I'm going to write this down and repeat it often! Due to age (I'm 42), sheer exhaustion, and how uncomfortable I've been these last few months, I'm thinking that this is THE LAST (planned) BABY EVA. You are my hero!

I know two Violets... Violet Snow O. and Violet Vesper G. I didn't chime in on the Rose thread, but Rose Marie is woman that I know. I like the sound of it!

:hurray: :hurray: :hurray:

I don't tolerate pain control medications well. I get obnoxiously nauseous and vomit everywhere. I can't even handle Aleve - it's that bad. I'm not against them, I just don't think that they are for me.

Made it through our first "real" week of homeschooling! Brought DS7 home from public school and didn't have the funds for DS4 to go to preschool again this year. DS2 is tagging along and making a loud mess... We are taking it one year at a time. Lunch today was the current 'usual' - crackers & peanut butter (4yr old gets hummus instead - he hates peanuts), fruit, and milk. Any day when the kids at their lunches and then go off to nap/quiet time without a fuss is a winning day in my book. :laugh: Friday night is pizza night here - paper plates and all; no cooking, no dishes. Thank goodness! Lesson plans for today were: (DS7) fun reading, handwriting, spelling quiz, and math; (DS4) daily pre-K notebook (days of the week, months, weather, letters, numbers, shapes) and phonics. We are taking it easy Sept-Dec as I am expecting a baby in Oct. We will add the other subjects for DS7 in Jan (grammar, science, history, literature, and writing). We live just north of Boston and it is 92degreesF and HUMID. It is gross. Here's to predicted fall weather for next week!

My midwife said that they FINALLY have the ability to use laughing gas in the hospital where I delivered the last 3. She said that it takes the edge off of the pain and that you are in control of using it whenever you want/need it. My fear is that I will puke all over the place, as I get really nauseous from most pain meds. If it's the same stuff I had 20+ years ago when I had my wisdom teeth out...ugh. They never did get that carpet clean. :leaving: All of my babies were post-dates (42wks, 41wk+1, 41wks+3, 41wks+1). That being said, I won't be allowed to go much past 40wks this time as I am 42 and they consider my pregnancy 'high risk'. If I'm forced to be induced, I will discuss pain meds at that paint. With the last baby, I went into labor on my own. I woke up w/contractions starting at 5am, we called my mother to come watch the boys at 6am when they were getting stronger/closer, got to the hospital at 7am (husband needed to stop for gas - ha!), and baby was born at 8:20ish. I started talking about pain meds before 8am, but the midwife said that she would break my water and the baby would be delivered before the paperwork was done - she was right! Baby #3 was almost born in the 'laboring' tub (I went from zero dilation to pushing in minutes) - the midwife held him in as two other nurses and my husband pulled me out and carried me to a gurney. Tub births ARE NOT ALLOWED... one nurse kept talking about all the paperwork that would have to be submitted and how much trouble they would have been in! These babies come out fast - it just hurts a lot, too! :iagree: Yup. Totally.

I have never heard of hypnobabies or anxiety hypnosis tracks... off to see if my library carries these! I have that book around here somewhere - maybe it's time to read it again?

UPDATE: Long story, short: My anxiety got so bad that I couldn't cope anymore, so I asked to be induced 2 days before my due date. Second day of induction I asked for an epidural, which took my anxiety away the minute my toes got all warm and tingly. (However, the itching was horrible and there is still something wrong with the nerves in my left leg.) Baby was born with a grand total of 2 pushes. :wub: I am now the proud mama of FIVE boys! :wub: I just don't want to go through labor and delivery again. :scared: There, I said it. I have four boys (20, 7, 4, and 2); each was delivered vaginally and without pain medication. All were post-dates, so three were induced; the youngest was the only one where I went into labor on my own. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that the amount of time I spend, on average, in active labor is about an hour - with about 15 minutes of that pushing, at most. I'm 34+ weeks pregnant with baby #5, and the due date is suddenly coming very fast. The problem is that I'm scared to death of delivering again... :crying: A tv commercial last night, including maybe 5 seconds of a woman in labor, sent me into a total, all-night anxiety attack. I have always had a mild, undiagnosed/untreated level of anxiety and this is generally made worse during pregnancy. However, it's usually better towards the end, not worse! I know that my fears are probably exacerbated by the fact that I am seriously sleep-deprived (2yr old still wakes every night and I get up at least 2 more times to pee), I have gotten exactly NO exercise the last 34 weeks (too tired - no sleep!), my entire midsection aches all day long, my sciatica is a mess and the usual treatments aren't helping, and my 7yr old has been going through some physical/mental/emotional issues all summer that we are still dealing with. It's been a tough year so far. Logically, I can understand why I'm such a mess, but that doesn't change the fact that every time I think about labor and delivery I want to run away screaming or roll into a ball and weep. :crying: Has anyone else ever felt this way? How did you manage?

Classical House of Learning Literature for a reading/writing program that is linked to the SOTW progressions. (Her website is closed, but her files are still up for free download.)

You know, I was just wondering the same thing. Thanks for asking it! Hope someone can answer...

Holy %$#@, how did I miss that!!!!?!?!?!?!? I follow her on facebook, twitter, instagram, and get her email updates.... seriously, I can't BELIEVE that I missed that. :huh: I'm stunned...

