Thanks for all the suggestions! We've done some of those, but there are plenty that we haven't, too. I have 40 more pages before I have to pick another book!

We're FINALLY almost finished with Great Expectations for our bedtime read aloud, after many, many months. Despite how long it's taken us to get through it, it was a big hit with all the kids (11, 9, and newly 7)....they even hung in there with very little complaining for the long stretch in the middle where Pip just whines about money and Estella for forever. So where do we go next? Most of the big kid classics/modern classics we've already read aloud or they've read themselves, so I'm focusing mostly on adult novels that would still be a little too challenging for them to read independently (or a lot too challenging, for my 7 year old). Although I do have Wind in the Willows or Tom Sawyer in mind, too. So...ideas? I'm trying to remember anything about The House of Seven Gables and whether that would be appropriate/interesting. More Dickens would work, but I think we need a break from him for a little while (DS just played Tiny Tim in a local production of A Christmas Carol, too, so we've been pretty well immersed for months now!)

Thanks everyone!

An update :) So my 4th labor was......super fast and (relatively) easy! On his due date--3 1/2 hours start to finish, with only the last half hour or so being REALLY tough. It was a whirlwind from the start, though. I got a total of about 5 contractions 5-7 minutes apart, and after that they were all 3-4 minutes, so not a lot of time to rest. He was born a little over an hour after we got to the hospital. He was supposed to be a waterbirth, but there was no time to fill up the tub. Pushed through maybe 3 contractions, and out he came! 7 pounds, 7 ounces, so two pounds smaller than my last two (and a pound exactly smaller than my first), which I'm sure was a big factor, particularly with the pushing part. His name is Abe :)

Just added a bunch of you (then my finger got tired; I'll add the rest later ;)). Here's me: http://pinterest.com/kokotg/ mostly house stuff.

I declined it for this pregnancy.....I've failed the one hour test with all three previous pregnancies, and passed the three hour 2 out of 3 times. But I have a meter and test frequently at home. For awhile my midwife asked me about my numbers, but she hasn't lately--I don't know if she forgot all about my history or if she just stopped because the numbers were always fine when she asked and because I haven't had any sugar in my urine, low weight gain, etc. At any rate, I'm actually eating much lower carb now than I did during my pregnancy where I officially had GD.

My youngest had mild RSV when he was 2 months old, I think? He was on a nebulizer for a little while, and then he was fine. He is my one that wound up with (very mild) asthma and (not so mild) allergies, though. I didn't think anything about it when he had the RSV because he was over it so quickly, but it does mean issues like that are more likely to crop up later, just as a head's up.

Thanks everyone! I'm enjoying all the "it was short and easy" stories and ignoring the rest ;). Big babies do not worry me; my last two were 9 1/2 pounds....although this one is measuring smaller, so I'm wondering if I'll actually get a normal sized baby this time. It could happen!

You know, especially if it was awesome. My first was typically long and sucky--24 hours of contractions that started out 5 minutes apart and were at 2 within a few hours. Epidural 17 hours in, and after that things were fine. Second was 6 hours, again with contractions very close together the whole time--wound up with an epidural, but I think I probably could have had the baby by the time it was in, so probably not the best call, in retrospect. And then my third was surprisingly pleasant for the most part. Contractions 5 whole minutes apart until transition! Some of them didn't even really hurt! I finally understood what people meant when they said, "I just didn't feel like I really NEEDED an epidural." (Until transition; then I sure would have taken one if someone had been able to get it in right away, without making me getting out of the tub). About 9 hours, so longer than the second, but it was so lovely in comparison--an unmedicated waterbirth. So anyway, I know it means little, but indulge a very pregnant woman (38 1/2 weeks!)...what was your 4th labor like? Also, it's been 7 years since my youngest was born. Did I reset everything by waiting so long and now I have to have another 24 hour labor?! I hope not.

Pretty! you can't go wrong with Benjamin Moore. Well, you probably CAN, but I haven't yet :)

yes, low carb and your triglycerides will drop like a stone. Mine were in the 50s or 60s last time I had it checked, and that was on a fairly moderate carb (maybe just over 100 grams a day most days?) diet....not a super low carb one.

