BBQ at the Beldings

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Monday night we went down to Aptos for a BBQ at Aunt Kathy and Uncle Rich's house. Emmy has been staying at my parents house since she got recruited to play soccer at San Jose State and has 6am practices! Kaky and Rich threw a "thank you" party for my parents for helping out and for my dad driving Em to San Jose on his way to work in the mornings. It was also my Dad's birthday May 24 so we've been celebrating all weekend :) We had fun playing Ladder Golf in their backyard... this family is not at all competitive ;) It was fun to see all the aunts, uncles and cousins!

Emmy and the Johnets

Everybody watching the "Ladder Golf" Tournament

This might be our new favorite game

James and Em taking a break from the game to play with Francie-pants

Emmy and Francie eating some Cheerio's

Em makes it in the finals!

James and Jerry (yup, those are my brothers Paige & Icie)

Uncle Jerry kept score for hours AND donated the 100 bucks to the prize pot in true Grandpa Jim style :)

The twins! Cousin Emmy and Johners with Francie

"Dad! Why can't I have a turn!?"

Baby Ann and Aunt Kat in blue

Happy Birthday Dad/Uncle John/Grandpa!

The girls... Kat, Ann, K-Bac, Jan, Kaky and Mimi

It gets a little chilly when the sun goes down at the beach... cute matching outfits James and Em ;)

The final-final five

Oh cousins..

Francie asleep on Dad after a full day of parties

Alexa's 2nd Birthday Party

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Memorial Day Monday we went to our neighbor's across the street for their daughter Alexa's second birthday party. They had a HUGE bounce house in the front yard with a slide so big the adults ended up a little injured :) Francie wore a party dress and tried to hold her own with the big kids.

Alexa the Birthday Girl!

Francie and Dad

Francie "Babysitting" Baby Adam on the grass

Francie started out in the little bounce house and thought it was pretty fun... Emma came in to join her the unconventional way :)

"How do you make this thing go?"

Miles took Francie for her first trip down the slide! Looking like she's not so sure about this...

Getting ready to go...

WEEEEEEE!

Taking a break with Dad

Mom's turn!

She loved it... good thing she isn't old enough to say "again... again... one more time!" or I never would have finished my first beer :)

Willows Neighborhood Cocktail Party

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Saturday night was our neighborhood "Moms and Babes" cocktail party at our house. We had 12 moms in the neighborhood on the committee to plan the event and since we were hosting we didn't have to do all that much... it was an easy way to throw a party! It was a "Caribbean" themed night and we had almost 40 couples come for lots of rum punch, wine, champagne, beer and good food. We all made appetizers that went with the theme and has pulled-pork sliders, fish cakes, blue corn and coconut muffins (thanks Baby Ann for making my assignment for me!) and lots of other tasty stuff.

The Caribbean Bar

Auntie Baby Ann came over to help with Francie while we got the yard ready with the other moms and dads who helped out. She agreed to babysitting duty Saturday night (even though I asked her thinking Jannie would be around to help, but turns out my parents were at a wedding all night!) Baby Ann is proud to say she has NEVER changed a diaper (yeah for the Child Development major) but she did a great job with Francie-pants at my parents house with Ollie, our annoying dog, too.

We had lots of brightly colored decorations and flowers (Jannie said it looked a little like a set up for a prom;)

Sandra at the dessert table

Check in with your date. If anyone knows the story about Heff's driveway (doing the hardscape in his bachelor days) he has palm fronds and banana trees ETCHED into the entire driveway (apparently that's how Tongan landscapers "fix" cracks in newly laid concrete.) I overheard one of the guests looking at the very appropriate driveway theme and say "WOW. That's permanent."

"How long do you think they'll let me stick around this party before I get sent off with my A.B.A!?"

Getting my last few minutes in with the Doodle before she goes!

Baby Ann whipped up this Coconut Cake for fun and donated it to the cause... little miss Future Homemakers of America.

People started arriving around 7... we made a last minute trip to REI this morning for some rain tents just in case as the weather was not very cooperative this weekend. It ended up not raining during the party but the tents helped a little keep everyone warm. We even had some Steel Drum live music!

