dear cheesy cheetos...

it is me, vivian, and i LOOOOOVE you. my mommy says you are not good for me, but i don't believe her. i know you love me, too. i remember when we first met at aunt sissy's house...that was the best! i didn't see you again for a while, but i thought about you all the time. then, the other day, i found a stash of you in the cabinet. ooooooohhhh, mr. cheesy cheetos....i love you, i love you, I LOVE YOU!! don't forget about me again...i am attaching my picture as proof of my undying allegiance to you!
love, your biggest fan,
vivian caroline

happy happy birthday!

two very special people have birthdays today. vivian's uncle seth (su's sweetie) turns 28! we will have dinner with them tonight and give him a "new dad" surprise...
and our sweet little yankee cousin natalie (or "na-alie" as vivian likes to say) turns five. she is too cute, and has generously given vivian many new wardrobe options, thanks to a healthy helping of hand-me-downs! have a great day birthday girl, and birthday dad-to-be!!

times....they are a changin'!!!

oh, how our lives have changed over the last ten years...the wonderful bachelorette/bachelor pad and newlywed days of yore are now officially gone. as most of you remember the infamous "mustard" couch was a staple throughout college, and my single years. clif's staple was this amazing little bench that his pawpaw day made from planks of the old homestead. both, have found a happy new, and probably much easier, life in vivian's big girl room.

although, some things NEVER change...you can clearly see, monday louise still likes a good nap on "ol' yeller"....although now she has bedtime stories by miss vivian!

and just as a little side note (to cathy, especially) my picture taking skills, have obviously not improved over the last ten years. who could catch both the dog and kid with their eyes closed but me?!

girl time!

parker grace came over to play with miss vivian today. as you can see they had a little bit of fun! what exactly is vivian doing in this picture? does she think she is too tall to fit it the frame?!

i must admit that this is one of my favorites. the cheesy grin is always a winner at our house...

but i'm not quite sure parker is too happy with vivian's version of "love"...

but vivian seems completely enamoured by parker don't you think?! thanks cill and park...we had a wonderful time. can't wait until this weekend!!

diamond days...

with vivian on "vacation" at her geegee and pawpaw day's house, clif and i decided to take monday off and head to the new dickey-stephen's ball field. even though the travs lost miserably (16-2) it was a lot of fun, and a much needed break!

on tuesday we were back in full swing...as most of you know we are renovating the office to make vivian's new big girl room. check back for pictures and updates!

introducing parker grace

this is parker grace clark (no blood relation), one of vivian's best friends. her mother priscilla and i worked nights at children's together many years ago, and bonded over our love of ole miss, and all things "creative". (in other words, we are the "we aren't paying $80 for that, we can make it ourselves" type!!) since cill and i were pregnant together, the girls are only two months apart...and have been playmates since they were, well....in utero. i've added parker's website to our links. isn't she the cutest? this is MY personal favorite because i am not quite sure which one of them taught the other this poop-eating grin!!

one of the greats...

the image above...as found on the kurt vonnegut, jr. website. finally free...
as some of you might already know, mr. vonnegut died last night in new york. he was eighty four years old, and one of the greatest authors to ever live (in this humble gal's opinion). when i was in junior high, it was a class assignment to read one of his shorts "harrison bergeron" (http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/hb.html to read the story) and i fell in love. i was moved by his irony, humor, and uncanny ability to bring his alternate universe to life in such a way, that i felt as if it were my own. there are few things in life that move you....if you are VERY lucky, you are challenged to not only a new way of thinking, but a new way of living. mr. vonnegut did both. you will be missed...

VERY busy easter...

things have been a little hectic around here, hence, the lack of posting. just to tide you over here is the only picture i have of vivian in her easter dress. (please note the dora\beach theme of the basket...the poor easter bunny was a bit off with the weather!!) it was such a fun, but crazy, weekend i forgot my camera, luckily aunt su had hers! hope all of you are well, and i promise to update soon...

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?