Francie's First Pumpkin Patch

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Saturday morning we headed out to Webb Ranch for Francie's first Pumpkin Patch. It was a beautiful sunny day and we had the whole Heffernan crowd out to check out the pumpkins and pony rides. The lines were a little long for the pony rides but we had fun with the pumpkins and hay bales :) Francie had a few outfits to choose from for her first time to the Pumpkin Patch so this outting deserved it's own post (the rest of the Heffernan family weekend festivities on the next entry!)

Quick diaper change on the hay bales

Dad with his little pumpkin

Looks like she's mad at Mom...

Maybe because I made Dad put her in the pumpkins for a picture! (I couldn't resist, sorry Francie)

The new moms with their babies

Francie's pumpkin outfit from Jane Flynn

Ellie and Kate

The Heffs!

Pit-stop at the Dutch Goose for burgers and beers after the Pumpkin Patch

Kate slurping some spilled soda off the table, you can't let that go to waste if you're 2!

Francie says "Kate, that's kinda gross"

Smiling up at her Dad...

...and already sticking her tongue out at Mom for pictures!

Francie's Big Family Weekend

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We had the whole Heffernan clan in town this weekend! Brian, Maureen, and Katherine ran the San Jose Half Marathon Sunday and the rest of the crowd went as spectators to cheer them on. Claire and Tom had all 5 of their children in Menlo Oaks and for the first time all 4 grandbabies together in one place! It was a great opportunity for lots of pictures (not that I don't take any opportunity for lots of pictures:) Jan and John had a full house with everyroom occupied by Heffernans! We had great meals, outtings and time hanging out.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON****

Big Cousin Ellie (the first grandchild... just like me:) meets Baby Francie at the park between our house and Katherine's house.

DAD!!

Heff relinquishing his daughter to his sister Maureen, he doesn't like to give her up!

All the kids back at our house to hang out before going to the Johnet's for dinner. Maureen's friend from SLC and her two boys came out with her (they drove with all four kids from Utah!) and our neighbors Owen and Emma came by to play too. The kids have "Francie suckers" from See's Candy that say "It's a Girl!"

Kate and her new "Binky Friend" from her cousin Francie (I saw these online and couldn't resist... they have little stuffed animals attached to the "soothie" binkies the Heffernan babies love)

My dad at home after dinner, Francie was sleeping in the bassinet while we ate and she started fussing a little so my dad said "I'll hold her"... this wasn't what I thought he meant by that!

FRIDAY****

Friday morning in a festive onesie from our friends Joy and Kelly

Francie and I were hanging out on the couch Friday morning and Heff had just walked in from a run, he left the front door open as the sun had come out after some rain and all of the sudden we heard a huge cracking sound. I thought it was thunder but couldn't figure out why it was sunny outside... Heff quickly realized it was a tree falling next to our house and GRABBED my by the shoulders with Francie in my arms, he pulled us under the door frame. Luckily the tree fell in our neighbors yard and missed their house by inches. We had the police out in no time and the city came to take care of the tree. It was pretty scary!

Friday night dinner at our house and Cousin Isabel arrives!

Craig with his baby Isabel and Uncle Mark with Francie...

Aunt Sarah and Isabel

Aunt Kat and baby Isabel

The babies...

Grandpa and Francie

Opa reading to Kate

Hanging out after dinner

Sleeping on Oma

SATURDAY***

Heading over to the Johnet's for Grandpa John's famous breakfast

Sleeping outside with Opa

The Heffernan Grandbaby-girls pose with their Oma and Opa

Francie making Oma and Opa laugh at her smile :)

Comparing their "mitts" who is cursed with bigger hands?!

Watching football on the couch with Dad while the girls are busy fixing dinner at Jannie and Grandpa Johns

Uncle James and Aunt Em came by on their way to dinner to see their favorite baby Francie! Em brought Francie another adorable outfit... they sure spoil her!!

Sleeping soundly

Priness Sophie (Jannie's "old" baby) has been feeling neglected since Baby Francie arrived and Jannie is over at HER house all the time... she found a new friend on Ann's bed and we found her snuggled up with it last night. This wasn't set up!

The nursing mothers

The cousins! Francie and Isabel will have lots of fun growing up so close in age, here is their first time hanging out together...

Francie punched her cousin Isabel in the eye... She better watch out, Isabel has a few weeks and a few pounds on Francie!

Aunt Kat made a yummy carrot cake to celebrate Tom's upcoming birthday

Happy Birthday Opa!