Neighbors down the street in both directions... Louis & Jessica, Mike & Gretchen (who both have baby girls around Francie's age!)

Some of the other party planning girls...

and husbands...

The Heffs and the Ryans don't miss a good party!

The New Backyard is Done!

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Just in time for the neighborhood cocktail party we're hosting tomorrow night... the new backyard landscaping and updating is done. Heff worked SO hard most days after work and last weekend, it looks great. He built a playpit for Francie, a redwood patio outside our room, a chicken coup yard and an outdoor shed for all my overflow of stuff! We got some new outdoor furniture and lots of new plants. Should be ready for summer BBQ-ing and parties!

This "playpit" will probably only contain Francie for another 6 months or so... but we are going to enjoy it while we can! It's so nice to have a place she can crawl around and not get into too much trouble while we can sit and relax. We got outdoor "fake grass" for the floor of the pit, it drains water right through, it is soft enough to play on and it stays pretty clean :)

Dad home after work watching the Doo play on her new artificial turf

The chicken yard

The outdoor furniture and patio

Silly girl making faces! (Can you see my new shed all finished in the background!?)

"Hummm... I can walk if I use this truck."

Francie is looking more like her Daddy!

Crawling on the turf

and playing at the table

I think the Doodle likes her new playpit!

Thursday Night at the Old Pro

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Thursday night we walked down to the Old Pro in downtown Palo Alto for Icie's husband Bert's birthday bash. Baby Ann just got home from Nashville (yeah!) and joined us for the party... Francie came too of course, Old Pro is one of her favorite hot spots ;) We had lots of beer, fried food and even got a little bull riding' in (and I have the bruises to prove it) Francie slept through most of the night in her stroller under the bar tables. It was a fun evening... Happy Birthday Bert!

Erika and Leo (glad we weren't the only ones with a baby in a bar)

Here comes some bull riding

Sisters Mare and Baby Ann. (some guy came up to hit on Baby Ann in front of Heff... the poor guy didn't stand a chance at anything more than 8 seconds before he crawled away)

Bert on the Bull

Narrowly escaped injury... here with his lovely wife Icie :)

Yes, we went there. Baby Leo on the bull

My turn...

still alive climbing out of the pit

Francie's Hawaiian Playdate

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Wednesday afternoon we had a playdate at Heather and Carson's house. It was an "Aloha Hawaiian" theme and they hosted with Lindsey and Isaac too. We had yummy Mai Tai's by the kiddie pools! The babies were crawling all over the deck and getting into trouble :) Carson had been sick so Heather had her mom watch him for the playdate, she was awesome to host it anyway without her baby. There were a few new moms who came and we had fun getting the babies together and checking out the new things they are all doing now... they get bigger every time we see them!

Hanging out on the patio with the babies. A new mom joined us with her 5 month old twins Dylan and Nathan who were so cute

Francie and Leo hanging out in the ball-pit pool

Leo is getting ready to do some serious walking!

Yummm...

Francie and Isaac crawling off into the sunset :)

Group shot

Francie got a little mad for this picture... turns out Estelle had a bit of a "leak" problem that ended up all over Francie! It took the moms awhile to figure out whose it was :)

NOT HAPPY!

The little poop issue required a few outfit changes...

We all had fun, thanks Heather!

Busy Day Tuesday

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Tuesday night we had dinner at the Skidmores with Ann and Jen. They had a cooking class at home in the afternoon so we got to enjoy the fruits (vegetables, chicken and salads) of their labor :) Jen moves back to NYC tomorrow, we will miss having her around so often! Francie LOVED their English Bulldog puppy Randall... it was so cute to see them playing together but also kind of sad since Francie is just getting excited about dogs and Sage is gone. She was giggling like crazy and would throw toys to play fetch with the dog! It was a fun evening.

Look at that tongue!

Randall had a time out outside to calm down after Francie riled him up, but she still wanted to play

"Ohh I like that puppy!"

Just hanging out with Jen...

