Dinner Time with Francie

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The other night Francie was hamming it up after making a huge mess of herself and the dinner table :) She is learning how to use a spoon which is quite entertaining and MESSY. She still isn't a great eater, but we're working on it. Jannie has made it her mission lately to get Francie to eat more proteins and veggies so Heff and I have been spoiled with home-cooked meals brought over around dinner time... we think she needs LOTS more help eating her veggies Jannie :)

Here is a pretty funny video of the little Doo after dinner putting the finishing touches on her mess and making her favorite animal sounds for Mom and Dad....

OMG... Emmy B. Photography :)

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My cousin Emmy had a rare day off from soccer and school Monday so she took the train up from San Jose to Menlo Park and spent the day and night with us! We were honored she spent her day off with us :) We hung out at home watching Tivo'ed 90120 while Francie and Isabel took their naps then played with the babies and my camera. Emmy is an awesome photographer! She has started taking some pictures of the kids she babysat back in Aptos and she is a pro at Photoshop since she is taking a course in it at SJSU. She really has an eye for taking pictures of kids... it makes it easy that ALL kids love her! Her old babysitting clients and their friends have been paying her for photo shoots... if you want Emmy you might have to wait in line! Thanks Em you're the best :) Here are the photos:

(Like the "no diaper" wedgie? :)




And Isabel!

(She was still napping while we were taking Francie-pants photos and she woke up a little unhappy hence not as many pictures of Isa-Bisa but we'll get her next time!)

AND... we're done.

A Visit from Cousin Isabel!

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Monday my sister-in-law Andrea had a 2-day work demonstration (she and her family sell distillery equipment from Hungary) in the East Bay... since she was busy with clients we got cousin Isabel all day Monday! We had so much fun, Isabel came to music class with us (Jannie came too for the extra hands) and lunch and Brilliant Babies and home to play. The girls play so well together and were sharing their snacks and waters and even their toys (they HARDLY bickered over toys;). We all had dinner at my parents and Uncle Mark and Aunt Sarah, Jerry and Georgia Carter and Kathy O'Connell (aka K-Bac:) came to see Isa-Bisa too. She started to miss her mom by evening and even though we were all excited for a sleepover she wasn't herself (not eating... very UN-Isabel!) Andrea came back to Menlo Park at 10:30pm to stay over at my parents with Isabel. We caught up in the morning and saw them off... we love to see Cousin Isabel!

Happy girls playing the instruments in Music Together Class

Jannie with Isabel and Francie

Even Jannie was playing the instruments :)

Isabel was a happy girl at lunch at Whole Foods

Francie lounging in her high chair

Cousins who lunch!

Red Bluff Fair Weekend

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Last weekend we went up to Red Bluff for the Tehama County Fair. It brings back lots of memories... Francie's first time meeting livestock a year ago (at the ripe old age of 9 days) and Heff's many times selling hogs at the 4-H/FFA Auction that he raised athome in Red Bluff :) We saw goats, pigs, sheep, steers, horses, chickens, rabbits and even few alpaca. Francie LOVED it this year and even sat still (pretty still:) in our laps in the front row for almost six hours Saturday while we watched the auction. She had her first corn dog and funnel cake and got to hold her bidding paddle up to buy a lamb named "Wayne." Not a bad day :)

Francie with "Jessey" from Corning, we bought her lamb

Some of the girls were as "done up" as their pretty cows ;)

"That thing is bigger than she is Mom."

Heff ALMOST bought these bunny rabbits to SURPRISE Oma with when she gets home from SLC... I mean the new barn is done, let's start filling it with animals!

"I'll take that pig home with me if I can get in there!"

This girl got $75 per pound for her Reserve Grand Champion Chickens.. must have been the creative packaging :)

Sunday morning Francie and I went back to the Fair to walk around and see the games, rides and vendors we were too busy to see Saturday. Dad was on his way home from his friend Greg's Bachelor Party evening at Lake Almanor so we kept ourselves busy... Francie got to "babysit" this 2 week old Alpaca baby named Justice while his mom had to go park the minivan she hauled them out of!

"Hey, move over Momma Alpaca... I can't see my baby."

"Over here little baby..."

"Ok, I'm had enough... when is that lady coming back?"

