My good friend Anne started this company called 23 and Me, decoding your DNA or "Making Genetics Personal." We were at their launch party and made a quick cameo on their CBS Evening News story! You have to get through the intro commercial and then look for the flash of Francie right after Katie Couric and then my mom, sister, Francie and I being interviewed for a split second at the end... don't blink :)
Tuesday we had some of our friends over for a Cowboy/Cowgirl Playdate. We decided to throw a theme in there to mix things up and we hosted at our house so it was a cowboy theme of course! The babies are between 6 and 1 month so it's still mostly fun for the moms to eat, drink and watch babies roll around on the floor (or not roll, just watch the "older" babies roll :) We had a fun afternoon. Today (Wednesday) Heff's cousin Margaret and her cute baby Ronan (Francie's big cuz) came to stay for a few days so we did the playdate circut... lunch at Nordstrom Cafe them Stanford Moms Group for the 5-9 month babies. Francie "graduated" from the 0-5 month group! (She is only 4.5 months, but a group of the 4-5 monthers made the jump up and with Ronan here we decided to try it out) No more talk about first baths and sleeping through the night, now it's first foods and less sleeping more playing! Then Margaret and I did some baby shopping at Day One and drove around to do some errands so the tuckered out babes could sleep in the backseat.
Some more pics from the Cowboy Playdate:
Wesley and Estelle dressed up to play
Icie "double-fisting"
Francie checking out the big guys
Leo and Isaac
Francie says "hey, thats my Sophie" ("Sophie" the giraffe is the most popular pre-teething and teething toy around... Carson gave it to Francie as a "hostess gift!") :)
Thanks Carson :)
Moriah and Natalie representing the new babies! Moriah lives right behind us and Natalie just turned one month old
Neighborhood buddies
Natalie, Wesley, Francie, Carson, Isaac and Leo (Estelle was sleeping)
Natalie holding her own with the big kids, Wes showing off his Roper's... Francie holding Leo's hand :)
Playtime
Emmy and I took a trip down to Valley Fair mall today for some good baby shopping... they have a lot more stores for babies than Stanford does and it is usually worth the trek down to San Jose. We were having so much fun shopping and laughing (we don't get to hang out with Em enough!) we couldn't resist the "mall" photo shop stop :) We figured we would embrace the cheesy-ness of the shoot and put a little bow on her we had just bought from Hanna-Anderson ... here they are!
Francie Doodle!
Peekabo!
This weekend was our "First Annual Heff/Simo Family Girls Craft Weekend" :) Jannie, Mare, Kat, Francie, Claire, Cathleen, Margaret and Aunt Francy all met up in Red Bluff with our knitting/sewing/embroidery projects for a weekend of crafts. Tom, Brian, and Ronan were good sports to observe, Heff had a lot of time to duck hunt as it is the last weekend of Duck Season and my Dad drove up Saturday night for dinner with the whole crowd.
Aunt Francie and Jannie starting their knitting
A table full of projects
Jane Flynn came with her knitting too
Katherine and Donald who came for dinner and endured the projects!
There were lots of sweaters, hats, scarves and baby things completed this weekend
We bundled up Friday and went for a walk to Cathleen and Rick's new house next door that is very close to being finished... Francie fell asleep on the house tour and napped on the floor in her Lillebaby papoose all afternoon
Every baby's favorite toy... a plastic bag
"I love my elephant!"
Ronan reading the big book with mom
Friday night we played Beth Carter's favorite game "LCR" or left-right-center
Tom saved the day with a stock pile of ones he found in his desk
Francie says "Give me a dot!"
The twins, not like they dress alinke or anything
The pot.. $36 bucks isn't bad! Cathleen won round won then I took home the pot the second time around :)
Baby Francie and Aunt Francy
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Tom and his grand-daughter hanging out Saturday morning
Oma and Francie bundled up for the Bull Sale
Dad waiting for the crowd to get moving
"I want to go to the Bull Sale NOW!"
Nothing like shopping at the Fairgrounds!
Francie and a big old bull
Dad helping carry around our shopping goodies
A bull on his way to his new home
Jannie and Marge
Relaxing back home with Dad in her new hat
And she's out for the count...
Saturday night we went to the Bull Sale Rodeo ALL BY OURSELVES without Francie-pants! We felt just fine leaving Francie in the capable hands of BOTH sets of grandparents :) Considering Donald treated us to VIP seats in the front row, eye level with the bulls it was probably a good idea we left her at home :)
An Angry bull after dumping his rider
Kat and Donald
We've had a busy week and haven't updated the blog in a few days... Monday we finished painting Dad's office and bought lots of new furniture to deck it out, Tuesday was Grandpa and Jannie's 31st anniversary so we all went out to dinner at Izzy's Steak House to celebrate and Wednesday was an action packed playdate day!
