I have also had 4 c-sections and have had no problems. The first was emergency because I was in labor for 18 hours, my water had broken, and my ds had not dropped. After the section, I was in recovery for 3 hours and didn't get to see ds until after I was out of recovery. Not sure why, as my other ones were brought with me from the delivery room to recovery. I had a hard time breastfeeding him and that led to a lot of stress after the birth. I worried that I wasn't doing the best for him. However, he is a healthy growing, intelligent boy and we have a very strong bond. I have since decided that it doesn't matter how you take care of them (vag birth, c-section, breastfeeding, bottle) - just that you do take care of them! My recovery wasn't too bad (except for the first-time mom sleep thing), but I do remember having such a tough time when they made me walk for the first time. But I just kept at it and I think that helped. When I was pregnant with my second (dd), I talked to the doc about VBAC and she said she thought it was actually more dangerous, but that there were risks to both. After doing this c-section thing again and again with different docs (we move alot), over the years, I have decided you can find a doc that supports every angle on the VBAC vs C-section debate. Anyway, since my recovery was not bad with the first, I decided to have another section with the second. Went into labor early with that one also. With her, they had to take her to the nursery at first because her heartrate was low, but brought her by about an hour later. Was able to nurse her and we also bonded well. I kept her in the room with me during the day and sent her to the nursery at night. Third and fourth ones I decided to do another c-section, because my labors had been so bad and the recoveries had been so easy. In fact, I still cannot believe how well I was getting around the hospital room with the third (fourth was a lot tougher, because I had more scar tissue that time). My husband was able to carry both of them from the operating room to the recovery room and I nursed them both while I was in recovery. I kept them both in the room with me the whole time I was there except for one night that I just really needed some sleep! Anyways, I guess I am just sharing this story with you to ease your stress a little. The recoveries have never been the same as each other, but they were never bad (the first and fourth were the worst). I think getting up and walking, even if it is just to the door and back, makes a big difference. So does staying on top of your pain meds. They aren't going to hurt the baby and you aren't doing yourself or the baby any favors if you are in so much pain you can't take care of the baby or yourself. The docs won't give you more than is safe and you won't get addicted to it or anything...it will just help you rest better. Also, the nurses ARE there to help you. Just know, when the baby is not your first, I always found the nurses to be more hands off because they figure you know what you are doing. BUT, don't be afraid to call them in and ask for help getting the baby or putting the baby back in the bassinet. I ended up having to do that a lot with the fourth and was embarrassed to ask at first and they assured me it was what I should have been doing! Wish I had know about the light liquid diet before the section, because that gas is a pain!!! lol Oh, and about the uterine rupture....not gonna happen - very rare. When I was having my third, I talked a lot with my doc about risks. I knew even then that I wanted a fourth, but I too was worried about uterine rupture - it's one of those "big scary" things you hear about, kwim? I trust my doc and he is very good at giving facts, numbers, sources, alternatives, etc. He said that was very rare and that the biggest risk comes at/after 5 c-sections. The risk that the placenta will attach to the scar tissue. But all that means is that the actual c-section will be rough because they have to pull the tissue apart. But that doesn't happen as early as #2 section. In fact, he even said that possibility (at #5) was lower than the chance of having a baby with down syndrome because of being over 35. Sorry for being so long winded. I know it always helps me to hear other people's stories so I can feel better about what is about to happen. Make sure you really discuss with your doctor your concerns, and if you really want to have a VBAC, make that known and ask why he is so concerned about it when so many people have them. But, if you do end up having the C-section, it's not a bad thing. You will still have that wonderful bond with your children. I never felt bad that I didn't have them vaginally - heck, I carried them for 9 months, delievered them and cared for them after, with help of course - what is there to feel bad about? And chances are, your recovery will be better with a planned one than the first emergency one because you didn't have to suffer through labor. Good luck either way! All will be fine and you will soon be holding that beautiful little baby in your arms!

Here!:tongue_smilie:

Sorry to have misrepresented the info. Didn't intend to. :confused:

Like someone posted upthread, you can either register under an umbrella school, register as an extension of a private school or register with the county. I also have never known anyone to register with the county, as they have to approve your education plan, you need to submit immunization forms and have to complete some testing. Everyone I have ever come in contact with belongs to an umbrella school. Everyone here mentioned Homelife. We actually register under Gateway Christian Academy. It costs $50 per child (with a max I think), we submit our educational plan at the beginning of the year (which means I give them a list of the books we will use for each subject), and grades and attendance each semester - easy as pie! I wanted to mention them because they say on their website that they accept enrollment after August 1st. Maybe you could call them and find out about transferring halfway through the year. I hope it is okay to post their link...I don't know how else to do this - sorry! http://gatewaychristianschools.com/THE_Home2.html As an aside, we LOVE TN! Except for the 105% weather we are having. lol!

