Happy New Year!

Francie and her cousin Isabel (and their friend Bear since Cousin Ronan was sick for picture time) say...

"Happy New Year!"

We wish you a very Happy New Year in 2008. We have been so blessed in 2007 with our darling daughter and all the new additions and blessings to our families. Thanks for reading our crazy blog documenting all the little things in our life. We are looking forward to seeing Francie grow a year older in 2008!

I love the look on Francie's face in this picture :)

Francie and her cousins in Red Bluff

Saturday we had another day at home to hang out with family and cousins... guess what we did with the babies again!? Here in John Deere overalls Aunt Kat had given them at Thanksgiving Andrea and I both had on hand by coincidence

6 of the 7 cousins from l to r: Aly, Francie, Ellie, Kate, Maggie and Isabel
(we lost a few members of the tribe to a 24 hour flu bug the last few days... Ronan was one of them and sequestered in the other house Saturday and Sunday:(

Kate isn't really into "the babies" :) but obliged with her arm around Isabel long enough to snap a quick picture

Naptime with Dad

And of course we had to fit in a visit to the Flynn's Saturday night!

The kids. Madeline (Heff's god-daughter) was great with Francie and made a playmat for her on the rug with their old baby blankets and quilts. The Flynns gave Francie some fun toys for Christmas that kept her entertained along with watching Heff compete against Madeline in tennis on their new Wii!

Weber and Trish were there too, thanks for the photography tips on my new camera Web ;)

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Ellie is also great with Francie and loves being the "oldest cousin" (hummm... I know another one of those, maybe I'm a little partial to the role of the oldest!) oh, and Francie LOVES that Whoozit-on-steroids Santa brought her!

Ellie even helped change Francie's outfits and daipers!

A happy girl with her Opa

A great picture Heff took of Opa with his baby grand-daughters Isabel and Francie

Happy 60th Birthday Oma & Nana!

December 28 was Claire and Cathleen's big 60th Birthday! We were ALL in Red Bluff to celebrate... Cathleen's son and daughter-in-law Bill and Anne with Maggie 4 yrs and Alastair or "Aly" 18 months came down from Seattle to join the crowd (who were all there already for Christmas) for birthday celebrations. We made a big breakfast with Bloody Marys, gave them matching gifts, went on a walk together to see the neighbors camels, zebra and miniature horses, enjoyed a day at home with their husbands, all 7 of their (collective:) children, spouses and 7 grandchildren. Everybody contributed to an "international" theme dinner with Green Curry and Hungarian Goulash. Happy Birthday twins!

All the kids watching Oma (Claire) and Nana (Cathleen) opening their matching gifts

Books we made on Publisher.com with pictures of the twins as babies and growing up

Once again Francie slept through the festivities

Francie still sleeping while the other babies played

Marge with two babies (Isabel and Ronan)

Grandma with Francie

Say "Ahh" Isabel! Oma feeds rice cereal to Isabel... she is a big girl now!

The guys bought their wives a boat to share with their grandkids... Heff helped pick out the right boat and bring it home for another birthday surprise for the twins. Oma checking out the rear without and engine thinking "Will we have to row this thing?!" (wrong motor installed so they will take it back for a power motor:)

Happy Birthday!

Doug surprised Maureen with a 36 hour visit! Heff knew he was coming in late at night from Salt Lake on a brief break from being on call in surgery... Kat was sharing a room with Maureen and the girls and couldn't understand why at 2am, who she thought was one of her brothers was crawling in bed with their sister ;)

The girls in matching outfits (shocking huh?) that Oma bought them.. the socks are attached to the tights, so cute!

Telling secrets already cousins?

Craig and Andrea cooked a traditional Hungarian "Goulash" for the birthday dinner, cooked over a fire outside... it was cold but fun cooking!

