Crockpot chili and cantaloupe. I'm usually a very lazy pregnant chef.:)

That was a great documentary. I've always been very interested in the Amish but I don't think I would want to watch a reality show about their culture. That seems like an oxymoron somehow.:lol:

The entire time I have known my MIL there have been a ton of weird food issues. I was a veg. then a vegan, than a meat eater. One of my children became a vegetarian, than we had dairy allergies among the children, we went paleo as a family, then many, many food allergies with my fourth that severely restricted both our diets because of breastfeeding. Eventually many of his allergies cleared up, and just as we were both eating "normal" foods, we decided as a family to revisit paleo and my vegetarian child of 9 years started eating meat again. Currently I am pregnant and eating a gluten free/dairy free diet and my youngest is possibly celiac. Basically we are giant pains in the rear and she has just been an angel the whole time. She goes out of her way to accommodate our food choices and really derives pleasure from being able to creatively come up with alternative choices. We would actually be happy with far less and I feel really guilty about the effort she puts into what she most likely believes is all in our heads. The bottom line though is that she loves us and respects our choices, even if she doesn't agree with them. I hope I can be a mother in law like her instead of one like the OP's!

I would love to take my children to see it from a scientific perspective, but I hadn't heard of the controversy before now and that really bothers me. I have seen an exhibit of preserved fetuses with my older children and we all found it fascinating.

That was lovely!

Water. Occasionally I drink milk but usually it's only water. Pregnancy makes me extra boring like that.

I've never had much of problem with the Lego mess myself but that is likely only due to rules. All tiny Legos (non Duplos) stay in older brother's room and can only be played with there. They get picked up after being played with and live in an underbed storage bin. Only kiddos age 4 and up are allowed in there to play either alone or tongether with Legos. If they can't remember to clean up, then the next time they ask to play with them the answer is no. It sounds pretty militant but it's worked so far!:lol:

That was hilariously adorable!

I get it, I have one child that I feel like I am always picking on. While one part of me is concerned that if I don't continually correct the behavior(s) I won't be doing them any favors in their adult life, another just feels mean. Ah, the neurosis of parenthood, eh? I wonder if any parent is ever truly satisfied with the job they are doing?

I'm a french press gal myself, but I do understand the core issue OP, which is that you felt like your in laws were deceitful and rude, yes? I usually try to assume in those kind of situations that the offender is more in need somehow than I am. I may not agree with their methods but I figure it's their own bad karma anyhow. I may also be more inclined to let it go if it occurs with a family member. I think its a little passive aggressive and obvious to go with the whole separate machine and coffee. It would have been more gracious on your part to just provide a smallish amount of k cups for their visit like a PP suggested. I didn't read the other thread though, so if I'm talking out of my a** here, I apologize.:lol:

I'm here too! My oldest is a girl, then three boys in a row. We're all expecting the new baby to be a boy just because it seems to be the norm now, but who knows? My daughter is 16 and has always longed for a sister, although she adores her little brothers (mostly:)). She has grand girly plans for this little one though if she finally gets her wish!

We use these as well, which reminds me that I need to go order more!

Fun thread!:lurk5: About five years ago in my suburban neighborhood, we had a bit of our own intrigue. Apparently the house diagonally across from us was a grow house for pot. The detectives had a good vantage point from my house so for months they staked out the neighbors' house at all times of the day and night in front of my house, my driveway or across the street. Usually it was the same few detectives rotating and I was really happy to have them there since the whole thing was kind of scary. In turn, I think, they were glad to have the insomniac pregnant lady living there. I was able to tell them about odd hours and to watch for the owner. Apparently its a common thing for people to buy a house in an average suburban neighborhood to use for growing. They "rent" the house out to people who do the actual growing and then if the house gets busted they can claim no knowledge of the activity. The detectives were staking out the house to prove that the owner was really the money guy and involved in the whole thing. I'm not sure if they ever nailed him, although after the arrests, (which I missed dangit!) they did tell me I might need to testify. The main detective told me he was surprised I couldn't smell the house just passing by it because they had over 300 plants growing there! Not exactly what I planned for when my family moved into this cute neighborhood in a nice town just a few months prior to all the action. :lol:

I bought at Barnes and Noble with the L8U7K8B visa coupon.

I LOVE the Nosefreida! You actually can't suck the snot into your mouth because of a filter and the very long tube, but I know that it seems gross. It's actually quite fascinating to use, or maybe I'm just gross.:lol:

Thanks for the information and the coupon, my order came to just over $44 with tax!

Congratulations!

I am so sorry for your loss.:grouphug:

Ours is 16 years old and I want to replace it but we keep having babies and we cosleep. I can't decide what is potentially more dangerous for a baby, offgassing from a new mattress or the yuck from an old one. I really wish that we could afford an organic mattress but we just can't.

I agree with this although I have been in the exact same situation with my own daughter and I did tell her how beautiful I think her hair is when it is long. Maybe I should have just kept my opinion out of it because I wouldn't have been bothered that it was short or anything. She thought it over for a few days and decided that she was probably to vain about the length to be happy with the result if it were short. Which was exactly my point. I know my daughter and I know that she would have regretted it.

I'm not religious, nor do we attend church but I would be peeved. It is totally inappropriate to show violence and frightening images to young children, regardless of the message that is intended. My 5 year old son is particularly sensitive and would have been beside himself.

I've kept my positive pregnancy tests so I don't think that is gross, but I wouldn't show anyone a picture that included the pee end. Ew! And the condom story is just:lol:!!

We have an 8 cube Ikea Expedit in our master bedroom that contains clothes for our youngest kids. They each have a bin for regular clothes and another for pajamas/socks/underwear. Then I keep out of season, but still fitting, clothing for both boys crammed in one bin and diapers for new baby in another. We have a tiny room and this takes up no more horizontal space than a dresser but we are able to fit clothes for three children inside (I am including our yet to be born baby). The bins are quite deep but this also limits the amount of "stuff" we have, which I love. My oldest two have their own bedrooms and while I regularly help my 12 year old son pare down and declutter his wardrobe in a streamlining effort, I am more lenient with my oldest. She is almost 16 and buys all of her own clothing, so as long as it fits in her closet she can do what she likes with it and own as much as she wants.

We delay vaccines until age 2 or 3 and then slowly and selectively catch up on those we are concerned about. Because of the Pertussis outbreak this year, and most especially because we will have a newborn in December, we are doing the DTAP/TDAP with our kids. My oldest had a reaction as a child so she only receives the DT, but she also my healthiest and perhaps the least likely to transmit to baby. I am debating getting the booster myself after I deliver, but would like to understand a bit more about the effect that vaccines have on a nursing baby, if any. It is my understanding that parents and grandparents are the most common causes of transmission to infants. On that front, my husband and one set of grandparents have been vaccinated so far. We are considering vaccinating the new baby on time for DTAP but are terrified about the potential link to SIDS.

It usually takes me about two years also since my children are such frequent nursers. If I am not pregnant before then, the second postpartum period is usually a bear. It is almost as if the first one was just a practice run and then the next month my body is making up for lost time. Ugh. I hope that won't be the case for you though!