Rough Night for Francie (Mom & Dad too)

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I couldn't resist posting this picture AGAIN! Silly little Francie :) So last weekend I cut Francie off from nursing and it's been an interesting week going "cold turkey." She did pretty well, but Thursday night she had trouble falling asleep then woke up screaming at 1:00am in the morning and was breathing funny, taking only deep/sighing breaths. After an hour of that we called Dr. Cisco and of course as soon as we start talking to him (and wake him up in the middle of the night!) He said to watch her for an hour and call him back if she was still uncomfortable in an hour. Francie seemed to be doing okay so we all went back to sleep. She woke up again at 5:00am but was just uncomfortable and breathing fine so we put her back to bed again and tried to get a little sleep. At 7:15am we were all still sleeping when we heard a knock at the door... Heff got up to find Dr. Cisco at our front door! He was heading out of town for the weekend and just wanted to check on Francie before her left... what a pediatrician huh!? So we all went in to her nursery and she woke up slowly with a funny look on her face when she saw Dr. Cisco standing over her crib :) He checked her out and she seemed ok, probably just getting used to no more "ba-ba's" but I was glad he looked at her so we could head up to Red Bluff without worrying about our little Doo! (She had a rough night again Friday in Red Bluff, but seems to have settled back down and is sleeping just fine again)

Dirty Baby

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After Auntie Baby Ann made fun of Francie's "Bright Future" PJ's on Thursday morning and told Francie she won't let her mom dress her like a dirty baby when she comes home... Francie went and got herself (in her cute non "walmart baby" outfit!) ALL DIRTY! She was playing in the garden and somehow got dirt all over her face, hair and clothes.

At least she had fun doing it!

Since she was already dirty she fed her chickens their dinner

And then we got naked for a bath!

That's a happy baby in the bathtub :)

"Aw Mom... not more naked pictures of me on the internet!"

"At least fix my hair... come on, please?"

"Oh well my Dad won't let her put these on that blog!"

"Ollie, I'll bribe you with some tasty soapy water if you shake all over her camera..."

I love my little Doo!

I Heart My Crocs

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"I've seen the Facebook group "I Don't Care How Comfortable They Are... Crocs Are Still Ugly" and I don't know why so many people join... these things are awesome! I LOVE MY CROCS Uncle James! I mean... maybe they should rename that group "So Easy To Put On Even a One Year Old Can Do It?"

"UH-OH! Got one on... working on the other"

"They even taste good, I only need one shoe on right?"

(The teeth did not want to let go... but at least it makes it easier to climb the stairs.)

And she's off...

"People REALLY think these shoes are ugly?"

"Look Mom... driving shoes!"

"Thanks Uncle James... I am soo excited I finally fit into my green crocs you gave me when I was a tiny baby!"

"Catch you on the flip side."

-FRANCIE! :)

PS... My ABA (Auntie Baby Ann) sent me this email:

"I won't even comment on the crocs....but what is my niece wearing in those photos??!!! She looks like a walmart baby. -ABA"

I like my Old Navy PJ's ABA!

Sunday Gameday and Ella's Birthday

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Last Sunday after Francie's big bash we all rallied to Emmy's Spartans Soccer game in San Jose at noon... she played AWESOME and almost scored a goal in double-over time that went right over the net, they tied 0-0 but it was a fun game.

Then after soccer we all went to Benihana for Ella's 10th Birthday! We had three tables (what are they called James?:) and since Uncle John was treating we loaded up on Sushi and cocktails (well, I had Shirley Temples). Francie loved the flaming onion tower and flying shrimp tails and chowed down on fried rice and soup.

Happy Birthday Ella!

The whole crowd...

Francie!

Jannie, James and Em

Connor, Uncle Jerry and Johners

Little Miss center of attention (but ok sharing it with Ella!)

"Yummm.... Sprite."

Waiting for our tables

Eating soup with Jannie

Flaming Onions (Uncle James said "Say goodbye to that little jumper she's wearing" since everything smells like Benihana for life after sitting at those tables!)

James and Em enjoying their "Shrimp & Meadow" or whatever it's called

John and Connor trying to figure out just how they are going to eat all this food they ordered

Emmers and her "mocktails"

Heff was on Doo-Duty all night... Francie has been cut-off from nursing and isn't that happy about it, especially around her mom so Dad and Jannie have been distracting her for three days!!

Cake!

