I think you first need to check what type of seatbelts are in each of the spots; they may dictate which children can sit in them. I have four children -- 9yo needs only a lap-shoulder belt, 6yo needs only a backless booster, 3yo is forward-facing in a Graco MyRide, and infant is rear-facing in the big Graco infant seat. The older two are in the back row, and the little boys are in the middle row. The only spot that is currently unoccupied is the middle spot in the back row, and it's the only spot that has just a lap belt, no shoulder belt, so it cannot hold a child without a harness. In the event that we have a fifth child (likely), most likely, I would move the current infant to the MyRide and the current 3yo to a Radian in the middle spot of the very back. Also, I remember from when I had three children in boosters/carseats all squished into a Ford Focus (that was tight, but it worked, though I am so grateful for the van now), sometimes seats puzzle together differently if one is FF'ing and one is RF'ing, so you might consider trying a rear-facing Radian for the new baby, putting it between the boosters in the back row. As well, there is a really small infant seat, a Cocoro, IIRC; I think it is more of a bonus for depth, rather than width, but you might ask at car-seat.org. They have all been super helpful to me.

Thank you; that is really helpful. I guess it probably wouldn't be a bad thing to have it be a little easy for her, because it would help build her confidence while making sure she had the basic skills down.

Last year (grade 3), the language arts section of DD's portfolio for the state included the following: a list of books we'd read that I considered to be "general literature" (ie not specifically focused on history/science/music), a brief description of how what sorts of things we had done that might count as LA, a cursive writing sample, a poetry sample that she had written, a narration she had written for history, and a page or two from the third grade BrainQuest workbook. We really like the BQ workbooks for a change of pace and to catch things that we might miss; they also are great for showing the state that you did study spelling or punctuation, if you don't do them in a formal way.

I aim for kids up by 7:30, breakfast at 8, and school starting by 8:30. Doesn't generally happen, but that's the goal. And almost all of the time, I do require that they be dressed before breakfast; it makes our day go more smoothly if they are.

I think you need to drill the routine for a while. If they wander away, go and bring them back. No fun stuff until their work is done. Take away the fun stuff for a while if need be. I use my 3yo's best time for independent play with work with my 6yo. The 9yo is supposed to do her independent work then as well, but she is super easily distracted, so I am currently ignoring it in favor of giving the 6yo what he needs. When 6yo is done, I do history and science with everyone. Then he goes to tidy his room and then plays with the 3yo while I work with the 9yo. (It does depend a bit on the baby, and what is easiest for me to do while nursing, holding, or wearing him, so it can vary; if he's taking a really good nap, for instance, I might put off history and science in favor of working with DD, who gets distracted from math by the smiling baby in my lap.) Then 9yo DD stays with me, wherever I am in the house, so I can supervise/assist her, while she finishes her work.

Nope, but granted, we are fairly new to her. She's seen my baby a couple of times and my 6yo once. She asked my 6yo a little bit about how school was going and what he was learning, but I think that was mostly to evaluate his speech and to get to know him a bit. She then asked me if I had any concerns about him, educationally-speaking, which I felt was appropriate, because she could refer us for testing or whatever if I was worried (I'm not). She seems pretty laid-back and open to non-mainstream ideas, which is what I want. If she was negative about homeschooling or anything, I'd find a new doctor.

Would Writing With Ease be good for my 10yo DD next year? She'll be in fifth grade, and I'd rate her language skills as excellent but reluctant; she doesn't really like writing but is creative and could use a gentle push toward helping her get her thoughts on paper. We haven't really done a lot of formal composition, but I don't think she's at absolutely square one either. What level of WWE would be good for her?

I had intended to take a full six weeks off after my fourth one was born, but I found that after about two weeks, I was feeling pretty good, and my older kids needed a bit more structure. So we did light schoolwork for a couple of weeks, then added a few more subjects, then a few more, so that by 6 or 7 weeks, we were back to full schoolwork.

