I told DD(3) that she had to be something I could buy. I'm not creative, or crafty, and this year we just needed easy. :laugh: She wanted to be a ghost originally, but changed her mind at the last minute to being Rapunzel. The twins (b/g, 9 months), are going to be a cat(girl) and a mouse(boy) (which also perfectly describes their relationship, lol!)

We drink lots of milk - only skim though, since that's what I was brought up one. Sometimes, if we're out to eat, we'll drink 1%. I can't handle anything over 2%, though.

So, I told DH last night. You guys, I feel so, so, so ridiculous. He laughed. Asked if I was joking, laughed some more, said he thought it was impossible, and laughed again. He's happy! Well, he told me this morning that his first reaction was more of a "what the heck" response, but he's been thinking about it all night and this morning and keeps getting more excited. He said the timing is less than convenient, but there's nothing we can do about it now and he could either be upset and ruin a great thing or roll with it and be happy. I told him I thought he didn't want more kids, and he said that he didn't, but there's no way he's not going to love this one just as much as the others. Leave it to him to surprise me. I think I was so nervous b/c he's been working 50-60 hours a week recently, we've been working on saving money, and we've really been getting on each other's nerves and fighting a LOT recently...so that probably clouded my judgement on how he would react. Now we are just praying for a healthy baby in 2017!

Apples with peanut butter.

Thank you, everyone. I was able to get in at our clinic for a test this afternoon to confirm. Our last clinic required a pregnancy test through them before they would schedule an appt., the one we're at now said they only need a positive HPT, as long as it's not one that was picked up for $0.88, according to the nurse. But I asked for them to test me anyways. It's official. They only did a urine test though. First visit will be at the end of the month when they will do bloodwork and an ultrasound. Now to tell DH...not sure when or how. With our first he was convinced I was pregnant before I even thought of taking a test, so that was easy. Maybe when he gets home from work tonight after the others go to bed.

No lying. We discussed me going off of hormonal BC a while ago (it messed with me so badly), and started using FAM. Went months with no ovulation and ridiculously messed up cycles, and given our odds from our doctor, we honestly didn't think it would ever happen. And, we only "did the deed" twice over the last month. We knew that it *could* happen after I quit BC, but neither of us thought it would. When were discussing FAM, he asked, "So the worst that will happen doing this is we'll have another baby?" I told him yes, and he was totally ok knowing it may happen. He's made it clear though that he doesn't want more (getting rid of baby stuff, telling other people we're done, etc.), so I'm not sure how he'll react - if he'll still be ok with it or upset now that it happened and isn't a 1% chance.

Not scared for my safety. Just that he's going to be upset/mad/disappointed and be angry with me; and that something that could be a happy (although very surprising) event is going to be...quite the opposite, I guess. Filled with lots of crying.

Our oldest DD turns 3 on the 22nd, and the twins will be 10 months old on the 22nd as well. I've been feeling super tired the past week, very nauseous the last 2 days. I just took a pregnancy test while my daughter is in dance class. I think it was positive. One line was lighter, but very, very much there. I'm extremely scared to tell my husband. He doesn't want any more kids. I did want 4 total, but I wanted to have the 4th when the twins were 2 or 3...if I am pregnant they will be 18 months when this one comes. My Dr. doesnt know how we were able to have our daughter. He said when we tried to get pregnant the second time our chances of conceiving over a year are less than 1%. I haven't ovulated on my own in 3 years and 9 months (when I got pregnant with our oldest). We had to use fertility treatments after her (which I can only assume is how we ended up with twins). I'm not supposed to be able to get pregnant. I don't know how this happened (well, I do, but it wasn't supposed to). I'm sorry I'm freaking out here. I'm so scared to tell my husband and what he's going to say. I have no idea how I am going to handle having another baby when the twins are so young. Someone please tell me it will be ok.

"You should really think about what's best for them, not just what you want."

I would LOVE one more. Four just seems right to me, and I can't really explain it. DD (almost 3) keeps asking for more babies, too. I told her that if we had another baby, we would have less money, and mommy would be even busier...She said, "Yeah, but if us had more babies us whole big family would be even happier." Hard to argue with that! Unfortunately, though, DH is done. :(

My DD loves to have me read the Magic Tree House! She'll listen to the entire thing in one sititing.

Let me start off by saying I never really gave a second thought to audiobooks until I heard about so many people using them for their kids to listen to, as well as having it suggested to me for DD. I, personally, for myself, don't like them, which I think is why I never considered playing them for my kids before I started seeing everyone around here loving them! I'd love to have start DD listening to some - I think it's a really good idea for her. For those that are doing or have done this... When and where does everyone have their kids listen to them? How do you get them to actually listen? DD (3) has great comprehension, and I regularly read her stories like Little House on the Prairie, etc., and she loves them (which is why I thought this may work). But she is ALWAYS talking. Talking over music, talking during TV shows when she gets to watch them...just always talking. At 3, of course I don't expect her to sit still as a statue to listen to these all the way through. Should I play it in the background & hope she catches some of it? Or still too young? She is definitely capable of sitting & listening (at least for short periods), as she does it during story time at the library all the time. What stories did they love to listen to, or which are your favorites? TIA!

The days are SO long sometimes! Your DS is older than our kids, so it may be harder to find organized/group activities during the day for him, but, FWIW, I take my DD (almost 3) and the twins to the library for storytime (or sometimes just to hang out - they have GREAT activites like blocks, puzzles, etc.), to the Family Resource Center and the play area in the mall, to the park (weather permitting). We go visit their grandparents (the ones that are retired), go on walks in our neighborhood, and play hopscotch or just draw with chalk in the driveway. Sometimes we go to the Children's Museum. She is in gymnastics and dance, which helps too.

