With my boys I was sick as a dog from the moment of conception it seemed until well into the second trimester. With my girls, I felt great the whole time but I threw up once at the end of the first trimester with each of them. I'd be fine, then the nausea would hit me like ton of bricks, I'd get sick and then be fine again. I could always tell the gender by how sick I got and I was never wrong. :lol: And I've known people who were completely opposite, horribly sick with girls and fine with boys. Everyone and every pregnancy is different. ;) Like others said high HcG can mean twins, can mean you are further along than you thought (even if you are positive without a doubt on your last LMP, you could have ovulated early) or it can mean nothing at all but a healthy pregnancy that is progressing well. ;) Was this your first and only draw this pregnancy or did they do a blood pregnancy test and then a full lab draw at your first appointment? Even though your count is within the normal range, they might be saying that your numbers made quite a jump from the first draw to the next which still might not mean anything or it might mean twins or and earlier due date. Definitely nothing to get too excited or upset about just yet.

Love it! They do have a less expensive wipe off board versions of all their games. We have the reversible wooden board version of Muggins and Knock Out but I plan to purchase the other games in the wipe off board versions. :thumb:

Yup. In addition to "More at 4" many public schools have a 3 year old program with some kind of similar name that evades me at the moment. What really rubs me wrong is the number comments I get about being able to teach my 3yo. :huh: Umm..yes I do believe I am completely qualified to teach preschool skills. Nevermind that my 3yo is past the preschool skills and working on kindergarten level materials. :lol:

Don't feel guilty for holding her and cuddling her but also don't feel guilty for putting her down and giving the other kids some attention or going pee by yourself. ;) I held my kids a lot when they were little. They all had different personalities though. One liked being held by me but was just as happy with someone else or on the floor or in a swing or playpen. One enjoyed being held by me and only me but when I needed to put her down and she fussed, I would just talk to her the whole time and eventually she realized I wasn't leaving her and was content to be put down or go to someone else for a little while. One preferred to have Dad hold her all the time. One cried whether you picked him up or put him down, tried to soothe him or leave him alone...he was just a fussy baby. I held him a lot, or as much as I could take, while he screamed and screamed. This is the same baby that refused to co-sleep. He kept us both awake all night with his unhappiness. After a week of that, I borrowed a bassinet to keep him close still but he didn't like that either. When he was two weeks old, out of desperation for sleep, I put him in his room in his crib and he was out like a light in 2 minutes flat.:001_huh: He kept himself to very strict nap and bed times. God help you if you didn't get him to bed on time. :tongue_smilie: All that to say, I think neediness has less to do with being held constantly as a newborn and more to do with personality. (though I do think you are right, once they are a couple of months old, I do think some babies become conditioned but the thing about conditioning is that it is simply a habit and it can be undone.) But at just under a week old, I think you are completely safe to love, hold, cuddle and snuggle to your heart's desire. ;)

The SOTW series is used in Sonlight Cores 6 and 7 which are geared at ages 10 - 14 generally. They cover the first two books in Core 6 and the second two in Core 7. SOTW1 is a bit more simplistic than SOTW 4. They do get progressively more complex in story line and vocabulary.

I do have a 3.5yo and a 20 month old as well. I figure even if my oldest loses interest, it' still something that will get years of play.

