit (and made them yesterday just in case they weren't edible I'd have time to make something else) and then iced the tops to look like footballs but instead they sort of looked like tic tac toe boards! My icing was too thick and that's probably because I bought the wrong kind. But then I thought "can icing ever really be too thick"????  The box makes a dozen but if you look closely at the picture you may notice there are only 11.

 Wonder what happened to the 12th!!!!!

When Delaney got up from her nap (you didn't think I was going to let her miss that did you?) we headed to our friends' Brian and Jenny's who just built a GORGEOUS new home (and yes Jenny, I even loved the RED bathroom!)  Delaney dressed the part with her new jersey her grandpa got for her (Dear NFL if you are reading this...HAVE YOU NEVER HEARD OF PINK????)

I am not sure if this was a football move she was practicing (it is right?? touchback or something like that??) or if Delaney is showing you her bow Amy and Gracie made for her (and yes, you will see this again come 4th of July!)

 Pay close attention to this picture.................

 And here we are back home---no white shirt, no pony tail..........(hiding mommy's keys in the camera case).

People ALWAYS ask me if Delaney is always smiling......why YES, as a matter of fact she is.  I could just burst with joy over this little girl...........how will she ever know how much she means to me????

And just because I like to torture myself and "look back", here is Delaney last year in Texas at her first Superbowl party.  The year before that she was at the game (in utero of course!) but we don't need to talk about THAT game.