A Fine Balance

Life is never boring

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In order to qualify for the 2012 NYC Marathon, you have to do one volunteer stint (affectionately referred to as a +1).  I was too late in signing up to actually run the Portugal 5M in the park yesterday but there were still volunteer spots open when I looked.  At 6:30 am yesterday morning you could find me looking like the above on the west side.  I LOVED cheering on the runners while still making sure they were safe and not being run over by a biker.  It was lots of fun to see the front pack which was a large group of competitive local runners follower quickly and steadily by the rest of the race.  NY runners are fast even if they aren’t winning the race!  All in all, a very fun experience!

In order to qualify for the 2012 NYC Marathon, you have to do one volunteer stint (affectionately referred to as a +1).  I was too late in signing up to actually run the Portugal 5M in the park yesterday but there were still volunteer spots open when I looked.  At 6:30 am yesterday morning you could find me looking like the above on the west side.  I LOVED cheering on the runners while still making sure they were safe and not being run over by a biker.  It was lots of fun to see the front pack which was a large group of competitive local runners follower quickly and steadily by the rest of the race.  NY runners are fast even if they aren’t winning the race!  All in all, a very fun experience!

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Ben’s first road race

I am a bit overdue with this post, but only just realized I never blogged about it.

A few months back we decided it was high time the whole family got into running and signed Ben up for his first race!  Through New York Road Runners these are often kids races that you can do once you turn two so Ben was in.  The little munchkin was beyond excited about his race.  Josh was running the adult version of the race and they got matching t-shirts.

One of these fit better than the other.

Ben got some help with his number getting pinned on.

Yes, he was carb loading.

The races are run by age and sex.  First up were the two year old girls.

Where you are two and three your parent is allowed to run with you.  After that, you are on your own.  When the gun went off there was a lot of standing in place, but eventually they get moving.

Go Ben Go!  And look!  Dad is running backwards.  Showoff.

After a few hundred yards it ends just as fast as it starts.

 

To NYRR credit, they treat this just like any other race and the “runners” are handed water, an apple and a bagel.  Oh, and a ribbon!

And that concludes Ben’s first race.  I have a feeling he will be beating the both of us in no time.

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Whoops!

Ben repeats everything, and Josh and I both have the mouths of a truck driver so it’s shocking it hasn’t happened before today.  But officially, today is the day Ben repeated his first curse word.  I was shouting a story to Josh in the kitchen this morning and used the term “Hey a**hole” (not at Josh…in the story!)  Ben then repeated it over and over.  He thought he was hysterical. The best part?  Josh didn’t even hear it because he blocks me out in the morning.

Guess almost three years later we probably need to filter.  Although, on the list of things that bother me, Ben repeated curse words is pretty low.  Pick your battles right?

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We walked in our first official March of Dimes walk yesterday with a team eight strong.  We were so lucky to have Ben be surrounded by so many people who have actively taken an interest in his life and well being and are able to watch him grow into such a strong and healthy little boy. We were running late (as always) due to a printer malfunction so my dad, Josh, Ben and I hoped into a cab to meet up with our team outside of Lincoln center.  Three of the teammates had beaten us there and we all were wondering if we were going to freeze or not while we waited in the shade.  It dawned on us to switch over to the sunny side of the street (literally) and everyone’s temperature quickly improved! The rest of the team arrived and we headed over to the Family Team tent to grab some coffee and bagels while we waited for the festivities to start.  One thing to note, for being an organization dedicated to premature babies, it was incredibly overwhelming.  Ben only has slight sensory issues and I was actually nervous he wasn’t going to be able to take waiting in the crowd.  I can only imagine how hard this had to be for kids with more pronounced sensory sensitivities.  At one point Ben put the hood of his sweatshirt up and laid his head down on my shoulder to just get away from the madness. After being promised a picture with Eli Manning (the celebrity chair) it became quite obvious that wasn’t going to happen.  It was just too crowded and crazy but we snapped pictures from about 10 feet away.   Later when he spoke to the crowd, we were all surprised how well he was at public speaking! Vanessa Minnillo also spoke although we all debated so long about who she actually was that we didn’t really hear what she had said.  For those wondering, she dates Nick Lachey and was an MTV host.  Yeah.  Exactly.   We actually saw both of them go into brunch while we waited for a table post walk.  We were underwhelmed. After all the speeches we were off.  Ben rode on shoulders and walked most of the way.  We had an incredible day for walking and everyone got a chance to catch up with each other as we walked across the park then down Lex to 23rd st and over to Madison Sq Park. We all too a rest then headed over to brunch at Almond which I highly recommend.  They sat us almost right away at a big round table where we all celebrated over Bloody Mary’s and biscuits! I would like to thank each and every team member who helped us almost double our initial goal!  We raised $5,765 dollars to help fight prematurity and at last count were the #9 fundraising team in the New York Area.    Rich and Shari are two of my best friends from my first job out of college in NYC and have stayed close ever since.  Christine works with me currently. Christina and I have been friends since our freshman year of college..  Brandon is one of Josh’s best friends from his first job out of grad school.  Beyond raising money and coming out to walk with us on this specific day in honor of Ben, these are also the same friends that have been there for us through our endless moves and job changes.  Each and every one of them have also proved to be tireless sounding boards on such exciting topics as Ben’s doctors, daycares, nannies, classes and also double as spur of the moment babysitters.  They have helped us every step of the way and are grateful for their friendship as well as the influence they will have on Ben’s life in years to come.

