Dyeing Easter Eggs

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I love to dye eggs at easter and I take it VERY seriously :) Non of this "let the kids make a mess and the eggs are cute with hand prints all over them." I know I might have to give up on that someday but luckily for now Francie shares my interest in order and neatness when doing projects! Jannie came over Saturday afternoon with our supplies to dye the eggs. Last year we found these really cool dye's at The Playstore in Palo Alto that turn the eggs really dark colors, my favorite. We don't mess around with multi-colored or fancy eggs, just dark and neat... Heff needed a little guidance ;) Grandpa came over to check things out and Francie was very proud to show him the creations. We kept a little bowl at our house and Jannie took the rest home for Easter Bread (a family tradition with a dyed egg baked in the middle) and for the hunt tomorrow at her house. Happy Easter!

Blank canvases

and some brown eggs too, they held the color really well and the speckles added some fun... thanks chick-chicks (and finally something to do with ALL our eggs!)

Getting ready

The first egg...

It's PINK! (maybe a sign? ;)

So pretty

Francie insisted Heff "Come sit Daddy!" and try a few. She gave him the black dye.

The aftermath

Francie says "Oooooooooo!"

The finished products

"Which is your favorite Sansie?"... "This-sa kind!"

Grampa says he likes this one

Even the clean up is pretty!

colors

The Johnets with their granddaughter and favorite eggs

"Thanks for helping me dye my first eggs Jannie!"

Menlo Park Easter Egg Hunt

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Saturday morning we loaded up strollers and scooters and made a pilgrimage to Burgess Park for the Annual Menlo Park Easter Egg Hunt. There were tons of families there for the egg "hunt" (or eggs thrown out on the baseball field), bounce houses, arts & crafts, fire truck rides and of course the same freaky bunny as last year. Francie was excited about collecting eggs in her bag and got to see so many of her friends at the park! We were hoping the walk would induce labor or something but still no Baby Heff!!

We had a stroller brigade with all of our neighbors to the egg hunt and stopped at one house for bagels and juice before heading out

We took up the whole sidewalk for a few blocks

Emma and Owen made sure Francie was well taken care of

It was CHAOS with kids everywhere... not so much of an egg "hunt" as a free-for-all on the baseball field ;)

Francie got the hang of the egg hunt pretty quickly...

but was NOT so much a fan of the creepy Easter Bunny!

Still a little skeptical of that Bunny

We saw lots of Francie's friends... it was the place to be! Landry showed Francie her new bubble blowing machine she wanted to do "a-self"

Emma and Owen saved a place for her in the LONG line to ride on Old Tom the Firetruck!

What a fun ride!

Walking home on Dad's shoulders

Conversations with Francie

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A few videos talking to Francie this morning in her PJ's... probably long and boring unless you are related to this child! But here they are:

A note for her "ABA" (Auntie Baby Ann) all the way in Nashville. The "ABA woose bow!" story never seems to get old but then Francie pulls out a "Real Housewives... Real Housewives too TACKY!" to her Dad and my surprise, that was a new one! Who taught her that ABA!?

Singing her favorite songs... a few monkey songs then a cute rendition of "Kaky's Song" probably only comprehendable if you've listened to the song as much as we have.

Every morning if she comes in bed with me she lays down and says "Talk about mom?" and we talk about all sorts of things :) Just a warning this one is way too long.

Where Are You BABY!?

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Could this be our last picture together as a family of three?! I sure hope so... but we're patiently waiting for Francie's baby brother or sister to arrive. I'm passing the time playing online poker tournaments (thanks a lot James ;) in between cleaning out my email inbox and getting things settled at work and Heff is still working and playing with Francie. Yesterday A-woo-son stopped by after work to drop off our ViaCord kit and brought Francie a surprise too! We had a fun visit. Then last night we got moving and went out to dinner with my parents and Ann and Earl Skidmores at Calafia, a new restaurant at Town & Country Village in Palo Alto opened by one of the "Google chefs." It was yummy and a fun night out. It's a full moon tonight... we want to meet you Baby Heff Number 2!

"cheeese!"-y girl next to her very impressively decorated gift bag Allison :)

She's too excited about the bag and the new flower-bow that came on it to open it up!

Cute wrapping for mom and baby-to-be too A-woo!

Easter bubbles and a Lift-the-flap Easter Egg Book... Francie's favorites!

Ann, Jannie and Francie dressed up for dinner at Calafia

Cocktails with the big people (they brought her her very own mocktail!)

