Just Fooling Around

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Sunday afternoon we were still moving the last 2% of the stuff from the old house over (WHY is it the hardest part?!) and I wasn't much help to Heff since I was managing these four rascals who weren't napping. Cousin Kate and Ryan came over for late lunch too - so what did we do?

Pick flowers from the garden and stick them as eyeballs in the scary skeleton...

and then of course stick the 6 week old baby in it

andddd... take awky posed photos around her (ABA is gonna hate this. and Maisie looks 6)

I know. You can get me back for this one day Tess.

Let's look closely - ragamuffin kids, no one matching, 1 in the dress she wore yesterday, 1 in non-matching and neither in her size clothes, 1 with a black eye and a PJ top but real clothes bottoms (went so far as to get her dressed then put the Tinkerbell "coat" BACK ON after she insisted, and 1 poor little newborn who should not be put in these compromising positions = bad parenting!)

Then the over-tired-crazy girls were running around on the lawn teasing cousin Ryan and being silly
- nice face Maise

tug-o-war ... good luck girls!

what a good cousin :)

Tessa 4 & 5 weeks

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Tessa is doing great! She is 5 weeks old now and fits right in to the family. She does like to scream for a good hour or two, sometimes three every night between 9pm-1am but then sleeps pretty well during the night and naps all morning. She still has goopy eyes from her blocked tear duct but hopefully it will clear up soon. She loves the moby wrap or Ergo and doesn't mind the car either. Not sure what she weighs, we have her 6 week check up next week but we just switched to size 1 diapers and she's getting a little chunk!

and last week since it was "moving week" we tried Tessa on a moving box...

and of course JJ wanted in on the action!

the progression of Tessa - week by week. It's fun to see she already looks bigger! Now let's just see if I can keep this up all year ;)

We're Moving!

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Sooo happy to be getting settled in a new house! We've been moving all weekend and this week, it's not exactly a "we've moved" process :) I think moving next door might be more work than a pack-up-and-move move. But we are SO thrilled and feel so lucky to be in this new house full of character and that just feels perfect for our little family. It will be awhile before we are totally settled and our old house is spiffed up to put on the market but we are getting there...

Friday morning - Heff, JJ, Tess and I went over with the first box after he dropped the girls off at preschool! Friday was "all the big stuff day" but we got the big stuff and most of the closets done - a lot of hauling stuff over one load at a time!

Saturday was unpack the kitchen day! Jannie was a huge help of course - I have always wanted open shelving like this!!

The house is a 100+ year old Craftsman - it has so many cool details, I'll post more pictures soon!

Our new home!! (before the Heffer-Klampets moved in - we now have pumpkins all over the porch, toys in the front yard, a loose wagon on the grass and boots on the front porch :) We're here!

 

Trip to the SF Zoo

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Saturday morning Heff packed up the three big girls to go to the SF Zoo so I could work at Area 151 and see how things were going on day 2! Once I got there, everything was running smoothly (SO much easier than the restaurant business, like 1000x easier!) I was sad to miss their fun so I caught Heff at the gas station and Tess and I piled in the truck with them. It was a surprisingly warm sunny day at the Zoo and we powered through to all the animals with a short stop for tri-tip sandwiches and beers!

parked and ready to roll

first stop - gorillas

Hippo

yes we brought a child to the Zoo without shoes. oops :)

the fountain - half way point through the zoo calls for relaxing

super excited to let me take their picture (even Heff might have been complaining :)

duck pond

watch out for the black bear

This kid gets crazier everyday - love the faces she makes

and her perch on the "pack-pack"

funny Maisie wearing the peacock like a headdress (Francie was not amused - this was the WRONG way!)

"THIS is how you do it Maisie."

They made Dad check his wingspan

no one was having my picture taking so I had to take a self portrait of me and Tess on her first trip to the zoo

and without the double chin :)

water break

Kids Farm (my favorite part)

Bee exhibit (JJ was freaking out "SHOO bee! No bee!!" since she's been stung twice!

power walking to the treat shop at the end

JJ has to do everything "SELF!"

come on - just take a picture with Mom!?

treat shop yielded pink binoculars. Can you spy Francie?

Izzy and Tess!

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My good friend Dawn was due with her first baby the day before I was due with Tess - and the girls were born almost exactly 24 hours apart to the minute! Izzy and Tess will be little buddies for sure :) Dawn came down to hang out the other day and we took some pictures of the girls - we were sorry we didn't take a picture of our matching bellies when we had lunch a few days before they were born!

