a surprise visit...

vivian and i had a surprise visitor this afternoon...robert, an old high school friend, called to say he was in town, and had the opportunity to stop by for a minute. (secretly, i think he just wanted to see how fat his old high school sweetie could be at 34+ weeks!) it was great chatting for a bit (even if most of it consisted of vivian showing off her toys), and contrary to her expression in this picture, they really hit it off...if only he were a pediatrician here instead of chicago!! seriously, great to see you rob, come back anytime...

a long LONG time ago...

for those of you who enjoyed "a look back" here is a bit more nostalgia for you....this is a picture of clif and i right before we got engaged. look NO RING! he was best man in a wedding and i had a waist. ohhhhh, now THOSE were the days!! as a side note, i showed clif this picture and he said, "wow, you were hot!"....uhhhh, thanks, i guess?!

a bit of nostalgia...

in celebration of my scanner\printer FINALLY becoming vista compatible....(many thanks to my sweet husband for downloading the driver, "twain" thing, and all the other complicated mess!!) i decided to scan a few old pictures that were taken in the pre-vivian area. somehow, amongst them, was stashed this little jewel. here is vivan at about eight weeks. i cannot believe how much this little monster has changed. and i don't just mean her dark brown mohawk and bright blue eyes. she is SO tiny.....ahhhhh those were the days. i guess some things NEVER change...please note, that even at this young age she is being vocal about something....goodness only knows what!!

just in case you haven't heard...

...VIVIAN SLEPT IN HER BIG GIRL BED LAST NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i know that for those of you who aren't parents this probably is not a profound moment, BUT for those of you who are, you may continue doing your "woo-hoo" dance as you read the remainder of this blog. as you are probably well aware this was not a transition that i was looking forward to....it required many, many hours of discussion and worry with friends, cousins, grandparents and clif. however, the least affected person of all was miss vivian. i even managed to catch her taking a nap today in her big girl bed! i should have known...after all my neuroses, the kid sails through without a hitch.....sighhhhh.....now all we have to do is get rid of that pappy!!!

"day" trip

after realizing that clif had BOTH saturday and sunday off (a rarity in the restaurant business), we decided to take a little trip to see the grandparents at the houseboat. vivian had a GREAT time with her pawpaw...

...and even got to play frisbee with her aunt mia, aunt ayla, and daddy.

she and pawpaw also worked on her swimming techniques....like kicking, blowing bubbles, and floating. and most importantly, we were surprised to see uncle jeff (greg's brother) and aunt jan (joan's sister) had come for a visit as well. this was the first time that vivian had ever met her great aunt and uncle (who live in georgia and alabama, respectively). overall it was a great family filled saturday!!

an outing for cousins

today we drove to conway to meet aunt susan and baby setler for lunch. su suggested the hog pen when i mentioned barbeque, and it was delicious. as you can see vivian enjoyed checking out her newest cousin.....AND....

eating her chocolate cake. and just in case you were wondering, NO it isn't an optical illusion, the cake really is THAT big....and she ate about 70% of it! (in her defense, near the end she did offer some to mommy and su.) i wish that i had thought to take a picture...she had cake EVERYWHERE!! su and i nearly laughed ourselves silly. thanks for a great lunch date, mulhearn's, let's do it again soon!!

tent time

so for those of you who need a good laugh...this is the post for you! today when i was trying to do a few things on the computer, and around the house, clif offered to play with vivian in her big girl room. after a few minutes i heard the usual giggles....after a few more minutes, i heard "daddy, get in, daddy, you get in!!"...and then i heard more giggles...this time from clif. now, i must admit this raised my curiosity beyond control, and i had to sneak down the hall to see exactly what was going on....here is what i saw:

apparently, clif and vivian had made a tent out of her old baby play gym, and THIS was the result! clif is obviously a little big to fit, but being the good father that he is, gave it his all to "get in" when his daughter made the request. even more sweet is the picture i caught when i lifted the quilt....you gotta love those silly kids!!

vivian's new man

as most of you might have guessed, clif and i have been a bit worried about vivian's reaction to a new baby in the house. however, today my worries were put to rest. vivian and ruby had their weekly play-date, and for some reason vivian couldn't get enough of ruby's sweet, little, eleven week old brother, trip. she kept asking to "hold, please", and when we obliged...she was over the top with happiness. she kept saying, "cute baby, good baby" and even sharing kisses. what a good big sister she is going to be!!

