Feeling Very Blessed...

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I feel so lucky to have Heff by my side... he takes such good care of ALL of his girls :) We had so much fun together during the whole labor process (most especially after that epidural!) and feel very blessed our hopes for a "VBAC" delivery were able to happen. He never left my side except to get me ice chips or to get a nurse and was a great coach (must have been the 14 childbirth classes we took for Francie huh!?) He loves his new baby girl and has been so good about making sure to give Francie some attention and special time too. It's so much fun to see him with a little bitty baby on his chest again. Thanks Heff for running out for my meals, snacks & treats, for the diaper changes and organizing of my hospital room ;) and for being such a good caretaker for your girls. We love you Daddy!

I Love Stanford Hospital

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Every afternoon they bring afternoon tea and tea sandwiches to the moms on the maternity floor... um, how long can I stay here!?

It's partly that I like hospitals in general but I LOVE my stays at the hospital after babies :) especially this second time with wireless internet thrown into the equation. I have tons of pictures to blog and stories to tell about the arrival of Maisie... but that seems like a duanting task at the moment so I'm just blogging about my nice Sunday afternoon at LPCH Hospital...

Francie came over with Jannie and Grampa to visit with Oma and Opa before they headed back up to Red Bluff. She stayed for her afternoon nap on Daddy's bed (another improvement since the "bed chair" last time) Heff brought me Andronico's sushi and a big cobb salad for lunch, we ate while Francie slept in the sun.

Then Heff took Francie home for a walk to the park and to get her "own tiny baby doll" she left at home. He texted my this pic and said it's too hot outside for their run (little did we know from our hospital room!) but they got Slurpee's and were headed to the park. I don't know if it scares me more that he may have picked this ensemble or Francie did!

We were lucky to get a private room right off the bat this time. All of the nurses and doctors have been SO nice to us. They take great care of me and the baby and we've seen just about every doctor and nurse who were on the three shift changes while we were in L&D come down to maternity to meet Maisie and check in. We better find a lot of nice thank you cards!

I like the view from here...

Auntie Em brought me pretty flowers to brighten up the room

and my dad brought See's Candy Molasses chips just like he always brought my mom in the hospital (here in a picture Jannie just found of her in the same hospital when she had her second baby :)

and what could be better than having this on your lap to stare at!?

Not-so-tiny toes with her hospital badges-of-honor

Tiny Baby Maisie

Little Miss Maisie!

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It's a GIRL!!

We are thrilled to announce....

MaryMarjorie Sheehy Heffernan aka "Maisie"

Born Saturday April 18, 2009 at 10:30am

7 pounds 1 ounce - 19 inches

Big sister Francie is very excited and got her own baby "out of tummy" at
the hop-i-tal, "Susie" is her new dolls name. Mom and baby doing great...
expected a c-section but went into labor in pre-op ;) thanks for all the
well whishes and prayers. Heff has three "Mary's" to deal with now!

Where Are You Baby!?!?!

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Francie is looking for that stork... Really Baby Heff? A week overdue!? I know some people go two weeks over but I don't know how you do it- this is torture! Send your good vibes and prayers this baby decides to come SOON but I think we are about out of time... we're in the 24 countdown to a 10:00am C-section tomorrow- Friday, April 17. My Uncle John is pulling for his birthday today April 16 (Happy Birthday UJ!) AND SO ARE WE! If not, we'll have a baby tomorrow ;)

Emmy took this picture yesterday out in an orchard with some of her favorite girls, they are gorgeous, as expected- thanks for letting me steal one Em... we're all hoping Kaky is watching today and gives this baby a little nudge!

Just In Case You Were Wondering....

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We STILL don't have a baby! We had a non-stress test, ultrasound and doctor's appointment today... Francie tagged along for all of them and was a very patient little girl :) Baby looks great and everything seems to be fine, some contractions just no real labor! If I don't go into labor in the next few days we are scheduled for the c-section Friday at 10am. At our doctor's appointment Francie was very interested in hearing the heartbeat and worried about the doctor checking the belly... but then she wanted "Sansie's turn!" on the table and called "Doc-ta Druuu-zin?" to see if he'd come back to check her baby-in-the-belly ;)

In between appointments at LPCH we had lunch at MacArthur Park where Heff and I had lunch the day before Francie arrived... hoping superstition will kick in and help us out!!

Francie's Easter Day

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We had a great easter this year with Francie! Heff got us up and moving for 8:00 mass and even dressed Francie up in a party dress himself :) She was good in mass, despite it being PACKED! Then we all went out to breakfast at University Coffee Cafe in Palo Alto and came home to do our own little "family" easter egg hunt in the front yard. This was Heff's idea and it was so cute to see Francie so excited about it! Although she was still recovering from the creepy bunny at the Menlo Park egg hunt yesterday so when she and I had to hide in her room while the Easter Bunny came but Dad showed him where to hide the eggs :) After our hunt we packed up and drove out to the Baylands for a hike. We saw lots of birds and Francie chased the ducks and "mean goose" into the pond for awhile. She came home to take a long nap before we walked over to my parents for the family easter celebration. Jannie and John made way too much yummy food, all my favorites! Jannie did some "Easter Egg Trivia" and Em's family killed the competition in the egg decorating contest again this year (they were jeweled!) Emmy took some great black & white photos of Francie- it's like having a professional photographer at family get togethers now! Mark, Sarah and Baby Clara came over too, she is two weeks old now and so alert and adorable.

Egg hunting with Ow-wa

Not surprised I saved some of the best eggs for our house ;)

That belly isn't getting any smaller!... Francie says "COME OUT BEBE!"

Our "hike" (more of a long walk:) at the Baylands

Francie was obsessed with drinking water from the camel-back thingy

Over to Jannie's and on the swings in no time

Ready for another egg hunt! Dad helped her out this time too...

Gettin' in there for that egg!

So excited!

and Auntie Em helped Francie out in the hunt too, lucky girl with her entourage!

Stink eye!

On a mission showing some leg Little Doo? ;)

Emmy helped Francie reach the high ones!

Another "YAY!" "I bet there's one in here."

"Hummm, Uncle Jerry has a lot more of these eggs in his bag than in mine. He won't mind if I "find" one while he's not looking..."

Em, Marla, Jackson and Marla all looking beautiful as usual (sorry, handsome Jackson!)

Emmy and her works of art...

Emmy and Baby Ann both wore this easter dress when they were "only 1" I have such a cute picture of Emmy in it I need to scan ;)

Twirling and laughing in the front yard... these two are BFF's :)

On her way down from playing in "her room" with the doll-dolls

Time for Easter Egg Trivia 2009! Complete with "phone-a-friend" and "use your iphone" second chances.

Emmy and Francie

Uncle James and Uncle John on their easter cigars (and ignoring Jannie's trivia game- she wasn't too pleased)

Uncle Jerry (we missed you A-woo!)

Jannie's homemade Easter Breads... and Arnerich tradition

"Uh-oh, I think I ate too much easter candy."

Baby Clara got to come over too!

Passed around for some adoring

She is so adorable! Makes me want a baby... hopefully we'll have one soon too!!

"HAAAPPY EASTER" says chocolate face :)

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 ;)