AREA 151 is OPEN!

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We opened Area 151 arcade next to Bumble on Friday at 4pm!

There was a line of kids waiting at the door counting down the seconds. It was such a great feeling to open those doors :) We've been working on this place for over six months - it seemed like it would be a good compliment to Bumble giving the older kids something to do! Area 151 is a "redemption arcade" with old school style games like pop-a-shot, air hockey, coin pushers, crane machines and lots of ticket winning games. We have an awesome prize counter with good prizes (no candy and stuff kids can save up for like a Wii and iTouch!) It was an awesome opening weekend with tons of local families. Last night there were more dads in there playing each other than there were kids!

5...4...3...2...1... !

I had my favorite custom woodworker Keith Spitzer make this awesome prize cabinet with vintage tokens from arcades all over the country inlaid on the top - it turned out so pretty!!

Thursday night we had a pre-launch party with some friends - the kids tested the games for us :)

happy ticket winners

Jumpin Jackpot JJ

Tessa was the lucky lady of course

Life size Connect Four is a HUGE hit

Francie thinks this is how you play Air Hockey

Dad's on Pop-a-Shot... who has the high score?!

my crazy family! :)

PRIZES

FRIDAY opening Heff took the 3 big girls all afternoon so I could get ready - they stayed at home for the opening since we knew it would be a little crazy. Tess was my sidekick though!

and with my girls Rashelle and Nora - couldn't have done anything without them!!

4:00pm 10-12-12... ready, set, go!

This guy was here an hour early, he rode his bike down with his allowance saved up and said he'd been "waiting for this day for months!" and the little guy peaking in the window - we've seen lots of these faces the past few weeks!

here they come!

Red Bluff Baptism

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We were in Red Bluff last weekend for a double baptism/double birthday for the cousins! Lauren and Molly were baptized and it was Oliver's 2nd and Patrick's 4th birthday. Kat and Donald just moved into a beautiful new house in Red Bluff and we had the party there Saturday after mass (we missed mass after the the truck breakdown!) Then we all convened at Oma and Opa's house for the rest of the weekend for lots of hanging out with the whole gang. Always fun and crazy to get everyone together!

Big guy Oliver - happy 2 years! He got dirty to celebrate ;)

Izzy and Francie - the 5 year old buddies

Daddy and Tessa

Oliver showing JJ the dirt so she could join in

Ducky and OD

sleepy girl

stretch

Heff and his little mini-me

time for presents

love Kat's new house!

Maisie holding baby sis

couch of cousins

think they're tired?

the last litter of babies - all girs in 5 months!

Molly, Lauren, Ilona and Tessa

future BFF's

invasion of big sisters

speaking of big sisters

photo of all 15? yeah right

crazy JJ

Isabel getting some good ear rubs on Ilona (she loves ears, cold ones preferably she says!)

10 of 12 girls

back to Oma's for pizza and playing

Andrea brought her newborn baby props so we set up a photo shoot for Tess - lots of good helpers too although Tess was a squirmy thing

how not to look like a sweet, innocent newborn...

that's better :)

this too

Indian summer swimming fun

Andrea and Ilona

naptime on Oma's couch

love this picture of mom and her crazy girls!

my biggest and littlest

Tess and Ilona

locking arms!

New White Truck!

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Saturday morning at 7:15am we had the truck all loaded up with these four stinkers ready for a road trip to Red Bluff with a night of camping thrown in there! We got on the freeway pretty proud of ourselves for an early start with four kids and right when I Instagrammed this photo - the truck broke down on the side of 280!!

Yup - stranded on the freeway with a full load of stuff and four kids. Not great! We called AAA and a friend to pick us up (although Francie was excited to ride in the tow truck) The driver looked in our car and goes "what do you want me to do with all these kids?" uhh we got that part buddy - just tow our car :)

After a few trips to move stuff around (tow truck guy insisted we leave the coolers and camping stuff that wouldn't fit in suburban on the side of the road!?) we re-loaded kids and stuff in Suburban, left truck at the auto body place and were back on the road. 2.5 hours later :)

half way into the drive - trying to keep JJ occupied by telling her to kiss her elbow. She got pretty frustrated and said "HELLLLP me! peeease!!" 

