I voted under, but wish my pants fit me over the bellybutton or at least at my bellybutton. I have a long torso, am petite, am apple shaped and have straight hips, so finding a higher waisted pant is pretty impossible. I've even gone out and spent $$$ on some so-called "high-waisted" premium denim and that also came under my bellybutton!

My parents Health and energy Good chocolate

My cramps can be unbearable as well. Some of the suggestions you've gotten already have helped me tremendously. With the Advil- you need to take 4 of them to get any sort of relief. Take them just BEFORE your period begins. When you know it's coming. And take them every 4-6 hours with food. I get very tender breasts the week before and have found that Evening Primrose Oil capsules taken at the start of the soreness, decreases the swelling and tenderness. I take it everyday until that symptom wears off (about 7 days). Drinking Red Rasberry and Chasteberry teas, helps to tone the uterus and ease the cramping. There are some other great blend teas that are made specifically for period days that use a combination of these plus have cinnamon bark , ginger (great for the nausea), and other herbs to aid in supporting your body. Stay away from caffeine! No caffeine during your period and try to avoid it during PMS times too. It always makes my PMS symptoms worse and my cramps intensified. Switch to cloth pads. HUGE difference. Avoid soy. Soy always makes my cramps worse. I don't eat it at all ever. All of this together has helped so much. My next suggestion that helped probably the most in conjunction with all the above would be an entire lifestyle change for you so I would try the other things first. I have found that when I cut out soy altogether and greatly decreased the amount of gluten I eat (practically none) and also decreased my sugar intake that my cramps went almost away entirely. The only sugar I eat is my daily dose of chocolate. :) I don't drink juice, soda, eat pies or cakes, etc. I still get PMS with the breast tenderness, but I've been able to have a period without popping a single Advil. I still have some minor cramps, but it is so little in comparison to what I had that I can tolerate it well. I hope that this resolves for you DD, perhaps as you get older your hormones will balance out. In the meantime, I hope you are able to find some relief from all the suggestions you've gotten here. :grouphug:

I also have fibro and am treating it similarly to Jean. I take a slew of vitamins each day-CoQ10, B complex, Vit D, magnesium, womens daily, and recently added in Zyflamend. For awhile I took adrenal cortex for the debilitating fatigue. I feel much better than I did (fatigue wise) several years ago. At that time, I even the THOUGHT of exercise would overwhelm me. I've cut out coffee and decreased my intake of carbs. This helped with the fatigue. That said, I would still try to get a second opinion if you can. Fibro is an autoimmune disorder and having one autoimmune problem can often lead to more, plus they run in families. I'm sorry your having such a rough time. (hug)

I'm kind of in the same boat as you. The past year I've been doing Zumba and pilates to help ease my pain and get somewhat physically fit. It's been suggested to me several times to try light weights, but like you, my arms just ache and ache after and during. Many years ago, pre-marriage and babies, I taught yoga. Practiced it since I was young. Now I cannot under any circumstances even take a yoga class. My arms just can't do it. During the songs in Zumba that focus on arms I stand in the back and walk in place. I have slowly reached a point where I can at least stay in a plank position for 30 seconds, but that's all I've been able to accomplish so far. It's not that I don't have strength, it just hurts so much. I've been to PT and they insist that I just need to gain more strength due to weakness. I saw a personal trainer and he insisted that I had the strength but was afraid to use it. I can't get them to understand that it just hurts badly. Whether strength training is the right thing to do or not is something I'm not sure about. My gut instinct is to not do it, but that just could be because I'm scared of dealing with a flare-up or making things worse. I have read that doing strength training is essential to losing weight though. More muscle mass increases your resting metabolism. If you decide to go for it, please post back on how it goes for you!

Jean, I'm not on the boards that much anymore but I think I remember you saying before you had fibromyalgia? I have it and I know for me any sort of exercise that concentrates on one muscle area and involves repetitive motion d**n near kills me. I can keep up in kickboxing classes, zumba classes, bollyfit classes, but if any of them start to focus on a certain muscle group for more than 1 minute I have to walk in place until they are done. Not sure if it's do to the fibro or something else, but sometimes it's just the way your body responds. Now if it's just an endurance thing, then just keeping at it will increase your ability. GL!

When my boys were babies and we lived in the N.E., they would where a fleece zip up coverall. It covered their feet hands and head. I would put a blanket around their baby carseat and take them to the car. If we were going to be out and about for some time in a stroller I had a very thick, warm shearling stroller cover that they would be toasty in. After around age 2 and still to this day, I buy them the parkas from Lands End. I remember reading a long time ago that these were safe to wear in car seats. They are not puffy yet they are very warm. They never liked wearing coats in the car anyway though. Once they were old enough to easily take them off they did. I try to warm up the car in advance so that it's not too cold in there.

I don't know how helpful this is, but maybe someone else on here would have more information.. A few years ago a friend of mine told me about an organization where she lives in Charlotte, NC that sews weighted blankets and vest for kids and they do it entirely for free. I think it's a church organization that has a stitching club. You would need to know someone that lives there to pick it up I guess though. There might be something similar in your friend's area?

