Please meet our amazing FIT4BABY instructor. She has been a part of our community since 2020 with a two year old and newborn in tow. She has always been a regular Saturday morning participant and tries to attend other stroller and mom only classes when possible. She has advice for all the situations and has the most positive attitude. We are so luck to have Emilia in our community and on our instructor team.

• Tell us a little about your family--who's in your crew and what stage of mom life are you in right now?
• My husband Jason and I have been married for 11 years (together for 12) and have 5 kids: Teddy (9), Rosie (7), Lily (4.5), and Flinny (2.5) and Vita (2.5). Because of the age gaps, it feels like we’re in 3 different phases of mom-life at once! Life is busy, loud, but fun in our house. This is also the longest we’ve gone without a newborn since 2017 so we are getting used to the youngest not being a baby anymore! I’m curious how life will be without diapers!

• What do you love doing outside of teaching/working for FIT4MOM--work, hobbies, passions, anything that fills your cup?
• I have worked hard to find hobbies that work well with a busy, large family and a busy job. I have season tickets to Broadway in Chicago and the Goodman Theatre so see about 20 shows a year! I enjoy a good wine (and gossip) night and Fit4mom classes!

• Why did you join FIT4MOM?
• In the summer of 2020, I was needing to do something physical and social and Fit4mom had outside classes! Rosie was 9 months and my perfect Strides 360 buddy! Rosie also was born in fall 2019 with congenital cataracts so between her surgeries/appointments and COVID and a strong willed toddler Teddy, I needed mom-friends. I was very overwhelmed and it helped me deal with a lot of the challenges of that phase of life! I haven’t looked back since!

• What's one thing you wish every mom knew about taking time for herself?
• It may seem hard to schedule or not worth the logistics, but it is always worth it!!! Even 20 minutes can help! You are a whole person, with being a mom as just part of it, and it’s ok to foster every part of you!

• What's your go to mom hack that actually saves your sanity?
• Outsource what you can and get everything delivered. And we are team crib for life - keep those littles in there as long as you can!

• Tell us something fun or surprising about your family or mom life?
• I always want a big family and thought I wanted twins (because it’s so efficient, two at once!) but had my first and thought, geez I bet they’re hard. I never thought we’d have twins so it was a BIG surprise but 2.5 years into 3 + twins, I can’t imagine it any other way.