Margaret made birthday cakes for the twins for dessert! Some of Claire's friends came to join for dinner too, Jane Flynn here in between the twins

Which one of these is not like the others?:)

Christmas at the Heffernans

We've been having a great time in Red Bluff for Heffernan Christmas this year. We arrived Wednesday afternoon with a caravan of SUV's after meeting Craig, Andrea and Isabel (who drove up from LA) at the SAC airport to pick up Maureen, Ellie and Kate who flew in from Salt Lake City. We met Uncle Mark and Aunt Sarah, Aunt Kat, Claire, Tom, Cathleen, Rick, Jackie, Margaeret, Baby Ronan and Grandma Wichmann st the Heffernan compund in Red Bluff. Cathleen and Rick's house next door is almost done but not enough to camp out in yet so we had a full house at Claire's! Bill, Anne, Maggie and Aly flew in today so we've got the whole flock in one place. It's always fun to be in Red Bluff hanging out around the house with family, eating lots of good meals, playing lots of good board games and playing with lots of babies! Francie is interacting a little bit with her cousins and there is always a baby to hold up here :) We had a German meal for Christmas Eve (Dec 26) dinner and Prime Rib Dinner on Heffernan Christmas (Dec 27). Tomorrow is the twins 60th birthday so more celebrations to come!

The babies! Isabel (almost 5 months), Francie (3 months) and Ronan (7 months)

and all three in red pajamas... Francie and Isabel shying away from not-so-happy Ronan, he must want a Bumpo seat too!

Playing a game of poker Wednesday night... Craig and Andrea at the table

Margaret, Claire and Andrea in mathcing PJs from last year

Unlce Mark is not messing around

Kate in her PJ's ready playing with her sister and cousins

Christmas morning (Dec 27 :) we all gathered around in the living room for presents... Francie slept through the whole thing!

Andrea helps Isabel open her presents

Kate looks for presents under the tree and handed out the ones that weren't "too heavy"

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The Heffernan and Cahill cousins (7 kids under 4 years old!)

Maggie and Ellie (both 4 years old)

Kate (2 years)

Aly (18 months)

Ronan (7 months)

Isabel (5 months)

Francie (3 months)

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The boys in the bath

Aunt Kat was getting lots of giggles out of the girls!

Francie has been doing a lot of sleeping :)

Dad changing a diaper and hanging out with his little girl

Unlce Mark and Ellie making homemade crust for Pumpkin Pie

We're all ready for the birthday bash tomorrow!

Christmas at the Simonsons

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my family in Menlo Park. We had my mom's siblings (Aunt Kaky, Uncle John, Uncle Jerry and Aunt Mimi) and their families here for our usual Christmas Eve celebration. Santa comes to our house Christmas Eve after a big cracked-crab dinner... the kids are actually helpful with the dishes hoping it will bring Santa just a little sooner:) We all ran upstairs when we heard the bells of Santa's sleigh and piled into my brothers old room on the third floor with the Uncles. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be up there with the kids or downstairs with the "parents" this year since I am one now! Brian and I took Francie up for her first waiting-for-Santa experience and rushed down the stairs to see all the presents out for the kids after we heard Santa leave. Francie got just what she asked for... a giant, pink Whoozit!

In her Candycane Christmas Eve dress :) but wishing her fingers tasted like one

Connor, Em, Francie, Claire and Mimi

Jannie making the crab sauce with Bammer, James' friend who has been initiated into the family Christmas festivities after three years at the party

Francie holding her sign :) (Heff forgot she had fallen asleep on the couch this morning and sat on her foot... he almost had a heart attack thinking he could have sat right on her so Emmy and I made Francie a sign to hold when she naps on the couch that says "Don't sit on me... I'm sleeping."

Emmy and Kaky put Francie right to sleep

This crab doesn't know what is about to hit him

Uncle Rich and Uncle Andy cracking crab

Jannie's Christmas Table for the "parents" (that's the new rule even though I've been at the adults table for 10 years... I love being the oldest:)

The in-between-kids-and-parents table... Jerry, Claire, Em, James, Bammer and Connor

The twins with Francie (see you at your 21st birthday party Emmy and Johners!)

