After the Zoo we went to the Beach Chalet for dinner and watched the waves... the kids all behaved themselves through late lunch/dinner and we relaxed after the craziness of the zoo! (WAY busier on a sunny Sunday than our last adventure in the pouring rain)
I had to point out to Heff (and be a huge dork and take a picture of the menu with my iPhone) that they claimed to rival his signature drink!
We took a late afternoon trip to the zoo with friends. Got to see all the "animal" feedings!
Back from mass Sunday morning
Our first day out of quarantine! We took advantage of the sun and walked downtown but had to stop by the park first. This was Maisie's first time to really climb around on the play structure and Francie showed her the ropes.
and BIG news... I got an iPhone! Jannie/Beth/Ann/Drew have me addicted to "Words With Friends" Scrabble App so I made Heff take a detour to South Coast Plaza on the way to Catalina and I grabbed a new iPhone- and new number so if you've been texting/calling me I'm not really ignoring you.
So this is my first official post from the Squarespace App on my phone. Makes it easy to blog multiple pics and text. Watch out :)
A little more appetizing than the last post :) Aunt Kat baked sugar cookies with Francie when she and Donald stayed here last weekend- Kat is the expert baker! They used these really fun cookie cutters Christian gave me that have places to put letters in to spell messages on your cookies.
Hard at work (lots of patience from Aunt Kat :)
Roll it... and pat it...
and mark it with an "I love you"...
then pop it in the oven for Francie and me :)
and the best part- making Francie help clean up!
Thanks Aunt Kat!
What Happens when your sister teaches you how to build "sand castles" with the dirt in the front yard planter boxes?
You get a DIRT MOUTH BABY (ABA gave me the benefit of the doubt that was from cookies. Nope.)
Ew GOSS Maisie!
Maisie is SO much fun right now and really coming into her own. She has a great little personality at 10 months old and we can't wait to hear everything she has to say once she can start talking. We call her Maisie Shark because we always sing her the "Mais-ee shark doo-do do-do-da-do" song and she dances, (or we call her Maisie Moo, Moodle or Wuga-Wuga thanks to her sis) She weighs about 18 pounds, still fits into my favorite size 2-3 pampers snugglers, still nurses and if she eats real food only likes to feed herself- she loves to eat meat but isn't too interested in much else. She's been plagued with ear infections for the most of 2010 but they don't seem to bother her too much- we're hoping she's not a tubes baby but we'll see. She has a great little giggle and makes us laugh all the time. We love you Maisie!
Maisie makes so many funny faces
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This must be the equivalent of bed-head for a baldy- her hair is starting to come in but more so in the back, the front view is still a little Q-ball!
Maisie LOVES her sister more than anything (well, except maybe her binky) and lights up when Francie comes into the room. She thinks anything Francie does is hilarious and France just eats it up and she sure loves Maisie- most of the time ;) don't you love how she has the binky in even in the bath!? Heff was giving them baths when I came in to check and saw this- he said "mom has champagne in her bath, Maisie has her binky."
She is such a good girl and an easy baby. When she gets tired she rubs her eyes and leans towards her crib, I put her on her side with a lovey and a pillow and her comforter (I know breaking the rules) and she just settles in and falls right to sleep. (Francie used to toss and turn forever before falling asleep half sitting up) She is sleeping through the night pretty well now and sometimes still wakes up around 5/6am to eat and then goes back to bed until 8/9am. And she is still taking 2-3 naps most days, one good long afternoon one with her sister so I can get something done!
ABA thinks this picture looks just like my dad ("John Simo in baby form") Everyone says they think Maisie looks like me and I love it :) She has so many similarities to my grandma Mary Arnerich and her sister Marjorie Brady- good thing she was named after them!
and in case you are still reading (which only means you LOVE Maisie too :) here is a little video of her this morning while Francie was probably getting into some kind of trouble in the other room
After the baptism when we were in Newport- Heff, the girls, my parents and I went to my Cousin Molly and her husband Bryan's house to meet their new baby Lauren and see Brady! It was so good to see them all. Lauren is adorable and Brady and Francie were running around together all night causing trouble. Molly made us a delicious dinner and we just got to relax and catch up in their cute house. Thanks for having us and letting us crash your Valentines Night!
Brady is so cute! He and Francie were fast friends
Baby Lauren
Fun playing in Brady's play kitchen from Aunt Marge
Jannie and Lauren
Molly made heart shaped Brownies for Valentines Day dessert
Thanks Molly, Bryan, Brady and Lauren!
We spent last week on Catalina Island with the Heffs. At Christmas time we all thought it would be fun to take a Ski Week vacation somewhere kind of warm and settled on Santa Catalina if Uncle John and Aunt Barbara would be so nice as to let us use their beautiful house! It all worked out and we had a great time lounging in the sun (we got lucky with 70-75 degree weather the whole time) walking around town, playing Scrabble going out to eat and playing with the babies. We missed Maureen, Doug and the girls but everyone else made it!
The whole crowd walking into town for lunch at the Catalina Cantina (It took us 45 minutes and 4 false starts to find a place we all agreed on/could fit a table for 14 and didn't mind 5 babies messing up the place)
John and Barbara's house is so cool. They just remodeled the whole thing (there are upper and lower houses) and it's quite an engineering feat! It's a fun place to stay if you ever want to vacation on Catalina! a 5 minute walk to town, views of the whole harbor/bay and a great place for families/entertaining.
71 steps to the top
Francie and Isabel had sooo much fun together... when they weren't fighting like sisters
that attitude was just moving too fast
We went for an evening walk on the pier
and they found any mischief they would wrangle back home (dueling backpacks for "their babies")
the next day we sat out on the deck and relaxed
while the boys "worked"
and we finally made our way down to the beach with the sand toys from Aunt Barbara on our last night there... poor kids playing on the beach at 5:30pm! Maisie's feet turned blue- but they didn't seem to mind.
