Big changes

Sorry we haven't updated anything in awhile (except this new blog layout! The old one reminded me of smelly Sage, our dog, and I had to change it... don't ask, pregnancy makes you act crazy.)

We've had lots of changes in the Heff household! Brian made the decision to leave his law firm, DLA Piper, a few weeks ago and today was his last day. He is going to start his own practice doing real estate law and I am so excited for him in his new venture.

We just had his "goodbye" party at The Dutch Goose tonight and all of his co-workers were so nice to give us our first real baby gifts! We got a very fancy Jeep jogging stroller that you can plug your iPod into and listen to music on the speakers! Rachel says it will help Heff lose his "couvades" weight (when he gets the same symptoms of pregnancy as I do). We put it together tonight and pushed it all over the house practicing, it's so much fun!

So Heff starts "The Law Office of Brian T. Heffernan" tomorrow morning... of course he's not taking a minute off :) except that he can't get the keys to his new office until 10:00am tomorrow which he was all stressed about, but I reminded him it means he gets to go out to breakfast with his wife! Oh, and his new office is two blocks from Academic Trainers in downtown Menlo Park so he also gets to look forward to daily lunches with his wife and hopefully some day with Baby Heff in the jogging stroller too!!

The Legacy of Grandma Heffernan

Brian's paternal grandmother, Bernice Borchard Heffernan, passed away last Friday night at her home in Southern California. She was a very neat lady and I was lucky enough to meet her twice, to celebrate her 90th and her 91st birthdays. Bernice raised four Heffernan boys Tom, Bob, John and Pat who have all raised great kids and are all still close... we get to see everyone often and always have fun with the family!

We went to southern California this weekend for her services and loved celebrating her life with all the Heffernan's. The rosary was held at a retreat center on the grounds of the home Tom grew up in that was donated to the Catholic Church, it was so neat to see the old house their grandparents lived in and learn so much about the Borchard family history. They were great farmers and contributed so much to those around them.

Here is a picture of the Heffernan granddaughters, Allison, Katherine, Katie, Maureen (and Ellie), Colleen and Jessica; with their "Grandma H" purses she famously carried always on her lap...

Happy Birthday Heff! We're Going To Have a BABY!!!

So the news is out... we're pregnant! We made the announcement tonight at Scott's restaurant in Palo Alto to Claire and Tom, Jan and John, Katherine, Mark and Sarah, Sarah's brother Jacob, and of course the eldest Heffernan granddaughter Ellie as a special guest! We waited until after dinner when Heff was opening his birthday presents (his real bday is tomorrow, Valentines Day). Everyone was SOO excited and we passed around the ultrasound pictures for proof :) Janet and John are already trying to decide what their grandparent names are going to be and Claire called the rest of the Heff siblings from dinner to share the news. We're just at 2 months or 9 weeks so still a little early to break the news but we weren't going to have both of our parents in the same place at the same time for awhile.. and once the news is out in this family it's out!

Heff's Surprise Birthday Party...

Janet, Tom, Heff & Mare, John and Claire... proud grandparents-to-be of Baby Heff! At the restaurant right after we told them the news.

We Saw The Heartbeat!!

Heff took the morning off work Friday for our first doctor's appointment. We went to Palo Alto Medical Foundation at 9:15 and met with Lisa Pineda who took our family history and gave us lots of pamphlets, books and reading material to prepare for the baby. She went over everything I could and couldn't eat and was luckily very relaxed and lienent about it all... no soft cheeses that aren't pastuerized, no sushi or raw meat, careful about fish with mercury, etc.

Then she did an ultarsound and we were so happy and relieved to see a strong heart beat and a few great shots of the baby! It's only about the size of a grape, but she said we are right on track for where we thought we were. She also told us our due date is probably September 23 which is also Heff's god-daughter Madeline's birthday!

Here are the ultrasound images....