LOL, I use those for sleeping, or little noises keep me awake. It's tempting for daytime, but I don't think that would work, because then I couldn't hear the other children. I really need a way to get the children not to make the random noises. :)

Wow, that is fascinating! I would not be bothered by a medical professional asking about that (or if I feel safe at home or if the pregnancy was planned -- my MWs with my first two pregnancies included all of those questions as part of their basic health workup). Twice, I'd just assume the MW forgot or wanted to double-check. Random people (because anyone who knows me knows that my children all have the same father) -- I don't think I'd be offended, but I would think it was weird to ask. Really, who cares if they have the same father? It just seems so strange to me that anyone would ask that. I've not been asked that, but it's also fairly obvious that they're all related. (DD and DS1 don't look much alike; DD mostly favors me, and DS1 mostly looks like DH and FIL, except that he got my dimples, and the others did not. DS2 is colored like DS1 but looks more like DD and I otherwise. DS3 is dark-haired like DD and I, but I see DS1 in his face a lot, though he flips to looking more like DD/me/DS2 pretty often. The older boys are both blond like my dad and brother were as kids, and we haven't gotten one with DH's red hair yet.)

I really, really love my Graco SafeSeat for my newborns! I have used it from a couple of days old with both of my younger boys, who were 9 lbs. 5 oz. and 8 lbs. at birth -- so, not tiny, but not crazy huge either. They were 20.25 and 21 inches at birth as well, and the lowest straps fit them fine. DS2 used the seat until 18 months, so it's worth the money and is not that much more expensive than the regular smaller SnugRide. I also love our MyRide, and its infant insert seems nicer than the SafeSeat's. I have not tried it with a newborn, but it should work fine. If I didn't want to be able to move the infant seat between cars or keep it in the house in extreme hot/cold weather, I'd probably just have gone with the MyRide; it could easily last from birth until age 5. I can take some pics of my 6-week-old in each of the seats if that would help anyone.

Yes! Overstimulation for sure. It's hard enough that I'm very introverted -- I love my children and like being with them, but being "on" all the time is hard for me. The constant noise puts me over the edge. :)

Does anyone else have kids who just hum, or sing, or randomly whistle, somewhat under their breath but not quite, while they're listening to a story, or doing their schoolwork, or even while they're supposed to be doing a household task? Random, unnecessary noise. My older two both do this, and it's driving me nuts. It's like a low-level dull hum all the time. I'm trying to explain something to one of them, and the other is making the noise (which is irritating to me, and it's often distracting to the other one). It wouldn't bother me so much when they're doing their household tasks, except they get distracted from those tasks. Or they don't hear when I tell them to do something. Not to mention that maybe I have some SID or something, and the constant noise really, really bugs me. I realize it's not going to be quiet with four children in the house, and I don't expect that. I don't mind their conversations, or play-acting, or even talking to themselves while doing work (right now, DD is doing a grammar worksheet, and I can hear her talking the answers out to herself -- that doesn't bug me); it's the random noises for no apparent reason that are the problem. Any suggestions on what I can do about this, other than keep telling them to be quiet?

My Corelle dishes have lasted for thirteen years, and we've only broken a few. (They're round, though; IDK about square.) They don't break easily, true, but wow, when they do break, they shatter into manymanymany tiny pieces and slivers. (Our pottery dishes break more easily but break into a few chunks instead.)

I'd dump it. But then again, I just dumped almost an entire bag of sugar because I found a couple of large ants in it. DD said I could just pick them out, but I was grossed out.

More recommendations for TCOYF, charting, NFP, etc. Aside from other considerations about hormonal BC, one very good reason to learn about charting and fertility signals now is because it will be easiest now, and the knowledge will help her later. Once she has a child, if she breastfeeds, hormonal BC is not okay (I think the mini-pill is, but it is less reliable too), so learning her fertility signs now, while they're consistent and reliable, will be helpful when they're less consistent. Knowing what fertile cervical fluid looks like is helpful, and her cycle should be fairly consistent right now -- might not be while nursing.

:lol::lol::lol: That was great!

Yes, to that. I don't really mind if people ask nicely if we think we'll have more; I figure they're curious, maybe want to know how the logistics of a large family work, are thinking about being quiver full, who knows? I usually say, "I hope so!" How am I supposed to know if we'll have more or not? It's a reasonable assumption that we could have more if we wanted to -- I'm only 34, got pregnant very easily last time, we don't use artificial birth control, etc. But you never know. If God sends more, I will be thrilled (and I still feel like someone is missing from our family); if not, I'm content and happy with the four beautiful babies I have. I wouldn't mind being asked how I do it, though I don't think I really have anything special to share. Four isn't really that many, IMO. And I don't know how I do it -- I just do. But I do love seeing even larger families and hearing what works for them. I guess I'm not bothered by genuinely curious or interested questions, about family size, homeschooling, breastfeeding, whatever. I am happy with my choices in those areas, and I'd love to share them with anyone who might be wondering or considering something for their own family. But negative comments -- yuck. (I've really never had one. The "worst" I've ever heard was "you have your hands full," which really cracks me up, because usually, my infant is in a sling, so my hands aren't literally full. I always say, "my hands and my heart." And full is definitely better than empty.)

