J has moved into his own bedroom with a real bed and not a crib. It's sometimes hard to convince him to go to bed or take a nap as he can just get out of bed and won't stay put. Today he fell asleep in the rocking chair after refusing to get into his own bed.

I've just been tagged by Wonder Woman. This isn't the first time I've been tagged, but is the first time for this blog, so I'll go with it. So here are 5 things you might not know about me.

1. I've been doing genealogy research for 16 years, but still manage to be the youngest genealogist at most events that I attend :)

2. I am still working on my first family history "book" on my Rayner/Aggio families of Marylebone, London. This is my father's maternal line and is a sad tale of 4 generations of Londoners in the workhouse.

3. I have genealogy cousins in Britain, Canada, Australia. I am extremely grateful to all of them for their generosity when it comes to sharing information and working on our family trees together.

4. My genealogy articles been published several times online, but am about to be published for the first time in print (Internet Genealogy magazine - Feb/Mar 2007 issue).

5. My bigger goal is to write a book about the use of technology to support your family history research. Not just using genealogy software or the internet, but making use of other resources such as digital cameras, video, scanners, printers, PDAs, photo editing software and any technology device during the research process. This will also include a large chapter on using the reporting features of genealogy software to analyze what you really know about your ancestors.

About 1 month ago I uploaded 4 photos to iStockPhoto.com, a stock photography site that sells your photos paying you a commission. Well yesterday I sold my first photo. Don't get me wrong, I'm not rich yet, but I have earned 92 cents US and bragging rights that someone actually values my work.

Here is a link to the photo.

I am not sure if I am going to continue to pursue stock photography but it is encouraging (and flattering) to have someone purchase a photo you take.

In celebration of black history month, Ancestry has also released some new records. You can check out African Amercian records here http://landing.ancestry.com/aahistory/default.aspx. These records include slave narratives, US Colored Troops records, Freedmen's Bureau records, Freedman's Bank records, books, WWI draft cards and a large amount of photos.

Records to be added in the near future include Freedmen's Bureau Marriage records and Southern Claims Commission Records.

If you have African American roots you should check out this site as well as www.familyseach.org who also have a large collection of African American records online (as well as their Family History Library Catalog with access to many more records on films through the FamilyHistory Centers).

Downing Street is offering a petition for people to sign, which would reduce the census release period from 100 years to 70 years, thus making the 1911, 1921 and 1931 censuses available immediately. If you would like to add your name, please click on this link:

Note: You must be a British citizen or expatriate.

For info, the URL to go directly to the petition is :http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/CensusInfoFreed/

Now that Ancestry.com has introduced a variety of German records, they have launched the German or Deutsch version of their site at http://www.ancestry.de/. The site is in German and is designed to assist Germans (and other Eastern Europeans) in their family history research. It should be noted that Germany's borders have moved multiple times, especially in early 1900s, and records may be found relating to places and individuals residing in countries other than modern Germany.

Also new is the Australian version of the site at http://www.ancestry.com.au/. Databases include those specifically Australian, convict records, and UK records.