Francie helping Dad cook dinner... she has big feet and long toes like her mom which comes in handy sometimes when you don't have an extra hand :)
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Tuesday Night @ Izzy's
I guess we know for sure these two have spent the past 31 years together... they got each other the same card!
James and Em helped keep Francie entertained
Francie has discovered how much fun Em's hair is...
and her fingers...
yummmmm!
Uncle Jerry must have been making faces at Francie...
she got the lip pout going and got MAD!
Dad had the magic touch and got her back to a happy place:)
Happy Anniversary Jan and John :)
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Playdate Wednesday
We had breakfast at our old favorite "Ann's Coffee Shop" Wednesday morning with Jen before she heads back to New York for a few weeks. It was fun to catch up and we hope she comes back really soon. Then we had a playdate lunch (that turned into a 4 hour visit!) with the babies, went to work for a little while and then had another playdate with Alexis and James at their house! Francie was so tired after her big day she fell asleep at 7pm, since her usual bedtime is closer to 10pm, we'll see if she makes it through the night.
Wes, Leo, Francie, Estelle and Aliza (Asher had gone home for a nap)
Babies starting to get mad...
Leo and Francie are not happy... Wes, Estelle and Aliza are wondering what is wrong with those two!
"Aliza help I have a baby on my lap!"
Hanging out with Cowboy Wes
Icie, Estelle and Leo (trying to teach the babies how to crawl since he's the senior baby in the bunch)
Francie wrestling with Leo... with Wes sleeping away right next to them
Cute litte Estelle
Francie patting the boys on the head
Babies everywhere (and yes Francie outgrew this outfit from Aunt Mimi like yesterday:)
(Back to the old blog layout I think.. or at least closer to it:)
Francie has been so much fun these past few days. She is so much more alert and reactive when you talk to her and play with her. She loves to coo and laugh at her dad and all of the sudden can play with toys, grab things and entertain herself (us too!)
Remember these? Jannie gave us a Johnny-Jump-Up and it is soo much fun for Francie-pants! It keeps her entertained for at least long enough for us to eat dinner and do the dishes too :)
Mid-air JUMPS!
Saturday was a sunny day so Francie and I had some tummy-time fun on the lawn in the front yard while Dad was installing a vent in the attic (we had to get out of the house so Francie's sweet little ears weren't subjected to the cuss words coming from the attic:)
All done with tummy time
"I don't think Daddy is supposed to say those words around me?"
Playing airplane on Mommys knees
Squinting in the sun
Sneaky little girl... we had Kevin and Heather over for dinner (they are expecting a baby in July!!) and while we were watching Francie play on her Gymini mat Heather asked me if Francie was rolling over yet. I said "No, I don't think she's even close yet" and we look down to see Francie roll right on over from her front to her back! Heather looked at me and said "Uh, Mare... I think that is rolling over."
Thanks for making me look silly Francie-pants!
We probably don't read as many development books as we should (burned out after 28 pregnancy books I guess!) but since we get to see cousin Isabel and Ronan go through the stages we have been talking about what we get to see her do next. Francie is 4 months old today and we have been watching for her to "find her feet" and for the big roll over. She doesn't seem to be too close to rolling over yet but I think this is what they mean when they say she will "find her feet"!
"Hey what are those things?"
"They look pretty interesting..."
"I think I can reach them..."
"I see um..."
"I got one!!!"
"Hi foot... meet my hand. Hand... meet foot."
"You mean I have two of these things?!"
"Wait... those kinda look like more thumbs too!"
"Did you see that Dad... I'm pretty talented huh?"
Bubbles
"You crack me up daddy!"
"I'm ready for my nap now mom"
Yup.. she's done.
Francie got to try ice cream for the first time! We aren't in a hurry to start solid food or rice cereal but Wednesday night we had family over for Duck Dinner and gave her a little taste of our dessert. Jerry stopped at Beltramos for some appropriately paired red wine to accompany his first taste of ducks he shot himself and we had the whole crowd over. Since we were all enjoying the delicious duck and duck sauce, we gave Francie pants a little taste of the good stuff.
Dad, we said a taste not a spoonful!
Yummmmmmm....
"I think I still like this thumb thing better"
Our favorite after-dinner activity... passing Francie around the table (and for some reason, Dad took her clothes off so she made the rounds naked) Francie says "Look Uncle Jerry! No clothes and I'm standing on the dinner table!"
