Happy Halloween!

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Happy Halloween! We had our "Second Annual Halloween Lawn Party" and had just as much fun as we did last year. We had almost 100 friends in and out for homemade chili, cornbread, popcorn, beer and wine. We kept it pretty simple but hay bales and corn stalks in Menlo Park make a big impression and the front yard was transformed to "Francie's Farm" once again! The kids loved playing in the hay and checking out the chickens while the adults socialized, made fun of each others costumes and consumed some Coors Light. The weather was unpredictable but the rain held off for the trick-or-treaters and it was a perfectly spooky, windy, warm Halloween Night.

Our nice "clean" grass about to be transformed into Francie's Farmland

Emma, Owen and Amelia kick things off (those are real cabbages bigger than most of the pumpkins! Anyone have any good cabbage recipes? :)

Heff and I were the "Brides of Frankenstein" :) (Remember the Tele-tubbies? My husband is a GOOD SPORT!)

This was Jannie's REAL wedding dress I dug up in her "costume closet" and couldn't resist! Of course it was a little snug (ok, a lot) and a tad short but it was fun to wear :)

Our neighbors with Stella and Natalie

The playgroup friends in family themes!

Heff and our friend Julia serving up some yummy hot chili

Francie the Chick-chick (thanks for the costume Auntie Baby Ann) with her Jannie and Grampa

Even though it was raining off and on it was still pretty warm out so the chicken got a little hot under the collar and didn't keep the costume on for long

Silly Uncle Mark dressed as a pregnant woman! Aunt Sarah (the REAL pregnant woman) as his sidekick :) I cracked up at Mark telling me he went shopping at Target for the largest size dress he could find in the maternity section.

The Legrand family... Estelle a pretty flower, Icie a rugby player and Bert her coach (who stayed "in character" ALL night. Thanks for the tips coach.)

Adriana, Cute Conor and Christian

Francie says "DADDY why are you wearing this silly necklace and mom's eyeliner?!" I found Heff's "dress" in my moms costume closet too... and it fit him. James, Jerry, who wore this and what for?!

Where's Waldo, Bride of Frankenstein, Rugby-Accident-Waiting-to-Happen and the little Flower

Erika's handmade Duracell Battery costume for Leo was SO CUTE even if he didn't think so

Little Miss Anti-Social threw a bit of a fit during the party. She was a bunny rabbit for awhile and sat eating her cornbread by herself :)

Scary pumpkins!

Jordie and Ben were a Blind Date (he was blind, she had dates stuck to her outfit) and Josie was a chicken/turkey/rooster... after much debate it remains a mystery

Emma (Francie's idol) keeping her entertained. I don't know who was happier when Emma showed up, me or Francie who had been asking ALL night for "Em-ma"!

Emma and her posse of girlfriends took Francie inside and said she TOLD them she wanted to be a ballerina now... wardrobe change number three!

Wait.... Where's Waldo?

Cute Lily and Francie playing with the leaves

Lily's mom Jessica and Francie's friend Ruby

The Dad's standing around being Dads. The girls were inside on the couch until 11pm gossiping and wondering who was going to stay the latest with their 1 year old to win the "worst parents" award. I drove a few home at 11:30 and called Jannie to tell her I would pick up our dumb dog who had been hanging at her house (after a little "incident" with a neighbors off-leash dog last year we decided to keep Ollie off the farm for the night) and Jannie said "Are you sure you're okay to drive? I can come do it." I reminded her I am pregnant and therefore NOT even close to over-the-legal-limit drunk! Thanks anyway Jannie :)

It's 10pm and all she wants to do is chase the BIG KIDS!

Carving Pumpkins

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Wednesday night we carved our pumpkins for Halloween! Francie had fun checking things out for a little while and then had better things to do... but Heff and I had a great time. We made a huge mess and took turns playing with Francie so we could carve in peace :) Heff took the deer tags off his last pair of antlers to make a fitting scary pumpkin, I tried to carve a witch face I saw somewhere and we both worked on a dremel "Francie" pumpkin like the Carters made for her last year on her first Halloween (we missed you Jerry and Georgia!) We got them lit up and out on the porch a little late but before Francie fell asleep.

Francie is ready to get this party started

"I'll just sit here and eat candy corn hand over fist... you guys can carve those pumpkins yourselves"

Francie was a big help to dad cleaning out the pumpkin seeds ;)

But how can you not let her "help" when she's so cute!?

