Thank you for your excellent response! It was very thorough and helpful. I am a bit scared now, though. This sounds more serious than I thought. Honestly, everything has been done to find a reason, but nothing shows up. I've had blood tests done, two years ago and recently, nothing except low Vitamin D (taking supplement), vein ultrasound, two years ago and recently, normal, and even a cat scan recently because new dr. wanted to get a baseline history on me since I was complaining of bloating and inner aching at times (that has gone away since changing my diet and losing weight). It showed an enlarged liver, spleen and small pulmonary nodule. She wasn't concerned, but I am having an abdominal ultrasound done just for further investigation to be sure nothing else is going on. I have no other symptoms of anything. I feel great! I've lost 21 pounds and am going to continue to lose more. My own research shows the enlarged liver can be non-alcoholic fatty liver due to being overweight. Also, an enlarged liver usually means an enlarged spleen from what I've read. Other things listed that it could be do not fit because I have no other symptoms. The pulmonary nodule wasn't concerning either. 90-something percent are benign and probably from past infections. It was also very small and not the size that they are concerned about further investigating. I'll just do another cat scan in 6 months. What else can be done? What else could it be caused from that I could research and ask my dr. to check? I go back in July for weight check and ultrasound. I'm not horribly obese or anything, just need to lose 40 pounds or so. Again, I appreciate your response and for the links, too.

I do not have compression garments. If I began treatment at the lymph clinic, they would wrap me and probably give me some. I do have the pump, though, and have started using it. They said to use it until I could schedule treatment. Can I buy some in the meantime? What kind?

That's good to know about swimming. I mostly sit in the baby pool with my youngest. :) She is almost 1 and her brother is 3. I haven't actually swam in a long time. Is it the swimming movement that helps or just being in the water?

Mostly foot and ankle. Dr. at the lymph clinic said it was a minor, minor case.

I've dealt with foot/ankle swelling for two years. No medical reason is found for causing it (vein trouble, cancer surgery, etc). I'm almost 38 and it popped one day two years and had never gone away. I went to a lymphedema clinic and they gave me a pump to use everyday. They also wanted me to come for other treatment to get it under control, but that was 3-5 days a week for three weeks. I can't do that. I am using the pump daily. My case is very mild, but still needs to go away. I'm ready for normal feet/ankles again. Any other tips or things I can do? Natural supplements? I'm on a weight loss program and have lost 20 pounds so far. Want to lose 20 more. It seems to have helped to lose weight, but it's still there. Thanks for any info.

really help prepare the child academically. We've always been ecletic using a cross between classical/CM/and relaxed on some areas. We started Latin and IEW writing last year and a more focused grammar curriculum. I've touched on things here and there over the years, but seeing the need to be more direct now. I guess I'm wanting more rigorous that will really prepare them, but not overwhelming or ridiculous. Does this exist?

Thank you. I think that's what I did. I read so many things and tried so many things that I'm not sure how I got to where I'm at right now. Ha, ha! I'm running malwarebytes now. We shall see.

What did you do?

Please. :). I can't run in any safe mode. Currently downloading the kaspersky rescue disk 10 to flash drive and following their info and doing something in BIOS. Tried doing something with registry in winlogon, but couldn't follow it.

I am wanting to paint my dd's desk. It is yellow and has a flower design on the drawer. The yellow and flower design is in the furniture, it wasn't done on top or seperately. It was originally bought that way, although we are the second owners. Do I use primer and an oil based paint? I'm really clueless on what to do.

Those rooms look great! Thanks for sharing. We are looking at the same orange/brown patchwork quilt set, too. I think the decor will make the orange look good. It's hard to picture it when you look at a paint sample. We'll go for it! They will be excited. We can always re-paint, right?! :)

We have a lighter orange ("candied yam") and a darker orange ("pumpkin patch") that we like. We might just have to buy two small cans of each and put them on the wall and see. Do you know if Lowes takes back "oops" cans of paint like Home Depot?

I'm having a hard time deciding which orange shade to use to paint our boys room. DS age 2 loves orange and DS 12 is on board with that color, but it's hard to find a color of orange that isn't, well, uh, orange. :-/ Help, we are not interior decorators...

I need a new scent. :) DH doesn't like flowery smells. What I've had in the past... DG Light Blue--loved it, but got tired of it. Burberry something--can't remember the exact name Anais Anais Victoria Secret amber romance and another one from VS (heart shaped bottle, pretty strong) lots of different Bath and Body Works sprays and lotions DH liked all of these. :) Please share...

Not just your run of the mill Ipod/Ipad, electronics, video game, etc...gift. Something meaningful, long lasting, creative, useful.

