Check out diaperswappers.com -- they have a for sale board that I hear has good prices on things like gently used Kozies.

That sounds like what my DS1 had last week, and I just had myself. That's how it started, with the bloated, sore tummy. We both ran low-grade fevers for a day or so as well, and then there were lots of trips to the bathroom for a few days, with some stomach pain/cramps. Not fun but could have been worse. I have heard that a bug has been going around. I hope she feels better soon!

We eat four or five times a day, but we don't really have typical "snack" foods around. The closest we really come most of the time is homemade banana bread or similar. Cookies are a rare treat. But my kids don't really like to go more than about three hours without eating something, and I don't generally either. So we might have a couple of eggs for breakfast, then some banana bread or a smoothie a few hours later, then lunch (which is generally a protein, and some fruit and veggie combination, plus milk), then maybe a piece of fruit or some baby carrots or a glass of milk mid-afternoon, then dinner, and sometimes some milk before bed. Seems to keep everyone's blood sugars more level and everyone happier that way. :)

Moby wrap is great for newborns, but it's too stretchy for a toddler. I'd definitely go for a mei tai or Ergo for the toddler. I am a very experienced babywearer, and I would recommend you look at reviews on thebabywearer.com to find a good brand of mei tai. They can vary a lot, and I would recommend finding one that is well-liked and time-tested. They may be a bit pricier but have had extensive testing, may carry insurance, and use high-quality materials. I can personally recommend the Kozy carrier, kozycarrier.com; I have been using the same Kozy for nearly five years, with two different children, and aside from being a bit dirty, it is in excellent shape. The owner has worked really hard to build her business and to ensure that she uses only top materials and construction techniques so that children will be safe. (She is also a friend of mine and a fellow homeschooling mom.) There are other excellent brands out there as well, but before you buy anything, I would definitely read reviews at TBW.

I do not have sports fans in my house, including DH. I like it that way. I only knew that the Steelers were in the SB because I live in PA. I had to look up the date and the other team.

I know next to nothing about how it works, but our generator runs on gasoline and will plug into an outlet on the outside of the house. I know it is a special type of outlet; it had to be installed specially (not just the same as a regular exterior outlet). It was not a big deal to do it.

I am thinking that is correct as well. We live in one state and file there, as full-year residents, but DH works in a different state, and we have to file there as well, as non-residents. In our case, the two states have a reciprocal agreement; we only pay income taxes to our residential state. It's possible OH and KY have the same agreement, or that there is a credit you can take somewhere or something so that you don't pay income taxes for that income in both states.

They're only about ten chapters each, both of the books, though the chapters are kind of long, so you could probably read both of them. Start with Winnie the Pooh; it's the first, and House at Pooh Corner is the second. You can buy the two together in a volume called The World of Pooh; the two poetry books (When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six) come together in a volume called The World of Christopher Robin. Here is TWoPooh: http://www.amazon.com/World-Pooh-Complete-Winnie---Pooh/dp/0525444475/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296653980&sr=8-1 (WtP and HaPC also come on a fantastic set of CDs, read by Jim Broadbent. They're excellent!) My children loved these books! Enjoy!

PCOS can have a lot of different symptoms and forms. There is a common profile for PCOSers (tend to be overweight, infertile/subfertile/infrequent cycles, facial hair), but that's not a given. There are very fertile women with PCOSers, thin ones, etc. Metformin does tend to work well for many of them; it is safe for nursing mothers, though it's not been well-studied, so many doctors are hesitant to prescribe it. Perhaps the information here (he includes some papers about Metformin and transfer to human milk) would help: http://neonatal.ttuhsc.edu/discus/messages/49/68.html (The info may be included in the most updated version of Dr. Hale's book, Medications and Mother's Milk, as well, but I don't know.) Since there is some evidence that PCOS is related to insulin resistance, I know many people have had great success with low carb diets. You might also want to ask for a referral to an actual endocrinologist, who might be able to pinpoint things better for you.

-Feed the baby on the same breast for every feeding, even if it's short, within about 3-4 hours. Then use the next breast for the next 3-4 hour block. This gets more of the hindmilk into the baby, which can help the baby gain weight. (If the unused breast is uncomfortable, Mom can express a bit, with pump or by hand, just enough to ease any discomfort.) -Slow weight gain is a concern, but not necessarily a problem (though for an early, small baby, I think it's more of a concern). Is the baby's output good? Can Mom hear a good suck-swallow pattern? Is baby lethargic, or very fussy, or anything like that? Any sign of reflux or other digestive issues? -Is Baby nursing at least 8, more like 12 or more, times a day, and for a good period at each feeding? Mom should be putting Baby to breast very frequently and not limiting the feeding times. -Baby should probably be evaluated by a professional, preferably an IBCLC, not just a pediatrician or hospital LC. A chiropractor may help too. A small, early baby may need some special help with latch and positioning. It doesn't matter how much milk supply Mom has, if Baby can't transfer it effectively. A professional may be able to help Mom find some positioning techniques. Also, if the placenta was degrading, are they sure it all came out? If a piece is retained inside Mom, that can contribute to low supply.