She sounds wonderful! My DD goes through obsessions with things, to that same sort of degree -- for a while it was the AG dolls, for a while it was Wizard of Oz, now it's Star Wars. . . I only get annoyed when the obsessions get in the way of the schoolwork and chores they need to be doing.

That is so sweet! (And I think the Lego kingdom sets are pretty awesome too! I think I like them at least as much as my 6yo does.)

We've stayed at Powhatan Resort twice -- it is very nice! Nice to have the kitchen but also the laundry, even for a short trip. If the weather is still warm, the outdoor pools are really nice; I think they do have an indoor pool too, though we haven't tried it. Do bring some toys or movies to keep the kids occupied during the "down time;" I know I was concerned about ours being overly excited and noisy, and possibly disturbing the people above/below us. One year, they offered us a pretty substantial gift card if we would sit through a timeshare presentation. We didn't have time for it, but it would have been handy.

My DS1 weaned himself, but he was pretty old by the time he did. My DS2 has probably weaned himself, and he's not quite three. With all three of my older children, my next pregnancy killed the milk supply and led to at least partial weaning, and for the boys, they really didn't nurse much even after the new baby arrived. I am kind of sad that DS2 is probably weaned, because that is young for me. But he's happy and content, and he likes to snuggle with me (and the newborn) or DH when he falls asleep, and he's a well-adjusted little man, so clearly, he got whatever emotional benefits of extended nursing that he needed (and he's darned healthy, and he did nurse a lot up until he was two, which is my absolute minimum, for the health benefits), so I can't complain too much. (I was totally up for tandem nursing, if that's what he wanted, even though I personally don't care for it -- newborns and toddlers have very different suck patterns, and it kind of drives me nuts.)

I am impressed at her initiative, and I can see why she'd be disappointed if she feels that her siblings aren't appreciating her efforts. I would try to help her plan and start a little earlier for breakfast, and I would also talk with the other family members -- "Sis really would like to serve you breakfast; let's give her a chance and appreciate the service."

I may be borderline Aspie, and the OP resonated with me. The even number thing made me laugh, because it is SO true. We have window AC units, and I can NOT stand if they're on odd numbers. They have to be even. DH thinks I'm nuts.

We've had good success with the Toys R Us brand as well.

I agree with this. My 9yo DD is working her way through fourth grade math, but she doesn't quite know all of her multiplication facts cold yet. She's totally getting the concepts though, so I'm just having her look up the facts as needed. My 6yo son is a little wiggly but not as much as my 9yo DD (who was much wigglier at 6)! She really needs to move a lot, or to be fiddling with something (DH is the same way, and he's 36). As long as they are being quiet and not distracting anyone (including themselves), I am okay with them drawing, fiddling with something, playing, etc. while reading or listening.

About 3-4 for DD; she was really into workbooks for a while, more than I even wanted. I've always been much more of a laid-back, unschooly type with little kids, so I didn't do much "schooly" stuff with her back then. But I also had more time just to play and read with her too. :) About 5 for DS1 -- last year, he started doing some writing and reading. My 2, almost 3, year old son thinks he does school! He insists on having a workbasket of his own, like the big kids. I put crayons and paper, puzzles, and other early learning activities in there for him; he thinks he's doing schoolwork, but I would not consider it to be schoolish. I'll probably start him with writing and phonics at about 5 or so, depending on his level of interest.

I have not read the rest of the replies yet, but absolutely, yes, I would consider it! Original is better than "badly retrofitted!" (DH says "remuddled.") Of course, my DH is an old house professional, so he'd do the work himself and would make sure it was done right, but yes, this is a great chance to have a cool, solid old house. Just be sure that you do any updating carefully and sensitively -- this is the last time it will be original, so look for a good professional to advise you. DH says you want a good general contractor (who is experienced with old houses) who will get your plumbing, electrical, and HVAC guys working together in concert to produce a finished product that is done well and sensitively. He says it will be easily $100K, for those three things (and I'd trust his accuracy -- writing contracts and bids is what he does). He says you might talk to the local historical society to see if anyone there can recommend people they know or have used that are good with historical work. That being said, we *do* have an old house, probably almost 200 years old. It has its ups and downs. Some of the updates were done badly and clumsily. Some of them by default wrecked the old house flavor -- the traditional two-story porches were wrecked, because otherwise there were no other places to put bathrooms and laundry room. Most of the original windows were removed, in favor of modern non-drafty ones. Unfortunate but somewhat necessary sacrifices. (But we also have a fair amount of space and land, more than we could have afforded with a newer house, and the 20-year-old houses we've owned have had their issues too.)