Kaky's famous Christmas Crackers after dinner... she hides a $100 bill in a cracker and each is decorated in a theme that goes along with a very cute and creative poem she always writes that eliminates the non-winning crackers until we get down to the final four then the winner... Emmy won this year with number 25 (Kaky and Rich celebrate 25 years of marriage this year too) We all love the Christmas Crackers Aunt Kaky!

Uncle John and Francie... not that you can see Uncle John but I'll get in trouble if he doesn't make the blog (sorry UJ I'll try to get a better picture of you next time ;)

Jannie and Francie ready for Santa!

Santa left the presents and Francie got her Whoozit!

Aunt Kaky sporting Jerrys new helmet for his scooter

Santa shopped at North Face for the Kreeft kids

After Santa leaves his presents for the kids we do a swap between the adults and one between the kids too. Each swap has a theme, this year a "Personal Favorite" for the kids and "Vintage" for the adults. You pick a number, then in order choose a wrapped gift and decide to keep it or trade with someone who went before you, the first to pick gets last chance to swap... this is what happens when we have kids between the ages of 29 and 7 in the swap, Drew gets Tequila! (later traded by Connor who is 15:)

Baby Ann not too pleased about Emmy's perfect "Personal Favorite" gift :)

Drew won my gifts... not exactly MY personal favorite but Drew collects (and loves) elephants and is an avid Saturday Night Live fan so my gift was an elephant TV with SNL Best of Will Ferrel. It was a big hit and a Ella shed a few tears when Drew stole it away but luckily Heff and I considered that possibility and had a spare elephant TV for the person on the wrong end of the swap

Connor can't decide which looks most appealing

Jerry and Georgia came to supervise the adult swap and Beth was on the other end of my new camera!

The boys

Worn out...

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Christmas Morning... Grandpa and Francie

She woke up to open stockings

Em came over with too many gifts as usual :) Check out Francie's sunglasses from Uncle James and bikini from Auntie Em... Hawaii her comes Francie!

And what would Christmas be without rocketeering....

Francie says "How are they gonna get that rocket out of that tree!?"

We're trying to get it Francie...

Francie had to say bye to everybody for a few days while we have Christmas in Red Bluff... Lots more festivities to come!

Mary Frances is Christened

We baptized Mary Frances today (December 23, 2007) at The Church of The Nativity. It was 18 months ago we were married at Nativity by Mosignor Otellini but it seems like yesterday we were there with many of the same friends and family. It felt so special to have Francie up there on the alter and to see everyone there to be a part of her christening. Jannie and John had a reception at their house afterwards with 75+ of our closest friends and family :) It was our usual Christmas Day crowd so this year we'll forego the big Christmas Day party and enjoy a more quiet day with just the Simo's. (We still have everyone over to Jannie and Johns for Christmas Eve tomorrow night to look forward to and a three-day Christmas fest at the Heffernans... get your swap gifts ready cousins!) Thanks to everyone who shared in our special day for Francie and congrats on being a Catholic MaryFrances Borchard Heffernan :)

In the slip Oma made especially for Francie's big day!

Can Dad get those buttons in? :)

Dressing Francie for her first sacrament... she wore the family heirloom dress that Tom's father wore almost 100 years ago! It was beautiful on her. Uncle Jerry looks on to make sure we got it under control

Monsignor Otellini baptizes Mary Frances

Good job Francie!

The Heffernan's here to celebrate Francie's Baptism

The proud god-parents Katherine and James... Francie is lucky to have these two looking out for her

Brian and Francie with Tom who wore this gown for his christening too... it meant a lot to us to be able to use this Heffernan family heirloom for Francie

With the Grandparents too, we took more formal portraits here than we did at our wedding!

That was easy enough...

Uncle Jerry and Allison outside the church

James and Em

Francie sporting the "Matinee Jacket" Jannie knit her just for her special day

The knitting fools, I mean grandmothers Oma and Jannie

Uncle Mark and Aunt Sarah spoiling Sophie

Jannie with the other knitting machine Sarah Coogan and Molly Coogan (thanks for being there today girls)

Francie pulled a Britney and had a few wardrobe changes for the party... Aunt JoAnne made this dress for my baptism almost 30 years ago!