"Gross. I'm not touching that stuff."

Francie and Mom

In her PJ's ready to put the pumpkins on the porch!

Dad's pumpkin is SCARY...

Maybe too scary? No, just bedtime already!

Happy Eve of Halloween Eve!

Francie's First Art Project

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Francie played at Brilliant Babies yesterday after a lunch date with Adriana and baby Conor (lunch date for me, she slept through the whole thing!)  The girls set her up on an easel to PAINT and she did a pretty good job putting the paint brush on the paper with only a few strokes to the floor and her smock :) Mom wrote her name and date on the top (your welcome Grampa :)

Getting started... 

"We're not leaving yet mom, just telling you." 

 

Francie's Fall Day

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Yesterday we had a fun day hanging out at home, picking up Jannie for lunch, playing at the office and heading back to Half Moon Bay with Dad to make another trip to the Pumpkin Patch! It was a busy day...

"Let's call Jannie and see if she wants to go to lunch with us."

"First I gotta pick out some books to bring with me..."

Playing with Ollie in the front yard and doing her chore of putting down all the sprinkler heads that get stuck up :)

Hugs for "OWW-WA!"

Jannie, Francie and I hit one of our favorite lunch spots "The Red Currant" with books and Francie's fake cell phone in tow to keep her entertained.

Also entertained by going through Jannie's purse and pulling out her wallet, money and glasses which had to go on the face, maybe just upside down most of the time

And after lunch throwing Jannie's money in the wa-wa fountain!

Francie and Mom walking around the gardens

We found this cute Halloween-y set up to take photos in the gardens but of course Francie wanted nothing to do with actually posing or looking at the camera

"Yeah right Mom."

Hugs for the pumpkin

After lunch we met Dad at the office and went on a family outting back out to Half Moon Bay for some supplies for our Halloween party! Francie got some "Na-nas" at a flower/fruit stand and enjoyed from the comfort of her carseat while dad tied down our hay bales :)

We hit up the Lemos Farm Pumpkin Patch on the way home (a different one than we went to last time) and Francie got to see lots of animals, pumpkins and even got to operate the Dig Tractor

"There are like 40 chickens in there Dad!"

"Those aren't chickens Francie... BIG old Turkeys!"

Can you see the look of terror on Francie's face? She did NOT like the goats attacking her Dad for the food!

We finally convinced her to "pet" the littlest baby goat

Dad had to feed the goats some other little girls feed who were terrified of the attacking goats... he got swarmed and this time Francie kind of thought he was funny from the safety of Mom's arms:)

"Dad take me over there to the ducks please!"

"Hey this thing isn't real." (the REAL pony rides at this place were a little scary, after we saw a pony practically BUCK Dad said no way. GOod thing he has better judgement than Mommy and Jannie do from the top of a bounce slide at the pumpkin patch:)

The tractor was a big hit too despite the scary guy driving it

"You just put money in and it GOES! Choo-choo!"

Safety First

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Francie gets bundled up most nights to walk with Dad (and sometimes Mom too:) down the street to our favorite neighborhood grocery store "Willow Market" for dinner supplies. We usually decide what to make for dinner at the last minute and get whatever we need there which is much easier than braving Safeway! The checkers not only know us by name they know what kind of wine we drink, only slightly scary :) Francie has a choice of rides to the store but Dad usually picks the Chariot (behind the bike/jogging stroller thing) since it has flashing LED lights all over it and Francie even has her own headlamp now. Safety First AND Second!

"Hummm... what treat can I talk Dad into buying for me at the store?"

Happy Birthday Opa!

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We were in Red Bluff this weekend for Opa's 64th birthday celebration! Mark and Sarah; Craig, Andrea and Isabel; Katherine and Donald; Aunt Cathleen and Uncle Rick; Grandma Wichmann; Oma and Opa; Heff, Francie and I were all at the Heffernan compound for a weekend of fun. We drove up Friday afternoon and had dinner at the house Friday night, then Saturday morning at 5am Heff went out on Edwards Ranch for the opening weekend of deer season with his buddies. He was planning on a 2-3 night trip out to the luxurious (uh, sarcastic) deer cabin but surprised us Saturday night and came home! Francie and I were so excited and he admitted he missed his girls ;) He was back in time for cake and presents which was nice for Opa too. Andrea and Kat and I started a "simple, done-in-an-afternoon" sewing project making baking aprons from a pattern we found at the little sewing shop in Red Bluff but it took more like two days for us to finish. It was a fun project though and we all learned a few things about sewing patterns. Francie and Isabel were so cute together and had their own little cousin language, it is great when they get to spend time with each other and when the Heffernan siblings get to play together too!

