I got him a pair of goggles to use in our pool. DD7 got him a large cup (he likes to drink huge cups of ice water) and a bag of M&M's. DD4 chose a plate for him (because she figured it would go well with the cup LOL) and a Reese's. We each got him a card. DH is REALLY difficult to buy for. He doesn't really have hobbies, doesn't read, we watch movies/shows through Netflix, doesn't need any more clothes since he asks for them at every holiday....so he told me to just let the kids make him something. I'll have them draw him a picture to hang in his office. But we got the above goodies for him too.

I wouldn't look at it as favoritism. It's a friend for their daughter. Any other children would just be someone that they'd have to entertain. But favoritism isn't what I'd be worried about in this situation. It's all the other things that you mentioned.

LOVE Crayola! In fact, if any other brand enters the house by way of gift, or restaurant crayons, they immediately go into the trash because they are just not good for coloring. DD7 prefers Crayola as well.

We definitely rear face as long as possible. But when kiddo outgrows an infant seat, we usually have a Britax Marathon for them to rear face in after the infant seat. My two older DD's are both in Britax Regents (which they don't make anymore) so they will stay harnessed for as long as possible. I think I'll take a better look at the Chicco's and the Graco's then! Our previous infant seat was a Graco, but it didn't have much padding. Maybe they have more now.

Tyghan!

I loathe the glucose tests during pregnancy. This pregnancy has been rough as far as nausea and hunger goes. I had really bad morning sickness in the beginning and now I can only go a few hours without eating before I start gagging, feeling lightheaded, shaky, nauseous, etc. I even have to get up in the middle of the night to eat sometimes. It makes me really nervous when these things start happening because I honestly don't know if I may pass out or not. I always carry a lunch bag with some sort of protein in it anywhere I might go. That being said, I know that at my next appointment, my OB is probably going to give me the lab slip to go get my glucose test done. I'm 22 weeks right now, so they would tell me to wait a few weeks. My question is this....my mom, who lives right around the corner, has a glucose meter because she has diabetes. Why can't I fast at my own house, eat something really sweet, and then do my own glucose test? Is it any different than the one the lab does? I really do not want to fast all night, get up, get ready, drive to the lab, wait in the waiting room, get the blood draw, drink the drink, wait an hour, and then have it drawn again....and then eat. At home I could just wake up, immediately take my blood, eat something sweet, and then occupy myself during the hour with house cleaning, etc in hopes that I won't think about being hungry. Seriously, what's the difference? I'm really nervous about this test this time. But I do want to have it checked because they said I was borderline with my last pregnancy 4 years ago. However, I've periodically checked my blood sugar this pregnancy and it's never been remotely high.

We need to get an infant seat for DD#3, due in October. The previous seat we used for our other two DD's has expired. I looked at Babies R Us the other day and there are SO many choices! Which one do you have? Does it have a lot of padding? Comfy for baby? Easy to install? Not overly heavy? I know that a lot of infant seats go up to 30 pounds now, but that's not a must have for me. My other two DD's outgrew the infant seat in length long before they outgrew it in weight....so they definitely won't need it until 30 pounds. I think that DD4 is just over 30 pounds right now. :001_huh:

Well, if Triceratops is okay, then I guess I should probably let my girls use their chosen names for their little sister, due in October. Rapunzel is at the top of the list for my 4 year old. That sounds almost normal compared to Triceratops LOL! :lol:

Tickling always works around here.

Is the fever 100? If so, I'd definitely wait till morning. Some doctors don't consider it a fever until it reaches 100.4. As long as she's not acting lethargic or anything, I'd probably wait.

Is she serious??

Yes, I've heard of that website before. It is horrible!!! Hopefully that CEO guy is just in it for the money and doesn't really believe what he's saying. Sadly, he's found a money making avenue. If people will pay for it, then people will create it. It's very sad when there's an internet website devoted to assisting in affairs. :confused:

I can't believe that he was trying to tell you that magenta is not pink! That's crazy! I do love Amazon though LOL. I'm glad they made it right.

Shutterfly's photo books are AWESOME for this sort of thing. They already have templates....all you do is upload the pics, drop them where you want them, and add captions. Wait to order until they run a good special. I have quite a few 12x12 Shutterfly albums. They are really nice. I don't use the templates, but instead I make my own pages in Photoshop with digital scrapbooking supplies. And I upload my pages into a blank Shutterfly album and then design my own cover. Everyone loves them.