And got her PJ's on to watch American Idol and snuggle with Ann

We had lunch Tuesday with a friend from junior high who I ran into recently and has a baby the same age as Francie! Kyla and I went to 6th-8th grade together but her husband Shaun and I went to Kindergarten-5th grade and then high school together! Hudson, their baby, is so cute and Francie had fun eating puffs and laughing with him while Kyla and I had lunch at Empire Tap Room in downtown Palo Alto.

You know your 8 month old is too big for the bassinet when...

You can see her tooth!

Silly babies

Hudson

At home we helped Dad finish up the planting in the backyard and building the shed... Francie didn't want to get her shoes dirty and mostly watched.

She thinks everything is funny these days

Her playpit is mostly done! We're just trying to figure out what to put on the floor of the pit...

And the chicken cage is pretty much Ollie/raccoon proof after some work (Thanks Heff:)

Ode to Sage

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After 11.5 years
14 ruined carpets
2 destroyed couches
65 pounds of Tri-tip
12 sticks of butter
1 dead duck
3 whole roasted chickens
25 stolen sandwhiches
32 freshly-baked cookies
and 15 disposable diapers...

Sage has gone to doggie-heaven :(

He was in bad shape last night and we took him to the vet early this morning. They did some x-rays and blood work and he had a huge mass occupying half the space in his abdomen so his intestines were all pushed over to one side. Miraculously, he didn't have any diapers in his system (which we thought was the problem.) His blood work showed low counts where they were supposed to be high and high counts where hey were supposed to be low. He had a 104 degree temperature, labored breathing and a rapid heart rate. Brian made the decision it was time to say goodbye to Sage. It was a sad day (even I admit it) but we spent some time with him while Francie was laughing and pounding on his head, evoking a little tail wagging, and told him he'd been a good dog to Brian and our family. I think everyone will always remember SAGE!

Sage we'll think of you often. We'll think of you....

... when we sleep through the night for 8 uninterrupted hours, missing those quality 5-10 times we didn't get up to let you out to go potty or to get Ollie out of the fought over bigger dog bed.

... when we sit in peace after finishing dinner wondering why we don't hear the incesstant barking that usually followed putting a fork down

... when we sit on the couch without having to get up to let you out, then let you in, then let you out again a few minutes later scratching the newly painted door all the while

... when we eat a Hacienda burrito without your wet nose in our lap whining for meat

... when I no longer have that satisfying feeling of vacuuming up a daily canister full of your dog hair in every corner and crevice of the house

... when we can actually leave the room while a hot dinner is sitting on the counter or the table and not worry about every last morsel being devoured in a single swoop

... when we walk on the hardwood floor and don't slip on your dribble

... when you wake up the baby barking because you need help walking when your back legs fell asleep from being sedentary for too long

... when you wake me up loudly gnawing on your feet and grumbling about your ears

... when we come home and the garbage can is still upright and the diaper pail contents are not spread all over the floor so we have nothing at all to clean up after

Francie sure did love this dog, just like her Daddy ;)

And I admit we'll also miss Sage for...

... the shoes and pillows you brought to the door to greet us when we got home everyday

... your company while you followed us around in the house and in the yard

... your constantly wagging tail

... your faithfulness to your dad and your family

Sage was very tolerant of Francie's pounding, crawling and squealing

I never thought I would say this but.... I'll miss you Sage!!

No more fighting over the bog dog bed... there is only one bad dog left

Leave a comment with your favorite, infamous, worst-dog-ever Sage stories...

Francie Runs the Bay to Breakers!

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On Sunday we woke up bright and early to head up to San Francisco to walk the Bay to Breakers with our neighbors the Ewers. The Bay to Breakers is a famous 10K in San Francisco that close to 75,000 people participate in.. there are some "real" runners in it but the majority of the people are dressed up in theme, wearing funny costumes, or buck-naked (oh, except for the running shoes!) It was entertaining to say the least. We planned to take the train up in the morning and have someone pick us up after the race in the city (did I mention LOTS of alcohol is also involved?) So even after a late night with the playgroup girls we were up and at the train station by 6:40. Damn CalTrain. The train finally came 30 minutes late and whizzed right by us! Appearantly it was FULL, but they didn't even bother to tell us and there wasn't another train for awhile so we just drove up finally.