"Seriously Mom? All those cute outfits in my closet and you are letting them pass me around in a diaper?!"
"Grandpa's thumb doesn't quite fit like mine does"
Uncle Mark will save me from this nutty family
"Finally they put some clothes on me"
Monday night we worked on Heff's new office with Watson and his wife April. Heff and Watson are moving in! They are taking over part of the upstairs in the Academic Trainers building we weren't really using to full capacity. So we turned the Ikea/kid-friendly office into a more professional, 'mature' law practice! lots of green and dark brown Restoration Hardware paint. It is going to be really cool to have Daddy working in the same office :) We;ll try not to bug him too much.
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Tuesday night we had some friends over for dinner. Heff went to law school with Scott, he brought his wife April and adorable girls Giselle and Jackie. Jannie and Kelly just got back from a trip to Nashville to visit Baby Ann and they stopped in with Kelly's mom Joy and her little sister Shannon, to see Francie-pants!
Kelly, Joy, Shannon Spiller with Giselle and Francie
April and little Jackie
Heff with the girls
"What? I can't have my dinner out of this bowl?"
I found this site on one of the random blogs I am addicted to :) Just upload a picture and it turns it into a sketch that looks pretty real!
http://sporkforge.com/imaging/sketch.php
Brendon took this pretty picture of Francie out on Edwards Ranch this weekend... she looks so grown up!
We had a lots of fun and a busy Saturday and Sunday in Red Bluff...
Francie got a few cooking lessons from Oma in the Baby Bjorn :)
Heff and Jerry came home from a day of pheasant and duck hunting with a cooler full of birds... cleaning them was quite a process but we'll have a yummy duck dinner this week!
Francie loved playing in Ronan's "exersaucer" she is just big enough for her toes to reach the floor on the lowest setting. It was cute to see her play :)
We went out on the ranch Sunday with Greg, Trish, Trish's brothers, the Christensens and the Flynns. It was a clear, crisp day and fun to be outside with Francie in one of our favorite places. We were remembering that it was two years ago this weekend Heff and I were out there when he proposed to me :) ... and now we have a Francie-doodle!
Mom and Francie checking out the spectacular views
Mary Christensen with the kids in their very cool off-road Jeep
We hit a few road blocks, lots of trees fallen in the winds last week!
Francie bundled up with her friends Eva and Madeline
and chillin' in her lawn chair, just her size!
Kisses for Mom
Mary C. and the little girls by the river (or "lake" as Eva called it)
The whole crowd hanging out on Edwards Ranch... we are lucky they share this place with us :)
Furrow that brow Francie-pants :)
The Heffs
Madeline helping Haley over the river
Hanging out with Dad
Funny-girl Francie laughing and sticking her tongue out!
Mary and Haley
Madeline packing heat while Spencer helps Tyler build a fire
The kids know where the snacks are hidden
Tyler, Mary, Hank and Haley
Jer.. you missed the Rockets! Tyler brought a stash of model rockets which kept us all entertained for awhile
"Where the heck did that one go?"
Francie loves going "way up in the air!" now
Only in Red Bluff. :) Greg shot a quail and the kids made it their pet. "Queenie" as they named it was quite popular and the kids had to share the bird that the "bad, mean guys shot" until they realized they could probably ask the "bad, mean guys" to shoot another one for them.
Happiness is... plenty of dead birds to go around.
Kisses for Quennie
"I'm not kissing that thing"
More dead animal fun... Hank found a dead "rib cage"
Worn out in the jeep after all that fun
We drove home Friday evening and found a fun surprise for Francie waiting for us from Jerry and Georgia Carter.. her very own brand new Baby Einstein Exersaucer! We put it together right away and she LOVED it. Her face was so cute when we first showed it to her, her eyes lit up and she was shaking her arms and legs and making noises. So fun to see her reactions :) THANKS Carters!
We were up in Red Bluff Friday night for a benefit concert for Mercy starring the "Trailer Park Troubadours" and we dressed in theme for the party of course. Our trailer park baby wore my old Osh Kosh B'Gosh overalls with worn-though holes and all. The bands were really good and we got to catch up with the whole Red Bluff crew... they are all so much fun! My brother Jerry came too, he got into Red Bluff towards the end of the concert but tagged along for the after-party at the Palomino Room (THE bar in Red Bluff:) Poor Francie really was a trailer trash baby, hung out on her Dad's hip all night and I carried her out of the bar, asleep, when we left the Palomino Room after midnight. Bad parents :) But she is a trooper!
The girls decked out (Weber's creative camera work)
Heff with Brendon, Kristie and the babe
Tyler covered in lipstick smooches... wanna plant one on him too Francie?
