today is YOUR birthday...

and even though (in this picture) it looks like you are praying for mercy...you will find NONE here!!! :) here is a WONDERFUL walk down memory lane...in honor of your special day...

is that a pink and purple sweater? who would have guessed that a blonde haired blankenau girl would wear such a thing? ;)

ohhhhh...the cheesy grin has an origin! could it have all started with this cute school age blonde in this VERY stylish shirt?

ohhhhh and look at those legs!! you couldn't have been more than twelve...and they are already at LEAST a 34 inseam!!

and most importantly....look kids your mom is having a lot of fun!! (don't look kids she isn't wearing a seat belt, a helmet, or any protective gear WHAT-SO-EVER....and yet she lived to tell about it!!)

so i hope you enjoyed this little trip down memory lane....happy, happy birthday to the crazy, catholic, woman i admire, yankee, stunning, blonde goddess, six foot, cousin cathy!!!! :)

a new day

the next generation of day's continues to grow in numbers...here is nicholas anthony day. his proud mother and daddy are jennifer and tony day, clif's floridian cousins. here is what his mother had to say about his arrival...who better to sum it up?!

"Nicholas was born on January 17th at 5:37 pm. We were admitted Tuesday... had contractions Wed, Thurs. and after pushing with no progress for 1 1/2 hours (and his heart decelerated on the last two pushes) we went in for a C-section. His head would not have fit through anyways! He has a scab on the back of his head where he kept rubbing against my pelvic bone each time I would push. Poor little guy!...."

poor little guy is right! we are so glad he is here...even if is did take forty one weeks of pregnancy and three days of labor! welcome to the family, nicholas!

the wonder place

today we met stephanie, ruby and trip at the wonder place. because we have now reached FULL winter status (below forty everyday, almost all day)...we have to think of new and fun places to burn off two year old energy. vivian loved all the musical instruments on the second level of the tree house!

and for those of you who don't know what the wonder place is...think of showbiz pizza....on crack!! i must admit if they had such a place when i was a child you would have had to drag me out kicking and screaming, it is REALLY cool. but as a parent you can stand about two hours... MAX! (the best description is what i told clif when he asked what is was like, "it makes chuck e. cheese look like a place for quiet meditation and relaxation." "ohhhhh," he said, "please don't ever make me go there.")

she and ruby also really loved the ice cream parlor, and little trip even got a chance to get some goodies at the soda fountain! he and bauer were such sweet little brothers while their big sisters ran crazy and played. thanks, reeves'! we had a great time...see you again soon!

big boy bauer

i almost forgot to mention what a big boy bauer has become. i probably have told many of you, but bauer went through a little period where he REFUSED to gain weight. from the time he was born until he was around two months old...nada! he had GROWN in height only, but never weighed more than ten pounds (for a guy that started out near nine that wasn't a lot), but last week.....whamo! FOURTEEN POUNDS!! not to mention 25 inches! that puts him in the 90th percentile for height....seriously....and he is MINE! hard to believe, huh? so here is the big boy in his 6-9 month pjs at four months old.

"i can't put my arms down!!"

anyone who knows the movie "a christmas story" is familiar with randy's famous line...i never thought i would be THAT kind of mother...but alas i AM! it was SOOOO cold here (22F) i couldn't help myself. i just kept thinking...ok, one more layer, one more layer, one more layer. it wasn't until i put him in his car seat that i realized what i had done...poor bauer...at least he could laugh about it!

vivian's new boyfriend

on many an occasion, i have mentioned the dillman boys in this blog. but not until now do i have photographic evidence of just HOW much vivian loves drew. here they are at a play date not too long ago...

drew really does know how to treat the ladies (he is showing her the newest wiggles video) aren't they intense? check out little ben! (ok so that is the only time he is been referred to as little ben, but come on folks he IS a baby!)

then, of course, goodbyes are always difficult...but alas these two had something else in mind...

on christmas eve, when they saw each other in church they were so excited they began running through the halls hand in hand...and finally when we caught up we realized they were headed.......

TO THE CHAPEL! what a pair!! (and yes, cathy he is only two weeks older, but look how much taller!)

NO FAIR!!!!

so for those of you who don't know, this week has been a wild one. aside from clif being out of town...vivian has come down with pinkeye\runny nose\wet cough (which turned out to be massive ear infection)...bauer has begun teething and REFUSES to sleep in longer than three and a half hour stretches, and mommy's ankle issue she had when she was pregnant is back. so yeah, folks, it is the trifecta here! did i mention vivian has to have eye drops and oral meds? (fun fun fun for everyone!) ANYHOW, i figured i had it easy...poor, poor, clif was working his fingers to the bone, learning his new gig, and traveling via airplane or car all over the country. YEAH RIGHT! look who clif had dinner with last night. jack frickin black. what a hard, hard, life poor cliffie leads!

ps NO that is not clif's new galpal...it is jen red (isn't she cute!) who helped get him the q job and is now training him.

hmmmm...

just a little something sweet to ponder on hump day...(you KNOW who you are!) are these babies starting to look more alike? hmmmm....i think so! :)

