Dr. Cisco

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We had our first consultation with our pediatrician this morning... and our first house call! Dr. Cisco who was my pediatrician and will be Baby Heff's doctor too. He was great growing up and I "shadowed" him one summer at Menlo Medical Clinic when I was still thinking I'd go to medical school. Dr. Cisco left Menlo Medical last Spring and is starting a boutique/concierge practice with two other local pediatricians this month... it was perfect timing and we're so excited about all they have to offer. We asked him a few questions about what happens when and the vaccinations and everything and he got to know Brian a little bit too. Dr. Cisco said he'll be at the hospital to do all the new baby stuff and will come to our house in the first few days for the first checkup... Baby Heff will be well taken care of!

The 3 Heffernan granddaughters so far...

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How cute are these girls?! My niece's Kate, Ellie and Isabel... looking at this picture makes me wonder if we'll be adding another girl to the bunch or if we'll have the first Heffernan boy. Brian's sister Maureen and her husband Doug have Ellie (holding the baby) who is 4 years old and Kate (in pink) who is 2 years old. Kate was born three days before I met Brian so we used to call her our "relationship" baby because we always knew how old she was. Isabel Rose was born in July to Brian's youngest brother Craig (Kat's twin or as she calls him her "womb-mate") and his wife Andrea. She is adorable and we can't wait for these cute girls to meet their newest cousin!

Be Prepared...

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So I am doing the expected things neccessary to get ready for the baby:

*Washing the first set of newborn and 0-3 baby clothes
*Packing a bag for the hospital with plenty of supplies for me, Heff (my coach!) and the baby
*Finishing the baby room
*Stocking up on diapers and baby supplies

My husband is also preparing to have a baby in the house, although being the son of Tom Heffernan (and oddly like my safety-first father!) his list is a little different than mine. He has bought and set up at the house:

*A 40 gallon water tank in case the world ends
*A 1000 watt generator for the same reason (or in case we loose power to his kegerator?!)
*An emergency supply kit with flashlights, food, flares and more flashlights
*Back up gasoline supplies in case we need to flee on the four-wheeler

So I hope, between the two of us, the baby will come home to a cozy house that is also ready for any disaster that may come. :)

We had a doctors appointment this afternoon and looks like the baby is happy and still growing in there. We're at 37 weeks and 5 days today... the doctor said it could be any day or it could be a few more weeks... we'll see!

September 1

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One of Heff's favorite days of the year was yesterday, September 1st which marks the Opening Day of Dove Season. He claims he's never been to school or to work on September 1st :) We are up in Red Bluff for the long weekend and spent most of Saturday on the hunt for the birds. We got in Friday night and had dinner with the Flynn's and other eager hunters Gus Kerry and Mike George at a mexican restaurant in Red Bluff (Quite a different meal than the Manresa 8 course, 6 wine flight meal we had in Los Gatos with Mike and Donya George and some of the lawyers from Brian's old firm the night before).

We were up at 5am to meet the guys at Nine Mile Hill before sunrise when dove season officially began. We brought the four-wheelers out and were ready to shoot by the time the sun came up over the hills. It was still dark, but already warm enough for a tank top and my new hunting capri-pants Janet bought me for the weekend (who knew Maternity stores made clothes just for 37.5 week pregnant girls to go out and shoot birds in!)

Looking for dove after the sun came up

My husband shot a limit of birds in about 20 minutes, they were flying everywhere and he's a pretty good shot :) I, on the other hand, had fun going through three boxes of shot and had only two birds in my vest by the end of the day... one of them Heff shot and wounded but it wasn't dead so I got the honor of pouncing on it and "twirling" it's head off to finish the job... he let me keep that one :)

Dave and Mike making the rounds happy to be out and shooting birds (and nice to let the pregnant girl tag along)

One for Cletus the Fetus Baby Book... hope he/she's not offended but I don't think we'll be breeding any vegetarians in this family. We had asked our OBGYN if it was okay to A) go up to Red Bluff for the weekend (answer, you are 37 weeks pregnant but I guess so) and B) go out with Brian for "Opening Day of Dove Season." She first asked us if that was a sports team, then said in shock "You want to shoot little birds?!" Heff replied "They're not that little." And when she asked if we pull off their little feathers I explained that the feathers and skin actually rip right off the breasts to clean them. I guess most of her Palo Alto patients don't have the same questions we do!