"You guys told me Cousin Isabel was gonna be here... where is she!?" (They arrived LATE Friday night)

Katherine and Cathleen cooking in the kitchen Friday night

Saturday morning Isabel and Francie finally got to see each other finally! Andrea had these CUTE tutus made for the girls 1st birthdays!

"We'll let you guys in, but only if you have a tutu on too."

Isa-bisa preferred to wear her tutu like a lion

Francie and Isabel had to do a chore for Opa and pick up all the fallen acorns on the deck he was diligently sweeping so they wouldn't hurt their little feet... the girls took their job seriously!

"Peek-a-boo!"

"Silly Cousin!"

"Oh, I thought you were busy looking at Isa. I was just going to steal the sink again to help collect my acorns."

Saturday we rounded up the whole crowd to head into town (it took at least an hour to move us all and figure out carseats!) We stopped first at Aunt Kat's new house in town, it looks great. The girls liked tearing it up while their uncles watched football

Craig, Sarah and Andrea

Donald, Kat and Mark

"Look Isabel, these candles don't even burn when you touch them. Weird huh?"

(Francie still can't figure out these candles and nice duck-tail hair Doo :)

Time to sew! These are the fabrics Kat and I picked out for our aprons. Mine are the pastel colors, Kat's are the cowboy prints and Andrea's were black and white prints... Donald was a saint and kept the babies entertained in their car seats while we took our time choosing fabrics in the little sewing house. It wasn't working so well WITH the babies pulling every embroidery string they sold off the wall so when we loaded up in the car saying "aw it would have been fun to make those aprons" he said "get back in there and pick your fabrics" :) The girls were well taken care of, thanks Donald.

Andrea finishing another project, a cool bound photo-card for Opa

Aunt Kat learning to use the sewing machine (which she figured out in 5 seconds flat while Cathleen kept telling us to read the manual... who reads manuals anymore Cathleen :)

My turn

Donald and Francie enjoying the relaxing afternoon at the Heffernan House

After dinner we had Tom's mom's recipe carrot cake Oma made. Happy Birthday Tom!

The girls with their Opa

Giving the birthday Opa his kiss... now let's eat some cake Opa!

Francie and Oma

"OMG! NO WAY FRANCIE!" They have their secrets :)

The busy kitchen

Impatient Francie pants waiting for her cake

Snuggling with Aunt Kat but trying to talk Donald into sliding her some more cake

Playing games with Oma and Opa!

Craig, Andrea and Isabel... what a cute family :)

Isabel keeps us all entertained, she is too funny

Those crazy uncles...

Opa opening his presents, first the impressive photo book Andrea made

Time for tutus

Here comes trouble

The stairs we warned them away from all weekend... "I'll do it if you do it Isa."

Ride-um Cowgirl-Vaulter-Ballerina

Let's put both of the girls on the horsey!

Oops. Bad idea.

Francie LOVES her tutu!

Tom's map of CA from my mom and dad (Tom and John share a love of local geography:)

Daddy straight off the deer hunting trip home to surpise his wife and baby girl! Thanks Heff!

Aunt Sarah and Isabel in her leotard (I brought up a trunk full of dress up leotards we had leftover at Brilliant Babies in too-small sizes... perfect for the girls!)

Aunt Kat found some late night entertainment

"Woah woah woah"

Still sewing Sunday morning...

Francie helping Dad raise Opa's new flag... from the comfort of Grandma Wichmann's infrequently used wheelchair! These photos are so irreverent.

When Heff asks her what you do when you see a flag she flashes a hand on her chest :) Well trained for patriotic Opa and Grampa!

She loves her Opa!

Wow. I don't even know what to say about this picture of my daughter :) I know, I know. I dressed her, but she was going to go out squirrel hunting with Dad and I couldn't resist. I packed the outfit in case dad had better luck hunting for the baby-with-a-dead-deer photo op. (We love her felted "H" hat Sarah Coogan!) We got the "Future Hunter" t-shirt in Montana... PETA better not check this blog.

Grandma playing with Francie and the dollies

We finished our aprons...