Waiting at the Menlo Park train station at 6:45am for that elusive train

The Ewers: Sandra, Ben and Baby Alexa at the train station

Ben and Heff with their baby girls

Pit stop at Whole Foods for some beer

Paper or plastic?

Look at all those crazy people!

The theme for our group (Ben's co-workers) was "Mani-Pedi Spa" as Ben does accident re-construction and his office had an old spa pedicure chair left over from some lady who died after contracting some disease in a spa chair! They re-rigged this thing with wheels and a keg on the back so that the beer flowed freely from the hose on the foot bath! Here is Alexa riding in style:

Dad ready for his pedicure (I know I was after walking almost 10 miles!)

Just one of the MANY naked asses Francie saw

Heff carried Francie in the backpack (thanks Yellow House girls!) the whole way. She was a trooper

Look at ALL THOSE PEOPLE behind us! It was craziness

"What have you gotten me into this time?"

We saw our friend Jen Goldstein along the way... kind of amazing in this many people but Jen doesn't miss a good party :)

Sleepy-do by the time we got to the top of the hill

We'll have to make this a tradition!

Saturday Work and Playgroup Progressive

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Saturday was a busy day with the neighborhood garage sale on our street. I put out a few things but tried to help Heff sweating it our in the backyard building the shed and finishing the last of the backyard improvements. Francie and I hung out with Emma (7) and Owen (4) from next door and had a taste testing contest for the Lemonade Stands... Owen was a pretty good salesman in the garage sale department and sold a kid about his age a few of his old bathtub boats. After selling the kid on them and how much fun they were, taking his money and waving goodbye he said, "Thanks OK! I didn't want them anyway because they sink!" Nice work Owen. After a quick Home Depot run we caught up with Paige, Erika and Icie for some baby playing. We are so lucky to have friends with babies the same age who live so close! We ended up doing an impromptu BBQ at our house after cocktails and pre-party at Paige and Chris's place just a block away.

Heff worked on the new shed with a little help from his sidekick

We tried to keep her drinking lots of water in this heat

It's much more fun to play under the exersaucer

Paige and Wes with Icie and Estelle... hanging out poolside for the pre-party "Playgroup Progressive"

Wesley showing an uncanny resemblance to Francie's doll (my old doll!) and yes we know, the doll is a little creepy but you are just cute with those eyes Wes!

Getting them all to sit still has become an impossible task... at least Estelle is waving hello, or maybe "bonjior"

We moved the party to our house for BBQ Tri-tip... the kids ate puffs off the ground

Francie says "MOM. I don't know which is worse... the fact that you sprinkled snacks on the ground for us to eat or the fact you showed your friends how Beth Carter taught you to stick puffs to our foreheads" (they will stay there for hours)

Mmmmmm. Puffs.

Paige got in big trouble from her hubby for this one!

Sorry Chris... I encouraged her :)

Erika and Josh (Josh was a good sport... he leaves at 5:45am tomorrow for Panama!)

Heff's hard work in the background... the shed is close to being done!

The moms: Erika and Leo, Mary and Francie, Icieand Estelle, Paige and Wesley

Poolside Playdate

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It's HOT here!! The kind of record breaking heat where the newscasters are reminding you to take care of your pets (humm... maybe?? just kidding) So we had a record day of play dates/groups/lunch/etc. We went to a new Music Together class at 10:30 this morning at Holbrook-Palmer park that Francie loved. She woke up early to go to the dirt store with her dad for some more flagstone for the backyard and after no napping she was pretty tired by 10:30am and I thought about not going but she powered through it and loved the music and songs and seeing all the big kids running around like crazy. Then we had lunch with Kelli and Landry before we went to Baby Sign Playgroup at DayOne at 1:00pm. It was almost 100 degrees out when we finished class. HOT. We went to Icie's pool to swim and hang out with Francie's buddies Estelle and Wesley.

Champagne and Baby Bottles are always a good combination right?

