"I want to be a part of it, New York, New York!"

Yep, we're home, safe and sound and feeling a little more like accomplished  world travelers :) As you all know, our family jetted off to the City that Never Sleeps for Mingo's big NFL draft.  And it didn't disappoint! I took a billion pictures and some good videos, and I'll TRY to summarize what we did without writing a novel, but you know me....that never seems to happen....

I'll start off by writing that while the week was great, the actual days of travel were NOT.  The girls are NOT exceptional flyers and we had many tantrums and meltdowns and I felt like I was doing nothing but gritting my teeth and apologizing profusely for their horrific behavior on the flights.  When is someone going to come up with "family only flights"?!?! That would be awesome and a win-win for everyone involved!

Ok, so onto the actual trip.  It was SO much fun!  We met up with KeKe, who Lucy just adores!- No one can raise her as high in the air as he can!  She had the time of her life being tossed around by him!  Man, he is one cool kid.  Seriously.  You'd never know that he just made millions overnight because he is the sweetest, most humble guy ever.  He's also hilarious and just an all-around good guy.  For real, I would be proud to be his sister-in-law even without his success. 

The main reason we went to NYC was for Shawn to see KeKe on the biggest night of his life.  Shawn was able to go to his NFL Draft on Thursday, April 25th at Radio City Music Hall where he was picked 6th to go to the Cleveland Browns! Shawn was able to get on an NFL bus and ride from the InterContinental hotel to Radio City Music Hall to watch the draft and while I wasn't able to go (I had to babysit my girls) I was able to watch it live on ESPN and receive detailed texts and pictures from Shawn throughout the event.  Shawn told me that Cleveland was confirmed for KeKe before Mingo even got the call!  It was pretty awesome!  His new football number is 51, and we already have autographed shirts and hats from him that we will be sporting during each and every one of his games!  We are SO proud of him for all that he is and does.  What a stud! Shawn was interviewed by reporters and gave KeKe big hugs immediately following his draft pick.  Bruce, Mary, Christa and Matthew were also there to support KeKe- what a neat family experience it was for them all.  I mean, this is HUGE.  The excitement still hasn't worn off and I don't think it ever will!  We are SO PROUD of him!  Just seriously awesome....

Throughout the week we saw lots of beautiful architecture, walked down to the Pier across from Brooklyn, walked down Wall Street, saw a scene from The Amazing Spiderman 2 being filmed, saw a couple of celebrities, shopped on Canal Street (wanted to also get some "real" shopping done, but that wasn't an option with the girls- oh well- I'll take what I can get!), took a water taxi right up to The Statue of Liberty, play at Toys R' Us and F.A.O. Schwartz (best part was Lucy dancing around on the Big Piano), gawk at the brilliance of Times Square, ride the subway, take cabs, eat at delicious (though pricey!) restaurants (including Dunkin' Donuts every morning, much to my delight- YUMMMMMM!) walk around Central Park, see Rockefeller Center, NBC Studios and Radio City Music Hall, go visit the sobering and beautiful 9/11 Memorial site, and spend time with family.  And much to everyone's delight, the weather was fantastic.  Not too hot, not too cold.  Sunny and warm everyday! While I've been to NY several times, the Gilley's have never been, and I've never roamed the city with 2 babies in tow!  So it was a fun and different experience for us all! Shawn got his NFL fix, and I got my Broadway Play fix when my sister-in-law, Christa, treated Mary and I to Cinderella on Broadway.  It was fun to have a girls night in the city- and we had fantastic seats!  I guess I could say I had 2 girls nights because I was also able to meet up with Jessica Cracolici one night to have some "adult" time and play catch up for a few hours.  It was wonderful to sit and talk in a yummy café and not have to play referee to any kids!  Later in the week we did take the kids to the Central Park Zoo and Lucy thought Abby was just the coolest "big girl" ever.  She held her hand everywhere we went and all the kids were so well behaved!  It was so neat to spend time with Jess and her 2 kids again- Abby and Jonathan are now 6 and 5 and very sweet kiddos.  I miss them when I can't be with them!  I'm so thankful for them in my life!