The Benihana rendition of "Happy Birthday To You"

The Little Big Girl

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I love "the squat":) Francie was watching Dad clean off the patio and give the bikes a bath the other day, she is always intrigued by water and somehow gets it all over her in two seconds flat. She is all over the place now that she is a big one year old... I'm sitting her watching the Today Show (which BTW I am mad at as they are broadcasting from my old college town Colonial Williamsburg and all they are talking about is University of Virginia three hours away and how all the smartest students in VA go to UVA" what!?... no mention of The College of William & Mary when it's one block away!) and Francie was playing with her dolls and doll buggy and new trike when she walked right over to the front door, stands on her tippy-toes and opens the door to walk right outside and say hi to the neighbors walking to school! Dad came home from a breakfast meeting and she is at the fence waving to greet him (and I of course look like I don't watch her at all) She has opinions about everything too... yesterday Jannie took her to visit our favorite nun, Sister Saizan, and Francie was not a fan of all the nice little nuns fawning over her. Apparently she would only say "Bye-Bye" to them and she looked at Jannie with her eyebrows raised and said "Go-Go. Cah-Cah Ja-Ja." (translated to "Lets Go. Back to the Car Jannie!") and was blowing kisses like crazy to get herself out of there asap. What happened to my baby girl!?

And she's off...

Think the pants might be a little too long? :)

Francie Loves her Oma and Jannie!

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Francie was a very lucky girl for her first birthday and got very nice presents from her friends and her family (despite my plea for no gifts on her party invitation!) Her Oma and Jannie gave her very thoughtful gifts she LOVES. Here is a video of Francie opening her "Bitty Baby" American Girl dolly from Oma. She has been carrying it around everywhere, she hugs and kisses her dolly and tries to feed her food. This was Francie's first dolly that wasn't a hand-me-down. Thanks Oma and Opa! She LOVES it and loves the adorable wooden doll carriage to push around... we just got that one out of the box :) You've started a great tradition for first birthdays! (Is Patrick going to get the boy Bitty Baby? :)

Jannie stayed up til 2am the nights before Francie's birthday to work on a Memory book extraordinaire to document her travels to the fifty states in "Francie's Book of States!" It is soo cute and will be a great way to keep track of her "states list" since we have an ongoing competition in our family. (Heff thinks Jannie and I "cheated" on a few of ours! But I didn't... airport layovers do not count!) Francie is doing pretty well with SIX states in her first big year. Jannie has also become quiet a scrapbooker apparently! (Baby Ann is very jealous and wants a Semester at Sea Scrapbook pronto.) Thanks Jannie!

THANKS JANNIE!

More Party Pics....

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Francie with her Jannie and Gaunties!

Allison, Connor and Em (thanks for the beer run when we ran out Jerry and Allison!)

Arnerich girls...

The cute Playgroup Dads! Heff & Francie, Bert & Estelle, Chris & Wesley, Josh & Leo

Allison got Francie the cutest pink boa tiara that flashed "I'm ONE!" but Francie was a little resistant to pair it with her tunic, I mean she loved the pretty "hat" but they are two different pinks :)

Cousins Drewby, Emmy and Connor

Heff entertaining the neighborhood troops

Pretty in Pink girls opening presents

"12 doggies on 1 card... I like this one!"

Heff holding two of his favorite baby girls... Francie AND Estelle!

Grandpa and Kaky passing around the Doo... she's party-ed out and ready for night-night :)

Francie's First Birthday PARTY!

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Saturday afternoon we had Francie's First Birthday Party at our house. It was "Francie Camp" theme with camp tents and chairs in the backyard, burgers, beers and of course S'mores. We had lots of friends and family out for the big day, the aunts and uncles came out in full force and even got hotel rooms at the Sheraton so they could "Go Big" for Francie's big day! We had the party between 3-9pm so Francie's friends could come by before or after nap time but we had a big crowd the whole time, Heff kept throwing more and more burgers on the grill and asked me "Mare, how many more people do you think are coming?" Thanks to our half-a-cow, we didn't run out! Francie got to wear her new birthday Tory Burch tunic from her Auntie Em, it was a big hit :) Thanks everybody for making Francie's First Birthday such a fun celebration!

Francie Camp!

Emmy and Francie

Uncle John, Allison and Jerry

Emmy, James, Ella and Luke playing in the tent with Francie who it high-tailing it out...

