We really need to do something about our water. We have really bad city water, we get a lot of scale on the faucets, sinks, tubs, dishwasher, etc. Also, I'm not sure if this is related at all, but with my last 2 pregnancies, I had a problem with kidney stones toward the end, when I typically start chugging water like crazy. Flouride was added to our water a couple of years ago and I'd like to somehow have that removed in addition to all the other yucky stuff. So, what works best for that sort of thing? I've tried to research online but I'm just not finding a lot of helpful info. It looks like the whole house filtration systems will run about $8000, yikes! Is this typical? Is an RO system better?

:iagree: It tugs at the heart strings but it is the law. It's unfortunate that her parents chose to put her in that position.

:iagree: Yes, this. :iagree: And this.

:lol: me too! Jerseylicious is the cheeziest show ever, and yet, when the kids are all sleeping, DH and I can't help but watch. So emabarrassing!

What an inspiration! I love that the kids are doing it right along with mom. I've seen the infomercials but thought it looked like A LOT of work but, with resutls like that, I'm considering...... Maybe we can start a P90X group here to help encourage each other. Off to do more research........

Pretty miserable here too. I keep checking on our chickens to make sure they are still alive. It's supposed to start cooling by tomorrow afternoon.

So many wonderful responses, thank you. I ran out to my local World Market and picked up lots of ginger goodies. I've started the ginger ale and so far, so good. I normally don't like ginger at all but I'll try anything, and right now it's really yummy. I agree with the protein thing, it seems like little tiny protein foods about every 30 mins is helping. I'm going to make notes here, I'm sure some of these tricks will help.

Yeah, just the thought of egg nog anything right now makes me queasy. Now the ginger tea might be just the ticket! I really miss my morning coffee, I just can't even handle the smell, but I think the tea sounds good. Thank you for the suggestion. Thanks. Checking out the Sea Bandz today. That's a great idea about keeping a baggie of Cheerios with me, I'll do that. I have noticed that an empty stomach is the worst but eating a full meal is bad too so, I'm grazing throughout the day. I searched for ginger candies last week but couldn't find them, any suggestions on who might have them? Thanks

Only 7 weeks in and this nausea is really kicking my butt. Have you found anything that actually helps?

Okay, you're right, I do need it.:D Re-useable chore charts and schedules?! Brilliant!

What types of things do you laminate?? Trying to decide if I need this. :D

:iagree: This is me too. We are trying to sell the house and move. (All while feeling very nauseous) This was definitely not in the plans. Now we are praying that we get enough from the sale to cover a down payment on the new home, and help fund the "big van" that we will now need. YIKES!

:iagree: me too.

Who has the best deals on the Roomba?

Just curious, how do you use your flax seed oil? Do just take it straight up, smoothies, or ? Thanks

Thank you. And thanks for the links, going to check those out right now.

Exactly. I just wanted to make sure none of the levels were too high. I will look into the prenatals mentioned. I've never taken EPO during pregnancy, I'll check into that one too. I love Red Raspberry Leaf Tea! Almost forgot about that one, I usually start that during trimester 3. Okay, my Omegas have Vit E-30IU(100%daily amt), EPA 650mg (35%daily), DHA 450mg (25%daily), Omega9 56mg (3% daily) All from natural fish source. Thanks, I've heard a lot about Megafoods and I think my Whole Foods carries Garden of Life brand, I'll have to check though. I'm really not sure about the iron, I've tried many over the years but can't say for sure if they were whole food source supplements or not. I just checked the D, yep it's natural fish source D3. But I'm curious, is 1000mg (250%daily) too much for baby?

Well, with Hydroponics, anything can be grown indoors, at anytime of year. It's a big thing here in CA, but I really don't think that most of the people using hydroponics here are really growing veggies. :glare: Other than that, I don't think you'll be able to do much. We've started veggie, and fruit seedlings on window sills but that was very short term, after about a month they needed to be transplanted outside for more space.

