The other day I picked the girls up at BB and was getting their shoes on and I had to take a picture of Francie's prized possession Minnie. I had to break the news to her that Maisie ripped her felt eyes off in the car ride over and Francie (horrified but taking the news pretty well) goes "But can she SEE?!" Nope, probably not. And I need some hot glue because she is freaking me out.
Still without pictures to upload!! We are having a great week though- Francie is in "Nature Camp" at the Redwood Grove Nature Preserve behind our house. We walk the wagon down at 9:30 every morning with her no trash lunch box and she is off and running with her favorite counselors and new friends.
This morning Francie woke up and said
"Oh my gosh!!!! I didn't even notice!"
I asked what she didn't notice...
"That my baby sister can RUN now!!! I didn't realize babies can RUN!"
interesting observation France.
My laptop is full. Too many photos! So it won't let me upload anymore... working on backing up and clearing it off but in the meantime here is a photo Emmy took of her goddaughter last night at Seascape. We went down for a potluck with the fam- Emmy won a three night staycation at the resort in a contest! The girls had a blast swimming with grampa in the 60 degree foggy chill, playing on the playground and entertaining their cousins.
and here is Connor's new profile pic :) He carried Maisie over to see some doggies and walked back up the hill saying "I feel like I am being judged by all you girls on how I hold a baby. This feels so awkward!" of course we were all making fun of him so he wasn't that far off :) and then I shoved her over for another picture after he gave her back to me. Love you Con!
Saturday we went to the SF Giants vs Boston Red Sox baseball game at the park with our friends Greg and Trisha Weber who were in town staying with us for the weekend. It was Maisie's first game and Francie showed her the ropes. We lucked out with nice warm weather in the sun and a packed stadium- Francie ran into some of her boy friends in the play area and they were back to causing trouble on the slide. We made it to the 8th inning- what a fun day.
getting to the game
fist pumping with the crowd
self portraits in the bleacher seats
Greg and Trish
easily convinced her dad to buy her a four-layer cotton candy
thanks for coming all the way down from Red Bluff!
I'll admit we let our girls sleep with us for the first few months/years of their life and it got a little out of hand. When they were both babies they were in the bassinet right next to our bed - wedged in there so I had to push the bassinet out to get out of bed. I kinda miss that tiny room in our old house!
Our new room (in the pic Emmy took above, I'll have to take more of the windows on the other side) is great though- I love all the space and light and we can hear the creek and see the redwood trees. It's still looking a little sparce- not a high priority for decorating. But we finally upgraded to a queen bed!
Francie transitioned to her own room after she was crawling out of the bassinet but would inevitably wake up most nights and crawl in bed with us. This was a tight fit when Maisie was a baby, Francie was a toddler and all four of us would somehow sleep together in our DOUBLE BED.
We wised up after too many nights of "hey- can you move that elbow so I can put my head there." and sleeping on the very edge of the mattress. Francie learned to stay in her own bed and go back there after she goes potty and Maisie gets the second child treatment- you put her in her crib at bedtime and close the door and don't open it until it's acceptable time for her to wake up. But she loves to sleep so it's not a problem :)
(She was laying in the sun the other day- no she doesn't sleep in an old wooden cradle:)
Now without babies crowding the bed and hogging all the space we sleep so much better... but the other night I was reminded just how well we sleep without little cold feet in your ribs. I heard Maisie up at 1:30am- I was still up and kind of missing her (dork!) so I went in to check on her - she was fine just awake so I picked her up and she snuggled right into me. I obviously wasn't thinking straight so I brought her in bed with us for some more snuggling. BAD IDEA. She was all over the place- patting my head then sticking her fingers in my ears, nose and mouth (real annoying). She'd sort of fall asleep then get mad and rearrange herself so her feet were on Heff's chest and her head was on mine. Finally I got fed up and walked her back to her room expecting a protest. She saw her crib - looked at me and then pointed to her crib furiously! I laid her on her big pillow with her soft blanket tucked in her arm, binky in her mouth and flannel down comforter pulled up over her- She didn't move again until 8:30 this morning and I went back to my big quiet comfy bed.
little stinker
The other night we walked down to the Nature Preserve after dinner so Francie could shoot her new arrow. They have a little archery area set up for summer camp (we hear the campers from our backyard during the day- it's so cute!) Francie loves shooting with her Dad and Maisie follows right behind.