Georgia, Jill, Baby Ann, Mimi, Bethy and Em

Uncle Jerry and his fan club! All the younger cousins... Luke, Austin, Riley, Joey, Drew, James, Ella and Francie

And big cousin Mandy with the crowd again on the stairs

"Does this party ever end?"

The Carter girls and a Heff accessory

Jannie, Mare and Kat

Emmy, Claire and Ann

"Check out my new rattle... it's vintage Tiffany's from my Jannie" ;)

"I hope you guys sanitized this thing..."

The Heiser kids with Francie "Oh!"

Thanks for throwing a great party Jannie (and Grandpa John too!)

Francie's First Carter-Simo Dinner

Francie attended her first (of many!) Carter-Simo dinners Saturday night. The Carters live a few houses down from us and have three kids who are all right in between me and my siblings... when we moved to the neighborhood it was:
Ryan Carter (8th grade)
Mary (6th)
Bethy Carter (5th)
James (4th)
Jill Carter (3rd)
Jerry (2nd)
Baby Ann (Pre-school)
We carpooled and played together for a lot of years and always had Carter-Simo Sunday night dinners... they aren't as frequent now but we still have a great time when we get together. Bethy, Georgia and Jill made this banner for Francie! What a lucky girl :)

Francie was hanging out in the bean bag watching football (with Uncle Jerry's beer)

Bethy and Francie

Jill, Beth, Mare and the newest addition

Francie napping with Ruby

Jason and Jill ("The Lukers" married last summer!) with Jannie

Francie-pants

The night wouldn't have been complete without some gambling... here is Jill after the first "Left-Right-Center" game she won

Sisters (but Jill's not sharing those winnings with Beth)

Georgia works her grandma magic to get Francie to sleep

Another round of LCR and it's time for poker

Beth in all her glory

Christmas in San Francisco

We spent Friday night in San Francisco with the whole family for our annual Pre-Christmas overnight at the St. Francis. It is always an adventure with 24+ aunts, uncles, cousins and now a new generation with Baby Francie! We pre-partied in Unlce Jerry's room (picture above) and then had dinner at Sam's, a table for all of us and the same waiter we have every year (he probably doesn't share the same affection for us). We woke up Saturday for Christmas shopping and then headed home to get ready for the parties to follow!

Love this shot before everyone was ready... Baby Ann loves her niece Francie, just not when she cries, fusses or needs a diaper change :)

The Jerrys and their festive drinks

Madness in the elevator!

The table for 24 at Sam's

Everybody loves Francie... she was passed around the table a few times

Emmy and Claire at "the kids table" (Someday girls:)

Johners (who turns 21 in 10 days, not that that stopped him...) and Baby Ann

James in his famous Sam's pose with a very tolerant Em

Time for some late night shopping! The guys ditched us for the Cigar Bar and we hit the stores

Francie says "I know I like to stay up late and party.. but this is seriously past my bedtime mom."

Morning coffee break in the lobby

Francie says "Do these people ever stop? Give a baby a break."

The guys went to breakfast (more importantly Bloody Marys) at Lefty O'Douls while the girls hit the stores

The Heffs headed home to unpack the shopping damages and head to the next event

Christmas Tea

We had a Christmas Tea Tuesday afternoon for Babies, Moms and Grandmothers at Jannie's house for a little pre-holiday celebration. We had a great group of cute kids and their moms and grandmoms for tea, cookies and treats. There was even had a very special surprise visit from Santa! It was fun to play with the kids and babies and hopefully we'll make it a tradition and see them all growing up every year :)

Arlene with her daughter Molly (Nancy in the next picture!) and grand-daughters Emelia and Sofia

Nancy with Joe and Whitney

Midge with her daughter Laura and grand-daughter Ayla

Triplet Grandma Georgia with her next favorite baby Francie :)

Alexis and James

Our youngest guest, Baby Landry is only 10 days old! Here with her mom Kelli and stand-in Auntie Mary Morey

Sofia loving Baby Landry

We had a very special visitor... Santa! Here with Joe

Jannie and Peggy (Santa's little helper:)

Emelia telling Santa what she wants for Christmas this year

Francie sits on Santa's lap for the first time

Baby Ann's flight got in just in time to make an appearance!