My boys are almost 7, 3, and 6 months. My MIL often buys the older boys matching socks when she sees them on sale, and they're similar in size, enough that it's sometimes hard to tell at one glance. Plus, DS1 is gentle on clothes and doesn't tend to wear them out, so he passes them down to DS2, but they forget which ones have been passed down. So I just started putting a single dot with a sharpie on DS1's socks, and then two dots in DS2's socks. (The baby's are still tiny enough that it's obvious which ones are his.) So when DS1 passes down to DS2, we'll add a dot, and then when DS3 starts having similar socks, his will get three dots.

Only one of my children has been sick enough to need a sick visit/antibiotics, and that was the child who received most of the vaccinations, but on a delayed schedule. (That child also has multiple semi-serious allergies; the immune system is clearly wired differently in that child.) The others haven't had more than a cold or minor stomach bug. Yes, they were all breastfed; no, I don't really think that matters all that much. I think a lot of little things we do have helped a little bit, but in general, I think their good health is mostly luck of the draw and things out of our control (like, we live a fairly isolated existence; we live in the country, DH works in a very small office, etc., so we can limit our exposure pretty heavily).

In March, I will have been nursing continually for a decade, except for a handful of months toward the end of pregnancies, when the milk dried up, and the older nursling mostly weaned. I have met the WHO's recommendations (and then some) for my three older children, and I expect to do the same for my current infant. As for when we introduce solids, we are big delayers here. DD didn't get any solids until almost 8 months, DS1 was first given a little bit at 9 months but didn't eat more than a bite here and there until a year-plus, and we didn't give DS2 any solids at all until his first birthday. (And even though I hear all the time that they won't want solid foods if you don't start them early, I think that's baloney. None of my kids have thus far been very picky, and the one I waited the longest for solids with is the least picky of all of them. He eats anything and everything he can.)

I've not read all of the replies, but for one of our children, we got Hib, Prevnar (Pneumococcal conjugate), and DTaP. Our ped was really fantastic; she was comfortable with us skipping all of them if we had wanted to, but when I asked her which ones she felt were most important for *our family,* she thought DTaP was a good idea. I think a ped should be able to discuss which ones are most appropriate for your children. If it matters to you, certain vaccines are cultured in human fetal tissue. That particularly bothers me, so I chose not to give those ones.

This year, we're studying US history with our 1st and 4th graders. When we get to the point at which each state was added to the union, we color the state on a blank map and read the book from Sleeping Bear Press about that state (B is for Bluegrass, about Kentucky, and so on). We're also looking up a few places each week from my list of "should know" US geography features (from this thread:http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=290598 I have them all written on cards, so we can review the ones we've previously looked up. Also, my kids like the games from sheppardsoftware.com a lot.

Another very pleased long-term gmail user here! I love how easy it is to organize my emails with gmail, and I love the calendar feature too. I'm not really bothered by the ads. I find it vaguely disconcerting that it matches ads to me based on my messages, but it doesn't really bother me. They're pretty inobtrusive, anyway. (Much less annoying to me than Facebook's ads.)

As part of our US history studies, I'd like to play a few music selections for the children from each decade of the 20th century, things that are indicative of popular styles. I know next to nothing about music, including what was popular when I was in school (my parents were super strict about music), so I welcome your suggestions. When you think of the following decades, if you have a music selection or two that you feel is typical of the era, or was very popular then, please add it/them. (Should be fairly clean.) 1900s 1910s/WWI 1920s 1930s/Depression 1940s/WWII 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010-plus (I have no idea what would typify current popular music styles.)

