Francie likes to sleep like her mom and needs lots of time to wake up...
soundly sleeping in her bassinet...
the arms come up...
and up...
big stretch and not happy about waking up!
Back to sleep for a few minutes please...
She's out again
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
Dreaming of pancakes....
Saturday we walked over to the firehouse in the Pram for an "all-you-can-eat" Pancake Breakfast
It was a big hit with the crowd!
Jan and Mare after lots of pancakes enjoying the warm, sunny Saturday morning
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
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
"Enough with the pictures Mom... no more please!!"
"Dad, you should be sticking up for me here... make her stop with that camera flash already!"
"At least give me this hat so I can hide from her."
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
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 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 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
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!
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..."
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!)
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!)
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!
Francie's first dinner out! Getting ready to go to Grandpa and Jannie's house for a celebratory Cracked Crab Dinner, a tradition in the Simo family for bringing babies home.
Trying out the crib in Grandpa and Jannie's pink nursery - Jannie made this quilt for Francie this morning! We love pink all of the sudden :)
Francie is pretty popular! (Auntie Baby Ann thinks she shoud have her own Facebook page because all of her friends at Vandy want to be friends with Francie) Here: James, Em, Jannie and Heff looking in
Big Yawn!
Uncle Mark also deserved a toast for the evening as he just completed his PhD in Computer Engineering (although when I asked Claire and Brian what it exactly focused on they paused and said "Hmmmm, well it has to do with compilers) He's working at Google now to make things faster is the answer we settled on :)
Francie slept in a bassinet on the table next to the dinner table, she was sleeping soundly while we toasted our wine glasses and cracked crab
James and Em in their crab bibs
The new Dad at at head of the table along with the other Dad, Grandpa!
Uncle Jerry & Allison
The new parents
Oma, Jannie and Kat
Uncle Mark and Aunt Sarah - Francie was born on Aunt Sarah's birthday!
Big yawn for her godfather, she woke up right after dessert
Jannie was appalled we changed Francie's diaper and put her PJ's on at the dining room table :) I think Francie will get away with ANYTHING at Grandpa and Jannie's house!
Willie and Anna are our neighbors and came by Saturday to meet Ms. Francie with their mom and dad, Gina and Mark.
Heff, Willie and Francie... Willie watched a diaper change and was fascinated by the umbilical cord, his mom, Gina says he is still talking about it!
Anna, Francie and Mare
She's getting bigger... Francie is eating well and gaining weight, we didn't expect anyless as she IS a Heffernan and likes to eat! The picture above is Francie at 6 days old, but I think she looks "older" than the top picture in the last post from the day she left the hospital at 4 days old. (I know, we're already turning into those obnoxious parents we used to make fun of:) But we're having fun at home as a family with lots of help from our moms, Oma and Jannie. Our neighbors have been great bringing meals for us and visiting with the new member of the neighborhood. We've also been organizing the house and trying to make it work for a real live baby (and not just to look cute for blog pictures), doing lots of baby laundry and just hanging out with Francie!
Sleeping on Dad's chest in her little sleeping gown
Going on our first walk around the neighborhood on Sunday... little Alexa who lives across the street came over with Dad to meet her new friend Francie
Francie "Pretty in Pink"
In the Bugaboo for the first time... she looks so tiny in there!
Jannie and Oma helping make sure we don't go hungry - THANKS MOMS!
Grandpa LOVES holding his granddaughter, especially with a glass of wine while Jannie brings him some snacks... it doesn't get much better than that
Oma and Aunt Kat who came over afterschool to visit with her god-daughter
Bedtime! Heff looks only slightly more comfortable than he did in the hospital bed-chair :) He loves having Francie fall asleep on his chest
Her diaper bag all ready to go with her Going-Home-From-the-Hospital Attire... Em gave her the adorable outfit and my mom and I made her white ruffly blanket together.
Naked baby girl
Dad getting Francie dressed and ready to go HOME
Ceremoniously taking of her "Lindsay Lohan" security ankle bracelet
Mom and her Sweet Baby
She's MAD!! Heff says her eyes are burned from mom taking too many pictures :)
The Heff's. We're a family of three now!
Heading out to the car... we can't believe they are actually letting us take this beautiful baby home! We feel soo lucky.
Outside Lucile Packard on September 22 (her due date!)
A rainy day for Francie, her first time outside!
Not so sure about this carseat thing
Welcome home Francie (Jannie made a banner for us and was already at the house cleaning, organizing and warming it up to make a clean, cozy homecoming for the baby)
Dad is so excited to have "his girls" home
The rain washed everything clean for a new baby :) Made or a great weeknd to watch football and snuggle in at home with Francie
Oh dogs, you are going to be spending a lot more time on that side of the door
This banner was in my dad's office the day I was born! I can't believe my mom still had it, my Dad's secretary made it for him and decorated his office in PINK! (You can kind of see the pictures on the left stuck in the frames of my parents in 1978 under the same banner)
Welcome Home Mary Frances... we hope you like your house (and we hope you don't mind blue!!)
Life with our Four Marys! Raising Free Range Kids in Northern CA.