Francie crawling away from the camera and Estelle chewing on her sunglasses (better than nuggets huh Icie?) PS... I am mourning. My camera is broken. I got a "fatel error 99" message and it has to go back to Canon for servicing. Maybe why Francie has time to escape the shutter on my not-as-quick-to-snap digital cam here. May be bad news for the blog.

Estelle's Swim-daiper Wedgie

Tickle-tickle

OUCH. Francie pinching Wes' belly! You'll get her back one day Wesley.

Cute Wes always taking it from these girls

Aww... Callie standing guard over the babes

Losing their attention...

Francie's First Peninsula School Spring Fair

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These pictures were from a week and a half ago but I had to throw them up on the blog. Peninsula School in Menlo Oaks throws a Spring Fair every year that used to be the highlight of the year for the neighborhood kids. It's a little different now.... when you are grown-up and no longer own a tie-dyed t-shirt, the thought of eating raw honeycomb only makes you think of the possibility of botulism for your infant, watching adults dance to the hippie-groovin' live music is not just awkward you actually wonder how many of them are high and you don't have stashes of identical tickets left over from 'Mary's Summer Fun Camp' to burn on making homemade buttons, clay pinch-pots and riding the zip line.

Still, Jannie and I ventured over for a trip down memory lane (don't worry.... not THAT kind of trip:)

Ice cream anyone? err... accident waiting to happen anyone?

Oh wait... did I think that last picture was an accident waiting to happen? No I meant THIS one. (Seriously that kid is like 6 and they are throwing him off the fire escape on a zip line.) Michael Jackson-esq??

"What is going on around here?"

Francie is getting high just looking at the hippies

But she is doing her darndest to fit in wearing her kinda tie-dyed jumpsuit, purple Uggs and her new knit sweater from Jannie (we love the sweater though Jan!) Prayer Arrows anyone?

Francie, you will never sneak down to this haunted school at midnight with garden tools as protection and do Ouija-Board on the roof deck trying to contact Mrs. Coleman 'the mansion ghost' EVER. (not saying that I ever did this... at least not admiting it)

Francie is so ready to get out of here and back to her Republican roots. And I apologize in advance for anyone I have offended in this post who call themselves hippies or who are associated with Peninsula School. I am kidding mostly :)

Francie's Day at the Beach

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Wednesday Jannie, Francie and I went down to Aptos to hang out with Gauntie Kaky and Gauntie Mimi and Cousin Emmy at the beach. We stopped at Kaky's first and showed off Francie's latest tricks.... crawling like a mad-baby, pulling up, saying "Da-Da" and giving "High Fives." We all had lunch at Zelda's in Capitola on the beach and then did some baby shopping. Francie is S-P-O-Y-L-E-D (I know it's spelled, wrong it's a long story :) and Kaky bought her a cute cute new tunic top, Mimi bought her a little Wilbur the ig Piggy Bank and Jannie got her these little surfer girl skull and cross bones shoes Shiloh Jolie has too (Well Francie, I guess since we still haven't finished your Shiloh blanket the shoes are the next best thing.

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Francie-Doodle and Kaky-Doodle (her nickname-namesake!)

Back at home Francie was making the rounds around the house, always ending up at the dog's water bowl...

I don't really see an end in sight to this problem.

"Haha suckers."

Looks like Double-Trouble

"What?"

Emmy bought her these cute Lucky jeans with butterflies on the back pocket(you know the ones that say "Lucky You" on the zipper fly? These ones say "Lucky Me" :) and matching butterfly shirt (even Jannie thought it was cute and she has some strange aversion to butterflies)

"Check out my tush!"

"Just don't make fun of it!"

Loving her Daddy

Francie's New Play Yard

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Heff just finished construction on our "Play Pit" in the backyard for Francie. It is basically an 8 by 16 foot outdoor playpen :) Complete with rubber flooring, a drain and a bench around the outside for the Moms (and Dads) to sit and drink cocktails while they watch the kids play. Sounds like we're ready for our next playdate huh! We tested it out last night when Uncle Mark, Sarah and Aunt Kat were over for dinner and tonight we threw her in naked (since it was like 80 degrees at 7pm today!) and brought out some water toys I got today in Capitola. She LOVES to splash and has free reign to crawl all over this thing... nice work Heff! (PS... I know that plastic bin full of water is dangerous Dad and it was only temporary until we get a water table. I already dumped it out so you can sleep tonight)

Francie says "Seriously. You guys have to see this new playpit my dad built for me!"

