Phew!

Whirlwind doesn't even begin to describe what kind of weekend this past one was...I crammed a zillion things into the mere 48 hour span between Friday night and Sunday, and am sitting here with very heavy eyes as a result. Not like I'm complaining: On Fri, I saw an AMAZING performance (Expressing Motherhood), had a great night out with some friends as the BEST babysitter tended to Eamon's every need (thanks, Daddy!). Saturday: I ran a mile race, covered a few more mile races, and spent time with Ann and Michael who were visiting the Boken for the first time. Sunday: Rose at the lovely hour of 4:30 a.m. to drive to Rye, NY in the rain to watch Ulabec ROCK the Westchester Triathlon. Unfortunately, the rain did not let up for more than five minutes the entire time we were there, but we had a great time anyway. Returned home for lunch at Leezies, prepared by Speed who is probably more talented than any contestant on Top Chef! He made the most delicious salad with chicken and steamed shrimp for everyone...I want to eat that every day!

I loved having my parents here, as always, and am so grateful to my Dad for taking such wonderful care of Eamon on both Friday and Saturday. I'm trying to convince him to move here and become my fulltime manny!

Behind the Lens

I had so much fun playing sports photojournalist at the Fifth Avenue Mile on Saturday. Thanks to Ula for lending me her awesome camera--all I had to do was put myself in the right position, point and click, and the camera did the rest of the work! The folks at NYRR (my old stomping grounds) couldn't have been more accomodating and invited me to ride in the press truck for both the men and women's professional race. so I could get some good shots for Competitor.com. The fields were stacked with Olympians and World Championship medalists, making for two extremely intense and exciting races. I was in track-geek heaven!

Just a few hours earlier, I ran my own Fifth Avenue Mile--they did the age-groupers (regular ol' folks) prior to the pros. In typical me fashion, I went in with little preparation and a way too relaxed attitude. No racing flats, no pre-race striders, Which I guess works for me, because I ran 5:47, just three seconds slower than I did two years ago--when I thought I was in really good shape! Still wasn't a stellar time by any means, but I finished fifth in my heat among many much more serious women and reached my goal of breaking six minutes. Of course looking back, I wish I had done more prep and ran harder. Next year, I'm shooting for 5:30!

The Nation's Triathlon

This is a bit overdue, but I wanted to get these pictures up of last week's Nation's Triathlon (all taken by Mr. Flynn). We had a great time out there, although I probably could have used a few more hours in the pool and on the bike to have fully prepared myself. One does not win races on luck and running alone! Nonetheless, I didn't do SO bad, and I tried to stay positive even as the last 3 miles of the final 10K turned into a total sufferfest. But staying upbeat was easy to do, thanks to our big cheering squad--all of the Flynn's, my parents, the Gaffney's, the McGarr's--and it was so nice to see everyone and hear their cheers when I really needed them!

A big congrats to Mr. Gaffney, who finished 10th in his age group in his first-ever Olympic Distance triathlon! Amazing!

Farewell to Summer

Sad, but true, Summer of 2009 is officially over. We were able to indulge in a few extra weeks of 80-degree days before fall finally pushed the thermometer down into more seasonal temps. So, no more seersucker (see Eamon's one last stint in the fabric--if it looks familiar, that's because Philip III wore this shirt in Andy and Julie's wedding!), no more outdoor pool, no more beach, no more mandals. Aleast until 2010, when Eamon will probably be far too dignified to wear mandals (though you've gotta admit, they are very cute shoes!).

In an effort to stretch our summer, we've been spending most of September outside as much as possible, visiting friends, playing in the parks, and enjoying long walks before bedtime. We also had a great week in Maryland where we had two lovely days in Sandy Point and Annapolis and Rockville with my mom and dad, respectively. That was after Mark and I competed in the Nation's Tri, the pinacle to our summer of training 20 hours a week in the pool, on the bike and on the roads. Oh wait, we should've trained that much. But life got in the way and we basically winged it with little preparation and didn't do so bad after all. I am definitely determined to put more effort into whatever race I do next, because I feel like any outcome will be so much more satisfying knowing I really put the hard work in.

Anyway, 2/3 of us here are battling colds, with Eamon getting the worst of it, so we took it easy this weekend. It's so hard to see the little guy suffer, but the doctor reassured us that he's perfectly fine--aside from the fact that, and I quote, "he has the strength of an ox."

Hmmm. Is it too early to call the NFL?

He's a dancing machine...

Watch him get down!

Here's Eamon just before bedtime tonight, dancing away to the Black Eyed Peas' performance kicking off the NFL season opener. And note the tooth brush--yes, he's already multi-tasking, people!

Welcome, Miles Conner!

Eamon has a new second cousin! Brian and Shannon Gaffney welcomed Miles Conner yesterday in Cali--he came a few days early and weighed in 8 lbs 4 oz and was 21.5 inches long. Another big boy!

Congrats to the new family; we can't wait to meet Miles!

Here are some cute pics of Erin's from the beach. Just thought I'd share. And if you're interested in the latest in the life of Eamon, check out his baby blog for all of the 12-month stats!

And the parties continue...

Eamon had yet another birthday party over the weekend--this time with his Hoboken friends, who all turned one in the month of August! We met for a fun evening of good food, drinks, and for dessert, individual cakes for each of the kids! We decorated them the night before at Amber's--she is a party planner extraordinaire and had every kind of doodad imaginable to pretty up a cake with. (For her little boy's farm-themed party, she made an entire cake-scape, complete with a barn, pond and little animals made of cupcakes!).

Hard to imagine that these little guys are already one--weren't they just a few weeks old and screaming their heads off as we tried desperately to have a normal conversation (oh wait, that was just Eamon!)? They all are developing their own adorable personalities and are so much fun to watch.

After yet another blue-tinged cake, I think Eamon is done with frosting for awhile! But in true "Big E" style, he devoured his portion, no problem!

Digging in...Owen, the littlest of the group, went to town! He eats the most and weighs at least five pounds less than Eamon...go figure! Eamon was a bit wary of his Grover cake, but eventually dug right in.

The cakes...aren't they cute? Can't really tell from this angle, but the red guy is Elmo and the blue Grover...Amber is really creative and came up with the idea to use colored coconut for the fur! And I love the little island scape for Owen.

Eamon's birthday party

Eamon's big birthday bash went down without a hitch! Thanks to the help of my fabulous parents, sisters, aunts, and everyone else who made the trip to join us! The Farm was the perfect setting and the weather wonderful making for a relaxing, fun day outside for our crowd of 40 (including 9 kids!).

Eamon slept for the first hour or so (he wanted to make a grand entrance, I guess), then woke up in time to watch his cousins attempt to smash the pinata. That thing was reinforced with concrete, it seemed, because it would NOT break. Erin finally had to take a big whack to it and out burst the candy.

The menu consisted of (mostly) everything in tiny portions: sliders, mini corn dogs, pizzas, cupcakes and milkshakes. Just like I know to create a weak spot in the pinata in the future, I also know to leave buttercream-frosted cupcakes in the fridge until the very last second. I brought them out too early and the perfect frosting job from Bec and Ula completely melted. And it wasn't even THAT hot. Oh well. They still tasted good.

As you can tell in the pics below, Eamon spent most of the day, appropriately, in his "birthday" suit. I'd bought him two brand-new outfits to wear, but decided he was much better off in his diaper--Farm Style!