Whitney is not so sure about this Santa thing...

she take the Gingersnaps and the train over Santa

Wes sleeping through his visit :)

Leo loving Santa

Little Landry

Estelle telling Santa for Christmas she wants that Binky back

Molly and her girls (Sofia liked to say "Bye-bye Santa" better than talking to him while her was here:)

Jannie and her train were a big hit with the little kids

We're so glad Baby Ann is home for break! (Francie says, "Enough with those pictures mom... I'm hanging out with my Auntie")

Thanks Santa and Jannie!

Francie Bundles Up

Francie was all bundled up today for a morning out with Dad! It was a rainy December day but Heff took her to get coffee at Pete's, to Home Depot (his favorite place) and to his office for a bit while I had some time to get ready for our Christmas Tea. Heff brought Francie to meet me at Baby Group and said she was a good girl for him the whole time, mostly sleeping in her bundles :)

3 Months Old!

Francie turns three months old tomorrow... it's gone by so fast! I feel like it was just a few weeks ago she was born, but it has been thirteen weeks of Francie-festivities. She continues to be a happy, content baby and is spoiling her parents with lots of sleep and now lots of smiles. She giggled for the first time and it was adorable! We look forward to seeing her grow and impress us with her baby skills everyday :)

Tonight Aunt Kat came over to bake some cookies and make cupcakes... proof behind her that Alaska Airlines recovered the missing container. We tried a few links tonight, not bad for goose sausage :)

Francie says "This fist is coming at you mom, you promised no naked pictures on the internet!" I haven't been very good about writing down imporant milestones in a baby book but since I seem to be better at blogging (yes, go ahead and make fun of my daily picture posts:) I figured if I took a picture periodically of her weight on the scale I could figure it out just the same... so her is all 13 pounds, 9 ounces of MaryFrances a day shy of 3 months.

Uncle Mark and Sarah came over for dinner too... they are finalizing their wedding plans for the fall, we are so excited to celebrate! Sarah and Kat were making Francie smile and almost eeked out a laugh.
\

Heff fell asleep with Francie while I finished up some online Christmas shopping (did I tell you how much I love Amazon?) I couldn't resist a picture of the sleeping duo... Francie is a happy girl in her Daddy's arms. Heff started running in the mornings with her in the jogging stroller, he has so much fun with her and says they "talk" the whole way :)

Francie's Weekend Fun

Saturday night Francie hung out at her Grandparents in her "Baby's First Christmas" KissyKissy from Aunt Francy... we played at the Johnets for a while so I could "pack up" all of our gear from staying over for four nights, then Heff and I and Francie went to do a little Christmas shopping at Stanford Shopping Center and had dinner together at the Creamery. We're glad to have Dad back home!

Francie put on her Sunday best for 5:00 mass... her cute pink dress is from Lacey in Texas, it''s adorable!

Then we had Sunday night dinner with the whole crowd at my parents house. Heff watching football with Francie

Francie says "OMG! Did you see all those cute clothes Em brought me mom!!?" (Em and Allison both added to Francie's wardrobe, Allison with an adorable blue flowered bubble suit and Em's friend sent her a TON of cute cute "designer" outfits from LA... thanks girls!!)

James, Em and Francie-Pants

Jerry and Allison in front of Francie's tree...

Jannie did a whole tree for Francie with ornaments she'll get to keep that are all significant somehow to her first year of life! It's a neat tradition for Jannie to start (Grandchildren will supposedly only get the tree the year they are born or as Aunt Kat said "you might have a forest in here." Cute tree Jannie!)