While Dad taught Francie how to shoot a pellet gun (I know, this picture is a little over the line, it is just a pellet gun, we promise) She was content to sit in her dad's lap in the dirt for 30 minutes looking for those darn ground squirrels that eat Oma's tomatoes!

Just waiting with Dad

and giving Mom some love!

"I'm coming back out here every time we come to visit Oma and Opa now!"

A Day at Home With The Doo

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Francie and I took a day off today to hang out at home and be domestic :) We went to the park for lunch with the one year old babies group, got to play with Dad at home for awhile after his lunch meeting for Rebuilding Together and then Francie and I got busy in the kitchen making cookies. We had an impromptu afternoon playdate with our neighbors Emma, Owen and Alexa too and Francie went NUTS for bubbles. She did not however think it was so much fun when I took one of the chickens out of the cage to let her "pet." Appearantly she thinks chickens belong in their cage and was not happy until they were all safely locked away... we'll have to work on that one :) Heff and I walked to the park when he got home from work and found neighbors at the dog park who had a backpack full of Coors Light... he was pretty happy while we chased Francie around the slides.

Time to "cook"!

Precisely measuring the ingredients...

"You mean that thing just goes around and around and then cookies come out? How easy is that!"

"Oh. You didn't say anything about cleaning up Mom."

"If I actually say 'CHEESE' for the camera do I get TWO cookies before my nap?"

Umm-umm-umm! Cookies. They were "Ginger Spice Snaps" but my baking skills are always a little lacking (I tend to "estimate" a little too much) They were quiet SNAPPY!

Dad and Francie test them out with a glass of whole milk :) (She still won't drink it, but was happy to dip her cookie in it!)

Too bad they look prettier than they taste...

We finally harvested the leftover tomatoes and peppers in our little garden. We planted 9 pepper plants this year but the gardeners accidentally pulled out all of the stakes that told us which ones were which... makes it kinda hard to tell a Habenero from a Sweet pepper when some of them look the same! (A few chicken eggs mixed in there too)

Our chickens are apparently on steroids or something... some days we get like 7 eggs and we have 5 chicks. It makes teaching Francie math very difficult. ;)

We had a watermelon left over from Francie's birthday we cut in half and gave to the chickens... they pecked the thing down to a thin little rind in a day! (The new half I just put in next to the old one)

Francie had her bath and was all tuckered out by bedtime... Dad insisted she sleep near us while we caught up on the Office and Survivor so we brought the bassinet out (which usually holds the clothes I need to fold) Francie has had random spontaneous major barfing incidents the last two nights (sorry ABA, I know I supposed to save that for the TMI only blog) and once was in her sleep so her Dad didn't want her all the way on the other side of our enormous house (or on the other side of the wall). She looks like such a big kid in here!! Heff said this is what he looks like sleeping in our double bed.

Awwwwww :)
September 25, 2007

Francie's Friends Turn One

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Francie's friends Estelle and Wesley both turned ONE on Wednesday September 22! To celebrate Carson hosted a playdate costume party at his house. The babies looked so cute in their furry and funny costumes! They played, napped and snacked while the moms got to catch up. Happy Birthday Wes and Estelle!

Estelle with attitude on her big birthday

Birthday boy Wesley coming through the tunnel

Francie looking disapprovingly at mom... she didn't know other kids cars came with music radios!

"WHAT! This big naked baby is drinking my sippy cup!"

Running away from mom halfway through her party-dress-to-costume change

Heather our host and Carson the Roaring Lion

Two Lions and a Monkey fight over shotgun in the crusier

Nacho Libre!

Natalie the Flower and Francie the Ape

Paige making the babies laugh :)

Trying to accessorize her costume

Francie "I Don't Do Group Photos Anymore" Heffernan with her well behaved friends (well, Estelle and Francie think alike)

Nacho Libre's Dad is not going to like this one!

Icie and Estelle... Bye-bye birthday girl!

Watch out for that blue frosting! It left Paige looking like she had frostbite so of course she gave some to Francie :)

"More please Crazy Paige!"

No holdin' back

"What? I don't have frosting all over my hands and I'm NOT rubbing them all over my party dress."

The dog will clean me up! (Check out that tongue!)

Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Patch

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Today Jannie and I made the trek over to Half Moon Bay to the big Pumpkin Patch. It was pretty quiet on a weekday afternoon and we had the place almost to ourselves, including the pony rides, bounce houses, "petting zoo," train-rides, pumpkins, pumpkins and more pumpkins. Francie went nuts when she saw the ponies and Jannie spoiled her and bought her TWO rides this time (it was the same pony ride Francie did at the San Mateo County Fair a couple months ago). It was sooo much fun we have to go back again soon with Dad!