Francie's First Playdate

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Francie had a friend over Thursday! Melanie and her baby Noah, who we met in Bradley childbirth class, came over for lunch and a visit. Noah was born 2 weeks before Francie and made her look tiny! We had a nice afternoon visiting, and thank goodness Jannie stuck around to make us lunch, bring lemonade to the nursing mothers and treat us to cookies too :)

Worn out after her playdate

"What's with the flash again mom?!"

Francie Bash!

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Saturday night was "Francie Bash" at the Johnet's to introduce Baby Francie to her cousins, aunts and uncles. Everyone had been looking forward to the evening... the Kreefts and the Beldings came up from Aptos, the Arnerich's came over from Orinda, Uncle Jerry flew up from Southern California, Aunt Kat came back from a whirlwind trip to Red Bluff, Ann Skidmore came and Jen Skidmore had just flown in from New York City!

"All those people are coming here to meet ME?!"

"Dad, stop kissing me and find a cute outfit for me to wear..."

"You are crazy if you think I'm wearing that..."

The outfit dad picked :)

Ready for the party with Dad in my pink party pashmina

Uncle Jerry meets Francie!

Claire Elise (my god-daughter!)

Jen and Mare (we met at this age!)

Em & Con

The Arnerich Kids, Luke, Ella & James

Aunt Kaky and the twins

Who does Francie look like?... Everyone looking at baby pictures

Francie's Busy Friday

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Wake up and play with Dad while Mom sleeps in a little more

Watch the Today Show with Mom on the couch while Dad gets ready for work

Change my outfit for a morning nap

Heading to lunch with Jannie and Mom

Convinced Dad to come home early from work to play so Mom and Jannie could go for mani-pedis in the afternoon, this was my first time all by myself with Dad! (of course he did a great job and I was a good girl:)

We've been pretty busy and going on lots of outtings so it was nice to have a day at home relaxing. We made dinner for a neighbor who just had a baby too and then walked over to the Johnets for dinner with the Carters and the Worthings. It was a fun night!

Francie's first time in the sling with Mom to walk over to the Johnet's for dinner

Francie Throws a Dinner Party

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We had some friends over for dinner Wednesday night and Francie entertained us all. She was a very good baby, helping to shop for groceries, cook dinner, BBQ with Dad and serve cocktails to the guests... (just kidding, she slept the whole time and loved being passed around to be cuddled all night :)

Groccery Shopping at Andronico's with Mom and Jan

Mom gave me a bath before my guests arrive

Trying to decide which outfit to wear... Francie obviously didn't like the one I suggested by the look on her face

Taking a cat nap after I'm clean and dressed for company

Aunt Kat and Grannie Jannie help cook!

Some of Francie's friends... April and Erik

Francie and Mom

Aunt Kat, Jennifer and Jannie keeping me entertained

Tim and Francie

Hanging out after dinner

Worn out after her guests left

Francie back home

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Francie's had her first bath at home Sunday... we waited for Jannie to come over and help when we got home from Red Bluff. The nurses at the hospital told us we could wait for a "real" bath until the umbilical cord fell off but we thought she could use a bath after meeting all the barnyard animals so we gave her a warm sponge bath and were careful around her umbilical cord (hopefully it falls off soon!) She was a good girl for her bath but liked the snuggling in her towel part best. :)

Nice and clean

Sunday night we had dinner at the Johnet's with the whole crowd. Mark, Sarah and Kat, James and Em, Jerry and Allison, Em's family joined us and the Kreefts came up from Aptos with Drew to meet Francie. Jan and John made a yummy chicken dinner and we all spent a lot of time starring at Francie... Sophie was a little upset not to be the center of attention and promptly destroyed the new dog toy Jerry brought for her.

Cousin Drew meets Francie (Drew was worried about her name, he thinks "Mary Frances Borchard Heffernan" is just way too long to write on the top of your test.)

"Grantie Mimi" (she coined the phrase for Great Aunt")

Uncle Jerry

What are you mad about Francie!?

Look at those long toes

Uncle James

Em's family.... Marla, Em, Joe and Marla

We were just hanging out with Jannie at home Monday while Dad was at work. He sure misses his girls while he is at work (and we miss him!) so we met him for lunch today so he could get a "Francie Fix." We had our first "New Mom/New Grandmother" incident today after meeting Heff for lunch... we walked around downtown and did some errands, then got back to the car and loaded up Francie, the shopping bags, the diaper bag and all our stuff. We got home and realized we'd left the stroller on the sidewalk! Jannie ran back downtown while I called our friend Rory's office since we'd left it right outside his office door. His secretary found it safe and sound on the sidewalk and pulled it inside for Jan to pick up. Whoops!

Jannie got me snuggled in my bassinet while mom was napping

Mary Frances got a little lamb...

