Holidays

Sophia, Rylan, Sage and I celebrated our first Chanukah this year. Mimi and Pop-pop gave us a beautiful Menorah which made this event all the more meaningful. I taught Sophia and Rylan the story of why we celebrate this holiday and we shared in lighting the menorah–we've started a beautiful tradition!

This year we celebrated Christmas and Christmas week with Nonna, Andrew, Tim, Deb, and kids in the beautiful town of Lake Placid at the Whiteface Lodge–thanks Mimi and Pop-pop!!! It was an amazing trip! It all started with the laughable memory of Rylan projectile vomiting in our cab in front of Penn Station. The vomit of course covered both her and I–nothing like having to smell like throw-up for a 7+ hour trip. Thankfully the hotel had washing machines!!!! Unfortunately, one after another of us got the same icky 24hour stomach bug–ugh. However, really we still had a great time.

The atmosphere of Lake Placid and the Lodge is so laid back and relaxing. Sophia went to a camp on site that they have available for kids 3-10 years old and just loved it! She was able to experience sledding and ice skating for the first time–most awesome! The rest of us just hiked the local trails, swam, ate, and relaxed!

classic

playing in our room

skating

waiting for the train home

Grandma & Grandpa Take NYC By Storm

taking on the streets on Williamsburg

Grandpa Bill would try to walk the entire city in one day to see everything and anything while looking for one venue that serves both amazing pizza and fries (this is a family joke, but is related to a very true story of a journey through Venice, Italy). On this visit thankfully Grandma and Grandpa did NOT take NYC by storm.

Okay, all kidding aside we had a great time! It was a quick weekend visit. One day we stayed local and went to a gingerbread making workshop, and then toured our neighborhood. The next day we went to the Museum of Natural history. Grandma and Grandpa of course spoiled the girls with lots of love and of course presents. The girls haven't stopped talking about how much they miss their grandma and grandpa.

hard at work

hanging with the girls

Nenna

"Nenna" as we now lovingly call Aunt Jenna surprised us all by coming to Long Island for Dylan (my cousin) and Elena's wedding.  I can't believe how much I missed my little sis!!! She's decided to stay in Israel until at least July. Go Jen, so proud of you for helping others and making/discovering your life! We had an amazing time seeing the family and enjoying the wedding.

At the wedding

The next day at brunch

sleepy adults at the brunch

Thanksgiving NYC Style

the first ballon

In the spirit of being here in the city we decided to atttend the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This year celebrated the 85th anniversary. Official start time of the parade is 9am, but for all those who want front row seats you must get there by 6am. Knowing that our 1 and 3 year old girls would not want wait in the cold for 3 hours we decided to be there only an hour early. We took the subway to 57th St and end up on the corner of 5th Ave and 55th.  Just around the corner from all action on 5th we were able to get a little elbow room. The girls just loved seeing the balloons!!! We stayed for an hour or so and decided that it was getting too cold. We headed home to see the rest on TV. Maybe next time we'll opt to get a hotel room.

at the parade

Later that evening our friend Nyles and his girlfriend Michelle came by to share our Thanksgiving feast. It was a day filled with fun and laughter!

turkey with mustard green onion gravy, roasted fennel with black olives, mashed rutabaga with ginger spiced pears, green salad with goat cheese and pomegranates–made by yours truly

Rylan Walking/Halloween

October 28th marks a super happy day! Rylan just stoop up and took her first independent steps. Sage, Sophia and I all got to be apart of this moment–just amazing!  

This year we got to have our first NYC Halloween experience.  Sophia was really into Halloween! She picked out her own costume and was able to wear it on several occasions. Since Halloween fell on Monday this year we had the pleasure of treat or treating with our playgroup. City trick or treating is so fun,  all the stores hand out candy.  It felt really comfortable and I just loved watching the excitement as the kids experienced this for the first time. These are the moments that I love to relish and make me so happy that I have decided to stay home to be with my girls.