I'm looking for a few good novels for some specific eras in US history. This is what I need: -A novel suitable for a 10yo girl who is a good, but easily bored, reader, something in the 3rd-8th grade range that she could read to herself, preferably fairly clean and not overtly anti-Christian. (I'm not bothered by a little profanity or mild violence, but no s*x/r*pe or heavy gratuitous violence.) We already have some of the "Dear America" type books on our list, so not one of those. It should take place around the 1960s and might include the moon landing, JFK, MLK, Jr., Civil Rights, segregation, etc. I'm looking at amazon reviews for Yankee Girl, by Mary Ann Rodman, and that might be what I want; has anyone read that? Other suggestions that DD might like? -A novel that meets the above qualifications but that takes place in the 1980s and 1990s. (I can't believe I'm drawing a blank here. Kind of tempting to have her read a BabySitters Club novel, only because they were so much a part of MY late elementary school years, but it might be nice to find something a little more scholarly. I did consider Cynthia Voigt's Homecoming and Dicey's Song -- maybe, but I think she'll love them in a few years, rather than right yet.) -A novel that meets the above qualifications for the 1960s but that would make a good read aloud to include a 7yo boy. (I'm looking at Basher Five-Two for when we study the 1990s; if it's not too above him, I think my 7yo DS1 will enjoy that.) Maybe From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler? I'm not sure I ever read that one, so I don't know how specific it is to the 1960s.

We do Caesar salad a lot, especially with a lot of fresh garlic. We also do very simple salads with just lettuce (whatever you like), walnuts/pecans, bleu cheese crumbles, and balsamic vinaigrette a lot. I love Greek salad, and it's hefty enough that it's almost a meal on its own: lettuce, cucumber, red onion, olives, feta cheese crumbles, pepperoncini, tomatoes, and balsamic or red wine vinaigrette. My DH isn't a big fan of garden salad (he doesn't like carrots), but I like them okay, especially with bleu cheese dressing. I like to put in carrots, hard-boiled eggs, chickpeas, seasoned salt, cucumbers, peppers, olives, marinated mushrooms, artichoke hearts. . .

I'm sorry you are having supply issues. A couple of things to consider (assuming the babies actually are not gaining well). One, have you had your thyroid checked by a specialist? They may tell you it's "fine," when it's in the 4ish range, but many women with symptoms (and low milk supply can be one) find that they do better when their TSH levels are more in the 2ish range. And two, have the babies been evaluated by a really good certified lactation consult? The LC should look for any of the various types of tongue and lip tie. Do either of the babies "click" while nursing? (Not the suck-swallow-breathe click; it's a click that means the baby is losing suction.) If so, have them evaluated immediately for bubble palate. Those things can all cause inefficient milk transfer, which can mean that the baby can't nurse effectively enough to empty the breast very well, so your body doesn't get the message to make more milk.

Yes, this. I would also consider the SAD to be a diet full of unnatural saturated fats, or artificially low fat foods. Margarine instead of butter. Low-fat sour cream instead of full-fat. I feel that there is a world of difference between Crisco and real, organic butter from a grass-fed cow. I also feel that the SAD uses a lot of factory-farmed foods, and a lot of added sugar/high fructose corn syrup. And I think many Americans drink far more soda, juice, and kool-aid than water. As for quick meals, okay, sometimes we get take-out pizza. But for quick meals, when we were able to afford to get a quarter of a grass-fed cow at once, steak was always an option. Generally, burgers (preferably organic and grass-fed) are our standby these days; it's easy to saute some green beans and maybe make a quick salad to go with the burgers. My spinach-egg-cheese casserole is super easy and fast to mix up, though it takes a while (30-45 minutes) to bake. If we didn't do omelets for breakfast so often, they would be a good, fast dinner meal too. I often use dried beans, cooking a big batch at once and freezing half, but I'll compromise and use canned beans occasionally; I can always heat the beans, and put salsa, shredded cheese, tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, etc. on the table for burritos. Very fast. Oh, and individually wrapped frozen fish fillets; I keep those in the freezer, and they're quick to prepare too.

I'm not really a fan of piercing babies' ears, though I understand it's common in some cultures. I generally feel that it should be a person's choice to pierce his/her ears, and I think it should be a choice made when said person is reasonably mature. I was a mature kid, and my parents still made me wait until I was 12, to be sure that a) it was something I really wanted, and b) I could care for them properly. My almost 10yo DD would like to get her ears pierced, but we don't think she's ready yet; I'm tentatively thinking 12ish, but we haven't really decided yet. (I don't really care for the idea of tying it in with the first period, because that can vary so much and seems not quite right for a late bloomer.)