happy father's day!!

this is my #1 all-time favorite picture of vivian and clif. she is about ten minutes old, and even though you can't see his face...his eyes speak volumes. every time i look at this picture i realize how lucky i am, and fall in love with this amazing man all over again. happy father's day to the best husband and daddy ever...we love you!!!

just for the heck of it...

after hours of browsing through old pictures for a father's day project i am working on....i came across this: a picture of the famous yankee cousin cathy and i when we were little. even then she was kind enough (not to mention patient enough) to try and teach her younger cousin new things.

...and of course he we are last summer....my, my, how we have grown!! pictured below are luke, natalie, nicky (trying to escape), vivian (checking out nicky trying to escape), cathy and myself....and of course the pursed lip stranger in the background...hey, amazing cousin cathy can you delete her? hehehe....love you girl, thanks for the old memories, can't wait to see what the NEXT thirty years will bring!!

vivian's carwash

this afternoon vivian decided to show her daddy how to wash a car, properly.

first you must test the water...

next you must wet down the entire automobile...

then, you must completely hose yourself down from head to toe!! needless to say, she had lots of fun, and clif didn't have a bad time, either. (after all, the car is clean isn't it?)

mini clif

so we all know that vivian LOOKS exactly like her daddy, but did you know that she is his "mini-me". after recently discovering her love of playdoh, she decided today to add a new twist (clif-style)...

just like her daddy she is a true chef, and is seen here making her latest recipe "blue playdoh potato surprise souffle". (what can i say the girl loves her carbs!)

but of course, as any good mini-me would tell you...it is imperative that you know where your counterpart is at all times. on saturday, she lost sight of him for just a few minutes....he was quickly located. "hi, daddy, hi. doin' daddy?"

and of course, finally, and possibly the most important of all mini-me rules....you MUST show support! clif made a fine spaghetti dinner for miss vivian, and she is loving every bite. she is definitely a daddy's girl to the core...AND a great brinker spokesperson!!

parker and vivian...

i am sure that everyone has heard of the old ditty "no more monkeys jumping on the bed", but did you know it was written for vivian and parker grace? this is their absolute favorite pass time, and after a fun filled day of coloring, running, bubbles and a delicious hot dog dinner and bath...what else would these little monkeys want to do? thanks for such a great day, cill and park...we can't wait for next time!

she's swimming...AGAIN!

what can i say...the kid is a fish! today we decided to head to a friend's pool to relax and swim.
there was lots of swimming, but not much relaxing. vivian learned to JUMP into the pool. that's right, i said JUMP!! here she is preparing for lift off...

and of course almost as much fun as jumping is playing "bucket head". here is daddy as king bucket head...and miss vivian as princess. actually, this is mommy's favortie shot of the day. look how excited my little "bucket heads" are!!! :)

weekend review

on saturday we headed to arkadelphia to spend the day on the houseboat with joan and greg. vivian, actually, didn't mind wearing her life jacket this year as long as she could hang onto the railing and watch the other boats go by...

she also really enjoyed fishing at the dock with pawpaw...and of course playing in the water (that kid is a quintessential "day"!)

for the first time in a long time, i thought to have clif and i's picture made together...

and even though it was against my better judgement, clif suggested we take a "pregnant" shot for posterity. i figure i am only going to get bigger so better get it out of the way now!! here i am at 29 1/2 weeks. that is one big belly....oh well, i sure do make pretty, healthy babies, so i guess i will just focus on that aspect. :)

on sunday, after church, we headed to su and seth's to see baby setler. sadly, i forgot my camera, but we had a great time!! be sure to check out su's link for the latest pics of our gorgeous nephew!

wild child...

i can't help but post this picture. for those of you who know meek and mild harrison...here is the REAL harrison baker! what can i say, vivian brings out his wild side.

they had the best time playing in the "fort". celeste and i resorted to some serious mommy maneuvers to get this shot (let's just say she yanked up the covers, while i was posed and waited for the shot), and what a great result. this is definitely one for their senior yearbooks!