today's quandary

so there has been a long running joke amongst the day's that cheerleaders are not REAL athletes. as a former, longtime cheerleader, you can imagine on which side of the debate i fall. HOWEVER, the real debate has been over which side miss vivian will fall (cheerleader or soccer player). so HERE IS MY PROOF! does this not look like the early makings of a heel-stretch?! and a pretty darn good one at that! now never mind that she is in a dress and i am trying desperately to "pose" her for easter cards ;) so leave a comment and let us know on which side you fall....just remember your vote could effect your receiving an easter card ;)....just kidding!!!

confession time...

ok, so as i have said before, confession is good for the soul right?! well, as most of you know i am not much of a sports fan (ha, i hardly know the names of teams except ole miss and arkansas)...but for some reason (i believe it to be hormonally induced) peyton manning has been in my dreams lately. the first time it happened it startled me so much i told clif. he said "what was he doing?" i said, "well, he asked me out to lunch." clif said, "that's weird." "yeah, it is!" i said. and that was that. the second time...clif said "what did he do now?" "took me to paris," i said. "you are losing it, somer" clif replied, and i agreed. then this morning i awoke and my husband was lovingly looking at me smiling...i looked back into his face, returning the smile....his smile faded. "you were dreaming about peyton! what did he do this time?" he said. a little startled i confessed..."he bought me a boat, and made a peanut butter and jelly picnic for us to take on the boat. then he held my hand and professed his love for me." now normally you would think that this would shake a man to his core...a 6'4" pro football legend like that professing undying love for his wife....clif bursts out laughing...and laughs and laughs and LAUGHS!!! "what is so funny?" i asked. "your idea of romance" he says. ok so maybe he has a point. ;)
photo courtesy of crazy yankee cousin cathy! you are the best!!!

the zoo

since it has been so beautiful lately clif and i decided to take advantage of our 85 degree weather, and take vivian to the little rock zoo. we have been once before, about a year ago, when vivian was small enough to fit inside the baby bjorn. this time we thought we would take the radio flyer red wagon (a fantastic christmas gift courtesy of great mawmaw day).

vivian had other ideas...she really loved the zoo, but wanted to walk EVERYWHERE! including, but not limited to, trying to climb in to the gorilla pen! i managed to get this shot, and it pretty much sums up the day...in between oohing and squealing at the animals she would take off like a lightning bolt, with clif close behind (doesn't she look determined?).

actually they look really cute (this is by far the best picture i got all day!).
oh, and the coolest animals were the baby gorilla and her mother. they even had a tiny human baby rattle (maybe that is why vivian wanted to climb into the pen!)
but alas vivian's favorite animals were the giraffes. the zookeeper was out feeding them their afternoon snack of carrots. we had a really great trip, and have decided to make it an annual thing...(i have last year's picture in front of the same elephant house, and i will try to post it for comparison, whenever i find it.)

morning fun

so as clif, wisely, pointed out this morning...vivian is a morning person (unlike her parents). her newest, favorite thing to do, is play peek-a-boo under the sheets. i couldn't resist catching her in the act...look how excited she is!

unfortunately, the only real problem is when it is time to get up. she LOVES the bed and wants to use it as her personal play place. this is her ADAMANTLY telling me she "will not" get out of the bed. can you say strong willed child? i think my mother might have said something about that once or twice in reference to me! ;)

greenpa and grandma visit...

on saturday we had a visit from "the real mr. and mrs. day". joan and greg were passing through little rock on their way to conway and decided to spend the afternoon. after a good old southern lunch of fried chicken and dill potato salad we headed outside to enjoy the beautiful "day" (the weather that is, and of course the beautiful miss vivian).

last week, unexpectedly, we discovered vivian's love of all things bubble. so greenpa was more than happy to oblige. even grandma got into the act...

as you can see... a good time was had by all!

mondays can be good, too!

as we all know, mondays usually stink. yesterday was going to be no exception...after saturday night's "tummy" pains had turned in to monday morning's "pitocin induced contraction" pains, we decided it was time to call the doc. soon we were headed for an abdominal ultrasound, and were more than a bit freaked out (actually, i was crying and clif was a rock...funny how one of us always has it together if the other one has lost it completely.) after a quick sign in, the tech called us back. after she did the initial check of my organs (gall bladder, pancreas, liver, appendix, kidneys), she took a look at the baby. of course i was relieved when i saw the little pitter patter of the heart, and the arms and legs kicking like crazy, (whew.....truly no words to describe the relief) then came the good part. "mr. and mrs. day your baby looks great, would you like to know the sex?" clif couldn't say yes fast enough...and so she changed probes and in just a few seconds she pointed and smiled..."IT'S A BOY!"

there on the screen was our little man. of course there were more tears from me (what can i say i'm pregnant) and clif was thrilled! now that we have one of each, we can take ourselves "out of the gene pool" as clif puts it. and in case you were wondering, i am fine....braxton hicks can be a bit more painful the second time around, and after 24 hours of bed rest i feel like a new woman! just going to have to take it a little easier, because as most of you know bed rest and i DO NOT get along! ;)

the REAL susan mulhearn...

ok, so we all know that susan day mulhearn is expecting her first child, but did you know that she loved cake this much?! i have personally suspected such for years, but here is the real proof! actually this is baby setler griffin's cake from the shower saturday afternoon. (for more pics check su's blog.) it was held at the pavilion in their neighborhood....and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day.
here is the present clif and i gave them.....an antique toy chest complete with cowboys and cowgirls (their theme), and of course the standard burp cloths and diapeewiapee made by yours truly. they will also get a "somer original", but that has yet to be painted. the baby isn't due until may so that gives me eight more weeks right?

