Emskyrooney

Well, so much for blogging every day in November. Hasn't happened and won't happen.  Oh well! So, I'm back to work as of this week.  Three days a week in the office, working from home Wednesdays, and off on Fridays.  The good news is that I'm only back at work for a month and then I'm getting laid off just in time for the holidays.  I've known about the layoff since June, and since we'd always planned for me to stay home once we had two kids the timing has actually worked out pretty well.  I'm getting a very generous severance package and am looking forward to not having to commute an hour and a half each way for the first time in almost 8 years. It will definitely be strange though after twelve years of working at Harvard to not be there all the time. I remember when I went back to work after I had LP I was so upset and stressed out about it.  The days away from him were so long- I'd drop him off at daycare at 7:30 and then Paul would pick him up a...

Eliza is three months old (or 13 weeks if you count by weeks).  She has continued to be a very easy baby (knock on wood). Wearing Pappy's baby gown We've gotten into a pretty good schedule with somewhat regular nap times, meal times, and play times (although of course, with a four year old in the house and going to play dates and yoga classes our "schedule" has to be flexible!).  She sleeps all night from about 9 p.m. until 7 a.m. and the past few nights has been going down closer to 8 p.m.   Looks like I might just have my evenings available for sewing time again soon! Eliza is obsessed with LP- she turns her head to watch him as he runs back and forth and if he's in the room he's the only one she wants to look at.  She's smiley, has giggled a few times, and wants nothing more than to be sitting up so that she can see what's going on.  If we prop her up against pillows she lurches her body forward to sit up straighter.   Attempting to l...

For a couple of years now, as I've gotten more and more into photography and more and more comfortable with my camera, I've thought about starting my own little photography business, most likely taking family photos and baby photos.  Between two children and work however I haven't had much time to pursue this as a possibility.  And it's something I've been a little nervous about.  It's one thing to take photos of my own kids- my expectations are the only ones let down when they don't turn out well.  But taking photos of other people is much scarier. My friends are all familiar with my love for photography, as I'm always the one at playdates and birthday parties with a big camera strapped around my neck.  And they've casually asked me to take their family photos many times but it never happened. A few weeks ago a friend texted me on a Sunday morning and asked if there was any way I could come over and take some photos for her as all four children were...

LP is in the middle of what I think might be a major growth spurt.  Pants he's worn for months now are suddenly too short and I've had to tighten the waists.  He wore a size 7 shoe at the beginning of the summer and is now in a 10.  Sometimes when I look at him he seems to be all skin and bones.  His face is narrowing and I know this sounds weird but the skin on his head seems to be stretched so tightly over his skull lately.  When I looked back through some photos I noticed these three, all taken on his glider within the past six months.     May 6, 2012: July 11, 2012: October 20, 2012: Can you all see the difference too?

Last night, as I was tucking LP into bed and giving him his last snuggles as a three year old I said to him, "I'll make you deal.  Stay three forever and you can always be my little boy."  LP looked at me and said, "Mom.  I'll make YOU a deal.  I'll turn four.  And you can have one of the toys I don't play with anymore to make you feel better." Oh, if only it were that simple. I know that last year when Paul turned three I felt similarly- that year my toddler was becoming a little boy.  But four just seems so much older than three.  Four is that much closer to kindergarten and riding the school bus and little league and not wanting to hold my hand in public anymore.  It's closer to tying his own shoes and picking out his own clothes and making his own peanut butter sandwiches.  It's another step away from stuffed animals and play kitchens and towards action figures and superheros.   Words fail me, this year.  I can't even begin to d...