4th annual sucky birthday bash

so because the holiday's were so crazy, the bash was a bit delayed this year....HOWEVER, did we ever make up for it! we decided to try the newly renovated ashley's at the capitol. it was gooooooooood! i will spare you from the amazing details but let's just say this.....GO! SOON! kobe beef=yum, smoked trout with lemon and dill=yumm, brown butter and coffee ice cream with chocolate banana beignets=YUMMMMMM! can you tell from celeste and i's cheesy grins we are a bit excited?!

a special thanks to mother emily and dr. rich for sitting with the kiddos. and thanks to the lee's for making every year's bash better than the last! who knew sucky birthdays could be so great?
(oh and on a side note....yes, cathy THAT is the $15 michael kors dress, notably paired with my mother's $300 european alligator and snake handmade clutch...heheheee!!)

the 31 club

so guess who had\has a birthday? that's right...clif's was the 19th of december (somehow i forgot to post, maybe due to the fact he was in denver at the time?) and mine is today. so here is a bit of nostalgia for you....

the day i was born....and one of my favorites of young cliffie. ironically, both greg* AND joan are younger in this picture than clif and i are now!!

*clif would like me to make a comment about the "stache" on greg. he now thinks it might be cool to grow one of his own.....GRRREEAAAAAAT! :)

christmas "day" family

ok so here are all the updates you have been biting your nails for....(cathy). because joan and greg were in florida...santa had to make yet ANOTHER trip for vivian, bauer, and setler to gege and pawpaw's on january 1st.

vivian was a BIG help to her brother and cousin, offering to unwrap ALL their gifts. ;) she did however offer to show them what they got...

santa claus was SO good to her AGAIN!! she got a really cool art easel with a chalkboard, dry erase board, paints, and a roll of paper. look at her go! (mommy secretly has always wanted one herself and was super excited to see it!)

setler loved his gifts too and looked so cute in his matching pj's from gege and pawpaw.

but alas, the boys had other ideas....here they are engrossed in the cotton bowl, even bauer!

and of course vivian actually asked to have her picture made with HER tree.

as usual we were blessed with an abundance of gifts, good food, and great family memories...thanks to everyone for making the holiday so special... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

hot springs getaway

so the real reason that i am so far behind on my blogging is because the day after christmas we left for the lake house in hot springs. (thanks rob and mr. & mrs. g!) since clif's new job required two weeks there, we thought it might be fun to tag along! clif worked alot, but all of my old high school crew was in town. including, but not limited to: the aforementioned rob, jenny & her sweetie nick, greg kennedy (from japan, no less) sean bowman, mary chapman, natasha lavelle, and, of course aunt cyn and amy. (check back later for those pics). however it wasn't all work and no play for clif. one afternoon (while aunt nancy watched bauer) we took vivian to mid-america museum. she loved the famous "sphere"...

and even though she is so tiny we had to put her ON the table...she enjoyed building bridges and arches.

...looking at all the fish (contrary to her facial expression),

and playing in the sand with daddy!

she even was a brave girl and got on the sun and earth scales...look how tiny she really is!!

even when clif was at work, the kids and i had a lot of fun. we threw rocks in the lake...and ran...and played hard....

apparently a little too hard some days....heheheheeee (she REFUSED to sleep)!

hot springs was fun for all...even bauer, who while there learned to love his exersaucer. we can't wait until next time...thanks again greenbergs!

christmas day (part two)

so after cleaning up a bit, it was time for popa and dotdot to visit...believe it or not santa had visited their house too, and left something for vivian...

A TRICYCLE!! (with a dora helmet included, of course, for safety.) vivian was super excited, and could hardly wait to get peddling. however, due to the cooler than normal temperatures, we decided to take the double stroller to granny b's house instead. (and yes, to those of you who are mother's and were wondering...THIS is my christmas present to myself...the peg-perego double aria xl deluxe in toffee. i KNOW it sounds like a car, and trust me....it cost almost twice what my first car payment was...but it is worth EVERY PENNY..so merry christmas to ME!!! but i digress)...so after bundling up the kids...it was off to granny b's house.

oh, did i mention we had to stop by the park on the way there AND back? don't you wish you were two and swinging gave you this much pleasure. and what, might you be asking, did bauer do while his sister was having so much fun? he did was he does best...

looked cute and chilled. what a crew!!

crow-clark-day christmas

so with things having been a little hectic lately, i have missed out on almost ALL things blog. the sunday before christmas, we drove to texarkana to spend the day with shannon, john and jackson. we exchanged gifts, and john smoked a yummy pork loin. as you can see jackson was as cute as ever (i LOVE that grin and those big blue eyes)...but the real winner of the day was, hands down, shannon.....look at her slaving over dessert for the whole crew....

with her brand new, retro snoopy snow cone machine! clif and i couldn't resist when we saw it, so we gave one to both susan and shannon. (check shannon's blog for the best pics, when we are actually TASTING the delicious icy yumminess!) we had a great day and look forward to doing it again soon....thanks, crow's!