Heff, Mare, Trish and Francie
Aunt Kat and Francie-Doodle saying "where are you guys dragging me now?"
Heff and his little girl
Mary and Liz... love the curlers :)
Greg and Trish with their pink flamingo lawn art
Leaving the pre-party for the concert at the old Theater down the street
The Trailer Park Troubadours
Francie loving the music from the front of the theater (it got a little loud so we gave her a break)
Uncle Jerry showed up for the after-party at the Palomino Room! He is going on a Pheasant Hunt with Heff early tomorrow morning so we get him in Red Bluff for the weekend :)
Francie says "I got me some new teeth Ma"! (Hilarious pacifier from Heff's good friend Johnny :) We love it!)
Francie did just fine after her shots and had lots of friends over to visit last night...
Jen just moved home from New York! She came over for dinner and to catch up, we haven't had a chance to hang out in so long and had lots to talk about.
The Ryans stopped by for a visit last night too... we love hearing Will and Anna open the mail slot and yell "HEFF!" They are so cute and getting big too, Anna was 6 months old when I met Haff and one of our first dates was babysitting them :) Will and Anna wanted some "beers" like their Dad so I filled a couple emptys with water for the boozers
Jannie and Kelly stopped by after dinner. They are on their way to Nashville tomorrow morning to visit Baby Ann... wish we could join you girls!
Monday I had a marathon day at work from 8am to 8pm = too much! It was just a weird day that I had to get a new morning program started, interview a bunch of people and train 25 new tutors. Heff was a big help and took Francie in the morning (for an even longer run than usual!) then brought her to my office at 10. We had a nice lunch date with Jannie and Francie was a trooper hanging out with me in the office most of the day. She napped in her stroller in her little sailor dress dad dressed her in this morning. :) Then Heff came at 6pm to take her home while I did the training... well I guess she started to fuss when they got home and Heff remembered I had left a bottle in the fridge with a little milk in case he needed it (we've never needed to give her a bottle before, I know you are supposed to introduce the bottle and all that, but it's always seemed to be a lot of work when she's a good night sleeper and with me all day) SO Heff gave her the bottle, which she took but seemed fussy drinking it down and started screaming afterwards... and she continued screaming for almost 2 hours until I got home. Jannie called at some point and heard Francie screaming her head off in the background so she came to see if she could help. Heff told her he gave her a bottle and she just got MAD. Jannie asked if maybe he heated it up too much and he realized... "I'm supposed to warm it up." So she got a bottle the same temperature as Dad's beer :)
Today we had Mommy Baby group and then lunch with a bunch of the moms and Dad took us out for dinner. Tomorrow... Francie has a doctor's appointment which means shots. Poor little chicken legs! (except she doesn't have chicken legs anymore... Heff calls them Ham Hocks now)
I don't brag about my husband very often but... he is the best. This is what I woke up to: Francie still in her jogging stroller watching Heff doing the dishes from last night, whipping up some homemade pancake batter, making my favorite Lucy the Pig sausage AND pouring me a Mimosa! All while I slept in. Am I spoiled or what!?
I love my Daddy!!
Fresh OJ and the recipe Heff found for homemade pancakes... he said "I think every Dad should have a good pancake recipe right?"
Francie is such a big girl she can stand at the toy Oma gave her for Christmas! (although the big girl's PJ's are still a little baggy:)
After breakfast we went to see the movie "Juno" at the little theater in Palo Alto. It was HILARIOUS and reminded me that we are very lucky to have a baby Francie-doodle in our life. (Francie's second movie and she slept through almost the whole thing:)
Thanks for breakfast and all the special treatment love! What a great day :)
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Francie in her hoodie Saturday
Saturday he helped me out at work hanging new signs and moving computers and all kinds of stuff, then we had a few cocktails and appetizers together at Left Bank before heading home to relax, play some Scrabble and make ourselves a Duck Feast! He brought home two ducks from the hunting trip (where the wind was actually too strong to duck hunt for most of the trip!) and cleaned them at home. We made my Grandpa's famous yummy duck sauce and they were perfectly cooked.
Heff showing the Ryan kids the ducks on the BBQ
Quack, quack... bang, bang
Francie watching us cook dinner "Dad made those ducks naked Mom!"
Thanks for being the best Dad we could even imagine Heff!
Dad is hunting ducks at his duck blind (BIG storm coming in means good chance of ducks) so Francie and I hung out at Jannie & Grandpa's with Auntie Baby Ann who goes back to Vandy this weekend :( Ann and I were fighting over leftover See's candy and I must have dropped a piece of chocolate on my sleeping baby... she woke up with melted chocolate in her chubby little neck! Whoops :) We gave her a bath in Jannie and Grandpa's tub. Sophie couldn't understand what all the fuss was about.
