life lately!

between being sick the last couple of months, and having so many great photo shoots with friends and new clients in the city (which i am SO grateful for!!♥) taking up my feeling-ok time, i feel like i have 90% less pictures of mike and the kids than ever before! i just don't bust out a camera unless it's something fun; the truth is we've been so sick/busy that family time hasn't really been photo-worthy. (it feels criminal for me to admit that.) i never jumped on the snapchat bandwagon, but insta stories have been kind of liberating- i realize i've taken a lot less photos and instead have snapped little videos. my phone is surprisingly de-void of images. either way, a little catch up of some highlights the past couple of weeks...

 bryant park has been transformed into a holiday wonderland- the grass has been replaced with an ice rink and multi-story shops and stands for christmas. i stopped with some clients a couple weeks ago during our shoot, and happened upon no chewing allowed- it's this hot cocoa that is fantastically amazing. it's not thick like so many "good" kinds here in the city (others are tooo thiiiiick- not creamy, just thick)- this one is rich, but not too rich. aaaaaand they drop in a truffle at the end!!! i drug mike and the kids back one night to partake in it's goodness. we all shared a little cup. jude and i fought over most of it. mike and elle decided it was too rich for their swiss miss mouths.

 on voting day we stopped by eleanor & samson's "save the bats" hot chocolate stand! it was darling (see all the pics on naomi's blog), and the kids drank (and wore) their fair share of cocoa! after, julie & her darling kids went with us and we stopped by motorino for lunch- they have probably the best pizza on the upper west side.

 i choose anything chocolate any day, any time, but when we stopped by the donut project one afternoon and they didn't really have any chocolate donuts that fit my fancy (apparently i make all food decisions? i'm so controlling!), well, mike chose the lemon........ lemon! well, i had no idea a donut could be so good. it was the BEST donut ever. i need to go again just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, but this donut was incredible. we all shared 1 donut, like usual, and i instantly regretted it (MORE! I NEED MORE!). all 4 of us concluded it was a two-thumbs-up-treat.

 mid-week i went with girlfriends to see the nutcracker! it's a holiday staple right? well, so "they" say- whoever "they" is... i'm trying to be more cultured now that we live in a culturally-stupendous city. i'll admit- it was REALLY good. and apparently we had the best ballerina- she was amazing. the costumes and music blew me away. and our SEEEEATS were incredible (and cheaper than the more expensive ones we had when we went to serenade! mental note- these seats rocked - must choose those again next time).

 mike & i took the kids to cash in my free birthday cupcake from sprinkles (food. always food), then we hit the big stores along 5th avenue: saks, bloomies, BERGDORF!!!! we got distracted by the hoards of people stiiiiiill protesting around trump tower, and walked home after that. it was a long walk. but a lovely one. this city at christmastime is the epitome of magic!

 and another girl party! we went to rosa mexicano to celebrate whit's birthday friday night, and i had a late dinner of guac and chips. i'm working on staying up later than 9pm- i've never ever been a night person (i'm not a morning person either, for the record), but this pregnancy has made me a no-time person. either way, the guac was great. and the company. it's always so fun to get out with friends and party. 

yesterday (sunday) i turned 32. it took me way too long to figure out just how old i was- 32! that's the age. we decided to celebrate on saturday (sunday birthdays- boring!)- bagels for breakfast, a stop to see the oculous (pretty, but disappointing), the sea glass carousel, and dumplings and noodles for dinner!

i came home to sweet presents and love from friends, which totally made my night.

thank goodness we didn't have birthday plans after all- the flu has been running RAMPANT, and although we've tried super hard to avoid playdates and people at all costs.... dun dun dun, we found out friends we just played with came down with it, and i basically braced for impact. saturday night as we were getting ready for bed we heard jude- the sound- and so it began. it was a rough night, but that sweet little boy was such a champ! it literally melted my heart to hear him as he apologized and learned how to warn us so we could get to him in time. miraculously, we all fell asleep by 4am and by the time he woke up at 6 he announced, "hi guys! my cough is gone! and i'm all done throwing up! can i have chocolate milk now?" we cloroxed and laundered everything in sight. now we're praying...... praying we make it unscathed and somehow we can manage the 3-day post-symptom-contagion buffer in solitude. 