Since I'm in Gettysburg pretty much weekly, I feel like I ought to comment on visiting there, LOL, but I can't, really. I have done the audio tour, and it's very good, but the last time I did it, I had one toddler, and she slept in the car. I am looking forward to trying it again this year, but with 4 dc between infant and 9, it may or may not go well. I want to try the Hall of Presidents -- I think the kids would get a kick out of that.

Take a backpack with water and snacks. But do get some gingerbread cakes from the Raleigh Tavern bake shop! Use the bathrooms when you're close to them, whether you need to or not (says she who has run for bathrooms with small kids). For the tavern experience, consider lunch instead of dinner. We've done dinner at the King's Arms and lunch at Chowning's, and the lunch was almost as nice but way less expensive. Last year, they gave the kids little maps that had several places marked; you could get a punch at each place, and when you got three punches, you got a Williamsburg pin. DD and DH went to the dance experience at the Capitol (Sunday evenings, maybe?) two years in a row and loved it. At least rent/buy caps for the kids if you don't do costumes -- lots of people will be in costume. Look for coupons -- one of the bunches of things we got mentioned something about an educator's discount. The Rockefeller place (name is escaping me right now) is very cool. And the folk museums are amazing as well. The tour at the Randolph House was particularly excellent one year. Great Hopes Plantation is a lot of fun too (and there are some nice areas around it for photos -- our Christmas card photo last year came from up there). Make a few hundred stops at the miliner's shop for us! (That's my DD's favorite stop; she went there many, many times the past two years, but we're not able to go this year.) Historic Jamestowne was neat, though not huge (a couple of hours was plenty). Cool to see the ruins of the original settlement though. Jamestown Settlement (recreated fort, ships, and Powhatan village) and the Yorktown Victory Center were also very cool. The galleries at Jamestown Settlement are amazing! Biggest thing about Williamsburg: as soon as you get the brochure, check the open times for the various craftspeople and other buildings. Some are only open for a few hours on certain days, and it's a bummer to realize you missed something just because you didn't notice when it was open. I like to code each building we can see on each day with a particular symbol and then cross them off as we visit. Have a great time, all of you who are going! ETA: For the OP, my children were exactly the age of yours last year (and obviously younger the year before), and they had a blast! They LOVE history, though, especially my DD. They liked the craftspeople the best, where they could peruse things and ask questions at their pace. The little boys didn't like the guided tours as much, so a few times, DH and I split up, with one of us going on the guided tour with DD, and the other staying out with the boys. But each of us only missed a couple of buildings total, so it wasn't bad. Look for some books about Williamsburg ahead of time; DD really likes that she can tour the Geddy House after reading the book Mary Geddy's Day, and there is a good series of books about the craftspeople, I think by Bobbie Kalman. Oh, and it's not stroller-friendly; an Ergo is a great option for babies!

salad -- we like Caesar salad, or mixed greens/romaine with bleu cheese, walnuts, and balsamic vinaigrette. DH is not a huge fan of garden salads, but I like those pretty well. mozzarella and tomatoes with basil, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar brussels sprouts -- pan-fried in butter -- my 6yo's favorite roasted broccoli (or cauliflower) peas -- boiled or steamed lima beans -- boiled sauteed spinach with a bit of lemon juice and garlic roasted squash or sweet potatoes homemade fries or potato latkes

Yay for National Parks! We've been to: Boston National Historic Park Fort McHenry (hoping to visit again this fall, with the kids) Catoctin Mountain Park (I feel like we've been there; I know we've hiked around there, even if we've not been to the specific Park, and it's gorgeous.) I feel like we've been to Fort Washington as well but can't remember. Harper's Ferry National Park Historic Jamestowne Cape Hatteras National Seashore Wright Brothers National Memorial various parts of the Appalachian Trail Gettysburg National Military Park Valley Forge National Historic Park

We have a mix of linoleum, Pergo laminate, and old (as in, the wide stuff) hardwood flooring, and our Dyson does a great job on all of it. (I have been told that you need not to use the brush on the hardwood, as it might ding it up, but so far, we haven't noticed that. Then again, the hardwood has not been refinished any time in the past several years and is in need of it, so maybe that would make a difference.) Our ShopVac also does a great job.