Lucky number thirteen...

On our first anniversary, 

we celebrated our brother and sister-in-law's beautiful wedding in Disney World,
our second in Cape Cod  and our third in Edinburgh, Scotland.

We've been fortunate enough to slip away here and there for many of the anniversaries that followed.

Today though, on our auspicious thirteenth, Todd headed off to work, I bought new tires and had an impromptu brunch date with the little man on our cold walk home from the mechanic.

It's not how either one of us really pictured spending the day. As much as we had a common vision for our life when we started out together, we never really could have imagined the day-to-day of right now.

Honestly, some days are uneventful, messy, expensive and frustrating. Many are fun, exciting and really productive.

All of them though are filled with love, family, friendship and usually laughter.

So tonight, we'll toast to tires that are safe, a steady paycheck, happy, healthy kids and a lifetime of more days like today.

We are blessed and I am lucky.

Thanks for asking, TA, with all my love.

Erin

Goodbye summer...

Just dropping in to say hello. And goodbye. To summer that is.  

Just after my last post last month, this was the view from my front steps for a week:

A blissful stretch of the Chesapeake. 

All to ourselves.

More or less.

 

We cheated on Cedric with Jesper the Black Lab,

 

nabbed the best table at dinner,

relaxed, 

explored,

 

learned to swim,

 and  soaked up lots of local beauty on the bay.

 It's safe to say that we fell in love with the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Beyond the obvious, I also fell in love with my forced breakup with technology: no wifi, cell phone service, and little t.v. for us that week. It was hard to come back to the land of blogs and Facebook and email, so for the most part, I decided to give myself the rest of the summer off.

And it was heavenly.

Next week the school clothes come out, early mornings and longer days return and our routine will be restored to order. In the meantime, enjoy the last unofficial days of summer.  I hope yours was happy and full of relaxing moments. I look forward to catching up with you all next week.

See ya Summer!

 Erin

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my dad:

The man whose quiet strength I admire,

who gave me his humor, his work ethic, 

his laid back personality and most of all, 

his unwavering love and support.

When I think of my dad, I think of airplane

rides and Groom and Clean, long summer afternoons

spent in a pool that he vacuumed and treated more than 

he ever enjoyed. 

I remember bagpipe nights at the Hibernian Hall and the countless
summer road trips he endured with lots of fighting in the backseat.

I remember the secret money he used to sneak me when I was away

at college and the time he took me out when I was heartbroken and lovesick.

I remember the first time I knew that my dad and future husband really hit it off.

My dad set the tone for what to expect in a man and it's because of this, that I'm married

to an equally great one.

Happy Father's Day to my husband:

The man whose strength bolsters us,

whose humor keeps us laughing, whose work ethic is a model for our children

and whose unwavering love and support will  guide them for the rest of their

lives.

We are incredibly lucky to have these two men in our lives and even luckier

that they are friends.

Happy Father's Day.

Erin

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day

my Mom and me, circa 1977

 Becoming a mother has taught me just how blessed I am to have a wide circle of mothers in my life beginning with my very own mom. Although I know she worries about the kind of job she did raising my brother and me, it was she who taught us, by example, the most important lessons I carry with me: kindness, compassion, generosity, faith, understanding, good manners and gratitude. She has always taken note of the beauty in the simplest things around her from the shape of a cloud, to the color  of the sky. I see my own two kiddos noticing the very same things. I know I don't say it enough, but thank you, Mom. I love you.

Motherhood reminds me just how much

I am grateful for 

the memories and legacies of my grandmothers 

and my Aunt Terry who loved me in a way that only grandmothers can

and who all left far too soon.

I am blessed to have my three Conaty aunts,
who are not mothers themselves but have the hearts of one.
They have loved me like their own my whole life.

I am grateful for women like Mrs. G. who had four children of her own

but somehow always found room to take on a fifth. Me. 

I am lucky to have a mother-in-law who not only raised a remarkable son for me to marry,
but loves me, treats me, and encourages me like a daughter.

I am so fortunate to have friends and family to share this experience with:

ones who understand the ins and outs of my days, my worries, my bedlam.

They are my sanity and laughter. 

They've sat with me in the E.R., run to the supermarket for me when I've been sick

and listened to me only the way a girlfriend can.

It seems it takes a village not only to raise a child, but to raise a mom, too.

Happy Mother's Day to all of these women and to you!

Erin

Nesting

Six years ago today, I was nesting in a big way. Neve was scheduled to arrive via c-section early the next morning and I was insistent upon scrubbing and polishing my hardwood floors. I do believe that may have been the last time those floors have seen such attention. In my very pregnant mind, it made total sense and one event could not happen without the other.

Needless to say, the moment she arrived into this world heinie first, our lives and hearts grew and changed immeasurably. In six short years she has taught us so much.

Happy almost Birthday to our sweet, sensitive, generous, silly, smart, determined and 

beautiful Neve girl. You have blessed our lives more than you will ever know.