I was wondering about Freestars -- our other vehicles are all Fords, and I feel comfortable with them (and DH is pretty familiar with fixing them). So my first inclination was to look at Freestars. Thanks for the recommendation! There is a much larger pool from which to choose than when I bought my beloved Ford Expedition (now dead, due to a rollover accident -- which is why I am looking for something to hold 6 comfortably), and I didn't even know where to start with makes of vans!

We are just starting to look at minivans; we have a truck that will hold us plus all four children, but a minivan would be more comfortable. We're looking into older minivans (like 8+ years old), because we really don't want to spend much, and I'd like to hear how your older vans are working for you. We've glanced at an older Chevy Astro and some older Dodge Caravans, for reasonable prices, but I'd like any comments. (Well, probably not for Hondas or Toyotas -- they are probably out of our budget.) DH is a good amateur mechanic, so reasonable maintenance is okay, but if you've had to put a LOT into your minivan after it reached the 100K miles mark, I'd like to know. 400 miles a month would be a lot for us, and many weeks, it would be driven maybe 30 or 40 miles total.

I use my Lodge stuff on my smooth top range. No problems. If it scratches, I haven't noticed, and I've been doing it for years. The only thing I don't like is that I have a light-colored smooth top, and the cast iron does tend to stain it. But it doesn't affect performance at all.

This isn't online, but it cost me less than $5 with shipping. I use an old (like 2001) version of Quicken, and I LOVE it. I can download transactions from my bank account and assign them to categories (groceries, gas, etc.). Then I can see nice little charts and graphs of what I've spent so far vs. what I still have available and such. It has been such a big help to me over the years. It does take a bit of getting used to, but once I did, it only takes a few minutes now and then to do everything. Newer Quicken programs are lacking some of the same features, which I found strange, so when my 2000 version died, I bought the 2001 one from ebay.

I have a pretty substantial collection of cast iron. Most of it is Lodge; one or two items are a generic-but-similar-to-Lodge brand. I love love love it all. Maybe the Le Crueset is even nicer, but I have not been disappointed in what I have and feel no reason to want more expensive stuff. IME, once a cast iron skillet is properly seasoned, it's absolutely wonderful.

This is my ideal schedule, and it is doable for us, but it requires some self-discipline for me (which I'm kind of short on, especially when pregnant). between 6 and 6:15 -- I get up, shower, dress, have my quiet time. 7:00 -- the children are up (they naturally wake up around 8 most days but go to bed too late; DH gets up before 5 and would like to go to bed earlier, so we really do need to adjust all of this.) 7:00-7:30 -- I make my bed, take the toddler to the bathroom/change his diaper, start the first load of laundry, start breakfast, start something for dinner (thaw something, start beans cooking, etc.). During this time, the children (the older two) are dressing themselves, putting away their pajamas, making their bed, brushing their hair, and doing their morning tasks. (DD feeds and waters the cats and empties the dishwasher; DS1 empties trash cans around the house and takes out the trash, recycling, and compost. The 2yo helps when he can.) 7:30-8:00 -- We eat breakfast and read Bible and poetry. Then the children go and brush their teeth, and I get the toddler ready for the day. This is where it gets a little sticky. I would like to have another 30-60 minutes to clean up the kitchen from breakfast, do more laundry, start whatever cleaning needs to happen that day, etc., but that pushes starting school later. In the warmer months, I can send everyone outside for a little while and then join them for a bit (maybe do some nature study), but they're really not wild about going outside for very long these days (it's really, really cold and windy in our yard right now). If I work on household tasks, they lose some focus and go off to do their own things. Sometimes I have some time after I finish eating and reading until they're done, so I can at least load the dishwasher and then do a quick wipe of the table while they do their teeth. So, 8:00 -- everyone, myself included, heads into the schoolroom, directly from tooth-brushing. A couple of hours there, with a break and snack in the middle, and we're ideally done before 10 or 11. Then they have some free time (during which they also need to clean their bedrooms if they're messy; I only require bed-making before breakfast) before lunch, so they can play or do their own projects while I record schoolwork, make lunch (which they often help with), and work on cleaning, laundry, whatever. 12:00 would be lunch, and then the afternoon is free for fun stuff, with some tidying before dinner. (I'm trying to move all outside activities to the afternoon, and if we're going out, they need to have shoes, coats, and whatever else they need sitting by the back door before lunch.) I'm thinking about loosely scheduling art projects and handcrafts on specific days in the afternoons too. 4:30 or so is time to start dinner, if it's not already cooking. 5:30 is dinner, then immediately baths/pajamas and teeth-brushing -- ideally one parent does that, while the other cleans up the kitchen. Then they have free time, or parent time until 7:30. 7:30 -- family reading time. 8:00 -- kids go up to bed but have some reading time on their own. 8:30 -- kids' lights out. 9:30 or 10 -- adults to sleep. All of this is an ideal that never quite happens, but it is doable for us. :)