Sandals in the summer, tall sexy boots sometimes, but mostly Lands' End Mary Janes. They're super cute with skirts. :)

You might consider waiting longer between washes. Shampoo actually strips your hair of its natural oils, so it compensates by producing more oil. People say that when you stop using shampoo, after a while, your hair will stop making so much oil. I have long straight hair and have not tried that yet, because I don't want to deal with the interim greasiness until it adjusts. Someday, though. :) I do manage to go about two days between washings, and sometimes I just use conditioner, which gets it mildly clean without stripping so much.

I was absolutely certain that my first was a girl and that she had brown hair and blue eyes. I just *knew* it. I knew her name years before she was even conceived. There was just never any question. When the baby was born and lying on my chest, DH and I were cooing and everything, and several minutes later, the midwife said, "So, Mom and Dad, what kind did you get?" It hadn't even occurred to us to check, because I was so convinced it was a girl. And indeed it was a girl, and she has brown hair and blue eyes. (We hadn't really decided on a boy's name.) With our second, I had no feeling either way, and we had a boy's name picked out but couldn't decide on a girl's name. I had that same strong feeling about my third baby. Very sure it was a girl. When DH caught the baby, and I sat up enough to take the baby, I said, with great surprise, "and it's a boy!" DH said, "it's a boy!" DD, who was watching, said, "it's a BOY??" LOL. (We hadn't decided on any names; I had a girl's name that I liked, but DH wasn't quite sold on it yet, and we never had agreed on a boy's name. It ended up taking us five days to name him, and the name we chose wasn't even on any of our short lists, but it's so perfectly his name.) I didn't have a feeling either way about the fourth. (And that time, we still didn't settle on a girl's name -- I kept waffling between a couple of them -- but we had the boy's name tentatively chosen by about 20 weeks.)

Maybe she doesn't do baby food. I don't; I don't start solids until close to a year, and we go right to table foods, no cereal or purees needed, so no breastmilk needed to mix with the baby food. Maybe this woman knows that other women could use the breastmilk, so she's been pumping and storing for a while and is asking for some money in compensation for her time and materials. To the OP, I would probably try to go through milkshare or somewhere similar, though I'd probably try to see if I could find a friend to get milk from first. I'd want to see evidence of screening and such first too. ETA: If I needed to supplement and could not get safe breastmilk, I would consider making my own formula from raw milk and vitamins (there are recipes available about how to do this).

I really wanted a girl the first time. I knew I wanted a son someday too, and I'd have been fine with a boy first, but I really was glad that our first was a girl. Mostly, I'm just thrilled that we have been able to have several children, and I always wanted to experience raising both genders, so I am so thankful for the opportunity to do so. I knew I'd love having a daughter; she's girly and likes pink and all of that fun stuff, but she's also always up for a get-dirty adventure, so that was a great introduction to fatherhood for DH too, realizing that he didn't have to treat her like a china doll. I figured having a boy someday would be fun, not just because I wanted DH to have a son, but because I thought it would be interesting to be a mom of a son. Well, the single most amazing and surprising thing I have experienced in my life is just how much I would like having my own little boys. Truly, I was unprepared for that. :) I adore my three little guys so much! I would not be too upset to have another little boy someday (except that I am out of names, LOL), aside from the fact that I would like to experience the pink and dresses and everything once more, and I would love for DD to have a sister. It's not that I wouldn't want another boy; it's more that another boy would mean not having another girl. I'd be thrilled to have another boy, but I'd have to grieve the loss of a girl, if that makes sense. But I've not seen a strong preference for boys over girls. Most moms seem to want at least one girl, and it seems that a lot of dads want at least one son. But my DH (after calling up all of his friends with boys and telling them to keep their sons locked up), the day DD was born, said, "every daddy needs his own little girl." :)