First, I hope you are at the ER. Second, congrats!! I'm due in October as well.

VPK (voluntary pre kindergarten) is free here.

Definitely. I've been down with morning sickness for the past few months and we've done absolutely NO school. So we're having to school through the summer to make up for it.

For the one about being around the kids all day, I'd say: "Nah, I actually enjoy being around my kids."

When DD played soccer, I got her cleats and shin guards at Target.

We have one by Midland that's great. It's in our bedroom and I have it programmed with our zip code to alert us to severe thunderstorm warnings as well as any tornado watches/warnings. I don't mind being woken for severe thunderstorm warnings because they often contain really bad lightning and a tornado warning soon follows. So I like to be woken for them.

LOL!!! Yeah, that would be....interesting. :lol: I didn't realize that so many people in tornado prone areas did not have basements or storm shelters! Like I said, I live in Florida and we definitely do not have basements. When our weather radio goes off, we go to an interior hallway. We also have an interior bathroom, but it is tiny and it also has a skylight. The hallway does have a short hallway (with no door) that goes into the living room....but I figure it's better than nothing.

Honestly, I wouldn't stress about it. You invite who you can. And if the kids come knocking, just tell them that you dc cannot play right now. No explanation needed.

There seem to be LOTS of tornadoes here lately in what I guess is "tornado alley." My question is....does everyone in that area have a basement? And when you are in the basement, are you considered safe? Or just safer than if not in a basement? I guess what I'm asking is....can a tornado suck you out of a basement???:001_huh: I live in north Florida, so excuse my ignorance on the subject LOL. We DO get tornadoes and quite a few tornado watches/warnings....but mainly it's just circulation in the clouds that never forms into an actual funnel cloud. And if it does, it's usually a weak one. I could NEVER live in a tornado prone area. Seriously, I almost wet my pants when my weather radio goes off and tells me that "conditions could be right for a tornado to form." :svengo:

No rotovirus, chicken pox, hep B, meningitis (at least till college), HPV, MMR, or flu shots. The others I'm on the fence about. DD7 is fully vaccinated up till her 2 year old shots. DD4 is fully vaccinated up to her 9 month shots. After that, I began to research. I didn't like what I found so we stopped. I'm unsure of what to get the new baby, but I know it will not get the ones listed above. I'm still researching the others.

During the day, when DH is at work, I don't answer the door unless the person has informed me that they are coming. If an uninvited person does ring the door bell, I watch them through a slit in the blinds to make sure that they leave my property. I lock all doors and windows at night....also when I'm home during the day. When I used to jog or walk, I would carry mace, my dog would come with me, and I'd make sure not to go at night. If I felt suspicious about a vehicle or person, I wouldn't hesitate to turn around and go back the other way. I'd also have my cell phone with me. When in the car, I automatically lock the door when we get in. At night, if I feel unsure, I will get in the car, lock the doors, and then put the kids in their car seats from the safety of the locked doors. If parking at night at a store, I attempt to park up front. I'm always careful about my surroundings in a parking lot though. I always be sure to look around and know who's around me. I also attempt to not park beside large vans with tinted windows. Paranoid....I don't think so. I've watched the news, know the safety precautions, and try to put them into practice without being too overboard. Just cautious.

LOL!!

How in the world do I declutter the playroom? I've gone through multiple times and cleared all out junk toys, anything they do not play with, all babyish toys, etc. However, they STILL cannot keep it clean. That tells me that they have too many things. It looks like Toys R Us in there! But I cannot figure out what to get rid of. They have a lot of very nice toys. And the thing is....they DO play with them. They'll go through a week of playing with houses/buildings. They have about 10 different house-type structures....from a Little People house to a Little People barn to Precious Places fold out houses. They will set up a town and play with it every day for a week. Then it won't get played with for a little while. But then they'll go through a week of playing with American Girl items. They set up an area with a table for them, drag out all of their clothing, etc. Then it won't get played with for a while. They do this with all of their things. Right now, the floor is strewn with a bunch of little things....EVERYWHERE. All big things are put on the shelves. But there's American Girl clothes, shoes, small animals, paper dolls, knights, pretend food ALL OVER THE FLOOR. Yes, I've tried putting everything in it's own bin....and it works to a degree. Everything is separated and has its own home. Yes, I've done the "clean the playroom right before bedtime" thing. But if we get rushed at night, that's the first thing cut out. I like for the kids to go to bed on time, so if we are running behind, we just forfeit cleaning the playroom. And then it just goes downhill from there. I have no idea what I'm asking for here LOL. Ideas? Sympathy? I just don't know what to get rid of, if anything. I've already cleaned out everything they truly don't use very much.

Yep, if all else fails with getting prenatal care, I was going to suggest the above as well. I have my own blood pressure cuff and I'm about to get a fetal doppler as well. I do have insurance but I also like to take my health (and that of my baby's) into my own hands as well.

After #2, I was walking around WalMart one day and this wave of tiredness suddenly hit me. I was dizzy, tired, lightheaded....I had to sit down in the middle of the check out lane! Talk about embarassing! After weeks of my hair falling out, feeling very tired, having heart palpitations, being too hot or too cold, and feeling a brain fog, I finally went to the doc for blood work. Turns out my thyroid was off. So I second (or third, or fourth, or tenth LOL) the thyroid recommendation. Also, I'd grab a pregnancy test in the meantime....just to ease your mind.

Umm, wow, I had NO idea they did that! If they are so picky about it, why don't they just request that all media mail items be brought to the post office unpacked? That would be much better than just ripping open people's packages.

I had vertigo one time due to a nurse cleansing out my ears and knocking the "crystals" loose in the ears that keep our balance. I wasn't a happy camper. Everything was spinning. The doctor game me some head exercises to do in order to "put the crystals back in place." I don't have them anymore but I'm sure they are probably somewhere on the internet.

Not #5, but I'm pregnant with #3. It's ridiculous how early I'm showing. My pants began getting snug at 9 weeks and I began wearing maternity pants at 10 weeks. I'm now 13 weeks and I have a very noticeable bump. It's crazy! With #1 I didn't begin showing until after 20 weeks. I know that with each baby you show sooner, but this is ridiculous! People probably think I'm about 6 months along. :001_huh:

I was SO confused when I started reading this post LOL! I thought you meant carpet in the bedroom!

Yikes! Sink holes freak me out!

That was a very nice offer! But I would have turned you down as well. I'm sorry!

It's probably a netbook. Those are mainly used for surfing the internet.

I call both my maternal and paternal grandparents the same name. Nana and Pop-Pop. If they needed to be distinguished then I'd say Nana Lastname or Pop-Pop Lastname. My great grandfathers died before I was born. And my great grandmothers died when I was young so I wasn't around them very much. But I remember calling them Great Nana Lastname.

LOL, yeah, my kids would have been disappointed to find an empty tomb LOL.

That sounds so neat!!