I like the Kirkland brand green tea at Costco. It is sold as Kirkland but is made from the Ito En brand. It tastes really good and smooth and is not bitter even if I let it steep for a long time.

Great article, thanks for posting.

LOL, that was great! I'm not brave or patient enough to take my boys shopping. I tend to order multiple sizes online and return whatever doesn't fit.

Hmm, I guess I just have to hope that it works well enough to last. I was hoping this one be be good for at least a couple of years, but it didn't even make it through year 1 and if it stops working in another 9 months it won't be under warranty. That kind of stinks.

I agree that this is pretty typical. My boys played with some older boys on our old block and it happens. I did have a few talks with some of the older boys about how they are older and should behave like the older ones and not get too physical with the younger ones since they are bigger. But overall they were nice kids and I knew them and their parents pretty well so I didn't worry too much. If I got the feeling they were bullying or being excessively rough even after being called out on it, then I would not allow my boys to play with them. It's tough if everyone's on the same cul-de-sac though.

My beloved Kindle died. It was still under warranty and Amazon is replacing it for me, but they said they did not know if it would be new or a refurb. Since the replacement's warranty will only be for as long as my original one which will end in a couple months I'm hoping that it is new. If not, anyone here with a refurb one have any problems?

I would say go to a SLP.

Hindu here. No one knows. There is a donation box that you can drop money into if you choose. If you are sponsoring something (ex. a dinner, a special prayer) then there might be something small that says "Dinner is sponsored by the XYZ family".

We take Sunblock Sunhats Chairs with the cup holders and built in top cover My Kindle (can't live without that one, I don't go in the water much) I keep it in a ziplock bag. Sand toys Goggles for the kids Snacks that are prepackaged Towels Water bottles I like for all these, minus the chairs of course, to go into a mesh bag. I have a Saltwater Canvas bag http://www.saltwatercanvas.com/ which I love, but you can get similar ones at places like Walmart. It's great to be able to just shake the bag a bit to get most of the sand out.

The thread on choosing a martial art had me wondering if anyone or anyone's child has had any experience with Enshin Karate? There is this type of martial art and TKD available close by and my boys have been wanting to sign up for one of them. I tried googling it, but I still don't know if one form or another is better for kids.

I agree with you Bill, unfortunately I broke down and got one for dh as a present a couple of months ago after he had been lusting after one for so so long. I tried to explain the environmental hazards as well as the fact that piping hot water will be going through all the chemicals in the plastic and right into his cup. I also bought him a fancy automatic regular coffee maker and and nice french press with a new coffee grinder over the years to try and get him to let go of the KCup love. But it was all to no avail. He's refuses to use the refillable cup so I buy the San Fran Bay brand for him that at least uses less plastic. Interesting about the patent. I agree that it just means more waste since more people will be willing to fork over the bucks for kcups.

I kept ds8 rear facing until he was five, but he was TINY and still had not reached the weight limit. I kept ds5 turned around until he was four.

Sometimes amazon has good deals, it's hit or miss though.

Buckwheat pancakes (use xanthan gum for the eggs and an alternative dairy) Cream of buckwheat or cream of rice cereal Oatmeal cookies! Load it up with "healthy" ingredients. I modified the recipe on the back of the Trader Joes gluten free oats bag. Added nuts, dried fruit, chia seeds, etc. Potato pancakes/latkes and bacon Sausage! My boys love sausage. You can get various flavors of chicken sausage at Costco and Trader Joes. Most are gf, but stay away from the kinds with cheese obviously. Pair with gf bread. Arepas (a corn cake) and some black beans on the side. I ate this a lot when I spent a semester in Costa Rica. Gf bagel with hummus. Sometimes I also add lox to it. Smoothies with protein. (powders, nut butters, etc.) PB & J with gf bread and an alternative milk Chex or the Envirokids brands of gf cereal with alternative milk. Either coconut milk yogurt or almond milk yogurt with a gf granola for a parfait. HTH!

Jumping in late here, but another vote for Daiya. Also if you have a Z pizza chain near you, they carry Daiya (and GF crust!). It's nice to have the option of ordering a pizza now and then, especially while traveling.

I would suggest looking in the town of Vienna. The commute would be around 40 minutes during rush hour. For th mom and kids, there is PLENTY within walking distance. Parks, grocery stores, library, shops, restaurants, drug store. The town green is also walking distance and often holds family friendly events There are also many bus stops and the metro. There are a lot of walkers and bikers. I know that if I didn't have a car then I would feel trapped at home if there wasn't plenty to walk to near by. I'm not as familiar with it, but I believe the City of Falls Church ( not the Fairfax County part) is similar with many walkable places and it also has the metro. But it's also more pricey. It would be a shorter commute though so it would be worthwhile to at least look there. Has she considered hiring a realtor to try and help her hunt something down? I would also check craigslist.

In the DC metro area, the two that I have contacted were $60/hr and $80/hr. Ds's speech therapist incorporates some of the practices but not full on tutoring and she charges $110/hr.