Happy 3rd Birthday Francie!!

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Well it's officially after midnight on September 17, 2010 and I can no longer say I have a TWO and ONE year old. I can't believe you are THREE Francie!

Our friends Emily and Chris had a baby girl this morning at 4:45am at Stanford Hospital and I got to go visit them right after my 20 week ultrasound scan (all looked good for baby number three!) right down the hall at 11am. It was so much fun to remember those days with Francie exactly three years ago!

Francie at a few hours old...

Francie. You are a character and give your Dad and I a run for our money. You keep us entertained and we couldn't love you more. We love to get one-on-one time with you when you seem like a 2-going-on-5-year-old (you tell people sometimes you are five- nice try) and enjoy every minute with you.

We are going to have a little party for you tomorrow with family and friends in the Redwood Grove and your big present is a trip to Disneyland. You could not be more excited. Every night you ask your Dad or I to lie with you in bed and you say "Could you tell me the truth abouttttt...... the rides at Disneyland?" (we get this question a lot in the car- you want to know the truth about derr signs, the truth about roads, the truth about fire trucks... you get the picture:) but you must knoe every disneyland ride your dad and I can remember by heart and we can't wait to see your face when you meet "the REAL Minnie and Mickey." as well as Professor VonDrake, Figaro, Daisy and Donald among others you just can't wait to meet.

You are out spoken and usually not shy around new people. You met a doctor the other day (actually the man who founded the Parkinson's Institute- a really interesting guy who lives near us!) and you introduced yourself and said "My name is Francie. This is my little sister Maisie. Our nicknames are MaryFrances and MaryMarjorie."

You LOVE dolls and babies and being a "mom." You report to have twins in your belly and their names are "Lonesome and LuLu" and you really think I should name my baby Lonesome. Not sure where that came from. You have your favorite doll Honey and she goes lots of places with you- sometimes strapped to your CamelBak on the front as your very own BabyBjorn. (I found a picture of me below at four years old with my favorite doll in Jannie's blue corduroy carrier- glad to see you take after me France!) You told me the other day "Mom- I am a wonderful mother" and I had to agree and ask you where on earth you learned to be such a wonderful mother ;)

You talk a mile a minute about whatever is on your mind and when we ask you questions sometimes you thoughtfully pause before you answer... "Accccctually..... I thinnnnnnk...." followed by some hilarious sentiment. You want to know what everything is, how it works, why it's the way it is and your questions never stop (thank goodness for the "Cow songs" in the car to divert your attention to singing sometimes!

You are learning to bargain (but we're not falling for it!) and before bed last night you said "Mom. If you come lie with me I will be happy. If you DON'T come lie with me I'm gonna be reallllly mad." and you stormed back into your room. (We still struggle with your bedtime although not too bad- your sister points to her crib and stays put without a peep until morning but you need a little more coaxing and "someone to lie with me" most nights. You love to talk in bed about all sorts of things (stall tactics) and have mom draw letters on your back- a game Jannie taught you.

You love your sister Maisie and are really sweet to her- you even share most of the time and make sure she has what she needs. In the car sometimes Maisie likes to high-pitch-scream for no real reason (you did teach it to her) and you get upset and say "Ow Maisie that hurts my ears" and instead of getting upset you have learned how to handle her- you ask her "Maisie- what does a doggy say?" and she switches gears to much quieter animal noises :) we all love you for this.

When you wake up tomorrow you will be 3. I can hardly believe it. Don't grow up too fast my little MaryFrances!! We love you and Happy Birthday.

-Love, Mom

Ballet Day

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We had fun playing in our new outfits (Maisie had to join in and put the hand-me-downs on of course) around the house and then meeting our friends Parvin, Jasmine and Kayley for lunch at Rick's. Jazzy was going to join in on the 3-year old ballet but decided when we got there she'd just watch. They were very nice to wait for Francie to finish and watch class with Maisie and I. Then we all walked home for more playtime! Three girls piled in the wagon and Kayley in the Ergo we were a gaggle of girls.

"Try this one on Maise"

(sorry these pictures look like they are car-sick green- can't find a good camera setting for playroom lighting!)

teaching her fancy moves

SO happy one minute and then... I forgot for a second she is still "only two" but thanks for the reminders Francie :)

still mad

recovering to take care of her dollies

and Maisie just likes to clean- thanks to the neighbors who had awesome stuff at their garage sale- with the distinct exception of this Barbie vacuum that says "Hey! Let's get ready to CLEAN!" over and over


than after lunch and ballet (Jazzy was a trooper and waited for Francie to finish!) we came back to play in the playroom with tutu's, dolls, dollhouses and princess. All things girls.

Maisie was obsessed with checking out Kayley

Francie showing off for her friends

Kayley the four month old almost crawling wonder baby!

