Francie's Video Debut

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Francie-pants is sitting here watching football with her Dad on the couch (for some reason the only time she ever pays attention to the TV is when football is on!) and I had to get a little video of her on my digital camera. We have been video taping her with our real video camera, but for some reason the clips are too big for YouTube so here is a little clip of Francie hanging out, watching football with her Dad. I apologize in advance for the cheesy, high-pitched voices Heff and I talk to her in :)

Francie Meets Santa

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We went to the Tree Lighting at the Four Seasons Hotel on Monday and Francie got to meet Santa Claus for the first time. We stopped here on our way to the 23andMe Party, but I just got these pictures off my other camera. It was a fun event with Gingerbread Cookies, Roasted Chestnuts, Hot Chocolate and most importantly Hot Toddies :) We saw some of Brian's old co-workers and his secretary Alexis, his old office is in the same complex with the Four Seasons.

They even had "snow" blowing in California!

Mare and Heff with our Warm Baby and Hot Toddies

Francie the Party Girl

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Monday Night we walked to downtown Palo Alto for another 23andMe Launch Party! Francie loves looking out of our baby carrier and made it the whole way to the Blue Chalk Cafe in downtown Palo Alto. She got passed around and enjoyed the party before falling fast asleep in Dad's arms and trekking home in the Bugaboo, which Dad decked out in reflectors for nighttime walking... safety first :). The party was soo much fun! We're so excited for Anne and Linda to launch this company and we celebrated with their friends and family, complete with a few rounds of Karaoke!

Francie bundled up with Mom and Dad and Anne

Sergey keeping Francie entertained

Karen, Linda, Mary and Anne singing "Oh What a Night"

Aunt Kat came too!

Dad sporting reflectors on the stroller before we left for our walk downtown... the picture really doesn't do justice to the fact that he has blinking red LED lights on both sides of the bassinet!

Back Home

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We got home from Red Bluff Sunday and spent most of the day unpacking and getting settled (our 12 pound baby adds at least 12 times her weight in STUFF to the truck). We had dinner at the Johnet's with Aunt Kat and played Wii bowling since we missed the big Arnerich family tournament on Thanksgiving... Jannie beat Kat, Heff and I but she had practice :)

Thanks to the Heffernans for a great Thanksgiving! Here are four generations of Heffernan girls...

and Heff with his dad and daughter

Worn out after a fun weekend

Francie was so tired she went down for a nap today (Monday) at 11:00am in her papoose and didn't wake up until 3:00pm! I got a lot of "Cyber Monday" online shopping done, thanks Francie!

Francie's First Trip to The Ranch

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We went out on Edwards Ranch today with Greg, Trish and the Flynn family. Yes, we took our 9 week old daughter on a 4-wheeler out on the ranch... I was a little concerned maybe this wasn't a "safe" thing to do, but my safety-first husband assured me he would be driving carefully and would go very slow and keep her very safe. I trust him and he kept his word :) It was a gorgeous day and fun to get out on the ranch, Francie slept in the sling on my chest most of the trip and woke up for lunch and to play with the kids for awhile when we stopped.

Dad and sleepy Francie

Crossing the river (we made it safely across already) notice Eva behind Heff watching closely as her new puppy is in the back of the 4-wheeler

Eva in her fancy new pink helmet for 4-wheeling

Spencer with the helmet off but still sporting his chest protetctor

Pit stopped for lunch

Back home for a bath and dressed up for 5:15 mass with the Heffernans

See you tomorrow bloggers

Francie and her Cousins

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We had a fun Friday hanging around the house with the cousins... we went for a walk, played some Super Scrabble and Ticket to Ride, ate leftovers and the chefs are now whipping up a gourmet seafood meal for Thanksgiving Part II. Francie, Isabel and Ronan continue to keep us all entertained and I continue to change their outfits :)

The twins in the kitchen

Aunt Kat and her two youngest nieces

Auntie Andrea bought the trio these cute outfits. Uncle Brian has his hands full!

"Hey, gimme that!"

"A little help here Uncle Brian?"

"I want my Dad back!!!"

