The air quality is horrible down here. It's gotten progressively worse all day and I can barely see the foothills behind my neighborhood now. I can't imagine what it's like closer to the fires! One of my neighbors has family that was evacuated from Santa Rosa staying with them so we dropped off some diapers, toys, and books for their kids. Another neighbor had to crowdsource finding blood pressure medicine for her 94-year-old evacuee mother. I'm absolutely heartbroken for everyone, and wish we could do more...

The one I have isn't sold any more, but it came with a powered motor brush which I adore, so I'd definitely recommend getting a model that has that. We have a dog and 2 cats (besides the dirt-tracking kids) so I end up vacuuming some part of the house every day, but somehow still end up with pet hair stuck in a rug/carpet, and the powered brush is amazing for that. I love the rotary dial - super easy to switch from carpet to rug to hardwood floor. This is my first canister (I'd always thought I preferred uprights before) and I love how easy it is to maneuver around and carry up and down the stairs. It feels solid, but it's not too heavy to carry around, and it's light enough even my 20-month-old can use it. We've had it a few years now, with near-daily use, and I have no complaints about it so far! To answer your other questions: I bought mine on Amazon. The closest I could find was this one. I think you should carefully consider which features you need. Do you need HEPA? A separate hardwood floor brush? The powered mini brush? The Delphi is the cheapest one that had the powered brush, so that's what I got. The Titan, the next level up, also comes with HEPA and a separate hardwood brush, for an extra $100, which is about what it'd cost to buy those things separately.

Any possibility they'd reduce the rent if you'd commit to a longer rental term? I'm not sure if it'd work the same for apartments, but when we rented a house, we got a reduction of about $150/month for the first year with a two year lease. The landlord liked knowing she wouldn't have the hassle of possibly going through the whole rental rigamarole again in another year.

Reminds me of this comic.

Going with the PBS Kids theme - will he watch Sid the Science Kid, Bob the Builder, or (gulp) Caillou? Sid is cartoony with songs but no talking animals, Bob has songs and talking construction equipment, and Caillou has neither (as far as I remember, I've blocked most of that show out of my head). I'm guessing Dinosaur Train, Peg + Cat, and Wild Kratts would also be out, if it's an anthropomorphic animal thing.

The Lakeside Lodge is $24.83 today. It doesn't come with any furniture, but that's a great price for it!

I have a LeSportSac Small Cleo that I use daily. I carry diapers, wipes, a wallet, kid snacks, etc in it, so it might be a bit too big for you. They have tons of patterns, from wacky to plain, and, depending on the pattern, you can find them cheaper at Amazon and Nordstrom Rack. Target had quite a few cute crossbodies this season, but I'm a tall person and they were too short for me.

May God hold you, Jenna, and your family close. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

I ordered the Viv capri leggings in the larger size and have been wearing them today (I'm 5' 11" and usually wear XL/16/18). They're pretty comfy and and I haven't had any issues with them falling down, even with lots of chasing around after the toddler and bending to load the dishwasher. I also have several pairs of Agnes & Dora leggings which I absolutely love, and I do think they're a bit nicer, but for half the price I'm pretty satisfied with these. For tops, I also ordered this for the heck of it, and it's not bad for $9. I got a 3XL (due to bust size) and it's definitely a tad too big, even around my chest.

The Zoloft makes me ridiculously sleepy. When I was taking it in the morning, I was literally passing out on the couch around 4pm. One of my issues pre-meds was that I'd be able to fall asleep fine, but then I'd wake up around 3 or 4am and not be able to get back to sleep even though I was exhausted. Taking them at night had the nice side effect that even if I woke up in the early morning, I'd fall back asleep. I know Lexapro is supposed to be "all that" for anxiety, but the Zoloft works much better for me for both the anxiety and depression. I'll probably delete this all later, but: TRIGGER WARNING for suicidal ideation For me, the meds gave me the space to work on myself. I've linked this before, but reframing my unhelpful thinking styles has been life-changing for me. Before meds and therapy, I'd say 95% of my thoughts fit at least one of those categories. Learning to "catch" the thoughts and rewrite them ("I should've remembered I left the sheets in the washer!" to "I'd prefer it if I'd remembered to switch the sheets, oh well, time to rewash them") seemed so silly when I started, but it was amazing how much changing how I talked to myself changed my mood. I mean, who wouldn't be depressed if somebody followed them around constantly telling them they weren't doing enough, that what they were doing was wrong anyway, that they were worthless, etc? I don't want to pry, but in case this helps - I went through some trauma when I was a young teen. My therapist explained that trauma at that age often leads to an overwhelming feeling of shame. Basically, it lead to me being convinced that I was worthless and unworthy of anything, to discount any of my feelings ("I don't have any reason to be sad, look at how blessed I am!"), to the point where I'd convinced myself that my kids would be better off without me because I was causing them irreparable harm just by existing. I was lucky enough to find a postpartum depression program that helped me start working through some of these issues, and I thank God for that program and therapists every day. I've found Brene Brown to be helpful for shame issues. Besides the TED talks, she's got a few books, but I haven't gotten around to reading them yet. *end trigger* The fact that you're seeking help is huge, and it can be discouraging when you can't see immediate results or when you have to try different meds or therapists to find something that works for you. You must be strong to have gotten this far, so please just keep up hope that it will get better. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

I had insomnia issues with Lexapro, and I'm now on Zoloft and have the opposite problem. Go figure! Are you seeing a therapist as well? The meds, for me, have been great at getting me stable, but it's the CBT/mindfulness that's really changed my day-to-day life. I hope you're feeling better today :grouphug: :grouphug:

With my son, it was learning to recognize the "I have to go" rather than "I am going" feeling. I used the play dough trick with him, and that was what finally seemed to click. We still had a few times where he couldn't get to the potty fast enough and pooped right next to it, but he was fully potty trained within 3-4 days after that.

We also have a Miele canister. Love that thing - it's a trooper! For a handvac, we have this Black and Decker one. I use it for getting dog hair / crumbs off the sofa and any small messes I don't feel like getting the Miele out for. For what it's worth - Amazon has a Warehouse Deals section where you can get "used" items for a cheaper price. Some of the items simply have damaged packaging, while others will have cosmetic damage - it'll tell you in the listing.

I adore Vivienne Files. Some of my favorites are the "start with art" wardrobes, where she starts with a piece of art and then builds a capsule wardrobe around it. It's helped me figure out what basic pieces I need and how to mix and match. I've avoided a lot of "one-off" purchases (where the clothing item will only work in one specific situation/outfit) since I started reading that blog.

I love my OXO one.