We went home for a nap after the morning hunt (Mary napped, Heff went out for breakfast with the guys) and we were ready to hunt again in the late afternoon. We went out with Greg Weber and Trish, Tyler, Brendon and Greg to Weber's family's ranch... the same place Heff and I got engaged and Heff ahs been going to hunt since he was a teenager. There weren't as many birds, but more beers and hanging out enjoying the sunset and cooler air.

Jill's Wedding

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Our good friend Jill Carter got married this weekend! She is the youngest of the three Carter kids and grew up three doors down from us on Menlo Oaks. Her wedding was Saturday night at the Carter's house and was a beautiful evening, the Heffernan's were BBQ'ing at Mark and Sarah's house directly across the street so we had fun checking in with them during the wedding... they could even hear Beth's Maid-of-Honor speech and the band from their house! Jill looked beautiful and it was a fun weekend of events to celebrate with her.

Mare and Baby Ann at the Bridesmaid Luncheon Friday

Beth and Jill at the Luncheaon

Jan and "Aunt Jo"

Rehearsal Dinner... James and Bethy with one of the triplets

Are you old enought to be drinking that champagne Baby Ann?

James and Em

The Wedding! Jill & Jason Luker

Ann and Heff with a cousin's Baby Noah (Heff kept getting mad bc the photographer thought Ann was his wife and taking their picture:)

Mare and Bethy (She gave the best Maid-of-Honor speech for Jill!)

Mare and Heff

Checking in at The Heffernan Compound across the street

James and Em

On the Dance Floor

And with the Bride... Congrats Jill!

Weekend in the Menlo Oaks Compound

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We had a great weekend with almost all of the Heffernan's in town (plus some Cahill cousins!) and all of the Simo kids at home. Craig and Andrea brought Baby Isabel up from LA to meet everyone and stayed at the "Hotel Jan and John" taking over the third floor with Aunt Cathleen, Claire and Tom stayed across the street at Mark and Sarah's house and Margaret and Baby Ronan shacked up at Aunt Kat's new place just a few blocks away. Heff and I had the longest commute home at six blocks away! My siblings were all in town too for Jill Carter's wedding and the wedding events too so we had lots of meals and enjoying the sunny weekend together.

Hanging out Sunday at Lunch at the Johnets (Cathleen, Jan and Claire)

Baby Ann home from Vandy for a few days... next time she see's me I'll hopefully be a mom!

John and Jan

The Heffernan's

Craig, Andrea and Beautiful Baby Isabel

Baby Ronan, almost 4 months old, on Mom (Cousin Margaret)

Isabel smiling!

The Mom's and their wee ones

... and with Oma and Nana

Mare and Ann

Last picture of the reigning "Baby of the Family" taken at the Simonsons!

Aunt Kat with her smiling Godson Ronan

Ronan at Sunday Night Dinner at our house trying out Cletus's gear!

36 Weeks

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This week has flown by and I haven't blogged! Heff and I have both been busy at work, trying to get lots of things taken care of before the arrival of Baby Heff. I am hiring some new staff at Academic Trainers and Brilliant Babies, getting some new programs put together, our brochures and registration forms ready and getting the center all set for a new school year. Heff has had lots of new clients coming in and been really busy too, I am so proud of him for going out on his own and doing so well balancing the many facets of self-employment, it's so nice to have so much flexibility.

We had another Bradley class this week and to practice breathing through contractions the guys held big ice packs under our arms! Ouch... but I'm sure the real ones will be a lot worse than that! We really like the other four couples in the group and have fun at the classes. I gave Heff (well, both of us!) a hall pass for the remaining two hospital childbirth classes since it seems very much like what we learned in Bradley anyway. That means we only have TWO more classes to go!

We have a busy weekend coming up with the Heffernan's in town and a good friends wedding. Claire and Tom and coming down with Brian's Aunt Cathleen, Cousin Margaret and Baby Ronan and Craig and Andrea are driving up from LA with Baby Isabel! My brothers will be home (all the way from their condo in the city) and Baby Ann is coming back from Nashville after 3 whole days at college for the wedding. With Brian's brother Mark and his fiance Sarah just moved in across the street from my parents and Kat halfway bewteen their house and our house... we'll have 6 out of 7 siblings and both sets of parents here for a fun weekend! (Margaret can stand in for Maureen:) We're so lucky to both have great familes close by who get along with each other too.