Heff taking a break from manning the BBQ to say hi to Em and Uncle Jerry

Francie fell asleep for an hour during her own party! Jannie stole cute little Landry from her parents while she was missing her :) Landry the Texas Girl looks good in a cowboy hat!

Francie woke up from her power-nap for an outfit change to her evening wear (Of course she had to wear her new tunic!) and to open her new Steiff elephant rocker from Anne and Sergey. She is a lucky little girl!

There were babies everywhere!

Jannie and Ella put the Angelfood cakes WITH raspberries together to sing Happy Birthday

She looked bewildered when everyone stopped singing to her again... Gauntie Kaky and Gauntie Mimi gave her a few more encore rounds :)

But she was happy when she got her piece without berries on it!

MORE PICTURES TO COME! Have to upload batch number 2 :)

FRANCIE'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!

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FRANCIE TURNED ONE! I can't believe our little baby girl is one year old. It seems like we were just in the hospital starring at her, still in shock we were parents to this beautiful baby girl. She is so much fun, full of personality and has lots to teach her parents. She has been a joy for us to watch grow up into such a big girl in just a year. We treasure every minute and don't want her to get a day older, but we look forward to being a part of her very big life. We are so lucky to be your mom and dad Francie and we love you SOO much! Happy First Birthday to our favorite little Doodle. WE LOVE YOU FRANCIE!

We had a busy day to celebrate Francie's birthday...we went into the office in the morning to go out to a special breakfast with Dad!

Not interested in standing still anymore... but remember when she only was as hig as the "South Boundary" line on Grampa's map, now she's almost a whole head taller.

At Stacks chewing the table. Can't wait for the pancakes.

In her silly bib eating her first Mickey Mouse pancakes (I know she looks ridiculous, Heff asked me if she was ready for her art project:) I did't want her birthday bubble suit to get syrup all over it!

We realized we didn't even have any presents for Francie-pants! (bad parents) but a stop at Cheeky Monkey toy store solved the problem. She pointed to this huge tower of stuffed doggies and made her "who-who" doggie noise and grabbed this little doggie which she barely let go of the rest of the day!

Thanks Daddy:)

More fun in the toy store

Then Jannie came to wish Francie a big Happy Birthday and brought her a new trike! Jannie painted and stenciled it herself, Francie loves it :)

She prefers to ride backwards so she can push with her feet

After lunch outside at Cafe Baronne with Jannie and playing at Brilliant Babies for awhile... Dad came home from work early and we drove up to San Francisco to go to Cousin Emmy's SJSU vs USF soccer game.

Francie loves watching "Emm-ma" play with the "ba-ball" and got to toddle around on the turf at half time

Happy Birthday Big Girl!

Bundled up in the SF fog with Jannie, Uncle James and Aunt Em

I see you through my bunny hat!

We all fall down...

Funny girl

Auntie Em showing off her gymnastics skills too!

Waiting to say hi to the soccer superstar

YAY EMMY!!! Good game Emmers

Francie meets the team

Number ONE for Emmy and for Francie's Birthday!

After the game we all went to dinner at a pizza place nearby (thanks for the recommendation Mary Kane!) and had a celebration for the Little Doo

I had to bring our family tradition birthday cake... Angel Food with whipped cream and pink/white Animal Cookies! (I had to frost it at the restaurant:)

We usually put raspberries in the whipped cream but just like her Uncle Jerry who picked them all off on his second or third birthday and exclaimed "I hate berwies" Francie picks her berries out of every meal and refuses to eat them!

Here is your very first birthday cake Francie-pants

"Pretty good stuff mom"

Opening presents! A vintage "Friend for Frances" CareBear book from the Coogans!! (Thanks Anne, Sarah and Molly! I love it:)

Woah Uncle James... Francie loved opening AND playing with her new quack-quack wooden push-along duck! (auntie Em's gift is being held secret until Francie can wear it!!)

Grampa gave her a GIANT pink piggy bank filled with mostly quarters :) But it BROKE in the box!

Francie likes to give away money...

Straight to coin-star and in her savings account!

