"No light sabers/light saber noises/sticks masquerading as light sabers in the school room." Really.

Yes, that. I would not count a birth center as a homebirth (though mine was a lot like having a homebirth in someone else's house, in that we still left *our* house for the birth, but the atmosphere was more home-like than hospital-like), but since our birth center was not attached to a hospital in any way, I do count it as an out-of-hospital birth. And I think a birth center (meaning one that is separate from the hospital) is a really great compromise for families who aren't wild about a hospital birth but who aren't sure they're up for a homebirth either. Ours was so lovely! Everything that is standard with a homebirth (no separation from the baby, being able to walk around during labor, support for drug-free, etc.) was standard, and we were able to go home a few hours after the baby was born. And yet, it was right across from the hospital, with an ambulance on speed dial, just in case. :)

Oh, now this made me teary -- how sweet of you! Aubrey, I'm so sorry -- praying that things get much better for your family SOON!!

I am so sorry -- so unfair for you and your family! Sending a prayer for you. . .

First baby was at a freestanding birth center. The rest have all been homebirths, the most recent one in the water. I probably would not have made it to the hospital with that one, as by the time I realized it was true labor, not prodromal, and therefore not going to go away, it was pretty close to over. I went from "I'm getting in the tub to see if it will help me relax a bit, let's see if I can feel the baby's head now that my water broke" to "it's a boy" in less than two minutes, with one huge push. DH had stepped out for a second and nearly missed it; the older children did miss it. (DD was at DS1's birth, and both she and DS1 were at DS2's birth; they had all been hoping to see DS3's birth, but oh, well.)

I change my little guy every couple of hours, more often if I know he's just pooped. He also still needs a nighttime change.

I've used cloth with all four of my babies. I used disposables a handful of times for my first, like in the first few days, or sometimes when we traveled, but with all of the boys, it's been cloth completely.

LOL! The kids sure have it right -- too bad Washington doesn't. Along those lines, my 9yo wants to know why the economy is bad, why we buy things from other countries instead of making them here ourselves, etc. So I'm trying to explain it to her as best as I can, and her answer is: "Well, why doesn't the government DO something about it?"

We did a carriage ride last year; the open carriages are more expensive than the closed ones, so ask about that when you book the ride. It was not a guided tour, just a ride around the city. I can't remember, but the driver might have pointed out a couple of particularly interesting sites. Kinda pricey for what it was, IMO, but the kids enjoyed it, and since it was the second year in a row we'd been to CW, this was the one thing that they really wanted to do. As for dining, the King's Arms Tavern is nice, but yes, very expensive. We did lunch at Chowning's last year, and while it still wasn't inexpensive, it was more reasonable than dinner and did still give us the tavern experience.

I was born in 1977, and I was breastfed for over a year (as were all of my younger siblings, and actually, my MIL breastfed my DH, born in 1975, and his sister as well). I don't know exactly when Mom started giving me solid foods, but I know she says that they were recommending six months or later, so I assume it was at least that. I doubt she bought much prepared baby food; she is the type who did her own canning and freezing and such, so for both health and financial reasons, I suspect she probably gave me homemade baby food. Now, my mom, otoh, was fed evaporated milk and corn syrup back in the mid 1950's. She was a bit of a rebel for wanting to breastfeed before it was really back in vogue, but thanks to her example, I never considered any other way of feeding my babies. (Her mom, even though she didn't breastfeed, was a rebel too, in that she refused to be knocked out for her babies' births. I come by it naturally. :) )

St. Mary's City? Lancaster area -- Landis Valley Museum? Ephrata Cloisters, Daniel Boone homestead (they're between Gettysburg and Philadelphia -- might work with a weekend trip to Philadelphia)? Antietam? Conococheague Institute -- French and Indian War? (They had a neat colonial fair last year -- http://conococheague.org/.) If you have people who are really into military history, you might consider zipping up to Carlisle, PA (about 20 minutes from Gettysburg) to see the museum and displays at the Army War College. They have examples from all of the major US wars -- bunkers, etc. I'm not into military history *at all,* and I thought it was pretty interesting; DH has seen the museum, and I think he said it was pretty interesting.

This dish makes plenty to feed DH, me, and our three older children, and usually there is some left over for DH's lunch as well. Add some fruit/applesauce and/or some bread to round out the meal. My kids LOVE this dish and cheer when it's on the menu. (This is particularly frugal if you get WIC foods, as the eggs, shredded cheese, and spinach can all be WIC items. Otherwise, it's less than $10, and it's very filling.) 4 cups cottage cheese ($3 or less) 1 dozen eggs ($1-2) 2 cups shredded cheese (usually cheddar, but last night I didn't have enough cheddar and used a mix of mozzarella and cheddar, and it was good; I also often use more than 2 cups, but you really can vary it according to taste and budget -- $2-4). 1 bag frozen or fresh spinach (again, to your taste -- $1) 1 stick of butter ($1 or less) Mix the first four ingredients together, beating the eggs well. Melt butter, and mix it in. (I really think you could probably omit the butter, or use less.) Bake at 350* for around 35-40 minutes, until center is pretty set and edges are golden brown.