I didn't mention that our hotel was right one Times Square, so we woke up to the sounds of the city every morning...and in Lucy's case, every night....for at least 2 hours each time she'd wake us up singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and making sounds of cars from the streets below (vrrrroooom vroom, beep beep!)....Besides her wake-up calls in the middle of the night(s) she was an absolute ANGEL the whole week.  I cannot believe how well behaved she was!  Such a relief....Piper was in heaven and happy too, cause she was in a baby carrier all week and felt like she was being held.  Now that we are back home, she still wants to be in my arms 24/7, so it's been a little bit of an adjustment for the 2 of us to get back into the swing of things....

While I would love to continue to sit and reminisce about my time in The Big Apple, those bathrooms aren't gonna clean themselves....So I will go for now, but not before I add my pictures (picture overload coming up- I thought I could get away with making "a couple" collages of the week....yeah, 10 collages later....oops!)

Keke and The Gilleys!

A Little sightseeing in NYC!

My cute family at the Pier!

Times Square, Wall Street, Pier

 

Exploring the City the Never Sleeps

Water Taxi to the Statue of Liberty

9/11 Memorial

Central Park Zoo with the Cracolici's (and Piper found her feet!)

F.A.O. Schwartz- Lucy LOVED the "BIG Piano!"

Mother-Daughter Girl's Night- Cinderella on Broadway!

She couldn't be any cuter!

Sweetest Sisters I know!

Goodbye Everyone!

What goes up, must come down...

....down will come baby.....her mood that is!  Piper, oh sweet Piper, where have you gone?  Gone is my always happy, perfectly content, more-mellow-than-Jello baby!  And here is my "I'm gonna fake cry til' they pick me up" and "maybe the louder I scream, the faster Mom'll come running" and "I think I'll wake up at 3, 4, and 5am 2 weeks in a row just because I want Mommy to put my binky back in my mouth" baby.  Yep, after P turned 3 months, she decided to pick up on some of Lucy's rebellious habits.  Mind you, she is still a pretty good baby- ok, a fantastic baby- but she has her moments.  Moments that used to be rare, now seem to be a daily occurrence....BIG SIGH.... Oh well.  I guess I should cut her some slack.  She is only 4 months old....and still a better baby than most.  But I got really spoiled with perfection for 3 months!

She is still as smiley as ever.  And the speed at which her fake cry stops the instant my face comes into her range of view makes me giggle.  Speaking of giggle, she is a giggler.  It's stinkin' cute. 

And I put a stop to her middle of the night waking's once I figured out that she was just playing games with me.  I had to finally let her cry it out.  It took 5 minutes the first time, 4 minutes the next, 3 the next, and repeated like that for 2 nights until she finally came to the conclusion that NO, I won't wake up with her anymore.  Luckily she learned her lesson and resumed her 9:30pm-7:30am nights quickly.  I love it.

Also, she is finally able to sit up in her Bumbo and I am ecstatic!  Finally, she can hang out with me in the kitchen! Woo-hoo! No more fussing while Mommy cooks dinner!

We also switched her nighttime bottle (the only time she gets formula in a day) from regular to soy, because she was having tummy troubles and that has helped her mood immensely!  Speaking of milk, I am patting myself on the back because we made it 4 months with practically exclusive breastfeeding!  I know not all women can breastfeed, so this doesn't apply to you, but they say that if you CAN breastfeed, get through the first 4 months of a baby's life because that is the most crucial time in their lives that they need it.  And by George, we made it! Hooray!  I will continue to nurse her for a few more months, but getting past the 4 month mark is a milestone I'm proud of!  She loves to eat and her extremely angry fits when a meal is over is proof of that!... Piper's almost exactly the same size that Lu was at 4 months (she's 44% in weight, 71% in height, and her head is 27%) and I love every rolly-polly chunk and curve of her.  She's just so delicious :)

She still wears a halo most of the time and I am obsessed with my sweet P (or Everly as we've started calling her quite often).  I love, love, LOVE her and her silly older sister with every beat of my heart. 