Francie had a vegetable pot pie in a mini Le Crueset... it was adorable!

Francie and Daddy coming back from "wash hands" in the fancy bathrooms... she was SO excited to tell us all about it

Who loves you Sansie!?

She had to go back for the hand dryer a few times... this thing was so powerful she had 80's bangs!

Jan, John, Ann and Earl... they've known each other since Lamaze class 31 years ago!

Entertaining us all after dinner

Ann couldn't resist a kiss! Thanks for a fun dinner out Skidmores!!

"Hat-to-Birt-Day Mommy!"

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I had a very special 31st birthday on Sunday... with my favorite things and my favorite people :) I got to sleep in and woke up to a big sprinkled donut, cards, a big bottle of White Star and a cute Happy Birthday banner above the front door! Heff was very thoughtful and made my whole day. We had brunch at Bistro Vida downtown Menlo Park (where they know me so well the waiter brings me an extra large Arnold Palmer when I sit down :) with Jannie, Grampa, Uncle James, my friend Anne and Francie's buddy Benji. It was supposed to rain but turned out to be a beautiful day. After brunch and opening my dad's infamous stack of funny cards from every family member and pet to date... we strolled around downtown and hit up the playstore. Then Sunday afternoon we checked into the brand new (just opened on April 2!) Rosewood at Sand Hill Resort. It was SO nice and totally felt like we were on vacation even though we didn't leave Menlo Park (and THAT is my kind of vacation!) We took Francie for a swim, explored the resort and then I got some poolside time and a massage while Heff took Francie to church (Palm Sunday- bad mom!) and handed her off to my parents for the night. He met me back at the hotel and we had a great dinner at the bar that lasted 3+ hours (GREAT food, service was a little slow:) We sure missed that Little Doo but she had a great time at her "Slumba Party" with Jannie and Grampa. No baby on my birthday but we're hoping he/she makes an appearance soon!!

Francie and Jannie at Vida for brunch

Uncle James!

The Johnets (a little blurry;)

After the playstore Dad taught Francie how to blow bubbles from the BubbleBear

Anne and Mary

and gave "MarySances" a ride on his shoulders

Getting her swim suit on at the hotel... and maybe a little jumping on the bed

Poolside and ready for a swim

This is the life

and after a quick swim it's off to mass with her Daddy

My "mocktail" at the bar ;)

More Cousin Fun

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That's the 3 Heffernan boys each with their first (and to date only!) baby girls :) and their wives of course! We were so lucky to have Andrea and Isabel here all last week! We packed in as many activities as we could each day... well as many as two pregnant moms and two toddlers could handle :) We shopped to the mall, lunched, hit gymnastics class, went to Lovejoy's for Tea in SF, hung around my parent's house (apparently sharing toys at home is one thing for Francie but sharing toys at her Jannie's house is quite another!) The girls had lots of fun together and Isabel even taught Francie a few Hungarian words :)

Shopping trip

Ummmm... chocolate cake!

"Monies" in the fountain

Craig came back up late on Friday night and Andrea had a conference in Alameda for her family distillery business. Part of my birthday present was a new wing for the chicken coop (too bad it wasn't a new wing on our house huh!?) So the Brothers Heffernan sprang into action doing what they do best: designing and building chicken dwellings together :) Minor pit-stop here for a hen-pedicure (I'm not kidding! This hen "Daisy" has had balls of mud on her feet for months... she sounds like she is tap dancing when she walks on the playpit wall. Only Mark cares enough about the little buggers to do something about it:)

Beers, building materials and Hacienda burritos... a perfect Saturday

I came home Saturday from running baby errands with Jannie (Lullaby Lane is always a fun trip:) to find the girls had convinced Uncle Craig and Uncle Bri-nan to put on their dancing queen unitards to help build the chicken coop

"Izza, take that Zumi out and tell me if it's level enough?"

Thinking hard about squaring up that angle dad missed...

First experience with the ice cream truck!

Walking to dinner at Uncle Mark, Aunt Sarah and Baby Clara's house in the new double stroller... Heff gives it a B- (why do we all collect strollers these days?)

Pretty festive table in the backyard. Sarah's mom Nora is visiting all week and staying in our tent in their backyard! Not many mother-in-laws are that brave :) She is a trooper and was very excited to just be near her first grand-daughter.