I haven't read the other posts but I would have to say that the problem wasn't so much the doing dishes but the fact that they waited until you were 9yo to start making you do them. The ideal time to start having them do chores is when they are toddlers. Ideally, they should never remember a time when they were not expected to help out around the house. I can totally see a difference in attitude between my oldest three who weren't really assigned chores until the last year or two and my young ones who were toddlers/infants when we started chores. My oldest three will moan and groan and often have to be held accountable for their chores and attitudes. My little ones, now 3yo and 1yo, want to know what they can do to help. When my toddler sees us doing chores he starts yelling, "Help! Help!" He wants to be included and I allow him to be included. I was never made to do chores growing up. I was shooed away and told to go play even when I showed an interest in helping. My mother even cleaned my room for me. When I got out on my own, I was clueless. No idea how to clean or cook. I am a bit resentful about that because it was embarrassing to admit as a adult that I didn't know how to do the simplest chores. Thankfully I found a couple of good friends who unassumingly helped me and taught me a lot. I'm still not a very good housekeeper but I can keep it reasonably clean now. No, I don't like doing them. I think my parent's thinking was that I would be successful enough in life to hire someone to do these things for me so I should concentrate on my schooling and not be bothered with such mundane tasks. :confused: Unfortunately, we can't afford to hire such help but I would gladly hire out some of it if we could. I can't see how anyone can know where or what a child will be doing as an adult, so better to over prepare them than under prepare them, I think. I do think chores are necessary and healthy. A child who does not start them early is not going to do they as cheerfully as one who has always done them but they are life skills and necessary whether you like them or not.

I've always wanted to get the kids Playmobil sets but we were living in Japan when they were preschool - elementary age and they weren't available locally and the price plus the shipping to Japan just put them out of our reach. We live stateside now and somehow we got on Playmobil's mailing list and received their catalog yesterday. The kids, boys ages 11.5yo and 9.5yo and a girl 8.5yo, all thought everything in the catalog was awesome and immediately announced which ones they wanted for Christmas. I was thrilled because I was rather stumped for Christmas gifts for them but dh let me know last night that he thinks they are too old for Playmobil playsets. :confused: He thinks they are better for kids around 5 or 6yo. I've seen how even our 11yo likes to set up castle scenes and village scenes, make zoos and all kinds of imaginary places with the plastic animals and people they have.(none of them are Playmobil) I know they will play with them. I don't see what the problem is? So how old would you say is too old for Playmobil? Or would you say, like I do, that if they like it and will play with it, they are never too old?

Each of our kids gets one gift from me, one gift from dad and one gift from Santa. We've also done a Christmas Eve gift of new PJs and a book to open before bed on years we could afford it. The dollar amount on each kid is rarely the same. This year I spent a grand total of $25 on my 3yo, I'm happy I got her things she will love and did so for such a small amount (mostly because of some great sales). Her older siblings are getting a large combined gift from Santa this year. There is no way I'm spending another $150 on my 3yo just for the sake of fairness. We put candy in their stockings so I just buy several big bags and some candy canes and divide it evenly. Holidays at our house do not excuse bad or rude behavior. A child sincerely just wants to know why another sibling had one more gift and asked discreetly and kindly would be gently reminded that it's not in the spirit of Christmas to count presents they've been given and if I think they are old enough to understand I might explain why the other child had an additional gift. A child who rudely points out the difference or throws a fit would most definitely be punished for such an offense. They are not allowed to make everyone miserable and uncomfortable at their perceived injustice especially on Christmas.