Francie trying out Ronan's Bumpo seat

Oma bought the girls these cute outfits for the October family weekend, they fit into them now!

Oma with the grandbaby girls (Francie was having a tough day... it's hard to find time for naps when your cousins are so much fun to play with!)

Dad multitasking with the Bjorn for a walk with his baby girl

More pictures later! I'm having fun in Red Bluff :)

Happy....

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"Thanks" Ronan (6 months)
"Giving" Isabel (4 months)
"2007" Francie (2 months)

We are having so much fun in Red Bluff for Thanksgiving 2007! There are babies everywhere :) Craig and Andrea and Baby Isabel drove up from LA Wednesday afternoon and brouught Grandma Wichmann, Aunt Kat rode up with us Wednesday morning and Claire, Tom, Cathleen, Margaret and Ronan were here to welcome us all.

The Mommas

Wednesday night Katherine and Andrea and I were wrapping the carmels Jannie and kat made Wednesday morning before we left... made me feel right at home with our "family" carmels at the Heffs!

Oma and Francie snuggling before the Trivial Pursuit game kicks off

Thursday morning Turkey Trot! Kat and Heff ran the 6 mile run, Craig and Andrea ran the 2-mile fun run and Claire, Isabel, Francie and I walked a 2-mile fun walk. We were up bright and early and up in Redding by 7:30am!

Run Kat Run!

After the race...

First Ribbons

Aunt Kat and Mare with the Heffernan baby girls

Isabel is adorable!

A cowgirl in Red Bluff

The girls have been busy cooking away in the kitchen

You guys let this guy hold me?! (Isabel and Uncle Brian)

Powernap

Happy GIRLS after winning the "Boys vs Girls" NY Times Crossword Puzzle challenge! (We all saw the movie 'Dan in Real Life' last time we were up here and were inspired by their family competitions)

Good work GIRLS!

Mom and her baby girl

The Kissing Cousins notice each other...

Break out the onesies for a group photo shoot!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! off to eat some turkey....

Can You Roll Your Tongue?

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Tonight was the Launch Party (aka Spit Party) for my good friend Anne's new company, 23andMe. 23andMe is a personal genome testing company "making genetics personal." With a spit sample, they map your DNA and give you access to their interactive website to see where you came from and what your DNA says about you. Fun things like tongue rolling genes and wine tasting genes, as well as serious things like pre-disposition for some diseases and fun tools like comparing your ancestry to people in other parts of the world. The stickers on our shirts tell our traits... here are the tongue rollers!

The party was so much fun... complete with celebrity appearances from Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell :) lots of wine, snacks and DNA talk! We were interviewed by CBS news for our "unique" family tongue rolling abilities.... Jan can roll, I can not for the life of my roll my tongue and Baby Ann can triple roll hers!! (Look for us on the CBS Evening news in the next week or two.)

Congrats on the big launch Anne!!!

Speaking of genes... who do you think Francie looks like?

Mary

Francie

Brian

Mary

Francie

Brian

Francie

Mary

Francie

And look at Jannie's baby picture!!

Francie says.... "Vote for Whitney!"

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Our friend Whitney Wallace is one of the five national finalists for the new BabyGAP model! Here is Whitney's ADORABLE picture for the Casting Call....

VOTE FOR WHITNEY!! We want to see her win and be announced on the Rachel Ray show in January!!!
VOTE @ www.gap.com/castingcall ~ You can vote once a day starting today through December 15th and there are some good Gap coupons you can print after you vote for holiday shopping too :)

Another cute picture of Whitney at my baby shower

Francie loves her "Ready for my Closeup" onesie from Kelly Spiller!

Girls Day Out

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On Monday, Jannie, Baby Ann and Francie and I went down to Aptos to visit Aunt Kaky, Cousin Emmy, Cousin Johnners, Aunt Mimi and Cousin Drew (Cousin Connor and Claire were at school/practice). We had a fun girls day out going to lunch and shopping around Aptos!

The girls playing with Francie-pants

Her "O" face

The twins John and Emmy... all grown up and turning 21 next month!

