Emskyrooney

I’m finding myself a bit scattered about what I want to say on Mother’s Day this year.  While I love the idea of a day that’s meant for celebrating mothers who are so rarely thanked for all they do, I find it to be a rather bittersweet holiday.  Much like Valentine’s Day can be hard for people who long to be in a relationship with someone, Mother’s Day can be very hard for those who want so badly to be mothers.  And while I’ve been fortunate enough to be the recipient of Mother's Day cards, flowers, hugs and kisses for five years now, my heart still aches for everyone hoping and praying to celebrate it themselves one day- those waiting to receive smudgy cards with little handprints and cheesy poems, to be served breakfast in bed by excited little ones, to be handed a beautiful yellow flower (aka dandelion) because it’s a special day for Mama.  And so I think that Mother’s Day should be a day to celebrate all sorts of “mothers.”  Mothers of young children, moth...

I just got back to Massachusetts after a weekend in Ann Arbor, Michigan, celebrating my little brother's graduation from Law School. It was wonderful being with my parents, brothers, and other dear friends over the weekend but I sure missed Paul and Little Paul who had stayed behind! And so, because I spent most of my day traveling and then soaking up some cuddles from LP I didn't have a chance to write a real post for Mother's Day this year. I thought instead that I'd put up my post from last year again... Enjoy! And happy happy Mother's Day to all of you!!! ................................................................................ I love to read. It's something I inherited from my mother and from her mother before her.... I read fiction, non-fiction, biography, cookbooks, anything I can get my hands on. As a child I used to stay up late at night reading under the covers with a flashlight or crouching in the hallway next to the nightlight.... Th...

Is it ok to brag about my kid for a little bit?  Of course it is- it's my blog- I'll brag if I want to!  In the past two weeks, between Christmas and visiting family and a trip to the hospital Little Paul has learned to: 1.  Walk!!! 2.  Say doggy, baby, hi, and (my favorite even though he says it a thousand times a day) Mama 3.  Brush his hair (aka holding the brush up by his head and moving it around) 4.  Be a carrier pigeon of sorts between Mommy and Daddy, carrying things from one person to the other when you ask him to. 5.  Give kisses (aka head butts) He seriously is one of the best babies ever, and it's not just his completely biased mama who thinks so.  He barely cried while in the hospital (except when they were poking him with needles and I cried too), and he behaved so well at the vet's office last night that the staff told me they didn't even know I had a baby with me because he was so good and quiet.  He got a little ups...

On Monday, November 17, 2008, at 2:31 in the morning, three people were born.  Paul Thomas came into this world for the first time, and Paul and I went from being a couple to being parents, a mommy and a daddy.  At risk of sounding cheesy and cliche (although really, when have I ever shied away from being cheesy?!), it was the most amazing moment of my life. After three days of induced labor thanks to low amniotic fluid, three weeks before the "official" due date, Paul and I ended up in the operating room in the middle of the night as the doctor and nurses prepped me for a c-section.  We hadn't been given much time to think about it so I wasn't terribly nervous, we were mostly just exhausted from having been at the hospital since Friday with nothing to show for our efforts yet. In what seemed like just a matter of minutes after they moved me onto the operating table I heard Little Paul start crying and they held him up over the curtain for me to see our son for th...

**disclaimer: this post is all about breastfeeding... So guys, you may not want to read this. Ladies, you may want to skip it too!  It's up to you, but don't say I didn't warn you!** Since we found out that LP hadn't gained enough weight at his 6-month checkup we've been feeding him formula during the day and I've been breastfeeding him only in the mornings when he wakes up between 5 and 6.  Over the past couple of weeks however I've decided that it's time to make the break and stop nursing him completely. I have a few reasons for this change in dining plans for LP.  First of all, my most selfish reason is that I'm ready to have my body back to myself.  Between 9 months of pregnancy and 7 months of breastfeeding I've now had a baby quite literally attached to me for sixteen months.  Enough is enough.  I need "me" back.  I need to wear a bra that doesn't have cups that unhook.  I need to be able to get dressed in the morning without ...