One

It's official!  Our little guy is one WHOLE year old!  Actually, at the time of this post, he is exactly 1 year and 1 week old.  Yeah, yeah.  I've been a wee bit delinquent in my posting lately.  Sorry, folks!  I think it took us a whole week to recover from our crazy-but-wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  It was jam-packed with amazing (and, in some cases, completely surprising -- more on that in a sec) visits with family, loads of hectic party preparation, and, most importantly, a very joyous celebration on the anniversary of our Fionny's birth.

Our weekend o' fun times began with my mother's arrival on Thursday afternoon.  It was so great to reunite Fionn with his Ganna who he had not seen since Christmas.  Despite the months apart, Fionn and my mom picked right up where they left off during the holiday season.  Within hours they had a special signal to one another -- a funny "fishy face" complete with an open mouth and kissy noises.  Very cute.

Okay, now for the tragic part of this blog posting.  We ended up with no good pictures of my mother with Fionn from last weekend.  I'm not sure how this happened on my husband's watch.  He is usually a freakin' paparazzi photographer during such special occasions.  Although there are pictures of my mom and Fionn, they all seem to be involve pajamas and no makeup.  And I have given Mom my word that no such photos will grace the pages of this blog.  As a result, this is the best I got.  Okay, so maybe Fionn looks like he's running for his life.  But Mom looks gorgeous, doesn't she? 

You might notice that our boy is wearing nothing but a diaper and his "birthday suit" in that last picture.  Yep, that was smack-dab in the middle of his birthday party. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself here.  Let me back up and start from the beginning. 

On the first anniversary of his birth, our Fionny woke up to a house full of balloons and an ever-growing stack of presents from his aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

One of his favorite gifts was a little lawnmower which was a gift from his Ganna.  Fionn was in hog heaven with that mower, lemme tell ya.  He revved up the engine and immediately put it to use.  That's the gas can in his right hand in case you couldn't guess.  A kid has to have all his bases covered when he's doing yard work, you know.  Wouldn't want to run out of gas in the middle of mowing.  I mean, that would just be embarrassing.

Of course, our little handy man wouldn't be nearly so handy without his tool belt and tools, courtesy of his Auntie Meaghan.  My favorite part of this tool set is undoubtedly the green pager that is clipped to Fionn's tool belt in this picture.  Because you never know when your clients might need you in a moment's notice, right?  Of course, it might help to put on some pants first. 

There were so many other wonderful presents, of course.  But we have to move on.  There is a lot of ground to cover!

Next up on the birthday agenda for our boy?  A special blueberry pancake breakfast, no doubt!  I think it's safe to say that Fionny enjoyed his special treat.

Not long after breakfast, it was time to start getting ready for the big part-tay which began promptly at noon.  Conor and I were running around like chickens with our heads cut off, just trying to get the house ready for the big celebration.  Mom was kind enough to provide some supervision for our boy so we could put the final touches on the birthday decor.  Mom also worked her magic on the flower arrangements and whipped up some delectable appetizers -- both of which received rave reviews.  Thanks so much for all your help, Mom!  Here are some pics of the decorations, courtesy of our wonderful friend, Jen Carrier, who was kind enough to be our official photographer during the party.  Without Jen, we would have zero pics from our son's first birthday party.  I kid you not.  Thank you, Jen!

Yeah, we went a little crazy with the chalk, huh?  Sidewalk chalk rocks!

Okay, so let me set the scene for this next turn of events.  Picture it.  It's noon on the dot, and I'm sticking the appetizers in the oven to bake.  Conor waltzes in with a grin on his face and announces that our first guests have arrived.  Okay, no biggie.  And then enter our dear family friend, Uncle Bill, who lives nearby in Maryland.  I'm delighted to see him and call out a greeting.  I begin to move toward him to give him a hug.  And then...behind him...there are two more surprise guests...VERY IMPORTANT surprise guests!!

Conor's mom (otherwise known as Fionn's "Grammie") and his sister, Erin, from Minnesota!  Conor and I were floored.  Floored!  We had ZERO idea (nilch! zip!) that they were coming.  I had to pinch myself for hours after their arrival to remind myself that it was really happening.  It was such a fantastic surprise!  We cannot thank them enough for making the trip for Fionn's special day. 

Once our special guests were escorted outside, the party began to get underway.  Other guests started to arrive.  Before long, Conor fired up the grill, and we hooked the crab spray pool up to the garden hose. The party was in full swing, and Fionn...well, Fionn was up to his usual tricks.  Gettin' dirty and gettin' into trouble.  It didn't take long before his cute little polo shirt and shorts that I so carefully picked out for his special day were completely covered in mud.

So we ditched 'em in favor of the simple-but-timeless Pampers diaper ensemble.



Of course, it wasn't more than a handful of minutes before his diaper succumbed to the same fate as the polo shirt and shorts.

Sigh.  Am I the mother of a boy or what?  Anyway, I finally got a clue and resorted to full-fledged swimwear.  Why did I ever try to put Fionn in anything else?  I mean, really.  With a crab spray pool on the scene?  Multiple outfit changes aside, Fionn had a pretty fabulous time.  I'll let the next few pictures speak for themselves.

Yep, I think it's safe to say that our boy had a good day.  He was absolutely exhausted by the end of the party and fell HARD asleep for a nap at around 4 pm.  With images of cake, friends, family, and presents dancing through his head no doubt. 

Happy birthday, baby boy.  We love you so much.