Later that evening our neighbors (Emily, Michael, Ian, and Mitchell) stopped by to play and burn off some Halloween energy. Then, Sage surprised Sophia by coming home early to do some more trick or treating.  She was just thrilled!!! He took her to a couple more stores close by and then around our building. She asks me everyday to trick or treat...lol. Ah, a girl who loves candy. I can't say I blame her–it was a very Happy Halloween!

my monkey

 monkey and fairy

the playgroup gang from right to left: Rylan, Adjei, Walt, Will, Mia and Sophia

right to left: Mitchell, Sophia, Ian, and Rylan

taking inventory

tired, but super happy to have so much candy!

Trip to NC

Columbus day weekend we visited Grandma and Grandpa. It was a super long trip and the first time we made this journey with the girls, but the long trip was well worth it! It was a super relaxing and fun time with Grandma and Grandpa. We did some local exploring,  pumpkin crafts, and took a day trip to Helen, GA.

relaxing by the lake

exploring tree houses at sleepy hollow

happy pumpkins

Ballet Class

Williamsburg Playschool Group

Nursery school in NYC is so outrageously expensive, so we just weren't able to send Sophia. Instead we are partaking in a preschool play group. My girlfriend, Jess,  asked her church if we could use their space two days a week for a few hours to host our own preschool playgroup. The space is perfect! It really is just like a traditional preschool. Each parent teaches a section of our time together. We plan projects, put them into action, and watch our kids learn. It's an amazing experience!

The gang from right to left: Adjai, Will, Mia, Sophia, Walt

Day one: learning about air

Further investigation into air

Nonna's 60th Birthday Weekend

We surprised Nonna by all getting all her kids and grand-kids together. We spent our day wondering through the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Later that same evening we went to an adults only dinner at Gothom Bar and Grill.

hanging with Nonna

bath time at our house after the gardens

Hurricane Irene and Sophia's 3rd Birthday

There was much debate as to weather we should leave NYC before Irene was to hit our area. The mandatory evacuation zone for a low category  hurricane is just blocks from our apartment. After talking things over, getting plenty of reserve food & water we decided to "weather the storm". Despite the projected impact Irene was to have on NYC there really was little, and we were very thankful!

Waiting for Irene

As luck would have it Sophia's birthday party and Irene coincided. Hurricane or not we decided to have the party. The caterer cancelled, the face painter cancelled, but the cupcake lady came through. All of Sophia's friend were even able to attend. So, I guess that's all you need is cupcakes and kids! Sophia had blast!!! She keeps talking about her birthday, cupcakes, and walks around singing the happy birthday song.

B-day kids table

Birthday girl

Family

Return Home/Surprise 60th Bash

Aunt Jenna drove back with us on our return home. The trip was tough! It just rained so bad and Rylan was crying the entire time! The night after we settled in Rylan broke into a high fever, so instead of going to a Bon Iver concert I hung with my girls. Being a mom definitely means giving up everything or anything at a minutes notice. As the dust was barely settling we got a surprise temporary house guest, Sage's long time friend Nyles. Single men, that is all I can say.

If that wasn't enough we also had NY early intervention come on 3 separate visits for about 3 hours each to evaluate Rylan's gross motor development. Seems that she is doing fine and goes not currently qualify for PT. On a side note Ry is doing great with fine motor and language! She can use a spoon and fork well. She can say hi, bye, duck, up, drink, cheese, thank you.

A week came and went and we headed out to Long Island to celebrate Les and Dad's 60th b-day. The party was a surprise to Les. We had a great time and I definitely think Les was shocked!

 Morning after the 60th b-day bash at Aunt Jo's

That following Monday Jenna, Brenden (Jenna's boyfriend), and Ari came to our apartment for a visit. It was the first time Ari came to our place since our move and it was fair well to Aunt Jenna. She will be in Israeli for the next 5 +months, her date of return yet to be determined.  We miss her already.

Summer Vacation Upstate

The girls and I spent most of our summer is the cool comfort of Syracuse at Mimi and Pop-pop's. It was a wonderful escape from the HOT & smelly city!

During this time Sophia went to her first dentist appointment. She let them count her teeth and then she'd had enough! Sophia also went two days a week to summer day camp at the JCC Syracuse. She loved every moment and still asks me if she can go to camp. We had many fun visits with Nonna and with old friends. It really was a lovely time!