happy birthday to meeeee!! :)

almost 5.5 & almost 2, and an overnight trip to logan

elle

there are few remaining signs of the baby girl i used to know. elle is the most lovely, sweet, sensitive, silly little soul. her core is pure and good and kind. i'm terrified to immerse her in this somewhat ugly world; i want nothing more than to hold her close and teach her and love her and help her continue to be the tender girl she is- i don't want her to be sheltered, but i want her to grow up in such a way that she knows how rare such a gentle soul is. i never want her to lose that sensitivity. sure she's feisty and willful, but she is incredible. she cries about everything (tonight she got a paper cut and wept because it hurt too bad to even think of going to swimming lessons in the morning...). she's also strangely brave and curious- about odd things- she will watch any movie without being scared, and doesn't flinch when it comes to normal things that scare little kids. she refuses to let me choose how to do her hair, or heaven forbid, have any sort of opinion on what she wears (^^ notice her in jude's 9 mo. coat above, which is much too small for him and most definitely too small for her). she would never eat if we didn't remind/force her, and her brother passed her in weight long ago. she always loves jude who is violent and unpredictable and abusive. he hits, she cries, then she hugs him and says she loves him even though he hurts her- she's gold, i'm telling you. 

jude

jude will be 2 in just a few weeks- 2! since our disney trip a couple of months ago, his vocabulary has grown exponentially. i mean, i'm sure few people understand him, but he tries. and we get most of what he's saying. he says "HI!!! BYE!!" to everyone he passes, and is genuinely hurt if they do not reply. my favorite moments of him lately are when i sit him down on the toilet (yes.) and squat in front of him to chat, eye-to-eye (the only time i get him still, and have his undivided attention)- we have these little conversations about anything and everything. they only last a minute or so, but they're hilarious. he looks right into my soul. he has this face he makes when he is surprised or excited- an "O-hhh!!" face he makes whenever he hears a puppy bark, motorcycle pass, or knock at the door. he usually makes this face at least once during our chats. he expresses the most overwhelming feelings of joy, and manages to jump around constantly without bending his knees. it's hilarious and confusing and impressive all at the same time. he is a pathetically early riser, just like elle. if we make it to 6am, it's a good day. as irritated as i get, i laugh whenever he lays down in bed next to me with his bottle and at the top of his lungs announces, "HI!!! hi hi hi hi hi...." and repeats that until one of us responds, "hiiii juju." he is entirely obsessed with anything related to a ball. he calls everything circular, "b-ball," and screams whenever one is in range. he loves his dad, but is a complete mama's boy. he also makes the below face mostly anytime i ask him to smile: "nooooo!"

and now about logan...

while we were in nyc last week, mike's uncle passed away. we decided to head to logan and spend friday night at a hotel so we didn't have to make the drive back and forth within such a short amount of time. (plus, we've been wanting to spend the night there for ages now.) we got a hotel last-minute (which ended up being awesome!), and barring the fact that jude and i came down with colds and were miserable, and the fact that NONE of us slept because jude chit-chatted all night, and both our kids are pathetic bed hogs (HOW DO PEOPLE SHARE BEDS WITH THEIR CHILDREN? it's beyond me)... it was a long night. anyway, it made for a nice visit, enjoyable services, and since the kids both fell asleep the next morning en-route to the funeral (shocker! tired? i wonder why?), it gave mike and i time to drive around (and around and around and around- hey, gas is $1.73 a gallon! i don't even feel guilty! that's a 50% savings from just a few months ago), and reminisce about the town we love so dearly. the services were really beautiful, and it was a nice to be with family. elle had a complete breakdown toward the end of the funeral. i was sure she was hurt since she was crying so uncontrollably, but when she finally calmed enough to tell us what was wrong she stuttered, "i just saw all the other people crying and felt so overwhelmed! i feel so sad, mommy! i'm so sad!" it broke my heart, but touched me so much that she has such a tender spirit (see!)- it was a good way to teach her again about the spirit- about life and death and all that we go through. elle kept repeating, "mommy, this was the best vacation ever!" i think all that hotel swimming and free breakfast (donuts, let's be honest) did it, but both kids were on cloud nine the whole time. 

...and just like that, january is done.

our life lately...

if you follow me on instagram (amkopp), there's about a million more where these came from...

^^trying to hold two at once // spring flowers // jude's favorite way to sleep // elle & jude snuggles w/ the hair dryer post-bath // blessing day // socks-on-hands // date night while mike's mom is in town // girl date w/ elle // our house progression // daddy + kid dates while mommy works // family lunch // sunshine. finally! // trying to sleep- this whole up every 3 hours thing is exhausting! // stretchy toes. always flexing. man, i love this family of mine!

oh, and happy 6 week birthday, jude dude!

jude's birth according to my iphone...

^^please take special note of the towel & string, provided on delivery day by my coworkers, who were sure i was going to go into labor at any moment. these ladies? they are prepared:)

our life lately...

still just trying to survive the cold... and sickness.

here's the first half of january according to my phone, including: getting ready for our little man, a whole lotta couch time, juicing, a belly that knocked my kid off a chair, frozen car washes, trying my first jdawg, a new single/double stroller, and my little sunbeam.