Sounds like us, except sons and daughters are switched! We are also doing POE with ds8 (4th) and dd6 (2nd) and 3yo and 1yo(he'll be doing the read-alouds: JK). We can't wait. My dd asked today why we can't start school this week - why do we have to wait! lol

There is a Yahoo Group for Moving Beyond the Page and people often list used units for sale. There are some listings on homeschoolclassifieds as well. We really liked the looks of it too, but the cost of it all together was too much as well, so we are using a couple of LA units from it to suppliment (I have ferocious readers who need more to read than POE gives is by itself). I just bought the units I wanted used.

I agree, Guest Hollow looks pretty interactive and comprehensive. Elizabeth Foss has an American History Unit study on her Serendipity website. There is also Paths of Exploration by Trail Guide to Learning (Geomatters). And lastly, take a look at Homeschool in the Woods Time Travelers series. They are inexpensive CDs which include unit study info and hands on projects, lapbooks, cooking, etc. As you can tell, I have searched and searched because I wanted our main focus this year to be American History (2nd and 4th). The above were my favs that I came across. We ended up choosing Paths of Exploration with some supplimental stuff from the Time Travelers cds (I don't think you need to suppliment, but I can't help myself!) HTH

Books-A-Million

:iagree: Also, instead of buying those cute and colorful, yet expensive, counting bears with the cups, we have a bunch of assorted buttons (less than $2 a pack at walmart) and some various containers for sorting by color and size. My ds3 loves playing with these, but now that ds1 is toddling everywhere, I have to be super careful about dropped buttons! I think they might go away for awhile. lol

I had no idea the second season had started....awesome! I'll have to find the eps I missed now. Thanks for sharing!

So are we!!! We were bored to tears with Seton for 2 years: Even though it was a strong program, we just felt like some of the subjects were soooo dry...esp History! We are switching to POE and cannot wait! Even DH was interested when he saw the books. :w00t: We are also switching to Math Mammoth, Faith and Life for Catechism, and Day #5 reserved for some logic stuff, a year long study of TN (one day a week) and a year long lapbook study of the orchestra/composers/music (also only one day a week). Basically everything is changing and I am excited about all of it!! I can't wait to use living books and, mostly, I can't wait to be able to teach both school-aged kids the same thing at the same time! Good luck with your changes everyone!

Oops...I posted this in the wrong forum before. Sorry! I was just at Toys R Us tonight and they have Crayola items buy 1 get 2 free (Yes, I DID write that correctly). This applies to all Crayola crayons, markers, colored pencils and construction paper. The sale lasts from 7/18/2010 to 7/24/2010. For example, I got three packs of 250 count assorted construction paper packs for $4.99. Just wanted to share!

I was just at Toys R Us tonight and they have Crayola items buy 1 get 2 free (Yes, I DID write that correctly). This applies to all Crayola crayons, markers, colored pencils and construction paper. The sale lasts from 7/18/2010 to 7/24/2010. For example, I got three packs of 250 count assorted construction paper packs for $4.99. Just wanted to share!

I'll add my vote for Eastern TN!!!! Specifically Chattanooga. The biggest small town in the Country. And there is plenty of land in the surrounding mountains and valleys for any of your needs/wants. :001_smile: It is also incredibly affordable

So funny! My ds3 does the same thing....he doesn't know the names of the letters yet, but knows all the sounds, complete with actions like tongue out for "H" and jumping up for "j", etc. That's so cute! And I agree...I love that whole series. It has taught two and a half to read so far! obviously working on #3! :001_smile:

Wow! what a wealth of information on this thread. Thank you for sharing all of your great ideas. I always start off the year strong by writing out our daily lesson plans for the week on Sunday night. By the 4th quarter, I run out of steam and end up skipping that step and we kind of wing it. I hate ending the year like that, in disarray. I also tend to skip some of the more fun things (lapbooks) because I just don't have the materials ready and I am too tired (look at my screen name! lol) to get them ready the night before. I can see how this system will help take the weekly stress off. I love the filing ideas listed here and am excited to get started with it. I tried to read the whole thread, but ran out of steam half way through, so I apologize if my question has already been answered. I am curious what people do once they have their weekly files done. Do you schedule each day using a time schedule? Do you let the kids work through the whole week's file in whatever order they want to? I know a lot use workboxes, but I am not sure it will work for us. Here are my issues: 1) My son is very smart and can do a lot of his work independently, once I give him direction. He has a hard time staying on task though, unless I keep him on task. I noticed this last year, if I only gave him 30 minutes to finish his Math, for example, he would finish in the time period without a problem. If I just let him work on his Math without a time limit, he would take FOREVER. SO, I worry if I just tell him "here's your weekly file and you need to finish it by the end of the week", he will have too much work left at the end. 2) I have a 4th grader, 1st/2nd grader, very busy and interactive 3 yr old and my 1 yr old tornado. I realized quickly last year (first time teaching more than one at a time), that I had to schedule some time when I would work with each child on what they needed help with. WHen I just let them choose their own order of subjects, they were always interrupting me when I was helping the other. Plus, there are certain things I would like to work on when the littles are napping. 3) This past year I ended up setting a daily time schedule so that I knew when I would have to help each child. Problem with that is how much time to allot...too much time and they are sitting around playing or doing busy work to wait for the next subject. Plus, it feels a little too much like school! Too little time and we have to skip stuff. 4) last year, their subjects were completely different from each other. This year, they are both using POE, so much of the work will be combined (read alouds, discussion, vocab, catechism, etc). I'm guess I don't quite understand how workboxes or methods that allow them to choose the order of their subjects can be adjusted to have common teaching time. I have been so wowed by the filing ideas, and I just know someone has some outstanding method for daily work that might address some of these issues. I think I need some type of scheduling, but don't want to be a slave to one. Thanks so much!!!!