Happy Birthday to You... "Dad, why is everyone looking at me?" (But she did sign "more, more!" when we finished singing to her, she loves the attention:)

Francie's First Chore

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Heff assigned Francie her first big girl chore... she feeds Ollie his dinner :) She knocks on the pantry door and raises her hand (her sign for "help") so we help her get a big scoop of dog food and she carries it out to the dog bowl, sets it down (sometimes spilling the contents all over the floor) and ONE BY ONE picks out each piece of mini-chunk to plop in the bowl :) It's a little slow but Dad says she's on her way to mowing the grass and taking out the garbage.

Francie Goes to Arizona!

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That's right... I said Arizona and not New York City!! We had planned a week-long trip to NYC for Fashion Week and visiting friends while Heff was Elk hunting with his friend Greg Weber in Flagstaff, AZ. Well last Wednesday morning Francie and I were up at 5:30am with our bags packed ready to hit the airport... and we didn't go! I whimped out. I wasn't feeling great and I hate to admit but got a little scared about flying into NY the day before September 11, plus it was going to be a whirlwind trip all over the city by myself with a newly-walking baby! Basically, I totally whimped out. So I had a day at home with Francie to relax and hang out... and to plan an impromptu trip to Scottsdale, Arizona! We decided to fly down with Heff (on our free Southwest Tickets!) and found a great deal at the historic and newly renovated "Camelback Inn." I called my parents to see what their weekend plans were and they jumped on the bandwagon too! It doesn't take much to get Jannie back to AZ (she went to Univ of Arizona) to lay by the pool for a long weekend :) We saw Daddy off in his camo and hit the resort for four days of lounging, dining and hanging out watching Francie pants keep us all entertained! Heff met us back on Sunday for a day and night but Jannie and I stayed the day Monday to squeeze in one more poolside day and took the last flight home Monday night :) I missed seeing everyone in NYC but Arizona was very relaxing and a great trip.

"Mom, this place is GREAT!"

Jannie and Francie putting on her shoes

Walking to dinner at The Camelback Inn's new restaurant that just opened 5 days ago

CHecking out the "wah-wah" pools after dinner... the outdoor restaurant all lit up in the background, it was really cool especially in the warm nights and Francie was so good, she sat in her highchair every meal and ate, ate, ate :)

Jannie, Francie and Mary

With her Ja-Ja and Bah-Pah

Had to stop and kiss the turtle :)

Pool time with Jannie and her new pet camel from the gift shop

Washing dolly in the water

We met the cutest family with four kids who were all playing with Francie. The oldest was a 9th grader and kind of shy until she heard us call Francie's name and said "WHAT is her name?!" It turns out she is a FRANCIE too!! Frances Claire and had never met another Francie... her younger brother and sisters thought it was so funny :)

I love this face

And Daddy is back from Elk hunting! YAY! This was a bow and arrow hunt and they saw tons of huge elk out in the wilderness starting their hunts at 3:30am everyday but Weber didn't get one (a 1,000 lb elk!) until the day AFTER Heff left of course:) But Dad had a great time on the trip.

Lunchtime at the poolside restaurant (Love the kids menu, back at home I've been trying to give her lots of options to eat but it's just not as easy from the fridge!)

Feeding her dolly a lemon wedge

"You're turn Mom!"

Lounging in the sun by the geckos (she spent LOTS of time entertaining herself here!)

Walking around to see the flowers with my cute little happy girl!

Daddy in the pool with his little Doo

Not afraid to jump right in!

The Heffs

Sundown on Camelback Mountain

Walking with her Jannie

Francie loved to smell all the pretty flowers outside our room

We wore her out every night walking to and from dinner along the paths... she walked almost the whole way but would crash to the ground with a big sigh when she got tired and needed a break :)

Napping on my chair in the shade every afternoon... ah I love those uninterrupted couple of hours to read!

Francie Eats her First Burrito

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Last Thursday before we left for our trip (pictures coming soon!) Francie and I had a whole day to organize the house, go through her outgrown baby clothes and just hang out together. We walked down to the Hacienda Market near our house for a giant authentic burrito from the burrito bar... Jannie came over for lunch too and Francie was such a big girl she ate a kiddie burrito all by herself!

"Hum, this thing is pretty good."

"Where's Ah-wah (Ollie)? I think I should share this yummy burrito with him..." (Mom and Dad can't seem to break this habit! She wants to give half of ALL her food to the dog, hand feeding him from the table and laughing at him as he tries to wrangle little bits out of her clenched fist. I'm not sure if she is sharing or torturing him!)