we have a new home.  a new home for our little corner of the internet.  it’s been a work in progress.

you can now visit us over at http://jenschoeph.blogspot.com/

pull up a chair & pour a cup of coffee & take a look around our new home.

thanks!

{sorry for the horrible-nes of these – they were taken in a dark theater}

friday we saw the lorax {it was so good!}.  it was the first time at the movie theater for both ben & emilia.  i was so worried.  i was worried they would talk, need {and i’m not exaggerating} six thousand bathroom breaks, get bored and want to go home.  none of it happened.  not even one potty break.  we did the whole shebag – pop & popcorn.  ben and emilia were in heaven.  they enjoyed the movie and so did i!  go see it!  the rest of the day was spent at a play place, bopping in and out of stores and then we headed out to dinner.

we spent saturday in our jammies relaxing, playing the wii and picking up the house and then some friends came over in the evening.  we ate, chatted, enjoyed some margaritas and the kids played.

sunday was spent with some more lounging & enjoying the beautiful {almost} 70 degree weather.  we ran a few errands, dan washed the cars & the kids played outside.  they were in heaven!  after a winter of being inside being outside running around and riding bikes was euphoric for them.  after dinner, emilia came & sat on my lap and she smelled like outside.  it was wonderful.

i am looking forward to the week ahead.  we’re forecasted for more spring like temps with a few rain showers here & there.  i am ready to open a window or two and let the fresh air in.  i’m ready for some good ole’ grilling out.  i am looking forward to walks around the neighborhood, riding bikes, playing, sidewalk chalk and kids going to bed with smiles on their faces from spending the afternoon outside.

if our week ends up being half as good as our weekend, we will be great shape!

happy monday!!

3 year olds are entertaining.  no two days are the same.  most days emilia’s a pleasure and some days that attitude is cranked.  i thank my lucky stars that when she is crabby she steers clear of me and sets her focus one someone else {likely dan or ben}.

emilia keeps me on my toes.  she’s about as girly as they come but definitely not dainty.  she’s loud, silly, imaginative, chatty, curious but she also treads lightly in new surroundings and is shy with strangers and is temperamental.  she loves to sing, dance, play with her dolls & color and loves playing outside.

but one of my favorites?  getting her to take pictures.  most times i can get one or two good smiles but the rest are just flat out silly.  they’re a bright spot in my day.  as you can see from the above shots we had a fun time the other day taking pictures.  these are just 4 of almost 20.  she just kept asking for more and i gladly obliged.

emilia recently figured out how to switch the lens around on the camera so she has started taking self portraits {these are for another day!}.

there are days where i gripe about my mundane days but honestly if you go back and look at my photo stream clearly my days are anything but ordinary.  they’re extraordinary.  also i can’t keep these gems to myself.  i am thinking i am going to start linking up with weekly parties like amy’s & courtney’s

i love having an iphone.  before my iphone i had an evo which i also loved but not as much as my iphone.  obviously both phones have cameras but i hardly used the camera on my evo.  and i really didn’t use it because i didn’t like the end result of the pictures.  now?  i use my camera on my iphone all. the. time.  and with the iphone and then the millions of apps available to edit/enhance my photos it’s been crazy fun.

because i take so many more pictures on my phone, i spend time at night, after the kid’s have gone to bed, going through the day’s pictures.  it’s becoming a nightly ritual.  obviously most of the pictures are of the kids.  moreso emilia because ben is away at school at all day.  

having these pictures at my fingertips is great.  many of them have become my favorites {see above}.  i love that because of apps like instagram there are other apps/companies that print the instagram prints.  i have started keeping a separate folder of my favorites & when i have a good amount i am going to get them printed & display them around the house.

and we are due for an update of pictures around the house.  my problem is that i don’t want to take the old pictures down or put them away because those are still favorites!  what’s a girl to do?

what do you do with your camera phone pics?  do you ever go back & look through them?  do you print them?  share on the twitter/facebook/instagram?

a highlight of my day is just listening & watching emilia.

her imagination amazes me all day long.  she is always talking, playing, singing, planning, and doing.

everything she touches & sees comes alive & turns to magic.

it’s these little moments that i don’t want to forget.  they’re simple, fun & pure.

i asked her to smile & this is what i got

linking up with jenni from the blog & and then she snapped

there is nothing more quintessentially childlike than dressing up.

tuesday morning before school, benjamin & emilia riffled through a bag of goodies we had from emilia’s 3rd birthday.  it will full of items we used for a photobooth/silly pictures.  up until yesterday morning they had forgotten all about it.

it was a great start to the day.

these are 3 of my favorite pictures from our disney trip.

seeing emilia run up to her favorite girls with eyes as big as the sun and hugging these royal ladies made my heart & her heart happy.

it’s these innocent & dream come true moments that i want to remember.

right now, at the age of 3, these princesses are emilia’s people.  for her it’s the full, fancy, elaborate dresses and their beautiful, melodious voices.  she doesn’t see the horrid circumstances they face {i.e. being trapped in a tower or being forced to live in a castle with a beast}.

and as a 3 year old girl there is nothing more magical than seeing the princesses that you play with and listen to every. single. day. come to life right before your eyes.  it’s a wonderful dream come true.