Lucy turns 23 months today and she is calling me by my name only- "Britt!" whenever she needs anything.  She copies EVERYTHING we say (which is how she picked up her little "Britt" habit) and she walks around the house in anyone and everyone's shoes, literally.  She loves dressing up. 

She is fully potty trained!  We went 15 days with no accidents at one point (can I get a round of applause?) Then she had a hiccup but it didn't set her back.  Hey, accidents happen :)  I am SO proud that she was fully potty trained by 22 months.  I couldn't afford 2 babies in diapers.  It was killing us!  I just had to be VERY diligent and patient and try, try again until she got it.  It's cute to see her run to the toilet as fast as she can when she is playing throughout the day.

She's also still in love as ever with Pi and only talks to her in the highest pitched voice she can muster.  ADORABLE.  Piper's at the age where she can smile hugely right back at LuLu and giggle when Lucy pushes her in her swing, or hugs her, or gets down and does tummy time with her.  Lucy wants to be around P allllllll day long.  And I couldn't love it more.

Can't believe that this is the last time in Lu's whole life that I will refer to her age in months.  From here on out she will be years old, not months.  Sad for me....
Wow, I just wrote much more than I anticipated.  Sorry to you readers out there! It's fun that both my girls were born on the 18th of a month so that I can update them both in one post! 
My next post will be all about NYC! We are leaving in 4 days and are SUPER excited, if not a little nervous (travelling with these 2 tater tots is going to be a challenge).  But it will be so much fun and most definitely worth it.  After that, Lu turns 2! Holy cow, time flies!!!
Until next time.....I'm in a New York state of mind :)



Miss Conan O' Brien!



Lucy still cuddles with me every morning :)



Ninny and Lucy had a virtual Ice cream date! Hey, when you can't be there for real, technology is the next best thing!



So much fun watching her grow and start using her imagination to play!

Happy 4 months little angel of mine!

 



Kisses for her sister!



So happy that you are developing just fine and are healthy my sweet Piper baby. Happy 4 months blondie!

Easter

Easter here was a pretty uneventful event....and given that the months of February and March were packed full of craziness for our family, we were grateful to have a relaxing family holiday. 

It started with egg dying on Saturday night (or, in Lucy's case, egg dunking and cracking!)

Then the traditional Easter baskets on Sunday morning awaited the girls.  They were full of goodies thanks to generous grandparents and me...er, I mean, the Easter bunny!

A busy morning of getting ready for church followed, where we re-heard the story of the Atonement and how Jesus died for us but then was resurrected- all for our benefit!  Always a spiritual story to hear each year.  There was a beautiful musical number as well.  I love church on Easter Sunday.

And then the park.  The unsuccessful attempt to get a nice family photo, a nice "sister" photo, or just a nice Easter photo in general.  No such luck with a cranky-pants toddler....AKA- Lucy.


We went home after the #epicFail photo-shoot at the park and laid Lucy down for a long nap.  When she awoke, we went on a family walk in the sunshine (was 70 yesterday- SO perfect!) and I finally got to ride my longboard!  It is so much fun!



The sun made Pipers eyes look EXTRA blue. I love the color!

We came home from spending some time in the sun and had a huge delicious cobb salad (topped with many colored hardboiled eggs-yep the egg whites were dyed from all the cracks), some Ham, and a very nice Easter blessing said by Shawn.

One last thing, Easter was day number 3 of no accidents by Lucy!  And today was another successful day! I love not changing her diapers.  She is pretty much fully potty-trained!  I say fully because she doesn't like to go #2 in the toilet...that takes some convincing. 

Besides my screaming Lu at the park, I'd have to say our Easter was a really nice day.
XOXOXO

  I DID get some really cute pictures of Piper when we got home and out of the sun/wind, but Lucy tore her dress off the minute we walked in the door yesterday.  Here are some of my sweet P.

I took some pictures of the girls this morning because they were playing with each other and looked super cute!  I'm such a bragger, I know, but I am in LOVE with these babes!  Plus, I needed redemption pictures after yesterdays :)