I think this season has been great so far. I hadn't heard that they were on break until 2009. I thought it was supposed to come back on this summer. Dh will be sooo upset if we have to wait to find out who the final cylon is! The only thing I don't like about the series is how often they postpone airing it. We waited for almost a year for this season and then we only get half of it and have to wait again?? BTW, I'd definitely watch the last 3 episodes, they were good.

It seems like EPO has the same effect as Red Raspberry Leaf. My OB this time around (I've only had midwives before this one) told me that it won't put me into labor unless I'm READY and maybe not even then, but may help my body get ready. She also told me I could drink it throughout my pg. I'm going to ask her about EPO at my next appt in a week and a half. Anyway...I drank the RRLT in both my other pgs (3rd trimester only) and have had VERY fast labor/deliveries. I don't know if it contributed or that's just me. We'll see as I haven't had any this pg. We're going on vacation when I'm 34-35 weeks and I don't want to take any chances. I will plan on drinking RRLT when I get home though. I wonder if I can have both supplements at the same time? Sounds like you have a great midwife!

I would have to go with the fact that they go over two legs, like a pair of pants/shorts. This makes also sense since we call them a pair of glasses which go over two eyes. Although that could be referring to the two lenses... Is there a "right" answer out there somewhere?

I don't have any hard-core knowledge, so I'm very interested in what others have to say. I avoid soy for the most part as I've been told (by my MIL who is knowledgeable) that women of child-bearing age shouldn't eat too much. I don't what "too much" is, so I error on the side of caution. It would be nice to see some facts, huh?

We've also gotten items from Home Decorators and are happy with them. Do you have an IKEA close? They have a couple of options that are solid wood (we don't buy fiberboard furniture) and I'm VERY pleased with them and the price was good. The two styles we have are the Markor and the Leksvik. They might have other solid wood styles, you can check it out on their website: www.ikea.com

We tithe on anything that is income. So we do tithe on gifts, inheritances, etc. However, since we tithe on our gross income instead of net we do not tithe tax refunds (we do it before we give the money to the governement). I "think" that the stimulus check is really just an extra refund (it is coming out of our tax dollars) so I don't think we tithed out of that. I would have to ask dh for sure. Great question though.

Take a nap!! That is something you might not get to do for a while. Are they doing Power Lab? My boys LOVED it. In fact, they are still sleeping with the little buddies they got and reading the book with the stories it. We finished VBS a week ago today.

Okay, so I'm not there yet, but I've given this a lot of thought as I'm pg with my third boy. A friend of mine suggested having a rice steamer on the counter with brown rice in it that the boys could snack on whenever they want. Dh and I don't eat too many carbs at dinner (our only entire-family sit down meal), so I'll have to add something for them when they into those eating years. I will probably limit access to grab 'n go snacks since I pretty much outlaw them now. Other things I'm thinking about are homemade pancakes in the freezer (we make huge batches on Sat. mornings) and canned turkey, chicken, and tuna premade into salad for sandwiches. That would be pretty filling, right? I will probably have veggies and some fruits (apples, oranges, etc.) for snacks, but expensive fruits and items bought for specific meals will be off-limits. I have no problem giving them a list of food they are allowed to eat without asking permission. If they want special snacks that are too expensive they will have to buy them themselves. On a funny note, I picked up my friend's 13yo dd from school yesterday and she was trying to hint that she wanted me to take her to a drive-thru for a snack (I didn't bite) by complaining that there was nothing to eat in their house. She told me that when she could drive she was going to go buy what SHE wanted to eat whenever she wanted (read: fast food and processed snacks). I told her that it takes money to buy food and that it might be a little more expensive than she thinks. I had to concentrate not to laugh out-loud to her.