The Johnets hosted us all for Jannies famous Beef Stew and lots of yummy food :)

Heff's Hunting Trip

Heff is back from 5 days in Eastern Montana hunting geese and pheasant with his friends Mike and Dave. He planned the trip months ago before Francie was born and I warned him he was going to be missing a baby but the extra bonus of this hunt being filmed for "Outdoor Life Network" made the decision for him. We took him to the airport at 5am Tuesday morning to meet Mike and Dave and another friend. They flew through Seatlle to Billings, Montana to meet their guide and the film crew. (Heff is on the far right in the picture above.. hard to tell them apart in full camo)

The first day they hunted from cornfields for big ole 20 pound Canada Geese (Francie says "thats 7 more pounds than me Dad!")

Putting out decoys for the second day of hunting in sugar beet fields

Wait... I don't see Dave?

Here they come

Mike, locked and loaded

Day 2 limits

So we go to pick Heff up at Oakland Airport Saturday and after barely making his connection in Seattle we were glad to see him get off the plane in Oakland... but the luggage is another story. The guys made Goose Sausage out of all of the birds in Montana, which was an ordeal I hear. But they got it done and packed into a big Rubbermaid container. They figured leaving the container out in the 13 degree Montana cold the night before their flight would ensure frozen sausage through the flight and into the freezers at home. WELL... an almost missed connection means certainly missed luggage. Heff's bag made it on the next flight an hour later (which we waited for) but the 100 pounds of thawing goose sausage did not. Have fun with that one Alaska Airlines...

Francie Finds Her Thumb

Francie and I have been missing dad after 4 days! While he was gone she found her thumb and goes to town sucking away, he won't believe how "big" she has gotten while he was gone. Heff comes home tomorrow morning with a cooler full of Montana Geese. He reports lots of fun with Mike and Dave and lots of pictures too. Maybe a few will make it on the blog this weekend :) Today, Francie and I had lunch with my friend Julia who just passed the bar (congrats Jules!) and worked a little more at the office on the new cubicles and workstations. She played with her "WhoozIt" in her bassinet and was very patient while I went nuts with the staple gun to cover the walls at Academic Trainers with new color-schemes. Then we had drinks with Aunt Kat at Left Bank and headed to dinner at the Johnets! Francie loves their bathtub :)

Almost got it...

There it is!

A happy girl with a built-in binky :)

Dinner with Godparents and Grandparents

After playgroup with the moms and babies (yes, we got started rather early even with the cocktails :) we had dinner at the Johnets Wednesday night. James and Em came down when they heard Francie was "sleeping over" and Aunt Kat came too so we could hear about her trip to Vegas for NFR (Rodeo for all you non-cowgirls and boys) We miss Dad but he's calling to check in all the time and having fun on his hunting trip...

Super-Francie

"Did you see what Uncle James just did to me Mom!?"

"That was fun" :)

Sleeping on Aunt Kat

Francie and Em

Trying to look like Uncle James

"Enough of the pictures in the same outfit mom, it's been like 8 hours since you've changed me... slacker."

Moms and Babes

We had a playdate Wednesday with five other babies at a friend's house. It was fun to hangout and relax with the other moms and babies... we had yummy snacks and some yummy cocktails too :) The babies range in age from 7 weeks (two of them born 1 hour apart!) to almost 5 months... it seems like a huge age span now but I'm sure by this time next year they'll all seem the same age. We've met a lot of nice moms through the Moms and Baby Groups... there are activities, lunches, walks and classes you could potentially join in everyday of the week. It keeps us entertained and busy, especially since we have "playdates" with Jannie most days too! Here are Francie and some of her little friends.

Francie (not so sure what's going on!) and Asher

Baby Wes in his cute Baby Scrubs!

Francie and the boys, Leo and Asher

Love the looks on their faces!

Wes (7 weeks), Leo (18 weeks), Francie (12 weeks), Asher (16 weeks) and Estelle (7 weeks)... Aliza (14 weeks)

Francie Sleeps-over at the Johnets!

Heff has been on a hunt in Montana this week so we've been shacking up at the Johnets. We've had a bust week with playdates and lunches and a little working too. Francie has been great, getting bigger everyday and she found her thumb this week too!