"You're saying we get to go to the Pumpkin Patch place AGAIN!"

"Will this outfit work for the Pumpkin Patch? (Don't tell mom I told you... but this one is NOT from Le Cirque. She got it at that Target place for 8 bucks and that wasn't even on sale!)"

Mom and the Doo at the Pumpkin Patch!

Jannie and Francie... Jannie used to bring us here every year when we were little :)

Francie was not that into the petting zoo... they had goats, ducks, chickens and bunnies in this little pen but she wanted nothing to do with them. It didn't help the ponies were right next to the "zoo."

"Come on Francie... PET them!" (she's holding on for dear life)

"Now this is more like it."

"Get out of the way mom... you're in my pony pictures."

Francie picked her pumpkin out but got frustrated when she couldn't lift it herself so Jannie had to help her carry it to the wagon.

We told her "This one is for Daddy and this one is for Mommy and this one is for Francie!" She looked at us and said "Ow-wa?" like "Doesn't Ollie get one too?" :)

Causing a ruckus in the bounce house

"Oh no. I think I just got my socks dirty." (Do they make a "Little Miss Cleanliness" t-shirt?)

Francie and Mom in the giant clown face wind tunnel thing with balloons flying everywhere...

"Jannie you gotta get in this thing."

I thought it was a little weird but I have to admit this thing was pretty fun! Jannie was taking these pictures from an air vent in the side only as big as the camera lens :)

Since there was no one there the bounce house guy told us to go down the slide all we wanted... no one told me it would be a little tricky to climb UP the slide with my double-layer-anti-blister socks still on! I almost killed us both just climbing the thing.

"Weeeee!!"

She is obviously not as scared of it as I was :) My elbow lost half it's skin trying to slow us down.

Jannie's turn...

Uh, Jannie. The top of the slide is not a bounce house :)

Ready....

Go!

I'd like to see how many other grandmothers take their grandbabies on the super slide!? Good job Jannie :)

I took Francie one last time (without socks) and the old bounce house guy yelled "throw her down by herself!" (he was obviously very bored) and I DID! Oooops. Don't listen to old bounce house controllers Mary! She FLEW down the thing and caught some serious air when she hit the landing... but she was smiling :)

"One more time PLEASE!?!" (How do you say no to this face?)

"Hey. You're in our space buster."

The horse named "Fancy" was perfect for "Francie" :)

"Catch ya later lame petting zoo... I'm on a PONY!"

Loading up the car... no more pumpkins in our wagon

"Do you think I picked out good ones?"

"Oh no. I forgot to get pumpkins for my chickens!"

Hanging out in Jannie's new car! (on the way home from dropping Ann off at the airport Sunday John and Jannie found a barely used Suburban to get Jan out of her old "little" car :) It's very pretty, nice and safe and completes our family's collection of gas-guzzling vehicles)

Lunch Date with Auntie Baby Ann

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Friday when ABA was here we had a fun girls lunch at the Rotunda at Neiman Marcus in the city and Em, Marla and Jackson joined us too. Francie had to share Jannie with another baby but she dealt with it pretty well :) We all had yummy popovers that we got the recipe for and Jannie made them Saurday night for James' birthday dinner. ABA commented they didn't taste quiet the same without the NM "strawberry infused butter." Snob. It was a fun lunch but Jannie and I didn't last long following the shopping maniacs around after lunch, we headed home and left them to their own devices (can't wait until my sister has to pay ALL of her own bills :)

Baby Ann and her "plus one" date Christine :)

Em on her lunch break with Marla and I (I was impressed Marla managed to a) look so cute and b) get herself and a 3-month old baby (also looking adorable) up to Union Square to deal w parking and a stroller by herself!)

Ann, Jannie and Baby Jackson

"What? I know he's cute but can he tell you what an Elk says?"

Francie Gets a Weekend SURPRISE

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Auntie Baby Ann surprised us and came home this weekend!!! She and her roommate Christine flew in Thursday night and were at our house playing with Francie when I got home from a meeting... I was so excited to see my pissy-sissy! They had dinner with us Thursday night and Friday we went into the city for shopping and lunch (Ann, send me those pictures off your camera sometime in the next decade please:) Friday night she and Christine stayed in the city with my brothers and recovered from their hangovers Saturday morning in time to do some more shopping around here too (Ann should be a professional "find-good-deals-without-losing-your-mind-at-Marshalls" shopper. Francie had fun showing ABA all her new tricks.