We've been out of the Navy for 4 years and this is still true for me!

We buy our construction paper at Hobby Lobby. They have 200 sheet, assorted colors for 3.99, but even cheaper when they have a sale on it, which is often. I usually get it on sale for $2.50 HTH

How right you are!!! :glare: I just changed my signature! :lol:

What grade do you generally start using Life of Fred? I am trying to find a new math curriculum and I love how this looks - my kids will get a kick out of it! But, since it is by "subject" (ie, Fractions, algebra, etc), I am confused about when to use it. Up until now, our curriculum presented a little of everything each year. My son will be in 4th grade, but is a very quick learner when it comes to Math. Also, do you use this as a stand alone, or only as a suppliment? TIA

I'm going to be ordering mine next week and am so excited to hear the shipping is so fast. I cannot wait to get my hands on this to start my planning!!! Thanks for the review!

Chattanooga...

Did you know that some YMCA's offer a Guest or Visitor rate (don't need to go with a member) to just use the pool? I'm not sure if all do this, but our's does. It costs $10 for the family for a one time use of the pool. At a rate of once a week, that would cost $40 for the month, and even less if you don't make it one week. We were also only using our YMCA membership for a once a week pool trip and when we realized it cost less to pay per visit, we dropped the membership. Another small dent, but I also make use of the ink recycling at Staples. I tend to use a lot of ink with my printer, and we all know ink is expensive! I signed up for Staples Rewards (free). I receive a $2 gift card (used to be $3) for each empty ink tank I return. Last month I returned 5 (!!) because I had saved them up. Now I have a $15 gift card for the next time I need ink, or any supplies. It's not much, but every little bit counts. I would love to hear any ideas from others too, since we are trying to get debt free too!

If anyone is interested, I stumbled upon an awesome clearance item at Toys R Us.... kapla blocks in disguise. They are called Citiblocs and it is a set of 200 kapla blocks on clearance for $11.23!!!!! The sales clerk told me the sale runs through July 17th. I checked online and it seems like the sale is not online, only in stores. Even though we have a set of 200, I bought two more sets, an extra for us and one as a Christmas gift. Enjoy!!

I LOVE greyhounds! I esp agree with the bolded part. Greyhounds are such sweet, intelligent dogs. A purebred needing to be rescued...what could beat that? After racing to make people money, they DESERVE a life of happy retirement. A lot of people have the incorrect impression that Greyhounds are high energy and spastic dogs (given their racing past), but nothing could be further from the truth. They are so gentle and loving and the biggest couch potatoes ever! We have had three: Tiki was with us for 12 out of her 14 years and was the smartest dog I have ever seen. She was so smart, she was almost human, seriously! Sweet, sweet dog - never barked at anyone and would never hurt a fly (give her a rabbit, though... ;)). We lost her a year ago and she is deeply missed. Phoenix had a short life, even for a greyhound. We had him for 7.5 out of his 8 yrs. He was bred to be a showdog, but didn't make the cut, I guess. We adopted him from the breeder. What a big, cuddly puppy dog - even as an adult! We lost him unexpectedly and quickly to brain cancer 3 yrs ago. They actually both died on the same day, exactly 2 yrs apart. Strange. I know they are playing with each other now though! Little One was with us for a very short time. She was actually a stray spanish greyhound (smaller than American ones; think whippet size). The Spanish do not take good care of their greyhounds. They often race them/use them to death and when they are no longer of use, they give them a terrible death. We found Little One wondering around the Base one day. Took her home and nursed her back to health. Had to have her skin stitched every day for 1.5 weeks because she had some skin disease that broke the cells down. Nursed her to health and had her a few months until we found a new home for her. We would've kept her, but we were only allowed to bring two dogs back to the States with us. Someday I hope to have another one. Too hard to have any pets right now. Anyone looking at getting a new dog and not sure what to get....look into a greyhound. There are plenty that need a good home!