Francie and Jannie

Napping in the bassinet while Jannie and Mary were busy sewing and embroidering away :)

We made "Merry Christmas" onesies for all of our friends at playgroup

On Monday Jannie took Francie to her needlepoint group luncheon while I worked for a little while re-doing the office space for the new semester. Francie had fun with all the ladies. Carol and Carla did the beautiful flowers for our wedding a year and a half ago... hard to believe we have a Francy-pants now!!! Here is Francie with the needlepointers

"I hope Jannie's making something for me..."

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things...

I think every mom has a few things they feel like they can't live without...
so far, these are mine:

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Whoozit!

Francie (and most of the babies in our Mommy/Baby Group) love this toy. It has a spiral black-and-white back Francie loves to laugh at and for some reason it keeps her occupied for a lot longer than some of her other toys :)

You can get it at DayOne or most baby stores but Amazon.com has it in this or the "girly" heart shaped pink one.
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The Lillebaby EuroTote Carrier

We sometimes put Francie to sleep in this comfy little sleeping bag/carrier... she seems to like to be snuggled in it and when we travel it is an easy-to-haul, familiar place for her to sleep. It can also be used as a carrier (kinda like a baby in a purse!) and a snuggler for the jogging stroller or bassinet.

http://www.lillebabyusa.com/

Amazon.com and available at other online stores too

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WubbaNubs

Franice really only likes this "Soothie" style pacifier (also known as the "hospital kind") This crazy contraption helps keep it in her mouth when she's in the carseat or stroller and makes it a whole lot easier to find in the diaper bag or around the house. We call it a BinkyFriend :)

http://www.wubbanub.com

Amazon.com and available other places online

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The Infant Lounger by Boppy

We used this a lot when she was a newborn, it's SO comfy for Francie to lay in and seemed better than the traditional U-shaped Boppy since it doesn't have the hole in the middle and has a softer filling. It was also great for me to have on my lap or behind me while lounging on the couch!

Amazon.com or Target

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VeryBaby Cloth Diapers

My Sister-in-law maureen made us a whole set of these, they are a good break from disposables to let Francie's tush breath when we are home for diaper changes. We really only use about one a day, but they make a difference! I've tried the gDiapers and as cute as they are, they just don't work very well :) Maybe when she's a little bigger.

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The Gymini

Her smile says it all :)

http://www.tinylove.com/toy.aspx?toyId=81&state=toyTypeId=0@elementId=0@ageId=0

Amazon.com or you can buy it locally at DayOne in Palo Alto

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Amazon Prime Membership (can you tell?)

For $79/year Amazon will 2-Day ship anything from their site for free or OVERNIGHT SHIP for $3.99. I think I came out ahead on that one... the UPS man at my office told the girls to "cut me off" :)

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Francie's collection of hand-knit clothing, blankets and accessories!

Thanks to Jannie, Oma, Aunt JoAnn, Carmen and Sarah Coogan!

NOT available at Amazon.com... you'll have to ask your favorite grandmother or knitting friend :)

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And last but not least, what would the first 84 days of Francie's life be like without proper documentation!

The Canon 30D

Francie Goes to the Ritz

We went up to San Francisco Saturday night for our "annual" Christmas overnight at the Ritz, it was the third year Heff and I have gone up but the first with little Francie! We met the Flynns and Forsbergs (from Red Bluff) for a great dinner at The House of Prime Rib and lots of cocktails. We did a little shopping and just hung out at the hotel for tea, champagne and a Vince Vaughn sighting! It got us in the Christmas spirit and was so much fun to share with Francie :)

The Heffs

Francie enjoying the good life. The Baby Journal book and Ritz-Carlton bib were in the room when we checked in, Francie must have told them she was coming :)

Hanging out with Dad

Heading out to dinner

Drinks with Dad in the lounge... right before Vince Vaughn walked in :) I wanted to take a picture of him but Heff wouldn't let me, he thought it would be tacky :) Sorry Francie, your Dad denied you your first celebrity sighting documentation!

Brendon, Brian, and Kristie

Liz and Eric

The Girlies

Sleep Tight Francie-pants!