Saturday Heff flew down to LA for the day for a friend's wedding reception in Hermosa Beach. Francie and I stayed home as she wasn't feeling all that great (Baby Ann made me promise not to talk about her TMI "issues" on the blog but let's just say she was dragging prune juice in sippy cups everywhere she went for a few days... but don't worry it all "worked out" by Sunday night:)

We walked down to the Menlo Park library Saturday morning to see Tom the Old Firetruck and meet the police dogs but Francie was asleep when we got there so we met the Johnets at Cafe Barrones for breakfast

Jannie and Francie

Francie going to put her money she pulled out of Jannie's wallet in the "wa-wa" fountain

All gone!

Saturday night was James' 29th birthday! We had a party at my parents house and even Francie got in on a game of "Left-Right-Center"

ABA found Francie's Halloween costume... a big chicken! I wasn't going to ruin the costume surprise, but I didn't take enough pictures of Baby Ann and Francie (the little Doo was not too happy to be picked up in this picture, but she loves chick-chicking around in her costume!)

At the dinner table... Uncle James, Ann and her "plus one" Christine posing on the bench seats :), Uncle Jerry and Allison

Joe and Marla (Em's parents) there to celebrate too

"Ohhh... more crackers please."

Poor Francie has a big bruise on her cheek... she was crawling up a shelf in my office to get her juice I left up too high and a heavy folding chair fell on her!

Em brings the Chocolate Pots de Creme for dessert

After leaving at 10am, Daddy was home by 7:30pm for dinner! YAY!

Sunday we did some chores around the house... Francie's FAVORITE new chore is helping Dad tune up the four-wheeler :)

Yummmmy. Prune juice on the "cah-cah" :)

Pumpkin Patch Playdate

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Wednesday afternoon we met some of our playgroup friends at Webb Ranch Pumpkin Patch to play. The babies loved the pumpkins and eating each others snacks (the grass is always greener:) It didn't feel very much like a fall pumpkin patch day since it was 85 degrees out! We tried to stay cool in the shade and let the kids get down and dirty in the dust and straw... we didn't actually buy any pumpkins so we'll have to go back with Dad and a wagon. It was a fun afternoon with our friends!

Francie and Asher searching for the perfect pumpkin

Cool dude Asher

Even cool enough to share his straw... it tastes good.

Carson preferred to push all the pumpkins off the hay bales

Josie wasn't so sure about all these pumpkins and wild kids... she held on to mom for awhile

Cute Isaac hiding from his buddies

He is ready for Halloween!

"Oh no. He's picking the one I wanted."

Perturbed and dirty-faced little Francie-pants :)

Amy feeding the pigeons! They are slowing learning to wait their turn but those dried apples are too good.

Our attempt at a group shot... Francie is not too happy and ready for her nap

"Get me outta here!"

"Hey wait, I think remember being here last year?..."

"I don't think I liked it very much." (She was SO tiny! Oct 19, 2007)

Nope. Not at all Francie ;)

A One Year Old... Officially

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We went in to the pediatrician's office this morning for a slightly delayed 1-year visit with Dr. Cisco. We are doing a slow vaccination schedule so her appointment was later than her real 12-month birthday (she's 13 months this week!). She brought Dr. Cisco, Dr. Nolan, Dr. Morton and Nurse Kathy each a 6-pack carton of "Francie's Farm Fresh Eggs" from her chickens... Dad thought maybe we should include a salmonella disclaimer on them :) They were excited for the fresh brown eggs anyway. Francie crawled all over the office while Dr. Cisco checked her out. She's growing and healthy at 21 1/2 pounds (50%) and 31 inches (97%) and she has a big head (I forget the measurement). Her Dad held her down for the two shots which she was not too fond of but recovered quickly with a "funny guy" stickers-on-a-tongue depressor-puppet.

Happy girl in a pretty dress

Going in for a Sophie kiss

and knocked down by the slobbering doggie!

Sophie says "Opps. Sorry, you okay baby?"

About to get frustrated when she can't stand up (don't you hate it when your feet get stuck on your dress?)

"Help!"

Making the rounds to her favorite things in the garden with her Jannie

"Woah, woah, woah" twirling again!

