two months?

seriously?! my little bit is already two months? i can hardly believe it.

she is finally turning into a little person with her own personality.

she loves to goo gooo gooooo, and geeg geeeg geeeeee! and she almost always smiles at her mommy!! she weighed 8lb 9 oz at her check up (which was a 1.5lb weigh gain in three weeks...YOWZA!)

and she LOVES to stand up....well, as long as her big ol' noggin will let her! ;)

what did we do before we had you miss f? i can't recall...but who would want to!!!!

just in case...

you don't live here? today was H.O.T!!! just ask these two sweaty little children. have mercy, how WILL we survive august?!

a family discovery

since gege and pawpaw are here for the twins birth...we were able to spend a little time with them yesterday afternoon, and they even brought setler along!!

i even managed to pose the stair stepped cousins. (caprisun bribery works EVERY time!)

and got the sweetest picture of pawpaw and his girl, frances.

and speaking of visitors, aunt shannon was in town this week and got to hold her newest niece for the first time.

jackson and vivian had fun sliding down the stairs (bauer was napping).

AND possibly most importantly, i made a very important discovery. frances (from birth) has had the most amazing LOOONG fingers and toes. this is so very fascinating to me because i very clearly remember my mother (even when i was an adult) holding my hand and saying how "stubby" my fingers were (she was VERY accurate, btw). so imagine my surprise today, as i was taking pictures of my sister, to discover that her fingers are LOOONG, just like our mother's and frances'. i guess those smith genes really ARE hanging on, eh cathy?! ;)

bauer, the comedian

i am convinced, that without a doubt, this kid LIVES to make me laugh. his latest trick is to feign emotions\actions. like the above stated, "i happy, mommy!"

"i mad, mommy"

"that stinky, mommy!!"

"ohhhh, you are soooo funny, mommy!" so imagine my surprise when he took this new "acting" gig to the next level...

"look mommy, i vivian. i soo pretty!" :) seriously, i nearly peed my pants!!

ummmm yeah...

so bauer has a bit of a southern accent. that, coupled with his two year old "special" pronunciation of simple words begot the following:
v: mommy, bauer is saying naughty words.
me: what? he is downstairs playing in his kitchen.
v: he is saying a dirty word, mommy.
me: ok, i'll go check it out...
filling the downstairs in a sweet sing song voice:
b: ass cream, asssss cream....whoooo wants assss cream?
:)
IIIIce people, ice. yeah.

and then there were SIX!!!

last night at dinner both clif and i's phones went off at the same time. we KNEW immediately it was time. at 10:18 and 10:20 respectively daylee joan and smith hayes mulhearn made their debut!

each weighed 6 lbs. 6 oz. and measured 19 inches. that is a whole lotta baby!!!

daylee is already a bit curious about her uncle cliffy...

and frances is pumped to have someone finally make HER look like the big kid!! congrats seth, su and setler...we love you, and are so happy for you all!!!

da pool.

it is that time. and we are LOVING it! first pool pic of the year.

smilepalooza

there is simply nothing better than when your child smiles, especially for the FIRST time.

i must admit, these picture just don't do this beautiful girl, justice...

but they DO capture how hard i tried to snap a pic of that sweet face (hence the tongue shot).

and the serious face...

ahhh....there we go! i feel my heart EXPLODING, even now!!!

what a lucky mommy, indeed!!!

memorial day weekend

frances made her first trip across state line to see her gege and pawpaw for memorial day.

bauer and vivian went, too!! ;)

there was a LOT of swimming...

and some fun dress up in aunt su's old dance costumes...

and her brownie uniforms...

and even some "fancy posing". they had so much fun, the big kids decided to stay a few extra days with gege.

unfortunately, clif, frances, and i were stuck for 4plus hours on i-40 just east of memphis. my thoughts, EXACTLY frances!! it actually wasn't THAT bad. everyone was VERY nice to each other, and extremely helpful....AND.....

someone decided to smile for the very first time. now i ask you, wouldn't that make ANY situation perfect?!

at the lake

we spent a little time on greers at the lakehouse a couple of weekends ago with our friends the benton's. analise is bauer's age...and the kids had a blast!!

even though frances wasn't a part of the swimming or hammock time....big brother still spent a little quality time with her.

and the best part of the lake...the quiet ride home! ahhhh.....sweet silence.

randoms....yes, AGAIN!!

*bauer is definitely in LOVE with his baby sister!!! what kills me is this was he and vivian just seconds ago....seriously, check it out!

*i LOVE this spiderman!!

*frances was accepted into a breast feeding study at ach. it basically studies how breastfed vs. formula fed babies grow. here she is being weighed in the "pea pod". it really cracked me up because she looked like a mini olympic swimmer...teehee.

*popa and dot left for a month in europe....so we celebrated his 79th early, with a little story time!

*i finally thought to pull out the playmat, it was a success (or at least in my books. anything that will give me 15 minutes of quiet baby time...yeah, i deem that a success!!)

another one bites the dust...

and another one down...and another one down...
where does the time go?!
alas, another school year has ended...AND, this year vivian graduated pre-k!

what a blessing these two ladies have been as teachers. i was a bit nervous to send vivian back to school so soon after her accident, but i KNEW she was in great hands!!

in addition...bauer was equally blessed to have had ms. shannon and ms. michal. and even though he fussed every SINGLE day when i dropped him off....he always quit before i could hang up his backpack, and obviously, had a great time!!

vivian's request at graduation was that i take her picture with a few of her friends, namely jadyn...

and of course, campbell...

and madeline!

congrats miss v and mr. b, we cannot believe how quickly you are growing up!!

4 year old logic & photography

after putting together a little folder of kid pics for clif, i realized i had missed blogging this picture. the funny thing is, when i took it i specifically remember vivian asking me to get the camera. i obliged, thinking what a cute shot it would be with the girls matching...and then vivian surprised me by feigning sleep. i waited patiently, she then opened one eye and said, "did you take it?" i quickly did, and then she said, "let me see....yep, that's a good one." i couldn't agree more! ;)

the artist

when i was in college i very slowly began collecting art. it was pricey and i was poor, so when i say slowly, i mean slooooowwwwlly. ;) however, it inspired my love of original, unique art, and a dream i would some day fill my house with these beautiful pieces of work. in addition, i would always stroll through galleries and feel totally ready to go home and paint my own masterpiece! well...apparently the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree...

this past weekend i took vivian to the arts center for a play, and afterward we made a quick trip through the museum. she was very interested, and asked lots of question. this weekend i needed to finish a few paintings myself, and vivian asked if she could have her own canvas....and this was the result!! (i did paint the blue background, but she did the rest completely by herself!) my favorite parts are how clif is holding frances and frances is holding a rattle AND, of course, the two purple balls...one for both her AND bauer. i must say, this is my finest acquisition yet!! :)