a baby's baby bed

so this is one of my ten projects i have been working on lately. this is actually the baby doll's bed that my mother gave to me when shannon was born. she had the doctor wrap up a baby and give it to me, so that she and i both could take care of our babies. she did tell me once, that my baby often had dirty diapers, and i wanted her to change her baby when i changed mine. as most of you know diapers aren't cheap, and so this became an expensive problem! ;) one i am sure that she loved telling others about...
the really neat thing about this bed is that she made EVERYTHING. the fitted sheet, the bumpers, the pillow, two blankets and a flat sheet...all to match my bedding. everything is still in great condition thanks to her amazing foresight....the only thing i replaced were the ties (they were plain white). i also decided the bed could use a new coat of green paint, but i was careful to preserve the neat little puppies that decorated the ends. i know they have seen better days, but i just couldn't paint over them. i haven't revealed it to vivian yet...that picture soon to come!!! stayed tuned...

happy birthday....

did i mention that vivian is in LOVE with her baby cousin jackson?!
well, since i have been too busy to take any pictures of my own (not to mention all the puking), i have stolen one from shannon's site. today jackson turns four months old!! it is hard to believe. he is absolutely gorgeous, as you can clearly see, and looks EXACTLY like shannon. when my scanner is functional again i will share the proof, until then you'll just have to take my word for it. so HAPPY, HAPPY, BIRTHDAY JACKSON!

little lulu illustrated, part 2

so here is the cover of sports illustrated, as seen this year....and thanks to the ingenious work of my sweet yankee cousin, cathy.....

here is the cover as it SHOULD have looked!! i especially love the new clips from the articles inside...thanks cathy! i knew beyonce had nothing on my little miss vivian!!!

little lulu illustrated...

so everyone has heard of sports illustrated, but have you heard of little lulu illustrated? vivian is, of course, the cover model!! actually, the truth is clif and i picked up a few bathing suits for her on our vacation...i know you might be saying what 18 month old needs three suits? but you are obviously unaware of the day's love of all things water!!

the first summer clif and i were together i only brought one suit, it is now referred to just as "THE RED SUIT" and i ended up wearing it about 12 hours a day, for about seven days straight!! trust me, she needs three suits!

on a side note...it is hard to believe, but this last pink one was clif's pick...and seems to be vivian's favorite. it is truly the CUTEST BY FAR!!! go daddy!

our memphis getaway...

so without spending too much money, what do you do for a last minute two day trip? you plan a super cheesy, elvis inspired getaway for two! i managed to get clif a couple of days off in a row, with help from his super cool boss, and decided to take my sweetie on a 5th anniversary trip. saturday night when he got off, the toyota was packed, and we headed to memphis (after a quick stop at our favorite hot wings place...trust me you are glad that i didn't take pictures, those wings can be messy!!) the next morning we awoke and headed into midtown for a brunch at the nationally famous hole-in-the-wall, brother juniper's! YUMMY! apparently, clif thought so too, because before i could get a picture of his "bulldog" omelet he had eaten half!! i had the spanikopita omelet, and those home fries were to-die-for...

with our belly's full it was on to graceland..."the platinum tour" (nothing is too good for my cliffie), where my favorite was, of course, the jungle room. who doesn't love an oversized zebra couch and green shag carpet on the floor, ceiling, and walls?

clif, of course, was partial to the tv room. which somehow seemed less gaudy than my previous tour.

because we had the platinum tour, we also saw all of elvis' cars, planes, jewelry, jumpsuits, gold/platinum records, awards, and everything else the man every touched...down to his army uniforms and wedding attire. whew...that was enough elvis to last a LOOOONG time. (i must admit that we even skipped the last part "elvis after dark", and afterwards were told we missed some great stuff, like the tv that he shot and his video games....somehow, i think we will live. (meaning no disrespect to the king.)

after our elvis education, we headed south to good ole tunica...where apparently i was so busy loosing my nickels i forgot to take pictures, except for this one at replays where we ate dinner. we had a great time though!! clif mastered this new electronic roulette, and did pretty well. i mastered nothing, but had a great time as well. although tunica has changed a lot, somethings never do...i can still amuse myself with $2 worth of nickels for an hour and a half!!

the next morning i had scheduled for clif to play eighteen holes of golf at the cottonwood golf course...it was a beautiful day to be outside!!

but obviously worked up an appetite, because here is clif chowing down on his "steam pot" of crab, corn and all the other cajun goodies. all in all it was great getaway. super big thanks to uncle seth and aunt su for keeping our little monster while we rested. and SUPER SUPER big happy happy anniversary to me and my sweetie!!

it's anniversary month...

march is a busy, busy month in our family, especially for weddings. this month clif and i celebrate our FIFTH ANNIVERSARY! our special day is the ninth, but shannon and john crow (my sister and brother-n-law) celebrate the big NUMERO UNO on march the 4th, tony and jennifer day (our cousins in florida) celebrate ANNIVERSARY NUMBER TWO on march the 5th, and my mom and dad would have been married twenty six years on st. patty's day, march 17th!! so HAPPY, HAPPY, MARCH ANNIVERSARY to all our loved ones. we hope you have a great day and many happy years to come. (sorry no personal wedding pictures, the scanner is not vista compatible.)