204/365 we are on a roll with Friends and Family Thursdays

when oh when will my friends learn...

Megan ASKED me to lunch today, 

on a THURSDAY

HELLO...did she really think she could escape this? 

she knew deep down in was just a matter of time

so she gave in (ha, like she REALLY ever had a choice)

and Meg, Miranda I grabbed some lunch and headed over to the park.

Meg and I go back a few years (10+ years)

we met at a prior company and I was the one that convinced

her to come to our current company.

She lives in the same general area and 

up to her going on maternity leave  last year & 

Kaeden going to school

we car pooled downtown every day.

I am actually kind of surprised she still had a child after those "adventures", 

I am sure she has some doozy stories to tell and 

took her share of tyenol

but it also allowed for some good memories

and maybe she was able to pick up some parenting tips

(some, this may work and I am sure a big dose of whoa...not sure that is a good idea, like my classic...if the child is screaming/whining for no apparent reason ( you have checked off all the usual culprits - hungry, hot, hurt, tired etc...), turn up the radio until you can no longer hear them...I am sure that is not found in any "how to" parenting books but it kept me sane)

It is funny, while I am writing this, I am having a difficult time explaining our relationship..all the ways we know each other, how we are connected etc... She has just always been there over the last 10 years... work, mutual friends, community events, play dates etc... it just makes sense, we don't really work on it (ok well at least from my end, she may think I am a high needs friend) we don't spend a lot of time outside of work together (for that matter, there are days I barely see her at work) or talk on the phone  but yet we can pick up where we left off without missing a beat and we both know if we truly needed a friend we would be there for each other without hesitation. 

Since I just seem to be tripping over my words we will get on with the good stuff:

Megan (her blog is here)

and introducing the peanut gallery...

Miranda 

(see her prior interview here, note the new "metal free" smile)

the interview:

What is your favourite thing to do? family time (Miranda and I were pretty sure the real answer was "spending lunch with us" Meg's reply..."so funny"...I guess we will take that as a no)

What is your least favourite thing to do? clean bathrooms

What was the last film you saw at the theater? ohhh...that was a very long time ago, we don't have time for movies anymore...Pirates of the Caribbean...wait, no I went to the Sex and City with you and Starr

What is your favorite TV show? I love TV, how do you pick just one...How I Met your Mother or Criminal Minds

What do you want to be when you grow up? ummm, I don't know, something not in insurance (our current occupation)

What food do you dislike? (the peanut gallery says... Beef)  right, I don't eat beef

What is your favorite song at the moment? by that Hootie guy (Peanut Gallery...Darius Rucker) yeah, that's it...just not sure what the song is called

Favorite item of clothing? in the summer, I have this oversized flowy, summer skirt from H&M & in the winter, probably my lululemons

If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Greece

Favorite sport to watch? Football..NFL, not CFL (as a side note she is also a big fan of British Football - we know it as Soccer)

Are you a morning person or a night person?  a morning person... once I am out of bed, it's the getting up part I struggle with

What is your favorite candy? hmmm...winegums (Peanut Gallery: we should go get some, I can eat them now)

What is your favorite flower? it used to be daisies but I have developed expensive taste...so sunflowers or roses

If you were a crayon, what color would you be? violet (this is a first, such a specific colour, usually I get red, pink, yellow as answers) well it's because Peyton(her 19 month old daughter) colours in restaurants so I read all the colours...remember, it's like when you were a kid with that box of 180 with the built in sharpener...I liked the sharpener, made the smoothest pointiest crayons, and you had to remember what exact colour you were using as there were so many.

If you were candy, what would you be? what a strange question (ummm, really? you think this is the only "Strange" question) Starburst

Favorite drink? it's kind of tough as you have a favourite Starbucks, favourite alcoholic, favourite other drink like pop etc...(so I decided to break it down for her)

Starbucks: Earl Grey Tea Misto

Alcoholic: Red Wine, most of the time

Other drink: Snapples Strawberry Kiwi

Favorite restaurant? Parthenon (a local Greek restaurant)

What are you afraid of ? Kidnappers...kind of a parenty answer...but I worry with it being so hot out & having the windows open that someone will come in and take her

Favorite day of the week? Fun Fridays...I have the day off work (Meg and Peyton were regular attendees of Fun Monday's back in the day before the group went back to work or moved away)

Favourite Memory of last year? St. Martin in November

What makes you happy? when Darren (her husband) does the dishes

What makes you sad? (Peanut Gallery...when Darren doesn't do the dishes)...I don't know, the news, it is hard to watch the news

What story/memory will you tell your grandchildren about? That's hard...probably, what a great mom I was as you know your own children (their mom) won't admit how good you were...it will be like, my parents never let me get away with that...