The plants need a few weeks to fill in but this is the as is view of the new play and chicken yard from the side with Aunt Kat and Dad watching the Doodle making tracks

"This Dad I got is a GOOD one!"

The yet-to-be-landscaped Chicken Yard! We moved them outside this week. They are 7 weeks old now and look like real chickens! (Did you know the chickens we eat from the store are usually only 2 months old!?) Ollie is still shaking at the chance to gobble them up.

We put stall mats on the bottom of the play pit and Heff sealed them up with some special tape that will make it all water proof (and it even has a drain at the end so all the water drains out into the street!) The seals are a little slippery as Francie found out the hard way.

No getting out of this one Francie! (ah, so nice not to chase her everywhere)

Last night the Menlo Oaks sibling crowd came over for dinner... Mark and Sarah with Francie

It's going to be a fun summer!

A New Blog!

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Check out my new blog "The Momma Goose" ~ A Blog on the Loose...
Stuff for Babies...
and the Parents, Grandparents and Friends Who Spoil Them

Click on those links and send Francie to college (oh wait, we live in Menlo Park... send Francie to Preschool!) I'll post the ticker for Google Ads revenue on the sidebar once we get some action :)

and don't worry... BabyHeff.com isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Baby Ann Graduates from Vanderbilt!

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Baby Ann is officially a college graduate! The troops gathered in Nashville, Tennessee for a action-packed weekend (there are 5 days in the weekend right?) to celebrate. The Heffs, my parents, my brothers and their girlfriends, Uncle Jerry, Uncle John, our neighbors the Carters and our good friends the Skidmores and last-but-not-least my brother Jerry's friend who we expect at family events Gary Machado all flew in on Wednesday or Thursday to see Baby Ann walk in the Friday morning ceremony and attend the events, parties, dinners and tours she had planned for us. Francie did great on her first cross country trip, even if Southwest airlines won't pre-board infants anymore we still got "A's" and managed to board the plane right behind Al Gore (who Jan made me go say hi to since we were big pals once) and passed Francie around from isle to isle as we were all on the same flight home. It was a crazy weekend we will all remember... Congrats Baby Ann :)

We started the party Thursday night... Some of the crowd pre-partying at the Union Station Hotel bar

Sisters ready to hit the town with baby Francie in tow

Lots of moving around this weekend!

James and Em looking stylish as ever

Representing the nighborhood... Bethy and Georgia ready to party for Baby Ann

Baby Ann and God-mother Ann Skidmore

Me and Bethy! (If you check out the Picasa album, you'll see we were trying to get a hot "profile pic" for Bethy to finally join Facebook...right Beth!?)

Leaving the hotel Thursday night for Sushi dinner and dancing

The girls: Ann, Em, Bethy, Mare, Georgia, Ann, Jannie and Francie

Ann's boyfriend Matt (his family joined us for Sushi... hopefully they found a way to get a word in edge-wise)

Ann was right about the "Best Sushi Ever" they had a Playboy Roll that was soo good. heff with the Carters chowing down

Ann and Jan with the sleepy-doo

Dad and Matt's Dad Bob toasting the graduates and fighting to pay the bill

Matt's mom and grandmother

The Guncles! John and Jerry... ask them what time they went to bed every night. (hint: Bars stay open in Nashville until 4am and Burger joints even longer)

Francie taking a Sake-Bomb. JUST KIDDING, please. It's water in a "baby glass".

Round Two: Dancing at the Tin Roof! Ann went ahead of us and asked the bouncer if we could get in with a baby (oops, she forgot her ID) and he said "Like a 13 year old?!" Um no, a 7 month old. He said as long as she doesn't drink!

Watch it Baby Ann... that bouncer might see you tempting her! Francie says "Auntie Baby Ann... I'm not sure I like everyone around here giving all their attention to YOU. I'm not used to this."