The girls hanging out in Emmy's room

Three Generations of Arnerich Girls

Francie snoozing through lunch in Aunt Mimi's arms

College girls... Congrats to cousin Emmy who was just offered a spot on the San Jose State Soccer Team! She is a superstar.

What a big girl she is! Playing back at home in Jannie's nursery. Heff was working late so we hung out with Auntie Baby Ann and Jannie.

Francie was playing by herself in the crib (having "Francie Time") and Ann walked in to find Sophie on her hind legs looking in on the babe

Princess Sophie

I was working on embroidering some onesie's in Jan's sewing room for Francie and her cousins (watch out at Thanksgiving Ronan and Isabel!) and we laid out our "Shiloh Blanket" we started working on before Francie was born (We saw a stroller blanket that looked similiar on Shiloh Jolie-Pitts lap in a magazine and decided to try making one) but Sophie seemed a little miffed with the lack of attention and took over our project!

Dressed up with Dad and Mom

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We went to a wedding Saturday night (Francie's third wedding, old hat for an 8 week old) at the Menlo Circus Club. Francie wore a smocked dress that was Baby Ann's when she was little and looked so cute :) It was the wedding of Scott and Alicia, who is a tutor at Academic Trainers. They both looked beautiful and we had a great time out and about with Baby Francie!

Francie's Fancy Rocks

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We got the front yard landscaping done on Saturday and it looks much better... hopefully the neighbors won't pretend they aren't friends with us when they walk by anymore :) Heff did a great job and worked hard to get it all in, with a little help from Jose and Hilario of course.

These are our fancy rocks...

Heff was going to run out to get rocks at our favorite dirt store but Francie and I decided to come along for the ride. While Heff was driving over to the rock pile, I saw some much prettier rocks in a pre-filled container on the sidelines. Since it seemed much easier to just load up rocks from a pallet, Heff agreed these rocks were much better than the kind he'd have to shovel into the bed of his new truck himself. It wasn't until we pulled up to the window to pay and they charged $550 to Heff's credit card, we realized these rocks were about 10 times as expensive as the rocks he was going to get. If you come to visit our house, please tell my husband you like his rocks and don't let your kids take any of them home in their pockets.

Sage (right before he sat in the newly planted flower beds instead) I love my dogs :)

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

How Do You Wake a Sleeping Baby?

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Today was "Landscpe-the-Front-Yard-Day" and started bright and early for Heff and Francie. They were up at 7am and Dad bundled her up for their errands...

Most of the plants ready to go in the ground (Heff apparently laid these out one-handed while he held the sleeping beauty... I was still sleeping too:)

Francie slept through two hours of running errands with Dad and was still knocked out when they came home at 9:30

We all piled in the car to get rocks for the front yard by the fence at "the dirt store"

Francie continued to sleep...

Now this should wake her up right? Heff is cutting the wire on this flat of ROCKS to be dumped into the bed of the truck

Still sleeping!

Then out of the car again to walk around the nursery for a few more plants

And still sleeping!

After checking to make sure she still breathes and taking a few layers off of her (it's warm out by now!) the little snoozer heads home

Walking in A Small Town

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Friday night we decided to walk to downtown Palo Alto for dinner together as a family :) We went for Sushi, my first raw fish since being pregnant. Then we kept walking to try a new ice cream/yogurt place called "Fraiche" and since it was nice weather out and we were in a walking mood we kept right on walking to downtown Menlo Park! We knew Janet and John were at a holiday party at Vida in downtown Menlo so we set that as a destination and set to walking. Francie was in the stroller smiling and sleeping, the two things she does best.

Here she is bundled up in the stroller for our walk... she loves to look at the Eric Carle animal bumpers Jannie got for her stroller (she got tired of looking at the "warning" label all day:)

As soon as we hit downtown Menlo, I remembered that this really is a small town... We knew 8 out of the 10 people we saw coming out of Left Bank and stopped to show off Francie and visit with friends, neighbors, clients, employees... we saw a few of each :) Then we made our way to Bistro Vida and Jannie was thrilled to see Francie tapping on her shoulder!