"got my arrows Dad"
"Yessss the wagon is all mine"
Daddy helping her get set up
sp proud of herself
gotta retrieve your arrows
Maisie was more concerned with trying to walk Ollie
"I can't get it offf!"
"Oh what am I going to do"
"maybe talk my sister into a turn??"
(she's signing PLEASE! on her belly!)
check out Francie's face
someone is sooo excited she actually gets a turn
"I did it!!"
all done
what a good dad
Maisie was wandering off in the woods. Good thing someone saved her
heading home (sorry for too many photos- I couldn't help it they were so sweet to each other riding together in the wagon for once :)
Emmy stayed over for a fun sleepover Wednesday night. We hit up our favorite ghetto shopping spot at Valley Fair (and saw the first 5 people line up for the iPhone- after 4 unsuccessful attempts myself yesterday should have pulled up a chair!) We had lunch at CPK and then shopped for awhile and let the girls play in the indoor play area (probably where Maisie picked up that stomach bug- gross) Heff was driving home from Southern CA on a mission for a new commuter car (I have to post those pics next) so Emmy and I took the girls to the Menlo Park Block Party for dinner and dancing in the street until Maisie started puking in the street and we hauled it home! But as always Emmy captured some great photos of the girls... here are my favorites of Francie.
a little tummy bug for Sharkie but she is back to her old self. And look she is getting some hair!! (Emmy stayed over last night- how can you tell? ;)
Last Thursday night (sick sleeping babies gives me time to catch up on blogging at least) Brian's cousin Casey Heffernan and his girlfriend Jenna were on a road trip from WA to SoCal after Casey's graduation so they stopped in to stay overnight with us. It's so nice to finally have a guest room for times like these :) We had the Sakai family over for dinner Thursday night too so we walked down to the Framer's Market before Casey and Jenna arrived and filled the kids up on giant strawberries. We BBQ'ed back at home and caught up with the recent grads and their big plans for the future. It was a fun night at home with friends and family!
Walking the Farmer's Market
messy eaters Francie and her buddy Ryan
not the best background of the Safeway parking lot (Dad's were getting cold beers :)
Strawberry Face
Baby Ryan the Lion is not a baby anymore!
and Heather is having another baby boy in a few weeks- she looks great! Beers and food in the wagon- kids got booted out
Rub-a-dub-dub three kids in a tub
sometimes it's hard to be a shark
and bedtime stories by Jenna- the girls loved her
With a stomach bug on the way to the pediatrician. Two carseats and lots of clothes in line for the washer. Poor baby!
Last Saturday night we went over to Mark and Sarah's house for a yummy dinner- their food is always rich in culture and taste! The girls had fun playing outside together and I had fun with a new lens our new neighbor Bill is letting me borrow (the 85mm 1.2- wow!) It does all the work for you except make the kids (2.5 year olds in particular) look at the camera. It's so fun to live close to Mark and Sarah again- we were 1 mile away in Menlo Park and by chance both moved further south in the same month! They have a really cute house and great neighbors- and Francie is pretty jealous Clara's chickens got to come with her! (but a side note- our new neighbors were reading my blog and emailed "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be those neighbors who move in with chickens! We want to get chickens!!" SO maybe a coop will be in our future again next Spring :)
Maisie Moo
Clara Marie
and Francie the Gardener who won't look at her mom when she has a camera in her hands (how many times did I have to say "Francie! Keep the dirt IN the plants!")
the lemon tree didn't fare so well... but still looks so pretty dead somehow!
the closest I got to a photo of all three busy ladies
thanks Clara!
my new favorite photo :) of my favorite girls, my favorite husband (or part of him!), my favorite wagon and my favorite dog (did I just say that?) on a walk last night- full post with funny pics next!
As I write this- my little night owl is coming up with reason number 22 she isn't tired.
so I'll just write about you Francie... at 2.5.
You weigh 36 pounds- we discovered today when you found a scale buried in the closet. But you were upset because you didn't want to be 36. You wanted to be 2.
You are a easy to handle and well behaved most of the time... although those lapses are coming a lot more frequently lately! We try to pick our battles with you but you are stubborn and persistent (humm, wonder where you got that from?)
You ask all sorts of questions and aren't easily satisfied with the answers.
"Mom- what is under our house?"
"Dirt Francie."