I was going to suggest the Sneaky Chef cookbook/website. You can get the cookbook at the library. My kids aren't picky, nor do we allow it, but we got this cookbook from the library a couple of years ago and let them each choose a dinner and dessert menu that they made by themselves, mostly. They had so much fun! Maybe she would like to do that, too? You could also make green smoothies. Use fruit that she likes and throw in a handful of spinach or other greens and veggies. Make sure to use bananas (for sweetness) and blueberries or other berries (to help the color). ;) We have the Blendtec blender and the demo guy at the store was adding carrots, cabbage, spinach, etc., to the smoothies he was making as well as ice cream. You couldn't even taste the veggies! It comes with a cookbook when you buy it, but you could google and see if there are recipes online that you could find helpful. You can also look at the SAM's club and Costco website (if those stores are in your area) and see when a Blendtec or Vitamix demo is scheduled and go there to watch them demo the blender and also taste what they make. It might be fun for her to watch (I know my kids do) and she might taste what they make and find that it's good, too. Just some ideas. HTH a little... ETA... I agree with the post above mine about a "two bite rule".

Thanks, everyone! I forgot about the washcloth and didn't think about soft foods for her to smash up. I might try the Ergo on my back. I've only been doing the front carry. I've had back issues since she was born (it's gone out on me once already), so we'll see how it goes. I know the Ergo is supposed to be nice to your back, so maybe it will be okay. She already attempts to crawl out of her Bumbo. She does love the outside and we've been spending a lot of time outside lately. :) I know as time goes on she will become more content. Today was a better day. I, of course, do not expect her to be independent. She is my fourth, so I've been around the block before, but it's been awhile since I've had a higher needs baby. My last two would play and didn't require attention constantly. We are all different. I appreciate the ideas.

I have this and a Baby Bjorn and she is carried a lot in both, especially Sundays when we are at church all day. I'm needing help when we aren't holding her (or can't hold her) so she will be a little more independent.

Yes, I've been thinking of looking at the resale shops for another saucer. We have one that she can bounce in and it's one thing she'll stay in for a short while, but not long. She loves to jump on your lap, so we thought she would love it, but...not so much. So, I've been wondering if another play station would fit the bill. Thanks for the idea.

Whew! When our little 6.5 month blessing is awake, not much else gets done around here, or it gets done with some "background music" provided by her. :) She sleeps great, but oddly, it's the awake time we are having issues with. :) We'll get a few minutes out of her, but not long. She wants to be held, preferably in a standing position. ;) Help!

Thank you. I haven't heard of those. I'll have to google tonight. I did not think of 4H at all. Glad I asked.

Not wanting to debate anything, just wondering if there are alternatives. I know there is American Heritage Girls as an alternative to Girl Scouts.

Just the sound of the procedure sounds awful. What should I know going into it? I am getting antibiotics afterwards as well as the mouth rinse. Is it painful? Tell me everything.

Great post! I've been needing to unload pictures off the laptop, too. I have 10,087 to save (we currently just use one external hard drive) and/or print out. Which place offers the best way to print out your pictures? I'm thinking of just making a lot of photo books. I really don't want to put 10,000 pictures in photo albums myself! Which place has a photo book that allows for a lot of pictures? Thanks.

I agree with all that was said. I don't mind the barking because ours barks for a reason, not just to bark, and it's actually nice to have the alert. She will stop if we tell her and understands us with other commands even though we never trained her. We found her almost 6 years ago. She was old-ish when we found her and she's still doing great. She was already house trained and really has a mellow attitude. She is also a little mommy to our kiddos, especially the younger ones. She will "protect" the younger ones when my husband or my ds12 is wrestling or playing with the younger ones or even if they getting a hug. She'll bark at the person hugging them. What's funny is it's only the little ones, not the bigger kids. It's really sweet. One thing she has done that is so sweet is when the last two babies were born, she would follow me when I would go to their room if they were crying or when I lay them down or she will lay outside their door. It's easy to see what she is doing and is so sweet. She is a bit snippy and will snap-bite if she is touched in a way that she doesn't like or if you are trying to get her and she doesn't want to be gotten. :) We're not sure of her background before we found her, so that may have something to do with it. When she has snapped at the kids, it's not a full bite, just a warning and she immediately crawls up to them like she is saying she is sorry. We watch her around other kids when we have company and usually put her up to protect her and the kids. She is a great dog and we will get another when she dies. She is loyal, loves to be in someone's lap and even cuddles in bed with the kids if we let her or we don't know she got in their room. :) I don't mind when she's been to the groomer's, but otherwise it's just gross because she stinks. There might be different dispositions in each dog, but from what I've read and also what I've read on this thread, it sounds like schnauzers are similar. Also, I've always had girl dogs because they seem to be calmer and sweeter. Just my opinion and experience.