The bar had great live music and an outdoor deck to see the lights of Nashville

Mare, Ann and Em out on the back deck (we won't call it a "smoking deck" seeing as we had a 7 month old there.)

The boys and their cigars

Dancing Queens Ann and Janet... these two met in Lamaze class when they were pregnant with my best friend Jen!

Jerry and Georgia Carter... after 20 years of carpooling and Sunday night Carter-Simo dinners, they were great to come all the way out to Nashville. They stopped first in Philly to celebrate their TRIPLET grandson's First Birthday!

Cutting up the dance floor with our baby girl... she loves to dance!

Ann and her brother-in-law with the Doodle (who looks like she is ready to go home:)

No wait... it's Uncle James who has had enough ;)

And she's spent.

Moving a crowd this big everywhere we went was no small feat! The valet guy at the hotel got to know us so well he asked if he could come to Thanksgiving Dinner.

******* Friday May 9 ~ The Graduation *********

Getting ready for the graduation ceremony at the hotel... we had to be there at 9am, grabbed breakfast at 8am so it was an EARLY morning for everyone :)

We found some seats on the side so we had a little grassy area to hang out when we weren't in our seats... seeing as how they graduated 1,500 students and 1,750 grad students we were there for awhile. It was a little overcast at first so Francie was sporting her favorite "JanKnits"

Daddy loking handsome in his sports jacket for the big event

The Heffs (yes, we are coordinated... only in the South, I promise.)

I couldn't resist this little J Crew "Crew Cuts" blouse and white jeans!

After a few speeches, a few awards, a trip to "Five Guys Burgers & Fries" and back in time to hear her name read (cum laude, nice work pisser) we are ready for some champagne!

"Let the parties begin"

"Humm... maybe I better take a campus tour first or talk to that Chancellor guy. I might want to go to Vandebilt one day."

"Nevermind... I'm walking outta here, come on Mom."

Fun with a cardboard box (and the best way to avoid grass-stains on baby's white jeans)

PROOF.

Heff snuck up to pole position (no pun intended) to snap some shots of Baby Ann walking

We are proud of you Pissy-Sissy!

Francie is holding on tight!

Family shots:

With her favorite sister, brother-in-law and neice!

James, Ann and Em

With her Uncles

The fam who stayed AFTER they read her name to see Ann... hoping to hit the Champagne and Strawberries reception (don't you love private schools?)

Dad and Mom with Baby Ann

All done!

Baby Ann and her God-father Uncle John

"I don't want to graduate yet!"

******* After Graduation at The Tri-Delt House *********

Back at the Tri-delt house, Ann and her roommates: Killian, Ann, Christine and Susie

Tri-Delta. Everyone Else Has. :)

Southern Vandy Girls

Ann and her freshman/Sophomore year roommate Kate Dinan

Naptime on Dad

******* Friday May 9 ~ The Graduation BBQ PARTY! *********

Ann's and her roommates families hosted a BBQ party at a park near their apartment. John brought Croatian Kabaitza from home and got 70 pounds of Tri-tip at Costco when he got there (along with 400 zip-lock bags, aluminum foil, 40 gallon cooler, etc:) to throw his famous John Simo BBQ

Francie lounging with Georgia, Beth and Emily in her watermelon bubble suit Baby Ann bought online at Saks and sent out the first week she was born specifically to be worn at her Graduation:)

Snoozing on the grass in a pashmina and her Sophie while Carolyn watches her (Ann's roommate Christine's sister who LOVES babies and loves our blog!)

Mom and Dad without the baby!

Playing some bean bag game the boys were all really into. I scored zero points when I tried (did that count as a ball sport Heff?)

"But I wanna go on the swings!"