Babies

Big girls

Big Girl Ballet

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This week Francie started her first 3 year old ballet class... no more 'Mommy & Me'! We signed up at the Los Altos studio (used to take in Menlo Park) so we can walk to class downtown. It;s a really cute little program. Francie was so excited and had been asking if it was ballet day yet for a week. We had to get new ballet shoes (size 10, little big foot) and when the outfit was a little tight and I told her she could wear the other leotard with "plain sleeves" she said "Actually- it fits perfect!" She ran right into the classroom with a new friend named Julia and loved the teachers Suzanne and MaryAnne.

Maisie watching intently from the one-way mirror

Mom and Girls Weekend

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My long weekend in iPhone pictures... Heff just got back from 5 full days of elk/deer hunting in Oregon with his brother-in-laws Doug and Donald (how lucky is he is sister's married guys who love to hunt!?) We survived without him even though Jannie and Grampa were in Las Vegas! We hung out with Emily who is due with her first baby ANY second and tried to keep ourselves entertained without our main squeeze. Of course it's when he is gone Maisie decides to barf three times for no apparent reason. We are glad you are back Daddy!

This was the night before he left- late night walk downtown for "ice cream you can put your stuff on" as Francie calls it

only one smiler per picture allowed I guess

Thursday night we met friends at the farmer's market and indulged in berry crepes covered in whip cream and then rainbow snow comes eaten on the asphalt in the middle of the street while we listened to music. (and this wasn't even the puker night :)

We played at home a lot with some new lego's and Francie played "baby" with Maisie. She changed her diaper herself (it didn't stay on exactly but A for the effort!) Then of course she got to be the baby and insisted on wearing a size 2-3 diaper herself.

We went over to check out Emily's nursery (Francie wanted to make sure she had toys and onesies for the new baby) and we walked over to crash her neighborhood block party since we saw two bounce houses up!

Facepaint. Serious business. Francie requested a black spider with silver sparkles.

Maisie even had a turn! She got a pink smudge we called a flower before she decided she was done.

Then out for SPICY mexican food at Milagros to induce labor (her husband went on a quick camping trip overnight, we were giving him a hard time but he was 30 minutes away and had cell service. Still would have been a good story if that was the night she went into labor!)

girls split make your own sundae's. Maisie started out sleeping in the stroller behind us and while the food was being put on the table we were distracted and didn't hear/see her wake up. She stood up in her stroller like Baby Godzilla and the table behind us was cracking up

and Sunday we went to play at Jannie's, she took them on a long walk to Peninsula school. Then Rosewood for some sun on the patio and lunch with friends, then record fast naps at home while our friends stayed to play and early dinner downtown Los Altos with three kids in my new triple wide stroller I ordered from the UK that finally came- I need to take pictures of it, it's slightly crazy but I love it :)

More Fun in San Francisco

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More from our adventures in San Francisco last weekend! Emmy rocks as the best babysitter on the planet :)

We checked into our cool new hotel right on Ghirardelli Square, bundled up and then hung out on the square with friends for a late lunch while Heff went on a run.

I sure can't manage a picture of them from the front and Maisie's skirt might have needed to be rolled a few times so she didn't look Amish/trip on herself. But I got them at Christian's Le Cirque tent sale, they were in her old stash of "vintage" Liberty of London!

my not interested and not looking at the camera girls...

Then we went to play at an indoor kids club near the hotel for a bit with our friends- sweaty Dad met us there after his run :)

The girls found the most fun pushing the baby stroller down the slide at full throttle. I think I am in trouble....



Emmy met us there after work (she is working in SF a few days a week- what a city girl!) and we had fun at the indoor play place and then terrorizing the hotel room

and she even took some decent pictures of my little monsters since I have been striking out

what monsters?

ok maybe not all the time

and Emmy babysat for us while we had a night on the town at Brady & Kristen's fun wedding

attempts at a family photo... call these the outtakes, but oh wait there might not have been a single good one (totally our fault, not Emmy's :)

Maisie got a little upset (for 2 whole minutes) when we left but Francie was watching for us from the window- Heff told her to look by the ATM while we stopped on our way out :)

Emmy's babysitting fun on the sqaure! the girls in the cute new hats emmy got them. They went across the street to the beach to watch the boats and shopped around- too much fun.

Emmy's Full Service Babysitting Service includes showers before PJ's of course!

and chocolate milk in bed with a little Mickey (I warned Emmy, Francie watches and LOVES Mickey's Clubhouse, Olivia, SuperWhy or Little Einsteins. We tried to venture out to some random cartoon with little mice running around to french music and while Heff and I were busy filling our "TV babysitter" time we turned around to see Francie quietly bawling her eyes out next to the couch! "Daddy the mouse ran off and lost it's mother!" which apparently doesn't happen in the four benign shows mentioned above so we'll stick to those! Mickey only runs off from "uncles" so we're good)

Saturday morning ready to hit the streets!

someone pointed out today their eyes are exactly the same color right now- you can tell in this picture! Mine are Hazel, Heff's are blueish-green so I think they got the green gene

not sure about those teeth genes though.
Francie's = straight. Maisie's = snaggle.

and they're done.