Uncle Mark went swimming in there!
and Maisie wanted to jump right in
"It's COLD Mom!"
The Heff's (I love how Heff is holding Maisie like she's a wet dog!)
Warming up with our favorite Mickey sweatshirts
the girls (just missing Andrea, they had to leave that morning)
we left the guys with the cold wet babies and went for a drink at Luau Larry's! A few good cocktails to end our vacation...
Isn't it supposed to be that easy?!
This preschool stuff is crazy. I think Francie is one of only a handful of her friends who didn't go to a two-year-old preschool program. Next year she'll be three and we weren't even sure we wanted to send her to "school" yet (doesn't she have to go for the next 18+ years!!) but I think it would be good for her- and for me :)
We were thinking all along we'd go to the little preschool near our house since it would be an easy two block walk but then I realized since it's a pretty short day and Maisie will probably still be napping in the mornings I would be stuck at home while she was in school and I need to make the most of this unimaginable "free time" with just one baby!
We heard great things about a preschool right in downtown Menlo Park near our office and tried to figure out how/when to apply (since some require a deposit when the baby is still getting ultrasounds!) We finally cracked the case on Saturday after Heff and Francie got the janitor to let them in and found a sign on the door that said the "first-come-first-serve" admissions day was TODAY (Monday Feb 22) at 7:00am.
Heff is such a good dad :) He woke up at 3am and headed out armed with these:
We'd heard there were only a handful of spots left for the Tues/Thurs 3 year old class and that people camp out the night before to ensure a spot.
(uh, this wasn't them but you get the idea...)
He was 13th in line and number 11 had been there since 9:45pm last night- the first guy in line got there noon on Sunday!) Heff said by 5:30am the line had doubled and there was even a fight when some lady tried to cut. He managed to get the last Tues/Thurs 3's spot for Francie! ''
Crazy what we'll do for our kids :) (well, what Heff did- I was home cozy in bed texting him :)
But he came home excited to have accomplished "Admission" and said he can't wait to see her walk in there on her first day- excited/nervous and looking like a big three year old! We'll just enjoy our no commitments life until September :)
We drove down to Newport Saturday morning and stayed at the Balboa Bay Club before heading into LA Sunday morning February 14 (Heff's birthday!) for our little godson Thomas Harsanyi Heffernan's baptism. It was a beautiful day in LA and a great celebration followed at the LA Heff's House. Congrats and thanks for honoring us as godparents Andrea and Craig. We promise to take the role seriously :) We love you guys!
I still haven't brought myself to buy a pack-and-play but this little PeaPod tent worked great for Maisie! (a last minute Friday night purchase from Babies R Us- always a fun place to frequent on a Friday night especially when I drag Christian with me!)
Heff walked Francie out for coffee when they woke up and got her pancakes from McDonalds. Maisie and I much prefer room service :)
Getting ready for mass
Jannie and John made the drive down to join in the festivities for the weekend too!
We tortured Francie and Isabel by arriving 5 minutes before church and then throwing them in the pew together for a 1.5 hour mass! They were hilarious together but a big challenge to keep quiet/well behaved. Afterwards they all played outside before the actual baptism part of the day
little flower
then back in church to baptize Thomas!
Don't worry- I'll protect you from that smelly oil Thomsci!
proud god-parents
Big SIS
anointing
little head bathed in holy water
blessings from all of us
part three
Jannie and Francie
Oma and Izza-bizz
Little light
and he's IN
Proud parents and godparents
Cousin Romey kept Maisie enthralled at the end of the ceremony
I know it was long Thomas but it wasn't that bad!
Back to the Heff's for a party (wait, Jannie is TALKING on her iPhone and not playing Words with Friends?!?!)
Jannie and Andrea
London Bridges in LA Sunshine
February 14- a good day to celebrate lots of things!
Isabel's just not sure why one of those things isn't her (wonder why she and Francie get along so well?)
Uncle Cake down on their level
What's a party without headlamps?
Isabel got a big girl bed the same weekend Francie did
The girls did some art projects in her room until we found them with paint brushes in hand looking for trouble
My godson
Isabel has "a thing" for ear lobes...
Maisie obliges... but see's an opportunity
Got a taste
and wants more
"Ahhh. My cupcake"
"Almost snagged it!"
"I'll just take yours mom!"
Isabel back for some aggressively affectionate love
and a Cheesecake Oma made for Daddy's birthday!
Make a wish
Happy Birthday Heff!
they have BIG NEWS today!
Pat popped the question in a surprise proposal this afternoon in Nashville. Apparently (and I still need to get the whole story- not just the OMG 10 minutes after it happened version) he left Ann's apartment to head to the airport as he is working in Georgia right now. Then he called and asked her to go over to his house to check the alarm or something... when she got there he surprised her and got down on his knee with a ring! So exciting!!
WOW! What a ring!! Pat had the ring designed for Ann- I think she and his sister Anna gave him a few hints on what she liked :) It's gorgeous!
Soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Williams! (Heff was glad to see you dressed up for the occasion Pat :)
BABY ANN: Francie (and your big sister, brother-in-law and napping Niece Maisie who missed the photo op) are ALL SO EXCITED FOR YOU AND PAT!!! Let the wedding planning begin!
On a rainy sunday
This picture was from the first night of our Newport/Catalina family vacation this week but we are all happy to be home and hibernating since we all got sick on the trip and are tanked up on this good stuff- plus antibiotics in the fridge... YUCK!
Much more fun to look at these pics from last Saturday night
Life with our Four Marys! Raising Free Range Kids in Northern CA.