Describe yourself in one word. Relaxed...most of the time.

Bonus Pictures:

her new purse...we have all decided we love the colour.  It was a total "Winners" score and deserved its own picture 

Day 349/365+1

Happy Birthday Miss Peyton

this year has gone so fast

and these photo's (click here)

seem so long ago

it has been a great joy 

watching her learn and grow

she is a serious little girl

with a twinkle in her eye

she may not say much but

I know she is taking in every little detail

and every once in awhile I am

treated to an awesome smile!

Kaeden and I had a little fun Monday birthday celebration

with Miss Ava (and her mom Julie) and

a bit later by Miss Jackie and baby Anderson (with mom Jenny)

and of course our guest of honour, Miss Peyton (and Meg)

this next picture makes me smile

as the girls looks are priceless

as they watch Kaeden perform his

song and dance

for smiles

as you can see they were a hard duo to crack

back to our regularly scheduled programming

these are the pictures from yesterday that I wanted to share...

first up is set of 3 pictures Kaeden took - 

~ Peyton ~ Me ~ Mckenzie

If you leave your child with me for any length of time (like 5 minutes) there will most likely be a mini photo shoot - and that is what happened with the Fun Monday Cuties, Peyton and Mckenzie.



~ believe it or not these girls are only 2 weeks apart in age. My delicate little princess and my baby buddha.

if you leave your children at my house...

there will be a mini photo shoot, that's just how it goes!

Peyton

January 18, 2008

1 month 3 days old

Merry Christmas...

Introducing...

Peyton Amelia (1 week 1 day)

I can't believe I have posted anything "oilers" but Peyton apparently will be my exception! Her dad is a big oilers fan and when they saw the prior post with Baby Ava (and her dad's Dallas Cowboys obsession) we just had to have a similar picture! This is a little pink/blue oilers sleeper - our next session she should be able to fit into it!

Meg is a very accomplished figure skater so this little onesie is very fitting!
I wanted to use this red chair so bad in this session and I measured her against it last night at Kaeden's party and she doesn't quite fit (she is so long) but she was pretty "scrunchie" at one point so I quickly tried a few shots. I may have out stayed my welcome...

A big thank you to:

Meg and Darren for letting me come over only one week after their house is turned upside down with their newest arrival! I was so impressed with how clean, calm and organized their house was!

Peyton for being so patient as I moved her from place to place, stripped her down, put clothes back on etc...she is very cuddly and so very sweet! They had mentioned maybe Shelby could babysit for them but I think she will have to get past her mom first!

Scott my faithful assistant who usually is my biggest asset...except this time he got distracted by a flat screen and a football game! I still am glad he came with me!

Shelby for keeping the birthday boy (kaeden) happy while we ran out and did this on his big birthday!

Baby Update

I was going to wait until I did her newborn pictures but I have a few people asking so....

Peyton Amelia Drebert was born on Saturday, December 15th. She was 7lbs 13oz and 21 inches long.

I have not yet met her but Meg, Darren and Peyton are going to make a family outing to Kaeden's birthday party on Saturday and then I have newborn photo's on Sunday! Stay tuned for those pictures as she is truly one of the most beautiful babies I have seen!

This is for Meg...

who is very pregnant,3 days overdue and a bit frustrated that baby drebert is quite happy where she is and has no desire to make her way into this cold weather. I am hoping a top ten list dedicated to her will cheer her up!

Top TEN Reasons I can't wait to meet baby drebert

10. I can finally call her by name, I found out the chosen name in error and was sworn to secrecy as they are not sharing her name until she is born
9. about time I had a new baby to smell! all my friends babies are now old enough to run away from the crazy lady
8. more new born baby photo's - yeah!!!
7. can't wait to see if all my "sound"parenting advice helps her out...such as the gem "if the baby is crying when really there is no good reason...turn up the music until you can't hear them anymore - Dr Spock I'm not but kept me sane through two colicky babies
6. a little girl to dress ...so many little boys and finally a reason to buy pink again
5. Kaeden has been asking for a little brother/sister for Christmas so hopefully some time with baby drebert and with his new cousin in May will buy me time until he moves onto something else - like a new skateboard :)
4. this is a little selfish but my list so I will indulge myself - the sooner baby drebert arrives, the sooner Meg will be back at work, ok I know it will be a year but I miss her terribly in the morning/evening commute and work isn't quite the same
3. hopefully I can make it onto the top 5 babysitting list
2. another muse for my photography...Kaeden and Shelby will be thrilled that I am snapping constant pictures of someone other than them!
1. absolutely nothing beats a new baby snuggle and I can't wait to see if she will have her mom's tell it like it is attitude!