I think they typically do a holiday sale too, around the end of the year. That's when I give the link to grandparents who are asking for gift ideas (and I want something that won't add to the amount of clutter we have). I need to renew ours, the kids really enjoyed it.

My older 2 kids learned about it a couple years ago after an incident with DD1 and a squirrel (egged on by DS1, of course). The fact that she was able to pick up the squirrel raised red flags in me and I ran out to trap the squirrel while DH started cleaning the wound. We found out that squirrel bites are one of the few bites that don't automatically get you a series of rabies shots, luckily. I need to go over rabies with them again now that they're older.

I try on frames at Walmart to get an idea of what I like then order from Zenni. DD1 wears tinted glasses when we are out of the house (the fluorescent lights in stores trigger migraines) and I had her try on some in Walmart also so she could get an idea of what shapes she liked and ordered hers from Zenni too.

I used Fast Track with my DD1 to help her get out of the habit of guessing and the cursor really helped a lot! DD2 was having huge difficulties with learning to read, we had tried OPGTR, Phonics Pathways, and McRuffy with no progress. We started over with Bear Necessities and it has made a huge difference. I working through it more slowly with my 4 year old DS2 who has apraxia and I've been happy with his progress too. I'm so glad we tried it out, it really helped ease our frustrations!

When ours kept doing that it turned out to be a spare opener that had been stuffed into the junk drawer in the kitchen and whenever somebody would rummage around in there it would hit the button.

Awww! And yes, we need pics of Bernie! I need a vicarious kitten fix.

*hugs* Hopefully it was just you unconsciously being very in tune with your husband's help. That being said, I had a similar feeling recently about myself. Subtle at first, then essentially being whacked upside the head with it. I did recently have a significant medical event that made this more likely, so it wasn't just something out of the blue. I just had this very strong feeling that I need to get my affairs in order. I updated my advanced directive & will, printed out information on my life insurance policy so it would be easy to find, gathered the kids birth certificates & SS cards, our marriage certificate, made a list of current curricula that the kids are using and what the rough plan is for down the road, made a list of misc. medical info (kids' dentist, speech therapist, medical stuff that will apply to the girls when they are teens, other specialists that the kids see, etc.) and put it all into a binder in the safe. I know there's more to get done, but I feel better having at least gotten that much done so far. OK, it didn't give DH the warm fuzzy when I showed him last week what I had spent the afternoon doing, but I wanted him to know what and where it was.

I did Hypnobabies with my first birth. I lost the CDs and binder sometime before #2 came along but still had the tracks in iTunes so I would listen to them anyway. They really helped with my insomnia, I don't think I ever made it through one awake! I used the techniques I learned with all my births but didn't listen to them during labor. When I'm in labor I don't want to hear anything, have anyone talk to me, and definitely have nobody touch me. I have precipitous labors (the long one was 2 hours) and I just accept that, at some point usually between 39-41 weeks, I'll wake up with a contraction that's going to be like stepping in front of a freight train. A tub to labor/birth in is awesome but I won't have one this time and my bathtub is too small. If I'm left alone then I can just ride it out and know it'll be over in a bit, and by the time I think "oh s***, why am I doing this again?!" then I'm getting ready to push the baby out anyway. (My last 4 were born at home, so I didn't have to worry about trying to get the car and ride anywhere.)

I don't have any experience with epidurals, however if I did end up needing pain medication for this birth then an epidural would most likely be my first choice. When I was in preterm labor with DS1 and was on mag sulfate in the hospital they gave me Stadol and it was an absolutely horrible experience, I didn't tolerate it well at all. I still felt the immense (head) pain from the mag sulfate, with the added bonus :huh: of hallucinations, I spent several miserable hours having conversations with long-dead relatives that were apparently hanging out in my hospital room and then, worst of all, clowns. :leaving: So I know that Stadol is definitely something I would want to avoid in labor, it doesn't agree with me.