 

We love you more than anything.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Erin

Little man

Four years ago today it was raining like hell. We spent the day running errands with Neve, going out to lunch and hitting Babies R' Us one last time before my scheduled c-section the next morning. Ironically we thought we had everything in order. When Todd and I decided to sneak out alone for a drive later that evening, we soon realized that the nausea and back pain I'd had since St. Patrick's Day was labor.   Three short (or not so short) hours later, true to form, Eamon arrived, on his own terms.

He's been surprising us,

charming us,

and keeping us entertained ever since.

Happy 4th Birthday to our sweet,

lovable,

caring,

sensitive,

happy,

funny, 

and handsome little man.

I am grateful every day for the love and light you bring to our lives.

Have a great day!

Erin

If you're lucky enough to be Irish...

St. Patrick's Day is nostalgic for me. In high school, I marched in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York each year with the marching band.  We always performed "New York, New York" and to this day, when I hear that song, I remember my whole swing flag routine. I also remember falling in my slippery white go-go boots in front of Central Park. Even with the drunks heckling me, I wasn't phased.

I was lucky enough to be Irish and marching down Fifth Avenue.

Then I went to school in Ireland for my last semester of college and felt more American than ever.

I remember one of my Irish cousins asking me, "Do you feel Irish?" 

I didn't know how to answer that question.  In New York, people automatically assume that I'm Irish because of my name and how I look. 

In Ireland, there was no question I was a Yank.

What I do know, is that St. Patrick's Day and feeling Irish have a lot to do with my family and traditions.

My paternal grandparents, Mary & Ben Conaty in Greenwich Village in the 1950s.

I love this photo of my grandparents for so many reasons:

The vintage quality. The window into that era. The story that I conjure when I look at it.

They look happy.

I don't have too many memories of my grandmother being well,
but I have a ton of my grandfather.

He was a tough man in many ways.

There was a lot about him that was hard to love.

There was a lot about him that was mysterious to me.

He was often grumpy and a curmudgeon.

He was a bit like Archie Bunker.

But to me, he was also funny and sarcastic,

and I loved him.

I know he was not an easy man to have as a father.

He was not your typical doting grandfather either, but

he had a soft spot for me and we had a special bond.

I know his life was hard.

I'm not sure just how so, but I think it made

him who he was, for better or worse.

He was the oldest of many children.

He left Ireland alone, around the age of 20  and never went back.

Didn't keep in touch.

Didn't want to talk about it. 

Told me not to visit Ireland.
"They won't let you in when they hear your name is Conaty."

Mysterious. Curmudgeon. Grumpy. Sarcastic.

Not long before he died, over Thanksgiving dinner,
he told my brother and cousins and I
stories of his speakeasy hopping days with my grandmother.
Soon after that, over tea at his kitchen table,
he told me about meeting my grandmother on the ship
when he emigrated from Ireland.
They were both from Cavan, he from town, she from the country.
They lost track of each other until fate intervened
a couple of years later at a Cavan Ball in New York.

I am so grateful that as he aged, he told me these stories.
The man was usually an oyster.

He was an impeccable dresser.
Even during a heat wave, he wore long slacks

and a button down shirt. 

 I remember seeing him in his fedora.

Maybe that's why I love that Eamon suddenly wants to wear bow ties.

He came to this country, worked hard and raised seven children

with my grandmother, who I hear was pretty saintly. I wish I had known
her longer and better.

He died when I was nineteen.

I miss him and think of him nearly every day.

St. Patrick's Day is just a way for me to feel connected to him, to be proud to be

his granddaughter, to have carried his name and hopefully have learned from his life.

I think he would be proud  and even softer today if he could see these two

kiddos, who are lucky enough to carry a little piece of his Irish along with them.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Erin

Merry Making...

So I've been off the radar for the past month, busy making merry with friends and family, trying to avoid to-do lists and cramming in as much Christmastime little-kid fun as possible. Sharing and creating traditions with my kids, unplugging a bit and nesting a lot, December really is the month I look forward to most each year.

This year, while lots of sadness and struggle swirled around the not-so-distant outside world, my kids offered me a brilliant, glaring reminder of the goodness that this season embodies. Their genuine joy, enthusiasm and utter faith in something that so many doubt reminded me of all the goodness there still is to believe in and celebrate. 

Christmas Eve, 1998, Adare, Ireland. The night we got engaged. 

(And drank a lot of champagne, if you hadn't noticed)

Flash forward thirteen years, a house, and two kids later...

working hard on letters to Santa Claus

I think this Santa might be the real deal. 

 

 watching a video message from Santa

celebrating with cousins

 and a "Domenick the Donkey" dance party

 and Grandpa

 feasting with family

preparing reindeer treats

 a visit from St. Nick on a finally silent night

 and P.J., our elf, hiding in my Charlie Brown tree, a concession for losing the artificial tree battle

Christmas morning love

Whatever you believe, whatever you celebrate, I hope you found time this month for a little merry-making with the ones you love and the things that make you happiest.

Wishing you a new year  filled with peace, joy and love.

Erin