"I miss you Daddy! Get them ducks... quack quack."
All clean and in her PJ's hanging out with Jannie and Sophers
"Yeah I'm a Big Girl now Mom..."
We had lunch with Daddy today at Stacks (Mom's favorite Cobb Salad spot) and Francie was acting like such a big girl! She was playing with the spoon and the straw and her little teddy bear... I think our quiet, peaceful lunches might be coming to an end :) Heff and I were both back at work today after two weeks of vacation (if you can call it that when you are self employed). It was good to be back in the mix but hard to be apart all day... Francie missed her Dad but was glad she got to see him at lunch and come home early from working with Mom to make dinner together. We put away the Christmas decorations and got the house back in some sort of order after the holidays. Back to the real world!
A few days late but I just uploaded some pictures from my little camera, on New Years Eve we met Heff's friends Mike Terzian, Sabrina, Matt and Jenny Terzian in San Francisco for burgers and beers. We met their adorable daughter Olivia Louise who is one month older than Francie, she was soo cute and it was fun to play with both babies together.
"Hey, she has hair... where's mine?" Hard to believe these guys have baby girls now :)
That was my husbands quote tonight about our beasts. They are SO bad and we don't know how to fix them. Heff said if there was a reality TV show about awful, horrible, un-trainable dogs... we would be the first people they picked and they wouldn't be able to do anything to help these two. We've tried EVERYTHING... yes, they look innocent in these pictures in their new fancy beds (purchased only in the hopes of keeping them corralled) but they are really unbelievable in how bad they are...
This was our day (and not even the worst day, just a typical day):
12:30am ~ I've just fallen asleep. Woken up by Sage barking to go out. Heff gets up to let him out and waits for him to come in again (this, after we made them go out to go potty 15 minutes ago)
1:15am ~ Both woken up again to the sound of Sage's barking. Reason? Ollie is lying in "his" bed and he wants him out. Heff fixes the problem.
8:00am ~ I wake up and Heff says "The dogs were good last night" and I agree since only waking up twice is a miracle compared to the seven times one night last week
9:00pm ~ Like nails on a chalkboard, I hear Sage drinking out of the toilet and splashing water all over the floor. (Fixable problem you say? Leaving the toilet seat down or the door closed results in Sage barking until someone opens it and yes there is always water out for him in the kitchen)
11:00am ~ I'm nursing Francie, Heff in the shower after his run. Sage barks at the kitchen door to go out so I have to get up only to find the front door wide open where Sage just came from the front yard. Dumb dog. I sit back to down to finish feeding the poor baby and Sage barks AGAIN to come in as he's shut the door I propped open for him.
12:30pm ~ Eating lunch Heff and I actually get a laugh out of the faces Francie is making while Sage incessantly barks for food over and over and OVER until I finish my lunch (no I don't give him scraps, my Hacienda burrito went straight to the garbage can.. which I'm sure he will knock over tonight while we're sleeping)
1:00 ~ Ollie barking and getting in the way as Heff "de-poops" the lawn to mow it (what kind of a dog chases poop flying into the bushes?) THEN finds a squirrel and won't stop chasing it up and down the fence (Ollie ~ 0; Squirrel ~ 1)
2:00pm ~ Cleaning the house (empty the vacuum full of dog hair from 36 hours ago) and see the trail of PEE Sage has leaked while lounging on the hardwood floor. GROSS
4:00pm ~ Ollie has jumped up on our bed and gotten the comforter all muddy (despite the electric shock mat I have put there over and over to discourage him, now when he sees it he just jumps OVER it!)
9:00pm ~ Come home from dinner to find Sage lying on the leather chair (this has been my mission lately to at least get him OFF the furniture and as we walked up to the front door I said "I'll kill him if he's on the chair." at least they are predictable right? :)
10:00pm ~ Ollie in Sage's bed again, have to move them each to appropriate beds
11:00pm ~ Strange noise? Sage eating the diapers he's knocked out of the diaper pail. Again, GROSS.
So I'm off to bed... hopefully we'll have a "Good Night" again where our infant sleeps soundly through the night as usual and we only have to wake up 2-3 times for our animals.
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_**Update for anyone who cares :) Heff got up 5 times last night and I got up twice for the dogs barking to go out, switch beds, for no reason at all... that last one makes me the most happy ;)
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Life with our Four Marys! Raising Free Range Kids in Northern CA.
