Office Baby Shower

The girls in my office threw me a baby shower last Friday. The decorations were done by my party-planning-soulmate, Sarah. It was all so cute and very thoughtful of them to do, especially since it is budget season, which means there will be many early mornings and late nights until October 1.

 My very first sock-bouquet!

 We were very spoiled by my co-workers, considering there are only 7 of us including me!

 Our engineer, Sal, in an unfortunate photo placement.

 I got some new swaddling blankets with instructions. Drew busted out of all of our swaddles when she was a newborn, so a little practice on the new purple elephant was needed!

Looking quite huge here...let's assume I was laying way back in my chair.

The 3M board? Piece of cake.

We were both pretty impressed with Drew's fearlessness at this birthday party. It's been 3 weeks and Jeremy is still showing the pictures on his phone to anyone who will humor him! 

She did a little warm-up on the regular diving board. This is where I noticed her bikini top needed to be tightened.

 Then she proceeded to Peter-Pan off the 3M board every chance she got.

We capped the day off by doing a little night swimming with Grammy and Boppa at their house. Since it was in the 90s all week, the pool was the perfect temperature.

Princess Tea Birthday Party

Meghan's 5th Birthday Party was celebrated with a Princess Tea Party theme. Wendy decorated all the tables with a mix of fancy and kid-friendly and everything was so cute. There were so many details to check out...it's so fun being a girl!

 The girls were supposed to come dressed as a princess and Wendy had gotten out all of Meghan's princess dresses for the girls to play in. Drew was very surprised and excited when she saw Rapunzel at the party, who sang and read a story to the girls.

 The newest additions to the 5-year-old club!

 Drew got a kick out of seeing Meghan's dad, Tyler, in a suit serving the girls tea. She normally sees him on the golf course.

 All of the girls got their pictures taken with Rapunzel, what an elegant way to end the festivities.

OC Fair

Since Drew has been watching Harry Potter, she has taken a particular interest in the turkey legs that Ron Weasley eats at all the feasts. As much as any of the rides she has wanted to try a turkey leg as well.

 This isn't a camera setting, just Drew and Boppa emerging from the haze of BBQ smokers down the aisle of fair food.

 At first she chickened out when it came time to try Boppa's turkey leg, but when I asked her to pose for a picture, she decided to try a few bites.

Aussie-Aussie-Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!

 

2011 (above and below)

After meeting for the first time last 4th of July, Sam and Drew became fast friends this year when the Williams' came over for a barbie on their way back to the land Down Under.

The girls had a fun time together and it's so nice to catch up with friends who are so far away! Hoping it will be an annual barbie!

Pre-Sawyer Babymoon

In late July, Jeremy and I had planned to spend the weekend in Palm Springs sleeping in, eating out, and doing nothing, if we chose. Drew was going to go with Grammy, Boppa and Kels to Houston to watch Boppa throw out the first pitch for the Astros and Kelsey sing God Bless America during this, their 50th Anniversary year. 2 days before the flight, Drew came down with a fever and ended up missing the trip. So our quiet Babymoon turned into a family vacation with Mommy taking naps and Daddy taking Drew on trips to the pool. And watching the Olympics, of course.

 

Heading back to the hotel after dinner to watch the Opening Ceremonies.

 Drew took full advantage of her queen-sized Murphy bed and adult-sized robe.

 Driving the boats at the Marriott, for about 5 minutes, until it got too hot not to be in water.

 Our little swimmer.

 These stayed cool with a steady diet of smoothies and brewskis by the pool.

 Mom mostly stayed cool in the room with the air conditioning on.

Drew's 5th Birthday

How in the world has it been 5 years already?? From our bald little one-year-old who was all cheeks and chubb...

2

3

4

to our wildly imaginitive, strong-willed 5-year-old kindergartner.

She made it clear that I am the best mommy in the world because I let her come to work with me, and to ensure my reign, I decided it would be a special treat again on her birthday. What I forgot was that she was only with me for 4 hours on Bring Your Daughter To Work Day, not 8.

Auntie Kels was gracious enough to drive down from LA to meet us for lunch, Drew was so happy to see her. And then one of the girls at work brought in a birthday cake for us all to share in the conference room. Drew particularly enjoyed sitting at the head of the table, running a meeting and telling everyone what to do. I'm encouraged at her comfort at the head of the table. Thankfully, no one got locked out of their offices this time, that's something a 4-year-old would do.

After work, we took her last photo session at Kiddie Kandids for her 5-year-old pictures (or, more accurately, her last solo pictures at Kiddie Kandids). And then we met Grammy, Boppa and Daddy at Dave and Buster's for some gaming, presents and mediocre food.

The gifts she received that night describe her in a nutshell: an American girl with dresses and accessories, and a bow and arrow. Truthfully, I couldn't be happier that I have a little girl who is perfectly comfortable shooting a nerf weapon while wearing a princess dress.

Later in the week, another birthday present from mommy and daddy arrived. Her "real" digital camera. Since she is constantly taking and reviewing pictures on our iPhones and cameras, we thought her own camera would remedy that. Her birthday was almost 4 weeks ago and I think there's one picture on the memory card.

She decided this year she wanted to swim and have an ocean party. Easy enough! The hardest part was watching the contractors in Grammy and Boppa's backyard try and meet the party deadline we had set.

Grammy and I, not quite fitting on the lounge. What you can't see is I have a cheek and a half hanging off the armrest behind me. What do you mean I'm too big??

Drew and a Sienna, a friend who has been in her class for the past 2 years. And the only kid (not just girl) in their entire grade who is the same height. Yay tall girls!

Checking out her snorkeler girl cake made by mom. If it had turned out cute, I'd have a close-up here. Instead I'll describe what a beautiful cake it is: ocean-blue rippling frosting with colored goldfish swimming around a girl with long blonde hair in a snorkel mask with M&M eyes, a licorice snorkel and a frosting mask. Perfection!

This might be her favorite part every year. She really wanted a red velvet cake, but got all frosting and then skipped right over the cake part and had a banana-chocolate-chip cupcake and starfish sugar cookie instead.

One of my favorites from the party, Drew and Teagen, looking so big!

 

And Drew and Lauren, the 2 new big sisters. Drew is still having a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that Lauren is already a big sister and she isn't yet.

The next 2 are definitely going to get framed in Drew's room...is there anything sweeter than seeing your kid playing with your best friends' kids?

Now we come to the drunk part of the party. The "adults" decided to play jump-and-catch games off the big rock. Jeremy was fairly sore the next day.

Chad going for a reach, Maya not impressed.

Jeremy really reaching here, nice form.

Uncle/Cousin Josh catching one ball while reach for an imaginary one with his left hand.

No pool party would be complete without the world-famous Gratton cannonball.

Drew trying to get in on the ball-catching, cannonballing fun.

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!