Awesome advice! Thank you so much. I'm totally impressed with how well you understand our situation! Not many people do, and actually, overall this is the first forum/group that I've been a part of where I've been given advice that I can actually use and people seem to REALLY understand what I'm asking. :laugh:

I love this idea! She loves games, so I bet it would be great! Thanks! I checked it out, and tried a sample lesson with her this morning...she did great! We may try it, the yearly subscription isn't all that expensive, and it would absolutely be worth it if it helps her. Thank you! I figured that it is just going to take time, and all of a sudden it will click for her and she'll take off. We have 2 Leap Frog movies...but she LOVES them so I may have to pick up a few more. I'll check Starfall and Teach Your Monster to Read! :) Our DD also has no concept of her age. Took her to the library yesterday and told her she could get anything she wanted...she picked out 6 books about bats and 4 about Russia. Most kids her age were still going through the board books. Pretty sure the librarian thought we were nuts. :lol: It's difficult seeing them be so hard on themselves at such a young age!

DD (3), seems to want nothing more than to be able to read on her own. She has known all uppercase/lowercase letters as well as sounds for some time. She is stuck on putting the sounds together. For example, she can say the sounds b-a-t, but not progress b-at or bat. She picked up on everything else almost instantly, with the sounds she watched The Talking Letters Factory once and mastered them. It just seems like she's not quite ready, given how easily she picked up everything else. I've told her she doesn't need to learn right now. I love reading to her, and we read together a lot. Her comprehension is great, she loves reading books like The Magic Tree House series, or Little House on the Prairie and can follow along and answer questions about the stories. We read lots of picture books, too. She wants to read them to me, but gets SO frustrated, and easily. She beats herself up ("I'm not smart enough to read," "I can't do it by myself," "I'll never be big enough") and it breaks my heart, she's only 3!! (The only place I think that may be coming from is her older cousin (5) entered K and is learning to read. I've overheard her telling DD that she needs to sit and listen to her because she's not big enough to read like L) I've told her over and over that I love to read to her, and she can learn while we read together but she says, "I want to do it now!" What do I do? Do I try to teach her with something like AAR, LoE, or RLTL? If it's so upsetting to her that she can't do it, of course I want to help her learn, but if she's not ready, she's not ready and I don't want it to turn into something she hates!

Thank you all! Great ideas!

We bought a Samsung washer (front loader) and dryer about a year before we moved...I loved them so much!

Fox Ravenclaw Wand is chestnut with a phoenix feather core, 10-3/4" hard flexibility. Happy to finally have someone to tell this information to, lol. DH just looks at my like I'm slightly nuts :lol:

I am looking for suggestions for working with our gifted preschooler. Specifically, how to work at her intellectual level and developmental level simultaneously. According to our pediatrician, she is about 2 years ahead verbally/intellectually, and right where she should be (maybe only slightly behind in some areas) for things like motor skills. A lot of what she wants to do and is capable of involves writing, which frustrates her because her letters and numbers "don't look like they're supposed to." FWIW, I try to stay away from it right now, or just have her try tracing, but whenever she colors she only tries to write instead of coloring. How long does this wide of a gap continue for? How can I help her? Does anyone have suggestions to achieve a "higher input, lower output" system of learning for her? We don't do a lot of "schoolwork" besides reading right now, but she's always asking for worksheets on different topics.

Very helpful! Thank you. I love all the suggestions that you guys have given me, it's been helping me feel a lot more confident with her. :) Kind of a change of topic but...what are some of the best toys that you guys can think of for her age and abilities? Her birthday is next month, and the twins are turning 1 in December, and...I really don't want any more "light up and sing songs" type toys...there's so much noise with just the *kids,* not even including their stuff, I just can only take so much lol. And I've been thinking, with the decision to homeschool, I'd like to have more toys around that are going to be fun but also serve a purpose developmentally (like motor skills, or sensory, that sort of thing) as opposed to just making beeps and giggles (I don't have a huge problem with those toys, just that we definitely already have enough.) Any ideas?

Thanks for all the input! I think switching may be the right move for us....I wish I would have found it first!

What can anyone tell me about Logic of English Foundations? I've looked over the sample pages, and I like the looks of those, but if possible I'd like to get some pros/cons from people who have used it. We are currently using AAR, and while it works and she is learning a few things (I definitely should have bought a level up, though), neither of us are very excited by it. I have no problem sticking with AAR and just moving up if we can't find a better fit for us, but I'm really curious about LOE and would love to hear some experiences with it! Thanks in advance!

I can't thank you guys enough! These are all great suggestions, and I've been SO excited but feeling rather lost, too. I'd love to get her outside more (especially with the weather about to turn again), and it's something I need to work way harder on. With the twins, unless we are going somewhere specific, we usually stay in because I feel bad strapping them in to their stroller for too long...they HATE sitting still now that they can move, haha! But, they also hate grass and will sob hysterically if they're even *almost* set down on it, so outdoor time is something we struggle with when my husband isn't home (which is a lot, he works 55+/week). But where there's a will, there's a way! I'm sure it would do us ALL good to get out every day :laugh:

Thanks everyone, so much! This has been so incredibly helpful and reassuring. You guys have some wonderful ideas. :)