Francie checking out Uncle Mark's chicken's set up

Country girl

Proud mom Sarah and beautiful baby Clara

The girls were very interested in this tiny baby bundle

Francie climbing on her jungle gym

Tiny Baby Clara Marie

Lovejoy's for Tea

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Friday we ventured up to San Francisco for a tea-date with all of our favorite girls at Lovejoy's Tea Room! Francie and Isabel were little angels and sat in their high chairs at the table the whole time nibbling on jelly and cream cheese sandwiches, fruit, scones and cookies... lots of incentive to be well behaved I guess! They also seemed intrigued by the loud, long conversations going on all around them. Ladies at tea can talk girls!

"Jannie, stop telling stories and pass the sugar please."

"She won't stop talking Mom." (get used to it Sansie, this is what we do at Tea :)

"Really? They all talk this much?"

"I'll just pretend I fell asleep..."

"Hummph. Didn't work. Maybe if I speak Hungarian they'll stop chatting over us Francie."

The best tea sandwiches around...

and "Wee Tea" for the little girlies!

Make a wish for Mommy Francie!

Aptos BBQ and Beach "Pick-chas!"

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Thursday afternoon we all headed down to Aptos for a beach BBQ with the fam. My Uncle John, Aunt Kim and their kids rented a beach house at Rio Del Mar for their spring break week. There were families with young kids everywhere and they were right on the beach so their playground was endless :) It was a really windy but warm afternoon until the sun went down. Emmy took some great pictures of course! Francie and Isabel love looking at themselves on the "cooper" (computer) and usually request the "beach pick-chas!" Now we have a whole new album of beach pictures for you girls...

The cousins at the beach (I know, we need to give up dressing them alike all the time someday- just not for a few years:)

Izza-bizza

Isabel RAN right into the ocean! She is a brave little girl :)

Mom and her Little Doo

Tu-tu's on a WINDY beach day... can you tell!?

trying not to eat the sand flying through the air

Isabel has the cutest personality :)

they speak their own language to each other. Part baby-english and part hungarian :)

Moms and daughters...

Squeeze!

Jannie and her brother John

Don't fly away!

Emmy and Isabel

Jannie and Andrea... Jannie is knitting away on a new "play sweater" for Francie :)

The girls were playing in the "kiddie pool" at the beach house next door... they were freezing- sorry girls, bad moms!

After their warm bath to take the chill off they are back in matching outfits to play with the Gaunties Kim and Mimi

Daddy and the girls at sunset

John, Rich and Heff manning the grill

Ella and James sharing their spring break beach house toys with the little ones

"See you later Alligator!"

Birthday Curse

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Yup. I locked my daughter in the car (with the keys in the car) today on my birthday! In 75 degree spring weather too... Luckily A) I only did it because I had hit the remote start button (that requires you to lock the car after you open the door for some reason!) to turn on the AC while I put her in her carseat and B) my husband was with me to stay calm and ready to break the window the minute the AC went off. We thought we were SO prepared for this to happen, a while ago we'd called OnStar to ask how we remote unlock and put the lame little OnStar emergency stickers on all the windows. Unfortunately, when I called OnStar my cell phone number pulled up the account for our OLD Suburban that was stolen out of our driveway after we were married and totaled so they of course showed the account deactivated! Heff called the Menlo Park Fire Department and they were there within two minutes with an inflatable door opener thing and unlocked the car. Francie was a trooper and was just looking at them the whole time like "what the heck is going on and why won't my parents just get in the car!?" The nice firemen gave her a fire hat and sent us on our way assuring us we weren't the first people to do this... I felt so bad! And yes it is a curse, I have run out of gas TWICE on different birthdays and only ever done it on a birthday!

LOTS of pictures to post, we've been so busy with family and fun but we're off to celebrate more birthday now so will post tomorrow! ...and no signs of a baby yet!

Francie's First Slumber Party

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Sunday night Craig and Andrea went to play a new strategy game with Uncle Mark at his house so Heff and I got Isabel and Francie all to ourselves for the evening! The girls played to well together, they took turns "sharing" dolls and toys and gave each other lots of hugs and kisses. Isabel fell asleep with us (their games are no joke!) but her Mom and Dad picked her up a while after... Francie woke up asking for Isabel and a slumber party :)

Dinner time

Snuggled up on the couch together

Playing with the toys on the table top

Silly girls showing off their outfit changes

Comparing belly buttons

Then we had a SLUMBER PARTY! Heff, Isabel, Francie and I all cozy-ed up together in our tiny double bed :) The girls were exhausted after playing together all day and fell fast asleep after a few stories and bedtime songs. They are so fun to have together.