Dad keeping the Doo happy

Beth, Ann, Em and Mare

Carolyn helped us take Francie to the park and took this picture of Jannie, Francie and I on the tire swing (right before Jannie flipped it and almost ended up on her rear end:)

Carolyn and Francie-pants

******* Friday Night ~ Round Three of Parties *********

Back to the hotel for naps, sleeping off the beer and then rallying to the hotel bar for drinks and bar-service from the restaurant (I played waitress and took orders... the bartenders knew us all by name but LOVED Uncle John and Uncle Jerry who had closed down the bar the night before)

Beth and Ann

******* Saturday May 10 ~ NashTrash Morning Tour *********

Jannie and Ann made us reservations on the "NashTrash Tour" of Nashville at 10am. No one under 13 years old is allowed (I'll tell you why in a minute!) so Francie stayed back at the hotel with Grandpa and Jannie while the whole crowd made our way out the the pink bus tour. Francie is wondering if she can use this key thing to crawl back up to her hotel room and leave this bow up there with her "Buy Me Stuff" sparkle shirt she wore in honor of Baby Ann :) My dad sent ANn a birthday card from Francie along the same lines that had a "hunskie" in it and said "Baby Ann, You can have this one. Grandpa gives me one everyday." She didn't think it was all that funny :)

The NashTrash tour with BrendaKay and SherriLynn!

These Jugg sisters are HILARIOUS. Jan told us this was funny, but we all laughed so hard as they ripped on every person on the bus! Ann's friend's Mom was on the tour too and when she said her son knew Ann the sisters said "Oh he 'KNOWS' her huh? SO are you a hoe Ann?!" and ripped her to shreads the whole tour... when we passes a strip joint they said "Ann, you want us to stop so you can pick up your paycheck?"

SherriLynn had a HUGE CRUSH on Uncle Jerry! She would say "In case of emergency... Me and Uncle Jerry get off this bus first" and "Forget Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy... Save a Horse Ride Uncle Jerry!" Even in the air conditioning he was beat red :)

Jerry and his favorite snack as they say "In keeping with traditional Southern-fried hospitality, the Juggs offer their Fancy Cheese Hors D'Oeuvres for your gastronomic pleasure" Jer was the only one on the bus who snacked on Ritz Crackers and Squeeze Cheese the entire tour

They even stopped at the Country Music Hall of Fame for beers and Lynchburg Lemonades! Needless to say our kidneys are still crying.

Bethy wore her teeth out again

Laughing so hard our cheeks hurt getting off the bus :)

"Would everyone please stop talking about Baby Ann! I"M THE BABY AROUND HERE!!"

********* Saturday Lunch Downtown Nashville *****

Gary, Allison and Jerry eating ribs and coleslaw

Everyone was a little slow today

Francie likes these ribs too

***** Saturday Night Dinner @ Jim Kelly's Steakhouse *****

Cowgirl Up Francie... This party never ends

"I'm happy, I got my Sophie"

Everybody got all dolled up in their cowboy best for a night out on the town Saturday Night! We pre-partied in the Carter Suite. Bethy and the Doodle.

Someone feed that child

Happy Doodle

It never gets old

James and Em ready to rock and roll

The Ladies

We had dinner at Jim Kelly's Steak House in Nashville. They set us up in our own room upstairs and we had plenty of room to "roast" Baby Ann, let Dad sing "God Bless America" and let Francie sleep on the floor under the table while we ate :)

First she got passed around.... Baby Ann quickly learns Francie is fast!

"Arg... they moved the damn plate."

The Heffs with our "Doo in the headlights"

(I think Ann and Francie look alike!) here with Matt...

Thanks for treating all of us to a great weekend Dad! (A drop in the bucket compared to four years of Vanderbilt tuition and Ann's Neiman Marcus bills huh:)

I'm taking bets in the "Comments section" on how long I have until Beth, James or Em email me begging me to take this picture off the blog. In ten, nine, eight....

Trying to take a family picture... Why do Jan and Baby Ann think making sad faces at Francie will make her want to go to them? :)

I'd love it if I remembered what my Dad was saying here that required Baby Ann to do this:

And finally a decent shot of the crowd

Lounging back at the hotel...

Our little night owl (hey, at least she has her PJ's on)

How do you know you've all had enough wine for the night?

Oh these Californian's trying to fit in...

They could pass for Cowboys...

But not for Bad-ass-brother/uncle-protectors :)

And we're done.