Rice is interchangeable with potatoes here. My kids have never had minute rice. :lol: Typically, I plan meals to have an entree (usually some kind of meat but we have a couple of meatless meals that we eat), a starch and a veggie. Soups and stews I consider to be a combination meat and veggie (at least the ones we make) so I serve some kind of bread with those for a starch. I rarely serve bread with any other kind of meal because we usually have potatoes, rice or noodles already serving as the starch. The only exception is spaghetti or lasagna which we have garlic bread with even though they have a starch already (noodles). I don't make them often because we generally don't like them but a casserole that includes meat, veggies and either biscuits on top or a pie crust, I serve with no other sides or veggies. But I might serve dessert with those meals. Dessert is also a rarity around here. I don't have any hard fast rules for what veggies go with what meals. Usually, I just stock the freezer with a variety of veggies and I ask a kid or dh to choose a veggie as I'm cooking. I almost always steam them in the microwave. Anyways, here are our favorite rice meals: Salisbury Steak with gravy, white rice and a veggie Mince and Onions on white rice Baked chicken with flavored rice (add what ever spices we have in the spice cabinet, garlic and butter is an old standby if we aren't feeling creative) BBQ chicken (either grilled or baked) with rice cooked with chicken stock or bullion Steak with plain white rice Grilled chicken (on the grill or on the grill pan on the stovetop) with italian seasoned rice Sauteed or grilled fish with plain or buttered rice Chicken Fried steak with rice (if we are out of potatoes :lol: ) Chicken and Broccoli stirfry with rice Grilled Shishkabobs with rice Curry on plain rice or saffron rice Taco rice (we were introduced to this in Japan of all places :lol: Just make a taco salad on a bed of white rice instead of chips or taco shells. You can add salsa or taco seasoning to the rice as it cooks as you want but we like it plain.) Oh and I was taught the "proper" way to cook rice in Japan as well. :lol: The ratio of rice to water is 1:1.5 so since I usually cook 3 cups of rice, I need 4.5 cups of water. Measure the rice and rinse it in a strainer over the sink. Combine the rice and measured water in a sauce pan (add any seasonings you like too) Do not stir the rice at anytime from this point on. Cook on high until it reaches a rolling boil. Turn down to medium and put a lid on the pan but not all the way, balance it so it only covers about 2/3 of the pan. Once the top of the rice has "craters", cover completely and turn to low. Allow to continue cooking, without lifting the lid, for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove from the heat and fluff with a fork. I've never had a bad batch of rice cooking it this way. :D Oh and I always save left over plain rice to make rice pudding with for breakfast the next morning :yum: ETA: My dh is lactose intolerant so in general I can't make "creamy things" like rice with cheese or au gratin potatoes or creamy noodle dishes. If I just have a real craving for one of these things, I'll make a small pan of rice for him and the rest of us have the creamy side dish. His favorite way for me to make his individual rice dish is to put a little curry powder in it. ;)

We haven't participated in WIC in a very long time either even though we have 2 kids who would qualify for all of the reasons stated above. I've nursed all my kids so expensive formula was never an issue. And the BS wasn't worth $10 a week worth of groceries. WIC told me my oldest son was 2 lbs overweight and needed to be on a lowfat diet at the ripe old age of 2. (Nevermind that both his weight AND his height were in the 99th percentile and well in proportion to each other. He was just twice the size of every other 2yo on the block. :lol:) The Ped and I had a great laugh over that one. I also got booted from the nutrition classes, like one of the other posters did, for being smarter and more up-to-date on my information than the nutritionist. They wanted me to write an article for their newsletter on bf'ing because I had bfed 3 kids at that point. I told them I had an oversupply problem with my first with which they were absolutely no help. I had a latch problem with my second and again they were no help. And my 3rd child contracted vaccine related meningitis at 2 months old despite the "superior immunity" given by breastmilk. I persevered in spite of WIC not because it. They agreed that I might not be the person they wanted to write the article. :lol: To the OP, they threaten your benefits because they think you are too stupid to know that they can't and they probably get something for referring kids to this program whether it be an "Attaboy" from their superiors or some other kind of kickback or its someone's pet project. I'd point out to them that as a WIC participant, they know your income, and what makes them think you have the money to drive your one year old to this class?

I'm going to be the dissenting voice here. I teach my two kids that are 13 months apart together when ever possible. Math is one subject they are pretty close in ability level so I teach it together. Yes it does save me time because I only have to teach the lesson once and it makes for games and such that they can play together. It helps that the older one is a little slower in math and the younger one is a pretty bright student all the way around. I don't "hold one back" or "push one ahead" to accomplish this, they are naturally pretty much on the same level in this subject so I save myself about 30 minutes by teaching them together and not teaching the same lesson twice. They haven't always been this way and I've had to teach them separately at times and if one bounds ahead, I will teach them separately again but for now teaching them together works for us. I do have to teach them separately in other subjects, for example, spelling they are on two entirely different levels but English lessons I combine all 3 of my school age kids, 3rd - 5th grades, and just have different expectations for each of them when it comes to the composition part. 30 minutes might not be much to some but with an older child to homeschool and two little ones underfoot, one of them about to start school so I'll then have 4 school age ones to teach, time is a precious commodity. If you think it might work, try it, if it doesn't work out for you, then you'll know and can teach them separately again.