I didn't really need a double when I just had the two boys (ods could walk just fine), but we are getting one with the new baby. My yds isn't anywhere near as obedient plus I still have to keep track of ods, KWIM? We've decided on a sit n stand type. They can accomodate an infant seat (most brands) in front and have a place for the toddler to sit or stand in the back. The one I like best is the Joovy because it is way more manueverable and compact. There will even be room for my 4 yr old to hitch a ride if absolutely necessary (infant in front, toddler sitting in back, and preschooler standing in back). I don't need that very often, usually just when we are done with a day at 6 flags and ods is exhausted or maybe in an airport. There are three major brands (Joovy, Fisher-Price, and Sit n Stand) and I think you can test drive them all at Babies R Us before you buy off of Craigslist. Just another option for you. HTH,

I think this is how I will handle it too as long as it doesn't interfere with our family time on Sunday. I plan on doing SL readalouds on Sunday b/c we readaloud everyday. Technically, it is school, but I think of it as fun. As for Saturday, I'm planning that to be a fun, light day of school with dad. My dh works long hours during the week, but I thought that we'd all enjoy a science experiment or other fun project on Saturday mornings if they aren't otherwise occupied. That'll keep him involved in school and let the boys spend some qt with dad...and maybe blow up some stuff all in the name of school. Saturdays might also be the only times they will be able to hang out with their ps friends or to have fun outings (like Seaworld) with the whole family, so we'll see.

Mine are A LOT younger, but I do allow my oldest to play with small toys in bed and "read" books. He may watch some tv if he's earned the privledge for the day and not already used it. My youngest just naps. Eventually, rest time will involve into just reading for fun, playing quietly, or sleeping. Although they share a room, I have to separate them at this point during rest time so ods rests in my room while yds sleeps in his bed. I found that even though my oldest doesn't nap, resting quietly by himself recharges him and allows him to have a better attitude until bedtime. I'm hoping it will continue to do this well into the teenage years :001_smile:.

Karen, I just wanted to give you some encouragement :grouphug:. You're doing great! I don't know many women out of their 20s that can lose weight in 7 days unless they stop eating. Just keep it up. The most important thing is to find a workout routine after you bootcamp is over that you can stick with. Classes at the YMCA really work for me because I become accountable to the instructor. Slow weight loss is healthy weight loss:001_smile:.

Dh and I have had at least 3 rental properties for the last 7 years and I wouldn't worry about it for a year. I agree with Tess, the PM wouldn't be able to keep an eye on the inside anyway. If your real estate agent is willing to handle emergencies for you than that would be enough. We do have property managers because ours are long term rentals and in different states and all they do while the residence is occupied is collect the rent and send us statements. They earn their money when the place is empty getting us new renters and arranging for repairs in between tenants. HTH,

I, too, am afflicted with this disease. If a cure is found, please let me know as my husband will be ecstatic. Rosie...LOL! My MIL fully admits that she has that disease.

Mine is geschmacksache. Yes, I know it's German, but still my favorite word. Unfortunately, I don't get to use it in conversation very often.

And since he hasn't been born yet, it could still be. It was either Samuel or Judah for this one and we just decided on Judah this week. So Judah David it is unless we go back and forth again before Aug. How about Caleb or Daniel?...those are the names of my other two and have served us well.

I live in North San Antonio. We've only lived here for a year, but we love it! I'm even saying that despite being VERY pg in this hot Tx heat...

and second all that Babs said. I actually went to the Academy and it is a great place to visit in September too. You can catch noonmeal formation or check out the chapel (which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) if that interests you. The weather can be tricky in Colorado during any season...be sure to check the forecasts before you go. Most likely you will have beautiful (possibly even warm, but not by Houston standards) fall weather, but we always had our first (light) snowfall in September. We're hoping to head up there to ski next winter if finances allow...my ODS keeps asking when it will be winter. I have to explain that we don't really have winter (his definition includes snow) here in Tx.

but, I'm due in Aug too :001_smile:. With my last child I went to a practice that had two midwives and did not like one of them AT ALL! I felt a connection with the other one and was praying that she would be on call when I went into labor. However, I went into labor on Easter weekend and ended up with the midwife I didn't like. I have to say that she was great during labor and delivery. She was totally different than she had been during my appointments. She listened to me and actually abided by my wishes. She was even funny and relaxing during the pushing stage! I'm glad now that she was on call and only sorry that we moved to a different state before this pg. I just wanted to give you some encouragement.

