Emskyrooney

So today I am thirty-five.  Smack dab in the middle of my thirties.  I'm old enough to remember Reagan as president, how to "tight-roll" or "peg" my jeans , record players and cassette tapes, Underoos , and New Kids on the Block when they were still "Hangin' Tough." I do frequent birthday posts on my blog- posts about  my parents , my brothers , my husband , my kids .  I share photos and list all of the things I love about them.  But I don't think I've ever done a birthday post for myself.  It's always seemed a bit self-centered to me to post about my own birthday. But then I started thinking.  My blog is already self-centered.  I write to share my feelings, my thoughts, my family, my ideas and my life with you all.  So why NOT post about myself on my birthday?  If I can say all these thoughtful things about other people on their birthdays, why not say them about myself? Let's just call it affirming instead of egotistical. ...

When I was little my most beloved baby doll was named "Baby Ann."  Our next door neighbor had four daughters and one of them, Katie, was my most favorite babysitter of all.  "Baby Ann" was originally Katie's doll and she passed it along to me at some point.  "Baby Ann" had crazy scratchy hair that stood up all over and would never stay down.  She had a hard head and a soft body.  She was a Fisher Price doll and when I googled "Fisher Price vintage baby" she popped right up!  Apparently her official name was "Baby Ann"- for some reason I always thought I'd picked that name for her.   Anyway, here she is (although picture her hair standing straight up- that's what mine looks like): Baby Ann is currently in residence at my parents' house (however I'll have to bring her to Massachusetts for Eliza).  When I saw this baby shirt at Gymboree a few weeks ago though I had to buy it for Eliza: Now I have m...

(Welcome to anyone arriving here from Blue Zebra Photography !) (Oh!  And this is post # 500 on Ye Olde Blogge.  Wow!) I mentioned earlier that I'm participating in two different photography projects this year with other members of the Bloom Forum .   The second project I'm participating in are monthly photos that relate to a certain theme or word. For January, the theme is "Winter." We've had an odd winter so far here in Massachusetts.  Hardly any snow at all and over the weekend it was actually in the 50's which is pretty unusual.  We did have a brief snowstorm last week though and while LP and Eliza were cozied up on the couch together I wandered around and took a few photos of the scene.  I love how cozy it is in our house when it's snowy out and wanted to capture some images that conveyed that... From the Inside, Out: View From the Back Door: From here you can head over to Kelly Janssen's Photography...

Just hopping on to share a few recent photos I took of the kids.  Hope this makes up for my "poop" post . Oh, and I changed the look of my blog , so if you're reading this in a blog reader pop on over and check things out! LP's typical move: a drive-by pat on Eliza's head or tummy as he whizzes past on his way from one toy to the next: Hello Sunshine! Ha! LP:  Quiet and Still (Briefly) LOVE! Some attempts at using my new studio lighting: Brother, Sister, and Sophie the Giraffe Love: Footsies: Hope y'all enjoyed them!

My children are making developmental leaps and bounds this week.  At 5 months Eliza has finally decided to roll from her tummy to her back (as long as her arms don't get in the way) and is getting pretty good at sitting up mostly unsupported (she can sit with the boppy pillow around her or between my legs for quite a while and keep her balance). LP made a momentous return to the " big slides " at the playground and coordinated his feet enough to finally pedal his tricycle. There was one other development though that I thought I'd share. I know that most 4 year olds are starting to write letters and draw stick figures and houses and things like that.  LP has very little interest in coloring or writing however.  We're still not sure if he's a righty or a lefty and so when coloring he switches the crayon back and forth in his hands and doesn't hold the crayon with the proper grip.  As a result he's still mainly just scribbling for the few minutes th...

We've had some unseasonably warm weather around here lately- this weekend it was almost 50 degrees out (although very gusty) which is pretty unusual for mid-January in Massachusetts!  LP and I took advantage of the warm weather and visited the local playground yesterday while Eliza stayed home with Daddy.  For the first time in more than a year he was brave enough to go on the slides and wanted to go on all of them over and over.  LP also mastered riding his tricycle this week (he finally figured out how to pedal) so I have to share two snapshots this week!     This is part of PAIL’s Monday Snapshot! Check out more entries  here !

Thanks to all of you who left such sweet and supporting comments (and took time from your BUSY lives to call me, too!) about my last post.  It really means a lot to have such a caring group of friends (whether I know you in "real" life or just via the internet) who are there for me to vent to and whine to from time to time. Today was what LP and I like to call an "at home" day.  A day where we have no errands to run, no yoga class to go to, and nothing specific to do other than laundry.  I try to get us out of the house at least twice during the week but the "at home" days are pretty nice too... This morning I decided to bust out one of my Super Special Mom-Ninja Skills.  I'm talking about ORIGAMI.  That's right, maybe I can't nurse my babies for as long as I'd like but I CAN fold the crap out of some paper.  And so I did.  LP and I decided to make a zoo.  I got through about five animals before his patience (and mine) wore thin and we were...