35 Weeks!

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Time is flying by and we are getting ready to meet Baby Heff, only 37 days until the due date! This week we got our stroller (The Bugaboo, after much debate) and a few more things for the baby's room... not to mention lots of adorable gifts from family and friends! My mom started a great collection of books for us including all of my favorites, which Heff remembered from when he was little too! My favorite "Tony's Hard Work Day" is the original copy and Heff's favorite, no surprise, is "What Do People Do All Day?" We are waiting for our rocker/glider from Pottery Barn, but other than that the nursery should be ready to welcome a baby...

Trying out the new baby tote after baby class Thursday night

Lots of books for Baby Heff!

Heff after he put together the stroller for me... it had a lot of parts we had backwards :)

Work...

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Heff and I have both been busy at work getting things ready to stay home for awhile after the baby comes. His solo practice is doing great, he gets to work from home sometimes and comes home early most days... much better than big firm life! Academic Trainers is gearing up for a new school year and Brilliant Babies is doing great, I should be all set to bring Baby Heff along to work with me after awhile!

We just got a whole collection of "dress up clothes" and costumes for the kids... they look so cute! Here is a picture of "Tre the Octopus," he belongs to one of our favorite tutors at Academic Trainers and we get to see Tre almost everyday at Brilliant Babies while his mom is working.

I am really lucky to have a great staff on board who make my life very easy... Janelle runs Academic Trainers better than anyone, she's always so positive and friendly, covers all the bases and is constantly doing things to improve our business. She really goes over and above to make sure we are running a professional business and the parents, kids and other staff all love her. Thanks Janelle! (Here with Tre in the "I Ain't Lion" costume":)

Rashelle is the Director of Brilliant Babies and does such a fantastic job juggling the business side of things while playing with the kids and making sure everyone is safe, happy and having fun. She always has a smile on her face and is constantly coming up with new activities for the kids, this week she coordinated with the Menlo Park Police Department to have an officer come in and fingerprint the kids in honor of "Superhero Week"! Thanks Rashelle!

Corinne helped us get Brilliant Babies started as Co-Director and today was her last day! She is pursuing a Master's degree in Speech Pathology and classes will keep her from working this semester. Corinne was great with the kids and parents at BB and we'll all miss her!

Lucky Baby Heff

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This is going to be a very lucky baby! I had two baby showers this weekend while Heff worked hard cleaning and organizing the garage and backyard to make room for Baby and Baby Stuff. My good friends Nancy, Molly and Janna (the "Mariani Sisters") threw a baby shower Saturday in Los Gatos... it was a great group of girls and a beautiful day, I am so lucky to have such great friends! Especially since Nancy, Molly and Janna all have two kids already so are helping me figure out how to get ready for the baby, and I hope will teach me how to be awesome mom's like they are. We had fun playing a "Baby Concentration" game, enjoying lots of yummy food and talking babies with good friends. Thanks girls!!

The Mariani Girls and Mare!
Janna (with Joe), Nancy (with Whitney), Mary, Molly and Tracy

Ann, Mare and Jan

Nancy and Mary with babies in the bellies!

Then Sunday we had a family and friends get together in Aptos at my Aunt Kathy's house hosted by Aunt Kathy, Aunt Mimi and Aunt Kim! It was a beautiful day at the beach and great to see lots of relatives, cousins, aunts, great aunts and friends. My Great Aunt Marge was there and she just became a Great-Grandmother last week as my cousin Molly and her husband Bryan had a baby boy, Brady Wolfe. Molly and I were the first grandchildren for our grandmothers (sisters Mary and Marjorie) and we were two months apart, and it looks like Molly's baby and my baby will be two months apart as well! We got lots of beautiful gifts, including handmade baby blankets from Aunt JoAnn, Carmen Rilovich and our friend Jean who was my grandmothers caretaker before she passed away. Everyone was so generous and thoughtful, Baby Heff (and his/her parents) are very lucky!!

The Aunts... Mimi, Mare, Kathy and Kim

Hanging out with the cousins after the shower

Emmy and Claire fighting over "Ann-me-downs" (Ann cleaned out her closet before she heads back to Vandy!)

Emmy's cute room (the belly is getting big!)

Would You Rather....

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Watch Barry Bonds make history hitting his 756 Homerun on a nice, warm Tueday night in San Francisco

OR

Learn about dialation, effacement and the natural birth process at a Bradley Class on green shag carpet in "Denise the Bradley Teacher's" living room with four other couples and old VHS footage of childbirth?