I went through the same thing with my ODS. He asked to read at 3, so we learned all of his letter sounds and even some 2 letter phonemes. This was fun. However, when we started a formal phonics program (100 EZ Lessons), he started complaining. So, I dropped it. I don't want him to be in the habit jof complaining when it's time to "do school." Right now, he begs me to "do school" and I like it that way. Instead of phonics, we just talk about the words in our read alouds, do Bob books (minimal), and watch the Leapfrog videos (He LOVES them). I'll probably keep trying 100 EZ Lessons every few months over the next year, but I'm not too worried if it doesn't work. We are going to start WRTR next June (he'll be over 5 by then) and then he'll have to do it. HTH,

Your ds also sounds a lot like mine. We ususally stop "playing" school because Mom is done, not my ds. :001_smile: We love the ETC series, but if your ds already knows all of his letter sounds, Before the Code might be a bust. My son likes the worksheets, but isn't learning anything new because he already knows all of the sounds. I haven't looked into Book 1 yet, but I suspect it might be the right thing for my ds. I also tried 100 EZ lessons. I liked that the lessons were short, and ds did well, but he just wasn't excited to do it. I didn't want to kill his love of school, so we are taking a break. I think we'll try again with it in a few months and see how it goes. I really like the approach of the book and it has helped me teach phonics better...I think. Then, I saw the Bob books at Costco and decided to add them to our expanding school library. These are going over really well. It is a gentle approach. Ds was really having a tough time learing to blend his sounds into words and the Bob books are really helping and he's able to read the book with just a little help from Mom. Now, your ds isn't going to be dazzled with the storylines if he's into Beowulf, but he might be excited to read an entire book by himself. My ds thinks they are pretty funny. I also recommend the Leapfrog Word Factory and Storybook Factory DVDs. While not a complete phonics program, they are fun to watch and both of my boys are really learning from them. I put them in the van when we're going to be driving for more than a half an hour and I'm amazed at what my ds will spout off the rest of the week. "Mom, the 'e' at the end of this word makes the 'a' say its name!" I'm interested in what others have to say too since I'm still trying to figure this out as well, but I hope that helps.

I had bleeding for 7 days...but, I didn't have any children at the time and was given a week off of work, so I watched a lot of TV and slept that week. I'm sure the rest helped my body heal a bit faster. HTH,

When I was planning on doing GTG for K, I liked the look of the resource package on the Geomatters website. You can get it with or without CGC. It came with a lot of the books that others are recommending. I may still buy that just to have those great books... Linda, What a great idea with the passports! I'll definitely have to use that with my K'er next year. We're going to be doing geography extras with Sonlight and I think that cement the idea of "travelling the globe."

Add me to the "dreaming of a beautiful library" list! I also prefer to buy books in hardback and do whenever I can. I find that the used bookstore is a GREAT resource for that. When buying classics, I always get them in hardback and my family knows that's my preference so they only get me hardbacks for gifts. However, now that we are planning on buying Sonlight, many of our books will be paperback. To keep them nice, I plan to put clear contact paper over the covers to keep them nice. Our library does that and it seems to work well. Our home library won't have that beautiful leather-bound look, but my children will still have a lot of quality books to choose from.

I learned the "Fifty, Nifty, United States" song in gradeschool and can still sing all 50 states over 20 years later so I'd recommend that. My dss love it when I sing it and try to point out the states as fast as I sing. I plan on teaching them the song so that they don't forget any states, but going in more depth geographically when we do American history.