Don't know about costs (we're not there yet), but I would be really put off by that approach. I just had my kids at our dentist recently. They're a pediatric-only office and are generally wonderful. I asked our dentist about whether or not either of my big kids (almost 9 and almost 6) should see an orthodontist yet. He said that maybe DD might want to go for a consult over the summer, but we shouldn't be too worried yet. He said that a couple of the dentists in their practice are trained in orthodontics, so it doesn't sound odd that your dentist would have recommended their own practice. He did say that they don't really have time to do orthodontics, though, so they prefer to refer patients to an ortho practice that they know and trust (one of the orthos is actually this guy's son). All in all, he was very gentle and friendly about it and willing to take the time to discuss it with me. I would really not care for your dentist's approach, as it sounds very abrupt. (I'd also wonder if that meant he wouldn't be very friendly when discussing any other potential issues with your children's teeth, and he sounds like might be off-putting to the children as well.)

Since we're expecting a new baby right at the beginning of next school year, our children will obviously be getting a hands-on course in human growth, development, and care. Since our state requires a portfolio and whatnot, it seems like I should incorporate that into DD's science curriculum. I'm thinking maybe once a month or so, DD could write a couple of sentences noting what the baby has learned to do that month, or something. I don't want to get too bogged down, though, because I want her just to enjoy our baby without thinking about turning it into schoolwork, y'know? I just thought the baby (which she's very excited about, especially if it turns out to be the long-awaited baby sister) would be a fun and obvious science topic. If anyone else has ideas on how I might use what we're doing naturally in a way that would also satisfy my state's portfolio requirements, I'd love to hear them! (DD will be a 4th grader; DS1, who will be in 1st, is not required to report to the state next year, so we don't need anything formal for him. If DD was in high school, I'd be giving her home ec type credit for baby care, but I don't need that yet. Just biology-type credit.) Seems like a waste for something that's going to occupy a lot of everyone's time not to count for something official.

This sounds really nice to me! How would the sunroom work for a dining room? (I'm guessing you also have an eat-in-kitchen for dining most days?) We technically have a formal dining room in our house, but we didn't even set it up as such; we made it the playroom. (Then we made a small front room next to the playroom the living room, and the larger living room the schoolroom; it had a terrible flow for a living room but works beautifully as a school/art room). We have a large kitchen, the "country kitchen" sort, and it has plenty of room for our large dining room table -- maybe slightly tight when we have both extra leaves in it and lots of company, but it works (and that's really rare anyway, maybe twice in four years). We just eat all meals at that table and dress it up with formal tablecloths and such as needed. This arrangement totally works for us, and the schoolroom gets used a lot, for most schoolwork, but also art projects, puzzles, etc. I vote for doing whatever works best for the majority of the things you do.

Congratulations! I hope your pregnancy goes well! If you have the option, I would definitely start in the summer, trying to go fairly intensively, at least with the older children, so that you can take a couple of months off when the baby arrives. (I'm really hoping I have that option -- our baby is due in late July, and our state won't let us count anything before July 1, so I am hoping we'll be able to get 3-4 weeks of work in.) Then I'd plan on a lot of good readalouds for the first several months. You can always catch up on math later, but you can incorporate literature, history, science, art, etc. into readalouds with the kids while you're feeding the baby. If you're required to keep records, you could have them do some narrations, either writing by hand, or recording them for you to transcribe later. Also a good time for some books on tape/CD and maybe some good movies (that could also cover history, science, music, and art).

Personally, I would really, really recommend the Our Little Celtic/Norman/Frankish Cousin of Long Ago series. (Well, we haven't read the Frankish one, but the other two were fantastic.) Some of them are available at mainlesson.com, for free, but amazon has them too. My kids just ate them up, and I really liked that they showed a lot about medieval life in different areas and time periods, even within the middle ages. I think they're a lot like the Little House books -- kids like them at the first reading but will get more and different things out of them after multiple readings. Also, we really like The Making of a Knight, but Patrick O'Brien, and it has a lot of info. Macauley's Castle would probably be on my short list to buy too. And Good Masters, Sweet Ladies was also excellent.

I got one from my ILs' house; it was just sitting there, unused, so I asked if we could borrow it. They were thrilled to do so. It has a few countries that are not accurate any longer (ie it has the USSR), but that's been pretty easy to explain, and it definitely works fine for basic geography and topography. My kids are still pretty young, so that works well. Maybe a grandparent or someone has one you could borrow indefinitely?

I have liked knitting with the washable wool yarn from Knit Picks, Swish. I don't know how well it washes or if it stretches though, as both of the things I knitted were gifts.

I'd probably call it Textile Design or Fiber Arts. I like "Handwork," but if you're creating a transcript and/or have to report it to a school district (like we do here), I think Textile Design or Fiber Arts sounds more official, plus I think it is the right tone if you want the credit to count as a fine arts credit.

Your poor boys! Mine would have been absolutely terrified as well (even my one who's not afraid of much). I can't believe those neighbors -- UGH! Who thinks that kind of thing is funny?!?! However, your sheriff is wonderful! So glad he took it seriously and was able to speak with your boys. If they are still scared, I'd probably call animal control and have them look around the place and then reassure your sons that there is no mountain lion.