Heff is a saint :) Not only does he have to (get to?!) attend our 9-week Bradley or "Husband Coached Childbirth" Classes with me every Tuesday night... I was worried maybe the Bradley would be a little to hippie-ish for us so I ALSO signed us up for the 3-week Lucile Packard Hospital Childbirth Course on Wednesday nights. So this week we had two evenings of classes, which wouldn't have been so bad except that the "class material" this week was exactly the same for both classes and I was getting evil looks from Heff who said afterwards he could have taught the class (Identical poster diagrams and the same exact flip charts about stages of labor Pamper's must hand out like candy to childbirth teachers) Next week we're packing THREE nights of classes in when you add our Thursday Night Breastfeeding class (don't worry only a 1 time class) at Day One. Umm, is there such thing as over-prepared?! My mom fessed up to Heff that she made my dad go to two sets of classes too, Lamaze and the hospital class that my dad refered to as "Childbirth GRAD School" so I guess it's in the blood!

All in a year...

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We forgot to mention it was our One Year Anniversary!
Looking back, it reminds us that a lot can happen in a year...

Babies get bigger!
Baby Kate 2006
Baby Kate 2007

And...
2006
2007

BELLIES get bigger
34 weeks pregnant ~ August 8, 2007
10 days married ~ Early August 2006 (Demolishing our old kitchen)

But road trip pit stop's DON'T change much!
2006
2007 (Tule Lake, CA for corn dogs and burgers on the way from OR to Tahoe... sorry Cletus!)

I love you Heff! Thanks for a "couldn't-have-been-be-better" first year of marriage.

Honeymoon Fly-Fishing July 2006

Lake Tahoe with the Simos

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Heff and I drove from Black Butte to Lake Tahoe last Tuesday to join my parents, brothers and their girlfriends and my Uncle Jerry at Brockway Springs in North Shore Lake Tahoe. Heff and I like to take the "backroads" so it was a good 9 hour drive, but we took our time and enjoyed it, remembering doing the same drive on our honeymoon one year ago! Tahoe was great, lots of relaxing by the pool/lake, poker games and just hanging out with the family. We came home Sunday and it felt great to be home after 10 days away...

Hanging out by the pool...

James and Em jumping off the Brockway Pier in the distance

The Johnets heading to a friend's weddings up at the Lake

Lunch with 3 BABIES!!!

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No you're not seeing things, those are the Carter Triplets!!! Our good friends/neighbors growing up from a few doors down have three baby boys keeping them all busy. Ryan Carter and his wife Kim (in the pink shirt) are the proud parents to Danny, Drew and Dylan who are almost 3 months old. Janet and I had Kim and her Mom, Pat, over for a pizza lunch date today and we had so much fun playing with the babies and enjoying the sunny day outside. The boys tried out the Pram and loved it! Heff was worried Cletus might get his or her feelings hurt that another baby got the first (and second and third!) ride in the pram, but I think Cletus was happy to share with his/her friends Danny, Drew & Dylan. :)

Dylan sleeping soundly...

Jan and Dan

Pat and the pram... and babies everywhere!

Mary and Kim feeding hungry babies

San Diego Weekend

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We were in San Diego Thursday-Sunday for a long weekend of relaxing and to celebrate Ronny & Michele's wedding. It was also our one year anniversary on Sunday so we had a lot to celebrate! The wedding was lots of fun, my brother James was a groomsman and my parents were invited as well so we all stayed at the US Grant downtown San Diego. We caught up with Beth and Jill and the Huck Family, Joanie, Bill and Ashley on Thursday night, then wedding festivities and hanging out the rest of the weekend.

Jan, Mare, Ashley and Joanie watching the Padre's game from an outdoor bar nearby

Mare and heff enjoying the view!

The "kids" at dinner (Top: Ashley, Jill, Em and James. Below: Beth, Mare and Heff) at Red Pearl in downtown San Diego. A yummy dinner and great to see old friends!

Late night drinks back at the hotel bar (Jan hung out with James and the crowd until 2am! We were fast asleep by then:)

John, Mare and Heff at the wedding chapel at USD

Emily and Jan

James walking down the isle...

The Bride!

AND Heff's new BFF.... MC Hammer!

John loves the late-night Sliders

Party girls

The Johnets

John and Heff

Jan and Mare

Ouch, chocolate fondue on Em's dress... not happy!

Wardrobe change for Em