Lunch stop at Rubio's at the Nut Tree - always a good lunch and Janie LOVES her "beans rice!" Dad plays the "Hey who took a bite of my burrito when I wasn't looking!?" game - never gets old

So Sunday Heff went down to the Corning Ford dealership to check out the trucks - the green truck served us well but it was 6 years old and had been having some problems. Not worth being stranded like that again! He called me to tell me he liked a white truck with upholstery and no nav he liked - I was skeptical but considered it (limited selection on the lot since we need a bench seat in front for the extra kid) he picked me up to look and it didn't take me long to talk him into the "sparkly" white (not just plain white :) truck with all the etxras - I like to drive it too and we put enough miles in the car as a family it seemed worth it!  

Tessa sleeping through the car buying process....

and JJ posing as a car salesman. She tore up the dealership and kept asking Heff "Daddy? Papers - All Done?"

the dealership came and picked up the old truck on Monday - bye green truck, we will miss you!

Just Some Photos

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Just a few photos I haven't blogged since Tessa joined the bunch

and a few pictures from Jannie's phone - the first night I was back in the hospital. She had the big girls overnight and they ALL wanted to sleep on our bed. And a photo of me holding my new baby girl for a few nights at Stanford - I would say those were nights I wouldn't have wanted to remember but since I had Tessa and Heff with me we were a-ok, just a few more nights at Camp Packard :) We will remember that time with Tess!

Big hands baby Heff flashing her sign (can't see the pinky) but it's a FOUR :)

sweet baby - with a little janudice skin, looks like a Palm Springs tan Tess

the one and only time we've been in the car with all six of us - strollering/walking to town is so much easier! Although we were laughing at the fact I am such a stroller collector, but somehow got rid of every single stroller we've had - only giant doubles full of goldfish crackers :)

so we get downtown in the Moby wrap

All set up for her first pediatrician visit

Kinda looks like Francie?

Look at all those poor heel pricks from NICU blood draws!

Big yawn in the morning

furrowed brow

close up (looks like Francie again)

and one from her behind the scenes "1 week shoot" :) trying to keep the scale steady - she already looks so much bigger and pretty sure this little blue bubble suit that was mine only fits for the first 7 days!

and on her special blanket from Aunt Marge - all four of them have the same one now!

Tessa's First Bath

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Don't worry I didn't wait two weeks for her first bath - this was last week and I never posted photos :) 4th child it wasn't very ceremonious! Her umbilical cord is STILL on so we just gave her a little sponge bath in the sink in the girls bathroom. Seems like not long ago we were doing the same for Janie! Jannie was here to help and ABA was here to take some photos at least or we would have had no documentation of Tessa's First Bath :)

of course Maisie was most interested and helpful!

mad mad Tessa mad after that experience ;)

Pumpkin Patch

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Friday after preschool we wanted to go to a Pumpkin Patch while my sister was in town but none of the ones around here opened until Saturday. I found one online in San Jose in the Big Lots parking lot that opened Friday morning so we packed up 4 girls in carseats, ABA, Emmy, Jannie and I (TG for suburbans!) and drove down for some pumpkins. It was a super clean pumpkin patch with 10 bouncy house/slides and really good pumpkins that were cheap. We left with happy, sweaty girls and some good pumpkins- worth the trek to San Jose!

bribery to sit for a photo before they bounced

Janie was not happy about sitting on scratchy hay - giving me the evil eye

at least 50% smiling - pretty good these days

My four little pumpkins :)

and we turned them loose - it was 90 degrees out, I'd want to be in a giant plastic thing wouldn't you?


Jannie and her buddy JJ

ABA, Francie and Baby Tess

Hauling their pumpkins

and some awkward posed baby-on-some-pumpkins photos (Ann yelled at me for putting Tess in "Anne Geddes unnatural poses for a newborn" shots) sorry couldn't resist :)

Tess was a little more cooperative than Francie was 5 years ago!!
FRANCIE at Pumpkin Patch 2007:

and Francie the same weekend in the same outfit Tess wore to the pumpkin patch! (I gotta update those Parallel Pics!)
FRANCIE Oct 11, 2007

come on it's cute right? ;)

Ann and Emmy sticking up for Tess

I got them back and made them pose with a giant inflatable scarecrow

Packing in pumpkins

and what happens when you take a tired Maisie's binky out

the usual chaos getting back in the car - and JJ insists on a "helmie"