I've finally figured out a good system for clothes that we are currently wearing. It's all the other ones that are driving me nuts. I save nice outfits from my kids so that if another baby comes along, we'll have clothes. Well, another baby girl is due in October so I've been looking through our saved clothes, trying to find smaller ones. I put a box of those in the "nursery in progress" closet. I got fed up with all the clothes in my kids closets, so I decided to take out all the winter stuff and put it away in a box until we need them again. So I have two under-the-bed-sized boxes for those. I have them stacked in my girls closet. But then, I have clothes that my older DD has outgrown, but my younger DD cannot fit into yet. Those are just sitting on the playroom floor! Ugh, I'm going nuts with plastic boxes, finding places for them, and organizing. My kids probably have too many clothes, which I have weeded out as much as possible. I just won't buy as much in the future. But right now, I'm having a hard time finding a place to put them. If I put them in the attic, I'll probably never get them back out. :glare:

I like to write. I like to read a devotion, then write out answers to questions....or take a verse and "decode" it piece by piece. Are there any daily devotionals that are like this? I like life application type devotionals, where I can read the Bible, read the devotion, answer the questions, and it applies it to daily life. Is there anything out there like this?

This happens to me occasionally. I just chalk it up to one of a few things....being tired, allergies, pregnancy, etc.

I get this occasionally....it hasn't happened in a while though. It can be either smoke or cigarette smoke. Sometimes I think it's when I walked through the smoke of someone smoking, or if I was around a campfire or something. It's almost like the smell "gets stuck" in my sinuses or something. And I smell it for a week or two. Sometimes I don't even remember it....especially if I just walk through someone's cigarette smoke or something like that. Then, I've noticed it when my allergies are really acting up. I'm not sick, but my nose is that dry kind of stuffy....not runny...I can't even blow it. It's like dry stuffy waaaay up in there. And sometimes I will smell smoke with that. It really bothers me. It's so real to me that sometimes it literally makes my eyes water and it messes with my breathing. I feel like I'm really breathing smoke.

I really like it....I love unique names! But I DO think that people will butcher it and he will spend a lifetime correcting people. It may be better to change the spelling, just for his sake when he's older. I like the spelling of Tyghan. I don't think it looks too trendy and it would really help the pronunciation issue. As for Augustine, I prefer the "August-teen" pronunciation, but either way, I think it's a great name.

I would/could definitely continue to homeschool. I planned to homeschool before I found these boards. However, some of my curriculum choices may be different. For example, I had never heard of Story of the World, First Language Lessons, or Dancing Bears before I came here. Now, they are an integral part of our curriculum.

We're in Florida.....it's VERY hot, I'm pregnant, and I just don't do hot weather. We rarely go outside. Yesterday I went to WalMart and to Publix and thought I was going to die. Between the heat, the bickering kids, my aching back, my aching feet, and aching belly muscles, I swore I'd never step foot out the door again until it cools off. Okay, so maybe that's unrealistic LOL. But seriously, we're not doing much this summer. Florida heat is one reason I school year around....we take our breaks at other times, when the PS kids are back in school, nothing is crowded, and it's not so hot. Our outside time consists of swimming in our pool for about an hour a day. But today, we are not even doing that. We have pretty thick smoke around here from some wildfires, so the authorities are telling people to try not to hang around outsides unless needed. We like the summer activities at the library, so we may try to do some of those. But once again, it is jam packed with public school kids and I really don't like feeling stuffed into the library....so we'll pick and choose which activities we do there.

DD7 has played several seasons of soccer at the YMCA, where the coaches are all volunteer. We always gave a gift. I figure that they have to use up their time and energy to teach the kids, so the least I can do is give them a gift. We do the same with the kids Sunday School teacher, AWANA teacher, and homeschool group teachers. We've never dealt with a paid coach. I'd be less inclined to give a gift....maybe just a thank you card.

What does your son think about it? I'd have a hard time letting my child go like that for 5 days. I'm not sure what to tell you.....I guess I'd base it a lot upon how my child feels about it (since you said you are not worried about supervision, etc).

Yikes!!! Wow, that sounds like a TON of work. I hope that it is over quickly for you....and that Goodwill comes through with some money!

You said that she likes to be read to? My 7 year old is currently really enjoying me reading the Boxcar Children to her. She asks me to read it all the time. There's lots of books in the series....maybe you could buy the first few books of those?