Meet Moo-Doo Don

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Francie has an imaginary friend. Her name is Moo-Doo Don. Sometimes she breaks into two people... Moo-Doo and Don (and Don becomes a He). Sometimes she is 1 year old and sometimes she is "about 12" or even 17 which means sometimes she is Francie's little sister and sometimes she is the BIG sister. Sometimes she rides in the car next to Francie but most of the time she is at work, Moo-Doo is a really hard worker.

I just thought it was funny this morning when Francie said "Mom, me and Moo-Doo Don are going to the aquarium today." and I said, "Francie, you mean Moo-Doo Don and I are going to the aquarium." and it wasn't even weird at all :)

So this morning I asked her some questions about ole Moo-Doo...

*Francie, does Moo-Doo Don have parents?
"Their names are Don and Moo-Doo." (of course)

*What color hair does she have?
"She has pink. I have kinda blueish and red."

*Does she wear clothes like you?
"She wears .... pink. And she has Donald Duckie Pajamas and her little sister has Goofy Pajamas and I have Daisy Duck pajamas. We have the same outfits to wear. We have the same colored slippers too- these are our slippers.
Oh let me go find Moo-Doo Don. Ooooo! I picked her up- she is the big sister but she still needs to be carried. I am the Mommy and Ollie is the Dad."

*Can you tell me any more about Moo-Doo Don?
Sure, let me get her. Ohhhh! (picking her up again) sometimes she goes by Minnie Mouse that is her other name. (can you tell someone is counting the days to Disneyland?)

Emily & Dan

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Sunday we attended wedding number two for the weekend! Emily and Dan got married in Healdsburg Sunday afternoon. It was perfect weather at a really cool estate in Windsor, the caterer owns the home/grounds and built a barn for a kitchen, a little barn for bathrooms and a great spot to celebrate a wedding. Congrats Emily & Dan!

We drove up (without kids!) over the Golden Gate with the windows down and "real" music playing enjoying the sunny day in the city

Heading over the Bay

We met Claire, Katherine and Donald at the hotel where they were all staying and then shuttle-bused it up to the wedding site. They had Arnold Palmers for us (my fav!) and parasols while we waited

Emily & Dan had a beautiful ceremony under big shade trees

Married!

Kat & Donald

brother-in-laws in almost-matching ties... we didn't give them a hard time or anything ;)

pretty bride

and such a pretty spot for a wedding




the CUTEST idea for a guest book- they had an iPhoto booth set up that printed right there for the guest book- they were hilarious!

We love Aunt Francy! Uncle Bob & Aunt Francy, Uncle John and Aunt Barbara were all there to celebrate too- we got to sit at a table with all of them and Oma- a rare treat to get time "alone" with some of our favorite people.

my hot date :) weddings are such a fun place to spend time together and remember our wedding day!

Brady & Kristen

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Saturday night we were lucky to be invited to a beautiful wedding in San Francisco to watch Brady & Kristen tie the knot. My brother Jerry has been best friends with Brady Carlson since high school- they caused a lot of trouble together! Kristen was a beautiful bride and the wedding was so much fun. The reception was on the 32nd floor of the St Francis hotel (where we all stay every year at Christmas) and my parents, James & Em, Jerry & Allison and Brian & I were all there to rock the night away! Emmy stayed with the girls at a hotel in SF for us- they get their own post on the adventures in babysitting evening they had :)

more couple pictures of Heff and I in one weekend than we've taken all year!

James and Em looking fab as usual

cute pic of Jer & Allison- love your dress Allison, really brings out the "Ted" in Jerry ;)

the toasts were hysterical- Brady is the youngest of four boys and his older brother roasted him! Made me realize I can throw a few zingers Ann's way for my Matron of Honor Speech- watch out ABA ;)

Allison and some of their cute friend's- these girls do Book Club, Supper Club, Wine Club... I wanna be friend's with them!

The "Simo" girls - I missed the animal print memo apparently

we had to take a few- I veto'ed this one that looks like I am wearing a leopard baby sling with no baby in it!

Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Carlson!! Thanks for including us

Dance Party!

John dancing! Good thing Allison got this on photographic record!!

Like Father Like Son :)

Jannie and her BFF Brady

Aww cute Johnets

what a fun night!

Baby Bellies!