I didn't want to hijack the other thread but I'm curious to know which are best during pregnancy. I just found out last week that I'm expecting and wondering if I should alter the vitamins and supplements I normally take? Multi- I don't have one but I'm looking at the many wonderful suggestions for (whole food) multivitamins listed on the other thread. Also, like the OP, I cannot handle Iron in pill form. (Which is why I don't have one, having a hard time finding iron-free) Omegas- I normally take Ultimateb Omegas by Nordic Naturals. Any reason why I shouldn't continue this while pregnant? D3-1000mg no special brand, I haven't had any problems with this. I'm checking out the ones that have been suggested by other. Again, any reason why I shouldn't continue this? C-500mg same one the kids get, Animal Parade chewable. Iron-I'm looking at the other thread at all the different iron suggestions. Iron has been a problem for me, I have a tendency to be low in iron, but I my system cannot handle iron pills, especially when pregnant. When I start to feel the effects of my low iron, I try to boost it through food, beans, meat, spinach, etc. Many times that works but not always. I had a couple of episodes during the last 2 pregnancies where I would get very dizzy (near vertigo), shaky, cold. But the doctor never tested. Each time it got bad, I took a pill, which helped the dizziness after a couple of days, but then my system paid for it. Anything else I'm missing?

When you are a very shy, very quiet girl and your 6th grade Science teacher calls on you to read the next paragraph, make sure you read very slowly and carefully.....................orgasm and organism are very different things. :001_huh: I had no idea why the other kids and the teacher were laughing so hard.

Great, thank you. Looks like we will be shelving it for a while.;)

Got mine today, no magazine yet. A question.....for those who had a chance to watch the whole series on t.v., what age what age would you consider this appropriate for? I only saw a few minutes here and there when it aired, but what I did see was a little graphic/disturbing, I.e. cannibalism (westward expansion era). We are excited to watch it but wondering if there was an age recommendation, maybe in the magazine??

Really? It almost sounds too good to be true. Thank you for the links, I'm going to research this thoroughly tomorrow. It sounds very exciting.

Mrs Mungo, you are my hero. I can't imagine doing this on my own and yet I know that many military wives do it everyday. I think the storage unit will be good for us. We've been trying to pack everything nice and neat in the garage but it's getting full. Thanks for the great tips. I really like the wicker hamper idea, and the windex in each bathroom. Yeah, it think it will be better to just get rid of almost everything. Not sure we'll be able to add a bench seat to the van, it's an Odyssey, so not much room behind the back seat but I'll check it out. Love it! Congratulations on your new home, how wonderful. I really like your system, I think that will be key here. One question (as I'm looking around) what did you do with laundry? We always have SO much of it. I'm wondering if I can get away with only 3-4 outfits per child and pack up the rest. Is that realistic or overkill? :grouphug:I'm praying for a quick sale for you. Thank you. Congratulations on your move. It must be very exciting to to have a house built and be able to choose all the detail things. What fun, enjoy. I appreciate the tips, I think the recurring theme here is get rid of almost everything. I've started removing all personal items too. Thank you. :grouphug: Your response brought tears to my eyes. I agree with you, as chaotic as this seems, I really feel God is as work here. Dh and I are very cautious people, we don't take risks. We've been noticing so many "signs" everywhere, showing us that we should move, that there is something better out there for us. We have been listening and preparing, for about 4 months now, but we haven't made any major commitments. (i.e. signing with the realtor) I think this little surprise blessing is kind of a "kick in the pants" because we really have no choice now. We probably would have continued to drag our feet for another 4 months. Your rural area sounds exactly like what we are looking for.

Thanks. I know it will all be worth it in the end. I'm really looking forward to starting anew. It should be an exciting adventure. But I don't get how to get from this point to that point. How does anyone move, or rather go through the process of getting a home ready, then keeping it in immaculate condition with 5 kids? Until the papers are signed and the sale is completed. I think that's what worries me most. That, and the fact that it all needs to happen rather quickly since we will need that bigger vehicle before mid-may (or there abouts) time is ticking...