Weekend with Isabel

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We had lots of Heffernans in town all weekend to meet Baby Clara and to celebrate Craig and Katherine's 30th birthdays on the 30th. Oma and Opa were here all week, Kat and Donald drove down Friday and Craig, Andrea and Isabel got in late Friday night and slept at my parents house. Saturday we had breakfast at my parent's house, played with the girls (who are the BEST of FRIENDS!), went to the park, hung out at our house, pulled out the jumpy house and tortured chickens. We had dinner at our house Saturday night and then Sunday John and Jan made us breakfast and we sat around their backyard in the sun until we were ready for the next meal and hit up the Hacienda Burrito Bar with a huge to-go order. Poor Heff has been sick all weekend, sporting a 102 temperature but has been a trooper entertaining everyone and still managing to take good care of his pregnant wife and baby. Get better Daddy!! Andrea and Isabel are staying all week so we get lots more Isabel time!!

The girls were so happy to see each other Saturday morning at my parents house... Isabel was clapping and squealing and saying "FANCY!!" over and over

Still fitting two bellies in the tiny swing and pretty happy about it!

Breakfast outside... so glad Spring is here!

Funny faces hiding

"The Blimp" flew right over us!

Aunt Kat, Uncle Craig, Uncle Donald and the girlies on our way to the park

Daddy and the Doo... they don't look alike at all do they? ;)

Pit-stop at the corner market on get snacks for the girls... and 40's for their dads

At the park Francie has to "kiss" the doggie on the "No Dogs Allowed" sign everytime

Silly ghetto brothers and brother-in-law :)

Playing at the park

Up, up and away...

Weeeeee! Francie found courage to show off for Isabel and went down the "HUGE SLIDE!"

Francie's first try "A-self" on the big kids swing with Dad

The girls LOVE each other so much...

sometimes they give each other a little too much love ;)

Time to play outside

Star-gazing in the daylight

Izza-biz!

Wagon rides around the chicken coop

and not to forget their waters... lots of "MINE" and "YOURS" at this age!

Dinner time Saturday night

looking guilty little girls? ;)

and bathtime!

either Heff just yelled at them or someone got their feelings hurt :)

all better...

Francie's Friday

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Friday Francie was waiting and waiting for her cousin Isabel to arrive! Craig, Andrea and Isabel drove up from LA but got a late start so Francie didn't get to see Izza-bizza until Saturday morning (they are troopers for driving up and getting in at 1am!) We had lunch with Jannie and Oma in Half Moon Bay so tehy could check out the knitting store... then we had a mellow day Friday afternoon around the house and for the first time in too long did NOTHING Friday night. We didn't even make dinner, just snacked on cereal and snacks! It was a nice break :)

This is where Daddy lets Francie nap...

She needs her minutes to wake up on her own or she's a grouch

Francie and I accidentally in "matching PJ's" at home Friday night - Dad made fun of us enough to pick up the camera :)

And mom picks up the camera to take a picture of Francie stuck under her elephant (or as she says "Ops-sops") instead of helping her... at least her Dad rescued her.

Good Morning America!

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UPDATE: We're on the cutting room floor! Auntie Baby Ann reports from Nashville we have a half second shot but they cut the interview... oh well!

Here's the clip

If you watch Good Morning America look for the Heffs on the show tomorrow morning! (Tuesday March 31 between 8-9am) I was interviewed for being a part of my friend Anne's company 23andMe as a "Mom Blogger" and part of their new Pregnancy Community. 23andMe genotypes your DNA to learn all about your inherited traits, disease risks, carrier status, and quirks. The segment is supposed to be on at some point between 8:00-9:00am tomorrow. We taped it a couple of weeks ago and Heff and Francie got some air time too... we'll probably only be on for a few seconds so don't blink ;)

I am a part of the 23andMe XX Pregnancy Community they just launched to help women learn more about pregnancy and genetics. It's a great resource to talk to other moms about the old wives tales of pregnancy, share stories and learn more about the real facts of medical conditions that affect pregnant women. The test is $399 a person and really gives you a lot of information about your genes! Even if you haven't had your genome read you can still join the pregnancy community and find out lots of fun information, fill out pregnancy surveys and dispel old wives tales... or prove them true! They also just launched a Parkinson's Community my father-in-law is participating in... 23andMe is trying to test 10,000 Parkinson's patients to find out more about the genetic components of the disease. They are doing some pretty cool stuff over at 23andMe! Good work Anne & Linda :)

My 23andMe Test Kit... pretty packaging for your spit!