Taking a break

Daddy-Doodle Duo Weekend

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Heff had Francie-pants on his own Thursday afternoon through Sunday afternoon and loved every minute of his Daddy time. I was impressed and he did a great job taking good care of Francie. She was soo cute after the weekend attached to her dad's hip. I left Brian with a Daddy-frendly-diaper-bag (as in one that doesn't look like a purse... in green camo of course) stocked with supplies AND a camera :) He promised me he would take pictures of the outfits he put Francie in... I got a few at least! Saturday he took Francie to the Stanford vs Arizona football game with Francie's playgroup friend Isaac and his dad Chad who played for Stanford (both Dad's were on their own all weekend!) They walked down to the game with Grampa and Jannie who were sure to be in attendance since Jannie is a fierce UofA alum and fan! She made an Arizona onesie for Francie since she coudln't get any cheerleader outfits shipped off in time. Uncle Bob and Aunt Francy from Oregon were here for the alumni game and reunion weekend so they got to spend lots of time with Francie and show her off at the tailgates. (Aunt Francy tells her friends she never liked her name until little Francie came along!) Uncle Bob came over for breakfast Sunday morning and Heff made a huge batch of pancakes and sausage while Opa Bob helped Francie with her chores, feeding her chick-chicks. She is a lucky girl to have the Daddy she does!

We had a family lunch date at Shiok downtown on Thursday before I left

"Wait. WHAT? You're leaving me mom?"

Francie-pants out of the stroller and ready to rock the football game

Francie and her Opa Bob!

What football game? They have BALLOONS!

Bob, Jannie, Grampa and Francie... Stanford AND Arizona fans in one shot ;)

Francie and Isaac climbing all over the bleachers. Heff reported they both got B+'s for their behavior sitting through the game... not bad :)

Bear-down Arizona!

When I got back on Sunday Francie was SOOO CUTE! Heff had her well dressed (per moms request:) in her Wranglers and she even had a bow in her hair. She gave me the biggest hug (although I think she was just trying to get me to take her closer to the airplanes) and I swear she looked older after four days away! It was a great weekend of pampering and worth it to hear the stories of how much fun Heff had with Francie all to himself... but I'm glad to be home!

Fuzzy Crocs, diaper, wife-beater, sherpa hat. Wow, I wish I could report this was a "Dad-picked" outfit but this was Francie's get-up playing at home last night :) She loves this hat.

Mom's Weekend Away

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This weekend I was at a spa in Sedona called "mii amo" with a group of 11 girls for a baby shower for my friend Anne. We were all SOOO spoiled with 2-3 treatments a day for three full days! When we weren't too busy getting pampered we lounged around the pool, hung out in our sweats, ate a lot of food and even had some "mocktails" from the juice bar. The weather was chilly Saturday but we didn't mind being cooped up too much :) The girls are all a lot of fun and we left refreshed and ready to go back to our babies at home! (The best part of the weekend was that HEFF got to spend four full days with his baby girl! Pictures and updates of their Daddy-Doo adventure to follow :)

The girls at our spa breakfast (portion control at it's finest:)

The Baby Belly!

Room service dinner after massages, facials, wraps and astrology readings

We decorated onesies for the baby... I made the "I eat Red Meat" one since they are sort of vegetarians but always forced to eat meat at our house :)

We had a lunchtime party to shower Anne with gifts for the baby! We tied a blue ribbon around everyone's wrist to send a wish to the baby with the intent to wear the "string" until she had the baby but most of them fell off in our "treatments"!

Cupcakes.... yummm.

The lunch was at the resort (we stayed at the spa part) called Enchantment

"GooGoo gaga"

Check out these high tops! Size TWO! (Francie already wears a size FIVE... these are TINY!)

I gave Anne a "50% Mama n 50% Papa" outfit for the 23andMe genetic experiment :)

Goodbye Sedona Red Rocks!

Francie Models for Le Cirque

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Photo credit: Kathleen Harrison Photography

Our friends Christian and Meredith at Le Cirque de Enfants (the best baby boutique around:) asked Francie to come model in photos for their new fancy website. It was a random afternoon last week Francie and I were headed home to wait for the dishwasher repair man and watch Oprah when I checked my messages and instead of turning left to go home we turned right and headed straight to the new "Le Cirque Home" shop. I mean adorable clothes and a photographer and our fun friends from Le Cirque... way better than hanging out at home! The photographer was really good... Kathleen Harrison Photography from the city. Francie was a total ham and loved it. She is sure used to changing her clothes often :) I had to run home during the "shoot" to meet the dishwasher guy but Francie stayed with her friends and did just fine (they took the cute picture above when I was gone) I love how they did her little clip! I always just stick the bow in the middle of her head but I guess she does have some hair now :) The girls were sooo good to her she even got to take home a special Rachel Riley holiday dress and adorable pink "Suri" shoes... she's saving them for a special occasion! They sure spoil Francie-pants.