We walked in our first official March of Dimes walk yesterday with a team eight strong.  We were so lucky to have Ben be surrounded by so many people who have actively taken an interest in his life and well being and are able to watch him grow into such a strong and healthy little boy.

We were running late (as always) due to a printer malfunction so my dad, Josh, Ben and I hoped into a cab to meet up with our team outside of Lincoln center.  Three of the teammates had beaten us there and we all were wondering if we were going to freeze or not while we waited in the shade.  It dawned on us to switch over to the sunny side of the street (literally) and everyone’s temperature quickly improved!

The rest of the team arrived and we headed over to the Family Team tent to grab some coffee and bagels while we waited for the festivities to start.  One thing to note, for being an organization dedicated to premature babies, it was incredibly overwhelming.  Ben only has slight sensory issues and I was actually nervous he wasn’t going to be able to take waiting in the crowd.  I can only imagine how hard this had to be for kids with more pronounced sensory sensitivities.  At one point Ben put the hood of his sweatshirt up and laid his head down on my shoulder to just get away from the madness.

After being promised a picture with Eli Manning (the celebrity chair) it became quite obvious that wasn’t going to happen.  It was just too crowded and crazy but we snapped pictures from about 10 feet away.   Later when he spoke to the crowd, we were all surprised how well he was at public speaking!

Vanessa Minnillo also spoke although we all debated so long about who she actually was that we didn’t really hear what she had said.  For those wondering, she dates Nick Lachey and was an MTV host.  Yeah.  Exactly.   We actually saw both of them go into brunch while we waited for a table post walk.  We were underwhelmed.

After all the speeches we were off.  Ben rode on shoulders and walked most of the way.  We had an incredible day for walking and everyone got a chance to catch up with each other as we walked across the park then down Lex to 23rd st and over to Madison Sq Park.

We all too a rest then headed over to brunch at Almond which I highly recommend.  They sat us almost right away at a big round table where we all celebrated over Bloody Mary’s and biscuits!

I would like to thank each and every team member who helped us almost double our initial goal!  We raised $5,765 dollars to help fight prematurity and at last count were the #9 fundraising team in the New York Area.   

Rich and Shari are two of my best friends from my first job out of college in NYC and have stayed close ever since.  Christine works with me currently. Christina and I have been friends since our freshman year of college..  Brandon is one of Josh’s best friends from his first job out of grad school.  Beyond raising money and coming out to walk with us on this specific day in honor of Ben, these are also the same friends that have been there for us through our endless moves and job changes.  Each and every one of them have also proved to be tireless sounding boards on such exciting topics as Ben’s doctors, daycares, nannies, classes and also double as spur of the moment babysitters.  They have helped us every step of the way and are grateful for their friendship as well as the influence they will have on Ben’s life in years to come.

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Weight 24lb 2oz Height 33 3/4 inches HC 44 cm (who even knew this was still measured??)

Weight 24lb 2oz

Height 33 3/4 inches

HC 44 cm (who even knew this was still measured??)

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Josh and I spent last Saturday volunteering for an organization called The Mission Continues.  The Mission Continues is non-profit organization that helps post 9/11 wounded veterans continue to give back to our country by serving as community leaders.     I was only recently made aware of this organization when my friend Sean became the Missions 100th fellow.  You can read about Sean’s fellowship here.  It was a very rainy Saturday and most certainly not my first choice in places to be.  My hamstrings are STILL in pain as evidenced by all the pictures depicting me attempting to clean up the park!  We hope to be able to continue to volunteer with this rewarding organization whenever we can and hopefully help others to be able to give back in the future. *Update—I couldn’t save the pictures so you only get the group shot!  I’m in the green jacket in front.

Josh and I spent last Saturday volunteering for an organization called The Mission Continues.  The Mission Continues is non-profit organization that helps post 9/11 wounded veterans continue to give back to our country by serving as community leaders.    

I was only recently made aware of this organization when my friend Sean became the Missions 100th fellow.  You can read about Sean’s fellowship here. 

It was a very rainy Saturday and most certainly not my first choice in places to be.  My hamstrings are STILL in pain as evidenced by all the pictures depicting me attempting to clean up the park!  We hope to be able to continue to volunteer with this rewarding organization whenever we can and hopefully help others to be able to give back in the future.

*Update—I couldn’t save the pictures so you only get the group shot!  I’m in the green jacket in front.