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I have soo many pictures to post from a fun wedding extravaganza weekend (2 in 2 days) but I thought I would post this picture of Kat and I with our baby bellies at 18 weeks and 36 weeks! Kat kept saying, when she was newly pregnant, that she wanted a SIL as a pregnancy buddy since we all seem to usually be pregnant at the same time. She got her wish it just took me a few months! So we enjoyed being the sober ones together at a beautiful wedding in Healdsburg Sunday. 4 weeks to go for Kat and Donald- we can't wait!

and I guess I could use this an excuse to blog about this pregnancy since I forget I am pregnant half the time. Not anything to complain about but this pregnancy has been a little more rough on me than the girls were- but I am thankful my complaints aren't anything to really complain about. I got headaches in the first trimester every week or so that would last a good 48 hours and even turned into full blown migraines with blurry vision twice- no fun at all. I've still had the headaches in the second trimester (no more migraines) which is a pain but they seem to be going away... knock on wood. I get tired sometimes but luckily the girls will still nap together in the late afternoons for 3 hours or so so I can sneak a nap in if I need to (or catch up on blogging, work or Real House wives of course). Heff has been great, as usual to make sure I rest when I need to and helps out so much with the girls- that I am very thankful for too!

I am considered "VBAC" again this pregnancy (c-section w Francie, successful VBAC w Maisie but just under the wire) so I am going to the high risk doc at Stanford again- not because I am high risk exactly, just because it's hard to find a doc to take me- but I LOVE my doctor- Maurice Druzin and the whole OB clinic at Stanford. He is the Chief of Maternal Fetal Medicine and has worked a lot with my Dad. We see him walking the Dish ever so often and he even goes along with my superstitions... when I was supposed to be scheduled for a c-section if Maisie didn't come on her own on Friday the 17th- I told him I heard it was a bad luck day in Italy from my mom's Italian friend Carla- even worse than Friday the 13th :) so I wanted to push it back one more day- he thought I was crazy (rightfully so maybe) but agreed to try for the 18th, which I got in the end thanks to his awesome resident letting me try to labor despite not much happening! So this baby is due Wednesday Feb 11 and one of his residents said "maybe if you are late- Friday the 13th! I was born on a Friday the 13th!" and he looked at the resident like "DON'T tell HER that!!"

We are just happy to be expecting another baby Heff and hope for a healthy baby in 5 months!

Waking Up

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Is hard to do... especially after a slumber party with cousin Ellie! Francie is in seventh heaven around her older cousins and loved having Ellie sleep in her trundle bed. They were up late of course and a little sleepy the next morning- still in their PJ's (matching Ellie by chance!) at 10am when Maisie woke up too. I love slow sleepy mornings :)

Thanks for coming to visit and your help with all those balloons Ellie- come back and stay with us again soon!!

Summer Showers

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Saturday we hosted a Baby Shower for Aunt Kat at 11am and another one for my friend Emily at 4pm! It was a great day to celebrate the moms-to-be and the babies on the way... A surprise for Kat due Oct 3 and a girl for Emily due Sept 22. Can't wait to meet the new babies!!

getting ready... Ellie came down with Oma for the weekend so Francie got to stay and "help" while Heff took Maisie and his Dad to run some errands and stay out of the house all day :)

Onesie decorating, getting ready and Kat's fun friends showering her with love :)






brunching

presents

onesies for Baby D

special thanks to "showers are my thing" Em for making the pretty flower arrangements herself, getting the "organic" onesies and pens for our activity AND making an amazing diaper cake!

The whole crowd at Kat's shower- thanks for coming ladies!

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and then a little break for some clean-up, a trip to Peet's for iced teas and getting ready for round two for Emily and her baby girl due in 3 weeks! Le Cirque bags representing on the window seat (Christian was late since everyone was shopping at her store all afternoon for Em!)

it was a little crazy and maybe I was a little tired so I didn't take as many pictures... but we were rocking until 7 with the ladies and had a great time!

we played the "Cute Game" where you can't say the word cute during presents- if you get called out saying it that person takes your little felt diaper with a pin. We didn't have enough diapers for Emily's so we used Francie's bow collection!

Anne, Maisie and Jannie after Maisie returned home :)

still my baby for awhile longer!

Date Nights!

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Heff and I have had fun date nights two weeks in a row! We really need to get out more often :) Our friend Dave invited us to the Stanford Summer Symphony to see Chicago perform in the outdoor amphitheater last Thursday night. It was a great concert soaking up some outdoor evening time before summer ends and rocking out at the after party (too bad I couldn't indulge in those Apple-tinis!) Thanks for including us Dave!

Then last night we went with a bunch of friends to the SF Giants game - in a skybox- so much more civilized than the last two bleacher seats games! It was a beautiful warm night in SF and the Giants actually won :) The game ended way too quickly after 2 hours though- we all stayed another hour and finally got kicked out as the last ones in the stadium! Thanks for the fun nights out Heff and for watching the girls Emmy/Jannie/Grampa!