It makes a difference because while shipping to and from the UK is bearable, shipping to and from Japan is outrageous. Military and some missionaries and expats have special addresses that work like American addresses so it doesn't cost any more to mail things to Japan than it does to mail something in the states. We ordered things from the American Amazon site because to order things from the Amazon.co.jp site would cost us more because it would literally be shipped back to the states and then to us back in Japan because of our special address. If their address is Japanese, I would just make sure that the gift certificate is usable on the Amazon.co.jp, otherwise most the gift certificate will be used up with shipping costs.

My MIL had 5 children and she was less than thrilled when we announced we were having a 4th and didn't talk to us for a while when we announced our 5th. She's of the mind set that it was so difficult and expensive to raise 5 back when we were little and she can't imagine how we will afford it. Gifts and giving are her love language though. She loved to shower the kids with gifts and still does. Dh and I don't share the mindset. We think kids are only as expensive as you make them. ;) We don't buy tons of Christmas gifts like she did, we only buy 3 per kid and that's it. We buy them 1 birthday present each. We don't buy much of anything other than essentials outside of Xmas and b-days. We cook just enough food for each meal, she always cooked for an army whether one was showing up or not. She doesn't know how we manage without me working (she almost always worked when dh and sibs were kids) but me staying home is more important to us than material things. She doesn't have to understand it, all I ask is that she respects it. And she does 99.9% of the time. ;)

Are they American military or missionaries overseas or expats or Japanese nationals? If they are military, missionaries or possibly if they are expats, they should be able to use it no problem. If they are nationals or expats, you might want to make sure they can use it on Amazon.co.jp ;) Amazon was our best friend when we lived in Japan.

Unless there are little ones playing who would be really discouraged at picking up 10 or more cards if it happened, we allow the stacking of draw 2's and draw 4's. It's not standard Uno but the online and electronic versions usually allow you to enable stacking if you desire. ;)

No it will be grainy when thawed. However, if it's just going to be blended into something like a sauce it can be, I've done that with sour cream I've frozen and then thawed because it was about to go out of date before I froze it. Frozen sour cream can be used if you aren't picky. We've dealt with thawed sour cream a few times when we went to make tacos and found out the 3yo turned the fridge to coldest and froze everything in the back of the fridge. :glare:

Yup, I've missed it a few times. He's former military so I'm used to him clean shaven and actually prefer it. He prefers to just not shave until the beard gets annoying to him (he's not one to keep it neat and trim either :glare: ) Sometimes I just notice something is different but can't put my finger on it. Sometimes I've just gotten so in the habit of ignoring his beard that when he shaves I don't notice because I was ignoring his beard. :lol:

These books are the product of a writing contest held by Peace Hill Press a few years ago. Anyone could submit a manuscript for a children's book about famous individuals for which grammar stage literature was scarce. These are the 3 that were chosen to be published by Peace Hill Press. I haven't read them myself but I would be surprised if they were less than impressive. ;) You can also buy them directly from Peace Hill Press.