Dentist

First Minute at Camp. No problems adjusting. Not for my little social butterfly!

Rylan's 1st Birthday!

The girls, Sage, and I headed to Syracuse the day before Rylan turned one. Wow—one! I can't believe how quickly this came, but then again, this past year was a blustery whirlwind!

Anyway, we decided to celebrate Rylan's 1st by going to the Renaissance Festival in Sterling, NY. We were joined by Nonna, Deb, Tim, Dylan, Nora, Andrew, and Aunt Nenna & Brenden (Jenna's boyfriend).

Before the Festival at Mimi and Pop pop's

After the Festival we headed back to Nonna's for some cupcakes. Yum, someone enjoyed her 1st birthday!

We continued the birthday celebration by going to Nana & Papa's the next day. They of course spoiled us all with a great BBQ and they spoiled all the kids with gifts (see below).

4th of July

We celebrated with the McLarney Family (some friends of ours that live in our building). It's great to have friends with kids so close! We played and ate,  and then headed to the roof deck for fireworks.  Oh, yes—and above Sophia is captured displaying some of her usual antics. I love it when we get this on film!

The fireworks were on the Hudson this year, but still think we had a great view!

Piano Fun, The Crab Walk & A Little Talking

Recently some pianos have been placed in various public places around the city which anyone may play. While on our Father's Day excursion in DUMBO we came across one of these pianos. Sophia was thrilled and jumped at the chance to play. Here she is showing off her  "skillz":

I just had to have this documented! I call it the "crab walk" and it's how Rylan gets everywhere:

Very excited!!! Rylan said her first word "hi" during lunch at Caffé Del Marre on McDougal and Bleecker in the West Village on July 2nd. Sage and I also believe that she said "thank you", but we've had no repeats of this yet.  Also, included some pictures below that I thought were super cute!

Wearing Nonna's handmade dress

pirate play

bath time

May & June

So much has been happening! Everyone says that it all happens so quickly when you have kids and I am finding it to be totally true...

In the beginning of May Sophia learned how to use the potty—hooray! I was actually a little scared about taking this step, but she had been giving me signs that she was ready. Together Sage and I decided to use a 3 day potty training method (it's intensive so I had to make sure Sage was on board with the idea and implementation) and it worked wonderfully! She mastered the concept of using the potty in just 1 day and has been doing just amazing since!

The weekend after our potty intensive course our nephew Dylan turned 3—WOW!  We took the MetroNorth train to join him and family for the celebration.  He and Sophia are just 3.5 months apart, which means my little girl is getting so big, so fast! The following day was Mother's Day and my first with Rylan. It was nice and peaceful day.

Young/Williams girls at Dylan's b-day party

The following weekend we attended my little sister Jenna's graduation from U Albany. We are so proud of you Jen! Afterward we headed to Syracuse to celebrate more. After the celebration Sage headed home while the girls and I stayed for an extended visit.

A few weeks later and back at home, Sage, the girls, and I went on a few fun local trips. We checked out the Central Park Zoo (which by the way is totally charming). We then took a day trip to the beach at Jacob Riis Park. It was the first time either of the girls had encountered the ocean, and both of them really had a great time!!!  On Father's Day we took a ride on the very new East River Ferry to DUMBO (a neighborhood in Brooklyn). The ferry ride it self was easy, and aside from the 4 hour wait in the 100 degree heat to get back home, we had a fabulous time—but seriously, I couldn't have had to be stuck in such a situation with anyone else in the world!

Rylan at Central Park Zoo

The girls on Father's Day 

At the end of June my Oma (my Dad's mother) died.  I attended the services, but decided to leave the girls at home with Sage for many reasons. So, for the first time in six years I travelled without my husband. It was also the first time in three years traveling without kid(s). This event also marked the end of nursing Rylan, I'm still a little sad it's over.

This life event made me think about how I'm spending my time. It reminded me how people are not infinitely in this life or in this form.—that being present during time together is so important! That the little time we have is so precious and will be gone in a blink. I am sad to have lost my quirky Oma! I will always think of fond memories and I will be sure to I tell my girls stories.

Myself, Oma, and Sophia (while Rylan was just a twinkle in my gleaming eye)