I'm the same way. I have sensory issues, I'm sensory defensive (and so is DD1). I've never been a hugger, and I do best when I have plenty of personal space. I don't know how my husband's family feels about that as we rarely see them. I know it's caused big problems in previous relationships, when one family member was a constant hugger and I just couldn't handle it. Now DS2, he's a sensory seeker. And a petter. His lovey? Me. It used to be my chest, shortly after he weaned, now it's my arm. He'll come up constantly and just start petting my arm, these soft light strokes that can quickly make me want to crawl out of my skin. It's challenging trying to find a balance where he doesn't feel rejected but I don't feel like I'm going to snap.

He's a beautiful cat!

Just another vote for getting him evaluated. I've had 2 late talkers that developed on the normal language curve just delayed, and one that has apraxia and was definitely not on the normal language development curve. I had him evaluated, first by EI (though it was just 3 months before he turned 3, so there was no time to get services through them), then by a developmental pediatrician, and finally by the school district. He attended one year of developmental preschool and has been in private speech therapy for over a year now. We use fish oil supplements here also.

I use DB Fast Track with my 8 year old DD1, who had a nasty habit of guessing at words. I do like that it has a variety of words that she doesn't usually see. Some of the stories are a bit weird but eh, I have bigger things to worry about. The program works, she likes it, it's efficient.

I've started regularly putting it on for 4 year old DS2. At this point, I'll write that Frog into my will.

We also just use the Calendar. We have one labeled Home (or Family) that goes for everyone, for things that everyone needs to either go to or at least be aware of. I'll add appointments from my phone and they'll automatically show up on my computer, the iPads, DH's phone & iPad. It's the only thing that keeps me from spacing on everything.

We switched our Sprint iPhones to Ting, we've been very happy with it. I wish we had done it as soon as our contract ran out.

Oooh, thank you! I'm still working my way through Mistborn (taking a break to read Brent Weeks' new one right now) but I'm always looking for more fantasy novels to feed my Kindle.

My daughter gets abdominal (and classic) migraines, often with vomiting. She was having 4-5 migraines a week and daily visual disturbances (Alice in Wonderland syndrome). She's been on a mild preventative for a few months now and things are improving, with typically about 2 breakthroughs a week. Something she inherited from me, unfortunately.

Hmm, interesting. I think we'll try this.

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I would love to try it, I wish there was a place near me. Just a little while without all the noise, smells, touches... just for an hour or so.

With DS1 and DD1, we found out the sex and picked out names before they were born. With DD2 and DS2 (didn't know the sex), we discussed names and had a short list for each sex and made the final decision after they were born. With DS3 (didn't know the sex again), we didn't even start discussing it until after he was born and named him a few days after he was born. With this baby we don't know the sex and won't even start talking about it until after s/he is born.

I usually get/make caramel. When I'm dairy-free (nursing, all my kids have had dairy & soy sensitivities) I like them made with hemp milk, the slight bitterness goes well with the sweet caramel. My favorite coffee stands here are ranked by their selection of alternative milks.

We had 3 Radians across the back seat of our 2008 Sienna, the booster situation was a little more difficult. DS1's Britax Parkway SG booster could fit next to 2 Radians, but he couldn't fit his hand in to buckle it. The only boosters that worked for us (in the 3 across the 3rd row) were the Evenflo Big Kid boosters that I found at Walmart. They are 0.5" narrower and didn't have protruding cup holders, that was enough to make the difference. First we had 1 Evenflo booster and 2 Radians, now we have 2 Evenflo boosters and 1 Radian. It's a tighter fit on the driver's side than the passenger side due to the location of the LATCH that is used in the middle for the Radian. Right now in the middle row I have DS3 rear-facing in a Britax Boulevard and DS1 in the (now backless) Parkway booster. I'll need to install the middle captain's chair in the 2nd row in December and I'm hoping to be able to fit 2 Britax seats there. Never-ending car seat Tetris.