Yes, the cardboard can be helpful, if you won't be going home right away. For a few minutes, though, we've not had a problem with the crickets chewing on each other. For our five-year-old leopard gecko, we buy the large crickets that PetCo/PetSmart carries, not the small ones, but even the large ones are not as large as the crickets in the yard. We get about 30 every few weeks, kind of whenever we're near a PetCo/PetSmart. We keep ours in a plastic cricket cage with some food and some "water" (it's like a gel).

A camera or an e-reader.

I usually bring some sort of baked pasta, because it freezes well. My MIL's mac-and-cheese would freeze well too. When I had a baby a few weeks ago, a friend brought a delicious chicken pie that our whole family loved (and they want her to give me the recipe so I can make it for them).

Hi Lori! Nice to see you here! :) Boiling Springs area is really nice. I'm down closer to Gettysburg, and I LOVE it. You could be in Camp Hill in 30 minutes from a lot of areas. Rt. 15 is a nice road, and in Adams County, there are no stoplights on 15, so you can be in Camp Hill very quickly. Dillsburg is a nice little town, just south of Camp Hill. You really can pick small town, modern development, or rural country for living, many places around here, and you can still commute easily to Camp Hill. (The school districts in Adams County are easy to deal with, for homeschooling, though IDK how they compare to ones in York, Cumberland, Dauphin, Perry, etc. However, if your son is 18, I don't think you'll have to bother with the school district; I think you don't have to after age 17. Look at askpauline.com for more help.) As for college, PA has a lot of great colleges, many of which are right around here, so you might not need to worry about out-of-state tuition. Gettysburg College, Messiah College, Shippensburg, HACC, etc. And there's Penn State too, with all of its branch campuses, but State College is an easy two-hour drive from this area (except on football weekends). Granted, I'm a bit biased, since I'm an alum, but it has a lot of good programs and would be worth considering if you can get in state tuition.

Plenty of mountains for hiking around here! Very pretty, and yes, people are very friendly. We've only lived here a few years, but nobody's ever treated us like outsiders. If you visit the area, come in the fall -- it's absolutely stunning! (Well, most years anyway; I don't know how the hot summer will affect the fall foliage.) The HS laws are different from VA -- there are more hoops to jump through -- but they're also pretty vague, and there are ways to work around them. It really depends on the specific school district you're in, though, so if you do move here, ask around before settling in a district.

We eat low-carb-ish. DH eats very low-carb (very little grain and fruit), so most of our dinners are low-carb. The kids and I try to eat whole grains and good carbs, but whereas he eats eggs every single day for breakfast, we swap eggs with oatmeal or whole grain pancakes sometimes. Or we'll have sandwiches/whole grain pasta for lunch (and we eat fruit with lunch, sometimes in smoothies for breakfast or snack).

Well, it depends on what you mean by "city." Mechanicsburg is not Philadelphia or Washington, DC, nor is it Harrisburg. It's a big, sprawling town. Parts of it are fairly crowded and busy -- narrowish streets, old buildings packed together, etc. Parts of it are suburban shopping areas -- WalMart, lots of restaurants in a row, stuff like that. Parts of it are country living. If you like small town or rural living, but you still would like to be commutable to a larger city, the Mechanicsburg area would be a reasonable choice. Central PA/south-central PA pretty much has everything -- lots of little old towns, lots of farm country, but you can be in Harrisburg pretty quickly, or even DC or Baltimore in a couple of hours, or just to a reasonable shopping area within 20 minutes.

I think it would be up to the kids. They can give each other privacy for changing, yes, but I can remember periods being kind of a mess at night and stuff when I was a teen, and I wouldn't have wanted to have a brother in the room for that. I can imagine it would be the same for similar things for teenage boys. So, puberty as a general guideline, I would think, but it also may depend on the kid -- some are less modest or self-conscious than others, and some are moreso.

That came from something my MIL said, when she was telling us about running into an old elementary teacher of DH's who asked how he was, and MIL was thrilled to say that he was a dad four times. So that gives you a great response to the small talk questions. Oh, it sounds like you are doing just fine then! As long as she and your son know that you're there if they need you, then I would totally not worry about it. There will be plenty of time to get to know your dgd. :)

My mom is 56; I am 34. I'm the oldest of four, and she had me a few days before she turned 22. I had my first baby a few weeks before I turned 25.

Hoping your trip is going well, Aubrey, and that this is a wonderful fresh start for your family!

I am so sorry. It was hard enough being 8 mos pregnant last month up here in PA where it was "only" in the 90s. I can't imagine how miserable you must be -- I hope your babymoon is particularly lovely to make up for it! (And the only saving grace may be that you're not lugging a newborn out in this heat. I've been keeping the baby's carseat in the house when possible, so that the buckles aren't blistering hot, but it's still not pleasant.)

Zachary! (One of the twins.) Which happened to be the first one I noticed, but only because my new little guy is Zachary also! Anna Marie, welcome! I look forward to reading more about your family and everything too!