When my oldest was that age it would have been a huge struggle to get him to say even a single word to a stranger, particularly in a setting like that. He has a severe hearing loss in one ear that makes sorting out sounds in group settings very difficult, and at that age he was so painfully shy that he was pretty much incapable of saying anything at all to people he didn't know well. Of course, I wouldn't have told someone at a party that he wasn't usually shy, and I have no idea what's going on with these particular kids....but it was pretty common that his extreme shyness was perceived as rudeness, so I'm still fairly sensitive to that. It's easy to say, "I wouldn't let my kid act like that" when your kid's not the one with such severe anxiety that saying "hello" is an enormous struggle. I was more concerned about my kid feeling safe than other people feeling like he had good manners. A stranger repeatedly trying to engage him in conversation at a party would have made getting him to the next party at all that much more difficult. Incidentally, he's 11 now, and, while still on the reserved end of things, you'd never guess what he was like at 5 and 6 if you met him now.

Oh, nothing big. I've just been scolded by more than one member of my extended family during this pregnancy for not telling them I was pregnant (and apparently my Dad and stepmom did such a bad job spreading the news that some people didn't find out until quite late in my pregnancy). I really can't imagine my phone averse self calling up relative after relative to announce the news, and I didn't think many people WOULD do that. In general, I think this side of the family has exceptionally poor communication skills (not to excuse myself...I'm pretty complicit in the poor communication....but in this case I don't think I'm the one who dropped the ball).

Christmas Eve is historically my Dad's side of the family's time. Today we saw the big extended family (grandparents, cousins, etc.) for lunch and we'll see just my dad/stepmother/siblings at another gathering tonight. We have brunch here tomorrow with my mom and family (DH's family is all out of state or things would be REALLY hectic) and then a friend's house in the afternoon, so it means we really have to plan things out as far as house/food prep and be ready to go with a clean house and food to take to 4 separate gatherings by the 23rd.

I'm just curious. I won't tell the whole story until after the poll's been up for a bit, but I think my extended family behaves a little.....oddly in this respect. I'm wondering whether I'm right or whether I'M the odd one. First attempt at a poll on the new boards...we'll see what happens!

My mom's family and DH's mom's family were both big Catholic families, so there are Marys all over the place there. Other than that....not really. Well, I do have an uncle and two cousins named Daniel, and it's my oldest's middle name.

We skipped last year, but I'm back on it again this year....just ordered the cards today. I probably wouldn't bother, but DH's family is all out of state and a lot of them would have no idea what the kids look like anymore if we didn't send them.

I just bought white plates a few weeks ago. They're not our everyday dishes (I have a set that was passed down from my grandmother for that), but I plan to bring them out for Thanksgiving and other special meals. What I did was buy different, more exciting dessert plates: umm....oops. not sure what happened with the image. anyway. patch dessert plates with owls and rabbits and whatnot. you can google if you really want to see! These are the Patch plates from Target....and use those with the white plates (on top, when I set the table). That way, I reason, I can eventually get a few different sets of smaller plates (I also got gold chargers to go under the white) and have different sets of dishes for the price of just the dessert plates.

We used to go to my mom's house Christmas morning and then my grandmother's house Christmas afternoon. A few years ago we switched to everyone (my mom/stepfather and my brother/SIL) coming to our house for awhile Christmas morning for present opening. We do my Dad's side of the family Christmas Eve. FWIW, when I was a kid, we always went to my grandparents' on Christmas, mid afternoon.

We used to go to my mom's house Christmas morning and then my grandmother's house Christmas afternoon. A few years ago we switched to everyone (my mom/stepfather and my brother/SIL) coming to our house for awhile Christmas morning for present opening. We do my Dad's side of the family Christmas Eve. FWIW, when I was a kid, we always went to my grandparents' on Christmas, mid afternoon.

I'd just go ahead and pay it rather than get into an argument with her. But I'd also tell her what ppd means and that you wouldn't have agreed to buy the book if she'd been up front with you about the real cost. It does sound like she's probably clueless and not intentionally misleading people.

ah, okay. I'm still wondering how they're going to explain the two weddings, though. I guess just something boring like no one was at the first one so everyone wanted a big fancy one.

No, I remembered Snow and Charming's wedding, too--very first episode: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_(Once_Upon_a_Time)

oh, yes--love buying used stuff. I consider myself a little bit of a failure when I can't find what I want used and have to buy something new. We just finished moving a really cool old desk into my kids' room....bought it at the thrift store tonight for $50 :)

the Strandmon chair from Ikea Young House Love book matching flatware (I think I'm old enough for that now) a new camera