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Francie went to the Tehama County Fair in Red Bluff on Saturday!

With Mom and Dad by the Ferris Wheel (mom has learned how to nurse on the go since she's not very good at sitting still)

Francie wishing she could have just a bite of a jumbo corndog with Oma and Aunt Kat

The Flynn's met us at the Fair (Eva and Spencer)

Heff's god-daughter Madeline and his daughter!

The whole crowd in the grandstands watching the Junior Livestock Auction

Francie's cute booties from Aunt Em were a big hit at the Fair

Dad bought Francie this pig! It was the only one with a pink ribbon tied around it's belly while being auctioned off, he couldn't resist

Here is Francie meeting "Jessyca" who's pig Dad bought. Jessyca came up to the stands to thank us for buying her pig, she told us the pig's name was Lucy and she was going to save the money from the pig for school.

The auctioners thanking the "Law Offices of Brian T. Heffernan" for his support... good luck writing that one off Heff:)

Spencer and Eva loved sitting on Brian's lap to watch the auction

Sutter and Remington showing off their 4H ribbons

Sleeping with Aunt Kat (yes Mom has me in the same cowboy outfit I was wearing for a few hours yesterday, how embarassing)

Francie decided she didn't like pork as much as she likes lamb, so she convinced her dad to buy a sheep too from this little girl, Andrea, who's dad went to high school with Heff.
Andrea brought us a thank you basket of goodies and a note that said...
"Thank you for supporting me and buying my sheep. I hope you like the food. Sincerely, Andrea"

Dad taking Francie to visit her animals before they go to slaughter and end up on our dinner table

Francie meets "Lucy" the 258 pound pig up close and personal

Mare & Francie with Andrea and her lamb "Buddy"

Madeline riding the Mechanical Bull... Francie really wanted to but decided to wait until next year's fair when she'll have a little more head and neck control

Leaving the Fair... next year you'll have even more fun Francie and maybe someday you can show a pig like your Daddy used to!

Going home to Oma and Opa's house... you can't even see me in my camo car seat!

Francie Goes to Red Bluff

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Francie likes Red Bluff... She's been sleeping, eating and being passed around to lots of hands. We've been enjoying being taken care of by Claire and Cathleen, Francie and I hung out around the house today while Heff had a meeting and went out on the ranch to sight his rifle for the upcoming deer season. I left Francie for the first time today! While Heff was at his meeting I ran an errand with cousin Margaret in Redding to get a carseat for Claire's car. Francie was very good for her grandma and slept the whole time while Oma knit. We're ready for the Tehama County Fair tomorrow!

Here she is meeting her Opa

Sleeping on her Oma

Claire multi-tasking, knitting a cute pink and white hat

Aunt Kat and Francie before dinner

Cosuin Margaret (Ronan's Mom) with Francie

Cousin Ronan is only 4 months older than Francie... we'll have 7 cousins under 5 years old at the Heffernan Christmas this year, lots of fun!

Three generations of "First Born" Heffernans!

Cooing for her dad

"Noodle baby" at the dinner table

Our favorite activity in Red Bluff. Claire, Margaret and Cathleen playing board games, no Super Scrabble this trip yet :)

Tired out and ready for bed

Francie's First Road Trip

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Francie caught up on some sleep while we packed up ALL the gear for a trip to Red Bluff to visit Oma and meet Opa, Aunt Cathleen, Margaret and Baby Ronan. Thank goodness we have big cars! She was great on the car ride and slept the whole way... even with a 45 minute delay for a accident that closed the road (no complaints from us for the delay, just happy to arrive safely... you get a lot more paranoid about stuff when you have a baby!) and everyone in Red Bluff was excited to see Francie.

Heff thinks Francie sleeps like a "stinkbug" all curlled up with her little bum in the air. (She usually sleeps on her back like she's suppsoed to, she's just trying out her crib for a few minutes here:)

"MOM!!" I woke her up from a peaceful sleep to get her ready for her first trip to Red Bluff... this is her onesie from Auntie Baby Ann at Vandy

Jannie helping change her... boy, is she going to miss Francie for the next three days!

Francie in her leisure suit comfy for a car trip

Dad loaded up the car for us and is getting Francie ready to go in her camo carseat for the first time

Francie hanging out at home

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I'm not letting go of this binky (Dad picked out the binky holder... how cute!)

Our good friend Ann Skidmore came over to meet Francie and brought us yummy chicken soup. She and my mom met in Lamaze class when they were pregnant with me and Jen... Ann remembers when I was this tiny!

Dad home from a few hours in the office and back to assuming his favorite position (Francie's favorite too!)