"But then where does my poop go?"
so maybe tomorrow we will check out the pipes in our house.
You eat like a bird and aren't that interested in food - except anything sweet or sugary. Your favorites are parmesan cheese (straight up), tomatoes, Jannie's carrot soup, marshmallows/s'mores and apple sauce mash ups. You like deer meat, piggy meat and rocky the cow meat- as long as the animal that was killed for your plate was an "Uncle Deer. Not a Mom Deer, a Dad Deer or Big Sister Deer- ONLY Uncle Deers are the ones you can shoot Dad"
You are a great big sister to Maisie. You take care of her in the wagon or the back seat of the car and feed her raisins or half of your z-bar. You make her laugh and you have all kinds of crazy nicknames for her- mostly Moo-Doo and Tack-Tack (somehow short for shark attack). You try to teach her things- but it's a frustrating task teaching things to a one year old so you usually give up. Sometimes you can't help yourself and have to give her a little "pat" too hard but most of the time you are gentle and sweet with her.
and of course you keep us laughing with the funny things you say-
Heff asked the other day if you wanted to watch a hunting video- he tried to get Maisie to watch with you guys but she was busy in the toy bin and you said
"Apparently she would rather play with her toys Dad."
You looked out the window on the drive to Red Bluff and said
"LOOK! A crop-duster spraying chemicals! But it's ok- it keeps the bugs out of the rice."
The other morning I was listening to you and Dad getting ready in the morning...
Francie: "What are you doing Dad?"
Heff: "Shaving."
Francie: "You're shaving off your scratchy face?"
Heff: "Yup, I don't want another beard to sneak up on me."
Francie: "You mean you don't want it to SURPRISE you?"
Heff: "Yes you little Thesaurus."
and tonight you were rolling around in mom and dads (green) room saying
"I wish I had a green room. (sighhhh) But I don't. I have a blue room. It's like the wrong color." Too bad that one didn't get you out of going to bed in your BLUE room! (she's fast asleep in her own bed now :)
Sunday was a great Father's Day for Heff (I hope) We went to 9:15am mass at St Nicholas and Francie did NOT earn a donut after mass- wow she was TWO. Then Heff went out to the King's Mountain Archery Range with Francie to shoot his bow which he hasn't been able to do for awhile. Francie got a new bow and had fun out shooting with her Dad. I got to go to the "big Target" and stock up with just Maisie while they were gone, pretty exciting Sunday :)
her Dad's favorite archery shirt- the real test will be when it starts bearing her belly will Dad choose modesty for his baby girl over the coolest shirt ever?
We just hung out around the house all afternoon and let the girls play in the creek and get as wet and dirty as little feral children
splash is coming
too busy to ever look up at mom
France, France, France of the Jungle
Shark in water
real happy kid her mom picked her up to hug her
A happy father on Father's Day watching his girls play with a cold beer in hand :)
then we BBQ'ed up some burgers for dinner (and used some weird smoke charcoal that probably had our neighbors ready to call 911 with the smoke) and played a new board game together before baths, books and bed... oh wait, bath's came first- they were REALLY dirty kids
to the Dad in our family- we love you Heff!
Francie says "I think Daddy is like- such a great Dad because he like takes me on special adventures and we do stuff together. Also he is fun to have pillow fight with." (my 2 year old valley girl :)
Maisie says "DA-DA!" more enthusiastically than any other word, pushes out of my arms into his whenever he is around, cries when he leaves a room and just loves snuggling into her Daddy.
Heff, you are such an incredible Dad. I don't know how you do it but you handle two girls so well and make it look too easy (what am I doing wrong?!) I love that you let the girls tag along most places you go and that you even take Francie to work (reporting you still operate at 85% efficiency with her "working in your office- pretty impressive). You wash the piled up sippy cups and bottles without complaining, you change diapers, dress your girls, take them on walks and bike rides and even camping! Thank you for being my partner in parenting and teaching me patience :) WE LOVE YOU DADDY!
you sure are good at what you do :)
This morning the girls and I went to a U-Pick Berry Farm at Webb Ranch. One of the mom's in our Friday playgroup invited everyone to meet there for some berry picking fun. It turns out it was "opening day" for berry picking and it was crazy busy! Plus for some reason it was really windy and kinda cold today so the little berry bubble suits the girls had on had to be paired with black leggings and fleece's! And it was so crowded we ran into some friends along the way (more non-playgroup friends than anything) but never really gathered up- so the girls and I really had a nice time just the three of us in the berry fields. That and the pony rides sure made for a fun day!
who needs berries? We found dirt. (sitting in the parking area while I gathered up our bag of stuff- seriously should have brought the wagon on this one)
and a playhouse in the fields!