photo taken this morning via instagram

ben has been out of school since tuesday.  he’s been sick.  this morning he went back.  being 5 & sick don’t go hand-in-hand.  having to rest is, essentially, the end of the world.  much of the last 5-6 days have been spent lounging around the house, napping & getting better.

emilia has gotten use to being the only child during the day.  she gets all the attention.  having ben home cramped her style.  she wasn’t too fond of sharing me.  she has not left my side much today.  she’s apparently making up for the lost time.

due to a family obligation, dan & i had to spent saturday down on the southside.  the kids stayed back and went to my in-laws.  while there they decided to take a whirlpool bath.  needless to say, bath-time in our house will never be the same.  ben & emilia couldn’t get their excitement out fast enough…i’m not sure which was more exciting the jets & the bubbles or the seats in the tub.  my in-laws have been forewarned that the kids will likely want to bathe at their house every single time they come over – even if it’s just for a family party or dinner.

i have not had a solid week’s worth of workouts since we returned from our disney vacation back at the beginning of february.  between sick kids, activities and appointments i’ve been lucky to make it into the gym twice a week.  this week, aside from emilia’s thursday dance class, we will be there every morning.  it felt good to be back this morning.

keeping with being at the gym – i started doing interval training on the treadmill.  i can run a solid pace no problem but interval training?  it’s tough, invigorating & challenging.  i am loving it.  i’ve been following this interval table from brittany over at itty bits of balance.  {it’s been all over pinterest as well}.  when she says it’s a challenging treadmill interval workout she is not kidding.  i thought it would be a piece of cake since i run 3-4 times a week.  i was wrong.  after the third workout i found my groove.  i cannot recommend it enough.

i also started using the app loseit.  again.  i have a few pesky pounds i’d like to lose and if i don’t count my calories and my activities i won’t get anywhere.

we’ve had a very mild winter.  later this week, we are forecasted for mid-50′s and next week it’s predicted we will hit the 60′s.  let me preface this by saying, i am a winter lover but this winter hasn’t been anything exciting (read: little snow) and now it’s time to move on.  we need to get outside.

if you made it this far…thanks for reading!  these are just some of thoughts.  i have so much i want to say, do and get out…i’m sure it will continue over the next few days!

happy monday!

thursday night all comfy & cozy in her crib (& all her dolls)

this weekend, emilia moved from a crib to a big girl bed.  and by big girl bed, i mean we took the front side of her crib off so it looks like a day bed.

i knew this day was rapidly approaching.  i’ve been putting it off for as long as humanly possible.

she’s been climbing out of her crib since september or october.  i can’t even remember it’s been happening so long.  definitely before she turned 3.

we’re in the throws of potty training and aside from being night trained, sister is golden.

if she can tell me at night or in the morning that she has to go potty and climb out of bed herself then it’s time to make the switch.  no matter how hard i don’t want to believe it.

we’ve been talking about it, with her, for awhile so when dan decided to do it yesterday morning emilia was giddy with excitement.  i may not have been as excited as her but i didn’t let her know it.  afterall, having a big girl bed just like her brother is a huge deal – she’s in the big time now!

emilia helped me remove all her dolls and blankets and other toys that have found their way in and once the side was off she giggled in delight & brought all her dolls back in one by one.

this picture, above, is about half of what made it into emilia’s bed.  it’s a surprise there is any room for her!

looking skeptical for nap

naptime rolled around & since i didn’t know how she’d take to her new bed, i laid on the floor next to her.  this proved to be silly as all emilia wanted to do what talk to me & have us play with her dolls.  after a few minutes, we did a quick run down of naptime rules (no getting out of bed), gave her a kiss, walked out & closed the door behind me.  i didn’t hear a peep for the next 2 hours.

my only other hurdle was going to be bedtime.  ben & emilia share a room.  ben & emilia are chatty at night.  i foresee a lot of late night slumber parties & chats and bed hopping.  a sibling thing, i suppose.  after a quick run down of rules & no getting out of bed {this will all subside in the next few days, we just need to make sure she knows} the lights were out & the day was over.

i went to check on emilia i went to bed & this is what i found.  she was as comfy as could be with her little feet hanging off.  being the mom that i am, i couldn’t let her stay that way.  i straightened her out & put her covers & towels {your kid doesn’t sleep with beach towels as blankets?!?!  oh.}.  i may have also moved a doll or two to make sure my girl had room for herself!  i can guarantee there will be influx emilia sleeping pictures because i think it’s just so damn funny to see her feet hanging over.

i’d be lying if i said i didn’t have thoughts of a rough night ahead.  i was wrong.  i did not hear a peep out of emilia until 6:30 this morning {way earlier than normal}.  we made it through the night without any issue.  naptime and bedtime today were with out issue as well.

i am pretty sure we are going to have a lot more early mornings now that sister has her big girl bed.  she’s an early riser & as but now that she has complete freedom we are in for a whole new ballgame.  i’m not a morning person so a few things are going to need to happen – i am going to need to start going to bed earlier {hahahahahahaha}, my coffee consumption will likely increase and/or i’m going to have to become a morning person {ugh}.

for now i’m just going to watch & listen to emilia’s excitement about her new bed & i am going to internally mourn as my baby grows up.  seriously how did 3 1/2 years fly by so quickly?!?  and we won’t even go into ben inching closer & closer to 6 everyday.