In between wardrobe changes :)

Her favorite horsey

"Outta the way mom, there is a REAL photographer here."

Greg and Trish Get Hitched

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This weekend we were in Red Bluff for Greg and Trisha's wedding. We were all a little worried about the dark clouds and forecast of RAIN for their outdoor wedding on Edwards Ranch... the ceremony was set to start at 4:00 on the ranch across the creek from the reception site. Heff and I helped Greg get some last minute details finished up for the party (it only took four of us and six different stores to find the right adaptors for the propane heaters!) for most of the day while Francie hung out at home with her Oma, Opa, Nana and "Great Grannie" (Heff's 95 yr old grandma who is up in Red Bluff now told me that's what she wants Francie to call her in case you Heffernan's are wondering who the heck I am talking about!) The clouds were looming and broke open in a downpour around 3:00... we all showed up at the ranch in rain gear prepared for the worst. Well, at about 4:10pm the clouds cleared and the sun peaked through! It stayed dry the rest of the night, made for a beautiful evening and we didn't even need the heaters :) We all had fun catching up with friends, enjoying the good wine and good food and Francie had a ball getting down and dirty with all the big kids at the wedding!

Mom and Francie getting ready at Oma's house and almost ready to brave the rain

Dad and Francie with Ava on the ranch waiting for the bride to arrive

Brendon and the Sakai Family under umbrellas (Baby Ryan is 2 months now and so cute!)

Pretty Oma with Heff and Francie

Here comes the bride... just as the clouds were clearing!

Walking back to the party tent with Dad

"Get me to the dance floor!"

Francie with her favorite Red Bluff girlfriends

The tent

Francie found the windows and was cracking us all up!

Then she took a little tumble (aka faceplant) in the dirt but Madeline took good care of her and brought her to her mom for a cleanup

Eating dinner with her Oma

First Dance

They made a playpit for the kids out of giant hay bales... the kids had more fun running circles on the bales but it kept them all busy most of the night!

Crazy kids at sunset

In action jumping off the hay bales

"MOM stop taking pictures and pick me up!"

Eating cheesecake!

Spencer and his Dee-da

Dad says "Is she hungry Mare?" :)

"Did he not just see me signing 'FEED ME NOW'?"

Trish wants a hug from Francie (in her PJ's for late night:)

Francie-pants doesn't know how lucky she is to get a squeeze from the bride and groom

Even her PJ's were covered in dirt but she sure had fun!

"Back to the dance floor to find my friends..."

Congrats Greg and Trish!! It was a perfect day to celebrate your wedding :)

Princess "Woah, Woah, Woah, Woah, Woah!" Francie

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I have been reorganizing our office/Heff's closet room this week to turn it into an office/playroom/Heff's closet :) We moved things around to make more room to play and got some shelves and cubbies to get the ever growing collection of toys out of the living room and more organized. Francie loves it! After the third trip to Pottery Barn Kids, I couldn't resist this Princess Tutu ensemble for the Little Doo and she LOVES IT! She put it on to show her dad after dinner and immediately started twirling in circles saying "woah, woah, woah, woah, woah!" It kept us entertained until well past her bedtime :)

"Here I am!"

LIVE in action: "Woah, Woah, Woah, Woah, Woah!"

"OH MY, I look beautiful!"

The smallest size it came in was a 2/3T so the tutu part sits a little high when she isn't trippin on it :)

Reading with Dad in the new playroom

The Francie's Favorite shelf... can you believe she used to fit into those little knits in the frame?!

Crawling on her Dad

She would smack herself in the head if she didn't have the pretty-princess-hat on to complete the outfit!

"Where's my Dolly?"

Trying to kiss her dog. Didn't anyone tell her princesses don't kiss dogs on the mouth!?

"Oh gross, I forgot I am a prim and proper princess."

I made a cubby "station" to re-charge diaper bags for outtings (and trips to Red Bluff!)

And added some tags on the baskets to help keep things in their place :)