Francie told Maisie "Maisie! I didn't know picking berries was such a great day!"
busy eating berries (I had to pay extra for the berries in the bellies)
"Want some mom?" oh wait, none left
so serious
can they stuff their faces any faster?
the evidence
ALL gone!
diligent little worker
and happy to find stragglers on the ground
and then we found the Petting Zoo!
and pony rides
"Where's guh-guh?" (Maisie's nickname for France) For some reason- Francie is still waking up 2-3 mornings a week 5 minutes before Heff's alarm goes off in the FIVE's range and gets herself ready to go to work with him. When we tell her she should get some sleep she looses it. So Heff packs her up, takes her for warm chocolate at Peet's and lets her hang out in his office until BB opens at 9am. Sometimes she pretend she is a teacher at BB and goes back and forth over there sitting at the snack table by herself with stuffed animals and goldfish crackers to go around- and thinking she runs the place. I'm not complaining about the quiet mornings since Maisie usually sleeps until 9am but she sure misses her sister when she wakes up to an empty house.
Bottle Baby- nothing like 6 ounces of Whole Milk to make you happy in the mornings
nothing to do but sit and pine over my missing sister (yeah right)
we usually go get her when we get moving- it's lonely without her :) And somehow Francie still makes it until 3-4pm for naptime without getting too cranky but she sure falls right to sleep.
This time of year there is always so much to do! I love the warm weather and evening plans that are just easier to make when it's nice out. I've also been busy at work with two new hires at AT and BB and working on a new little project too. But it seems like all I want to do lately is come home for the girls naptime and work on some organizing/setting up project around the house. The construction stuff is almost there- we are painting a bunch of rooms next week and then we'll move the washer dryer down to the new laundry room and I can set up my craft room and really unpack into organized storage!
this was last week's project- actually printing out pictures and putting them in frames and on the wall. Heff calls this wall the "Best Of Blog Wall of Fame". I was pretty proud of myself for taking the time to use a level but don't look too closely, still not all straight
The playroom is waiting for a new coat of paint but I've been setting it up little by little and changing things every time I think I've decided how I want it set up. There is this neat little alcove under the stairs we made a "school class" for now. Francie LOVEs being teacher and bossing Maisie and Ollie around!
I got a PBK table on sale as a floor model and set it up with my flea market chairs near the window
and everything else in the room is still up for redoing and figuring out but for now this is how it looks!
and today's project was tackling the girls' closets! Suzi T. passed on another amazing bag of matching dresses and skirts from Molly and Megan. I told her I feel like they are art in the closet :) I had to majorly reorganize all the clothes to make it easier for Heff to dress them in something cute in the mornings. It was getting a little out of control.
The new jack-and-jill bathroom between the girl's rooms was done enough last week to try it out for the first bath time. It's all covered in plastic and tarps again to finish the ceiling and some drywall but it should be done this week. I had a few bright, colorful bubbly tiles picked out for the back wall after I decided I wanted this cool oval tub- but Jannie and Christian talked me into white, white and carrera marble- I'm glad they did. This bathroom used to be two rooms- a tub/shower and toilet in a small square room within the big room and we were going to just open it up but of course it turned into a bigger project! There was much deliberation on the layout (I wanted it symmetrical, tub in the middle, two sinks and had Heff talked into two toilets, one on each side! but probably good we went with a double sink and ONE toilet!) It's a nice big open space now- can't wait until it's ALL done.
i love this tub because it has a flat bottom (no sloping sides) so it gives a lot of room without taking up a ton of space and if they do stand up it's not so slippery
the lighting was off on my camera settings but you get the idea- it's white!
too bad this one is blurry and a hairy leg is in the way- Francie and Ollie both licking their lips!
you can see the drywall corner that needs to be finished (it's almost done now) and the light that needs to be hung.
all clean
no chance of a cute sisterly picture in towels after bath- I tried!
Life with our Four Marys! Raising Free Range Kids in Northern CA.