We headed home and crashed on the couch after at least a 6 mile round trip.

Busy Baby Francie

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We had a busy day Thursday! Francie and I walked to Cafe Barrone's with another mom and her baby Estelle, who is 3.5 weeks old, to meet the Mom's Group at 10:30am. We all sat outside enjoying the sun and last bits of warm weather with the babies. It is crazy to see so many young babies, moms and strollers in one place. All of the moms are really nice and it's a fun group to be a part of... lots of baby talk!

Jannie met us there and we walked to Heff's office to say hi to Dad at work and figure out what flowers we are going to put in this weekend for our over-haulin' landscaoe project. Francie got to play with Dad for a bit before we were off to the nursery (the plant kind, not the baby kind:)

Jan and Francie and I stopped at Roger Reynolds Nursery and picked out some Iceberg white climbing roses and some Bluestar Creeper ground cover... Heff has already picked up a bunch of Boxwood hedges and plants for the side of our yard by the fence. This is the before shot :) Hopefully it will look much different by Saturday afternoon!

Last night Aunt Kat, Jannnie, Francie and I went to the "Holiday Gift Show" at Holbrook Palmer Park in Atherton to shop for some cute baby and kids stuff and holiday treats!

Our friend Suzi Tinsley was there with her "Sugar Shack" treats... she helped introduce Heff and I the first night we met at the Dreams Happen auction. (After we had been talking for awhile she came up and asked if he was flirting with me to which I think I replied "I hope so" :) then helped drag him out on the dance floor later int he night. Thanks Suzi!)

We had dinner at the Johnet's to watch Arizona beat #2 Oregon... Jannie was trying to teach Francie to say "Bear Down Arizona!"

Grandpa and his favorite baby girl

"I've had a busy day for an 8-week old!" Francie went home and fell right to sleep :)

Lunch at the Goose

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Uncle Jerry came down from San Francisco for the day Wednesday so we all had lunch at the Dutch Goose.

Woah, reset those crossed eyes Francie-pants

Showing off her strong legs and holding her head up for Jerry... she is pretty strong!

A couple weeks ago Jerry's good friend Gary Machado came over to meet Francie... I didn't get the pictures off Janet's camera until just now. I heard Gary felt a litlle slighted he didn't make the blog as a faithful reader :) Here are Jer and Gary with Francie

Congrats on starting your new job Gary! Come visit more often!

Blessings for Francie

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Yesterday we went to Oakwood, the retirement community for nuns of the Sacred Heart, to visit "Ann's Nun" Sister Claire Saizan. Sister Saizan is hilarious, she is 97 years old and full of life and commentary. She came to Oakwood (on the Sacred Heart campus where I went to High School) to retire five years ago from Sacred Heart Convent in Grand Coteau, Lousiana when my sister Ann was an exchange student at the Lousiana school for a semester her junior year. Ann would visit Sister when she came back to Sacred Heart Menlo and has continued to visit her since, along with Jannie who takes her out for rides sometimes.

We thought Sister would like to meet the baby so we took her over for a visit Tuesday after my Mommy/Baby Playgroup and lunch (12 strollers around a table, poor waitress!) Sister loved meeting Francie, but thought we should only be calling her by her given name of "Mary Frances." The nuns were all quite excited to see a baby in the halls and all stopped to say hi... Sister asked, or sort of demanded, each nun to "give her your blessing" so Mary Frances left with lots of holiness. Sister got a little upset that so many people were sharing her time so she asked us to close the door so she could have Mary Frances all to herself.

My mom always asked sister if she could buy her a nice walker (with brakes and wheels and a seat!) like my grandmother, Marmar, had. Sister always said no becuase it was against the vow of poverty, even though her walker was falling apart and hard for her to use. When Marmar died my mom brought her old walker to Sister and told Sister it would mean a lot to her if she would use it and pray for my Grandmother... this seemed acceptable to Sister so she has my grandmothers walker that Jan is sitting in here with Mary Frances. Sister has her name all over it so none of the other nuns will mistake it for theirs.

When we left I asked sister if she needed anything and she said "No, just God" with a smile :)