You must be thinking of someone else... she isn't divorced! Her first book was about her work overcome addiction and alcoholism and surviving with depression and anxiety. She's hilarious and insightful and a great writer.

I chose 'other' because we do live a 5-minute walk from a fabulous ice cream stand and we are known to walk there after dinner maybe a half-dozen times per summer. The kids ask more often, but they know that it is a treat so they don't fuss too much if we say no.

Gah! Sorry - listening to a discussion about kneeling during the National Anthem on the radio while I typed that - oops! Thanks for fixing it.

In Glennon's defense, she originally titled her piece, "Give me liberty or give me debt". if you haven't read her first book, "Carry On, Warrior", I highly recommend it. It made me laugh and weep and then laugh again. She's awesome. I'm on the library waiting list for her 2nd book, "Love Warrior" and I can't wait to read it.

Speaking as someone who left the Catholic Church at age 16 (with forced Confession as a requirement of my Catholic HS being a big part of the reason that I left), returning to the Church about 10 years ago, and only going to confession again for the first time recently (that's 26 years between confessions, if you are keeping track), I have a different view... My husband loves confession... he always comes home happier and walking taller after he's been. He's been encouraging me to go since we married 8 years ago. I didn't go... because I was scared. It is scary to think about having to admit your faults and imperfections and sins in the presence of another person. Also, my faith is no where near as strong as his, and I have a great respect for the sacraments - I didn't want to go while I was unsure that I even believed in it. So, that's my perspective. It might not be the perspective of the many, but might be for a few...

Husband and I listen all the time. I prefer the programs on WGBH in Boston before 3pm, and then switch to WBUR for their later-afternoon programs. One thing though - I absolutely LOATHE call-in shows, so I can only listen to Diane Rehm and/or On Point for so long, up until they start taking phone calls. Then, I'm on to the NPR classical sister station, WCRB. FWIW, my husband also listens to the local Catholic channel and often listens to the Howie Carr show, but that guy makes me :banghead: :cursing: :banghead: :cursing: :banghead: :cursing: :banghead: :cursing: , so he doesn't make me listen when we are together.

I'm 42 and have a BS in math and am a high school math teacher by trade... To this day I *still* cannot seem to memorize the answers to 6x7, 6x8, and 7x8. I always have to go back to answers I know (6x6 or 7x7) and then add up. It baffles me that this still happens, but I do the calculations so fast that no one ever has noticed.

Because there isn't any good in it? Kahn can be a useful aid, but I've seen too many mathematical errors in the videos that I never used it as a tool for students in my high school classes. (Caveat - I haven't looked at it in years. If it's changed significantly - or if the errors were corrected - my comments are no longer valid.)

I think we actually have THREE copies in the house somewhere (husband has a book issue :lol: ), but it was easier for me to google while lying on the couch. so hard to get my butt off of the couch these days...

I'm turning into a shouter because I'm so frazzled! I don't want to be a shouter... :crying: This. I'm hoping that, after baby is born and my hormones re-balance, that it might not be so stressful to me. However, since I'm expecting my lack of sleep to *increase* with a newborn, I'm not really holding my breath...

DS7 was born loud and needy. He naturally speaks with a loud voice. He can self-modulate when he knows that he is expected to, such as at church and in the library, just not at home. He talks constantly. DS4 was born quiet and laid-back. He has developed a naturally VERY LOUD speaking voice, and we are trying to teach him to self-modulate; he does well at church but not yet in other places and definitely not at home. He can go for hours not speaking at all if he is engrossed in a project. DS2 was born very loud and very needy. He also has a naturally VERY LOUD speaking voice, and I am trying to teach him to ask for things quietly rather than screaming bloody murder. He's two - it's going about as well as expected. He's also a screamer. *sigh* They are also very active boys who are always playing, banging, and fighting. This makes for a VERY frazzled mama. The older I get, the more I realize that I need some quiet during each day. I can usually count on the older two to be pretty good during quiet time while the little one naps, but not always - and it really isn't enough. Add to this the fact that we will be adding a baby in October and I need to find ways to lower the volume in the house. Here's my question - can you teach loud speakers (children) to be less loud speakers? Tips? Tricks? (And, yes, they've all had their hearing checked.) Thanks!

http://ccc.usccb.org/flipbooks/catechism/index.html#906/z P. 906 Mercy: The loving kindness, compassion, or forbearance shown to one who offends (e.g., the mercy of God to us sinners) (1422, 1829). See Works of Mercy.

Thanks for the feedback! We did 1st grade 'remediation' over the summer in a very laid-back way (way too laid-back for me), because my son's 1st grade teacher at the public school disappeared in January and he had a string of substitute teachers, so I wanted to make sure that he got everything he should have before we started true 2nd grade work. I found that, if we didn't schedule a time to do his work, it wouldn't get done. I also have a college-age kid in the house (he's nearly 21, working but not attending classes yet). A pregnancy at my ripe-old age is extremely tiring!

Thanks for the feedback! He already reads at a 4th grade level, and he *insists* on reading pages to me whenever he is reading... schoolwork, fun reading, ingredient labels, whatever. So, that isn't scheduled but happening organically. He might end up reading some of the history out loud to us during snack time!