Mary Frances in her cute sweater Jannie just finished

She likes her matching booties too (too hot for the hat today)

"You are nuts Grannie Jannie..."

"...do you realize this sweater you worked so hard on shows my little belly when I stretch my arms up!?"

Sorry Francie, we'll put a onesie on under it next time! View from the back...

New mirror in the stroller for Francie to check herself out... and check out the multiple outfits she gets changed into everyday thanks to her mom and Jannie!

Francie's Crazy Uncles

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Poker Face: I think my brothers James and Jerry are anxious to get Francie dealt into their card games. Jerry sent me an email saying: "I was reading BabyHeff.com, thought this was a great pic, downloaded it, one thing lead to another..."
James and Jerry are both so excited to be uncles for the first time... Francie better be ready for her crazy uncles to dote on her for a long time :) They both claimed they knew she would be a "first girl" (like her mom and grandma) to boss around future grandchildren and rule the roost. Jerry called her "MJ" when she was born and my mom said "No Jerry, it's Mary Frances... MF" to which Jerry responded "No MJ for Mary Junior!"

Uncle Jerry and "Mary Junior"

Unlce James in SF Giants colors meeting Francie for the first time (she's only 2 hours old in this picture!)

The boys live in San Francisco in an apartment near the ballpark. Jerry especially LOVES Giant's games and Barry Bonds. They went to Barry's last game as an SF Giant last night and sent Francie a picture of the sign they made for the game that was apparently very popular with the crowd. If you aren't a Giant's fan, Barry's record breaking Home Run ball was purchased by some guy who wanted the public to vote and decide what should be done with it:

Option 1: Send to the Hall of Fame
Option 2: Send to the Hall of Fame with an Asterisk (saying the record was tainted by possible steriod use)
Option 3: Launch into Outer Space
"With over 10 million votes recorded and tabulated, the results are clear..."

Good Mornings

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Francie is a great baby... so far! She loves to sleep and eat and when she does cry she's usually pretty easy to soothe. Our favorite parts of the day are when she's awake and alert and she just looks at you with her big, still deep blue, eyes. She makes such funny faces! We could just stare at he all day whether she's sleeping soundly or awake and checking out her new world. At night, she's been starting out in her bassinet and waking up around 1am to nurse, then sleeps (usually on one of our chest's... we're allowed to spoil her for a few weeks right?!) and wakes up again at 6am to nurse, then sleeps until 9 or 10am! Her mother trained her well, I'd sleep-in in the mornings while I was pregnant and tell Heff I was training the baby to sleep late in the mornings :) Heff and I wake up between 7:30-8:00ish and he sets me up on the couch to watch the Today show and check my emails while I hold sleeping Francie and wait for her to wake up and eat. Life is pretty good.

BINKY girl!! So we tried the binky yesterday... she loves it :) Shes not a fussy baby but loves to suck on Dad's pinky finger and is a great little nurser. There just seem to be times she's not hungry but looks for something to pacify herself. The pediatrician said he isn't opposed to a pacifier early on but recommended waiting a couple weeks so she doesn't have any unneccessary problems nursing. So we made it a full week but couldn't resist trying it out for the car ride yesterday running errands, she's still not a huge fan of the carseat. We'll ease into it but she looks so cute with a binky in!

Her favorite places to sleep... laid out on Dad or snuggled up with Mom. She looks so tiny on Heff but check out those big feet! (Heff is a size 14 and I'm an 11, sorry Francie you're doomed!)

Francie's First Doctors Appointment

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Dr. Cisco came by the house Monday afternoon for Francie's first check-up (complete with his old fashioned medical bag he had from medical school!) He saw her everyday at the hospital and helped us get discharged Saturday morning so he's seen Francie everyday of her life except Sunday. It is really comforting to know she is healthy and to be able to ask him all of our silly new parents questions. We had a little baby scale at the house and a "check up station" for Dr. Cisco, she weighed in at 7 pounds 7 ounces and got a clean bill. We'll see him again next week!

Some more naked baby girl pictures after the doctor left (we couldn't resist!)

Errands around town and lunch out

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Monday afternoon we ventured out to get some errands done downtown Menlo Park. We introduced Francie to the girls at Academic Trainers, picked out some new stationary for dad and got some groceries for Mark & Sarahs special Thai dinner they planned to cook for everyone tonight. We all had lunch outside at Mom's favorite, Cafe Borrone. It was nice to be out sitting in the sun and sharing it all with Francie. We just still can't believe she's ours!!!

Family photo :)

We love Dad's "paternity leave" but this will hopefully be the first of many lunch times with dad at Cafe Barrone's as it's half way between my office and Heff's office (2 blocks each way!)

We love having both Oma and Jannie here too!