What you are talking about is a language rich environment. You can just as easily create that. You can draw your son's attention to words in his environment. You can recite words during snack time, in the car, in the bath, in line at the store and any other time you need to kill a few minutes. If you make it like a game, most kids look forward to these impromptu word games. You can also make your own word wall, label items in your house and just make words an unavoidable sight in your house. Of course, reading aloud and keep book available to him for him to "read" is never a bad idea. ;)

I would say stop worrying and obsessing. ;) Some people just get it from the start, their minds are just wired that way. If you think they would enjoy some more challenging work add some the Singapore texts for them to work through independently. Get some math games like the Family Math series and play math brain teaser games. If they are craving more challenge try to find some supplemental activities that give them that challenge but not change their math program. It's working isn't it? They are learning and it's not a daily struggle, right? Why fix what isn't broken? Why would you want them to struggle to learn? Just because they learn easily doesn't mean they aren't learning. It just means that topic comes easily to them and that's a good thing. As for your son that wants to be an engineer, it won't be the end of the world if he isn't ready for advanced college level math when he graduates high school. I went to college for engineering and math wasn't my strongest suit straight out of high school. I was able to work on those skills as an undergrad and by the time I got to the more advanced math classes I had a much more solid foundation in math and could pass the classes easily. I'm not saying this will be the case with your son, it sounds like he's already naturally good at math and will have that strong foundation before he starts college but I just wanted to let you know that he doesn't have to know it all by the time he starts college. ;)

We use ALEKS and love it! My kids like the feeling of being in control since they choose the study topics for the day for a few choices based on what they know and what they have recently learned. As they complete topics, new topics become available. They can't just not learn a topic, if they avoid a topic too long they will run out of learnable topic choices and will be forced to do the avoided lesson to move on. It didn't take long for my kids to understand that if they didn't do a little bit for each math category, they wouldn't be able to continue in the catergories they thrive in because they would not have completed the prerequisite topics in other catergories. They can do review online or I can print them a review worksheet. I also require my kids write out their work in their math notebooks. The program will also sometimes direct them to do their work on paper and then enter the answer. I just have a composition book for each of them so I have a more concrete record of their math work. I also sometimes give them a problem or two outside of ALEKS if I think they need work on something. I can see how they are doing and what they are lacking in. They work for mastery, it will keep presenting the topic until they achieve mastery. The one thing it lacks is spoken explanation like TT has. All the explanations are written, very well written in most cases but written just the same. We learned about ALEKS from our former homeschool charter school teacher. Sorry this is so choppy but I'm trying to get this posted quickly because I need to get lunch ready. ;)

We've homeschooled in several different states and overseas. Unfortunately, we've never left or entered a state as regulated as NY so I can't really help you there. I would just contact your point of contact for homeschooling and tell them you are moving out of state and what kind of notice do they need. They don't need to know where or why you are going and they cannot enforce any kind of law once you reside outside their borders so just keep that in mind when they tell you what they want and ask the hive or HSLDA about anything that sounds questionable. When you get to your new state of residence, when you file as a homeschooler, just fill out the required paperwork. I wouldn't give them any information they don't ask for though. If they don't ask where the child previously went to school (I've never been asked that anytime we've register our homeschool), I wouldn't volunteer the information. It sets a precedent and isn't really important for them to know anyways. All they need to know is that currently now that you live in this state, your child is homeschooled and will not be enrolling in the public schools. As for the whiteboard question, I would just use a plain paper notebook and pencil or pen. Easy to carry, easy to access, doesn't require a battery and inexpensive. We use the computer and our whiteboard for a lot of things but when we travel, the more simple we keep things, the smoother they go and you can't get more simple than pencil and paper. ;)

We went to Japan knowing no Japanese and lived there for 4 years. We can now hold simple conversations in Japanese from what we learned from the locals. If your son is going to be one of the few non Japanese children there, will the other children be native speakers or Japanese-Americans also learning Japanese? My kids learned so much Japanese just playing with other Japanese children on the playground. We really like the Irasshai Japanese course for keeping up with our Japanese and teaching our littlest ones who were non-verbal when we were still in Japan. You can purchase the DVD set for about the same price as Rosetta stone. I really like Irasshai because it's taught in much the same way we learned from the locals in Japan. You can try out the Irasshai videos for free online before you purchase if you want. You can also get a free trial of Rosetta Stone. I would try them both out and see which one you like better.

Hold the control key and scroll with the scroll wheel on your mouse until it's the size you want it. ;)