If you have leftover white rice from Chinese food or whatever, fried rice is quick and has most of the food groups in it!

2 C. White Rice
1-2 stalks green onion or a bit of diced onion
2-3 T. veg or canola oil
1/4 C. Diced ham or cooked meat of your choice
1/2 C. frozen peas and carrots mix
2 eggs, over easy and cut up
Soy sauce
Pepper

Heat oil in pan. Put in rice, peas, carrots and onion until all are heated through. Toss in meat and put in enough soy sauce so everything is kind of brown (stir frying), add cut up eggs and sprinkle some pepper and you've got a meal in 15 minutes!

I just read "Animal Vegetable Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver and she had a fun idea for her kids: the number of guests = how old they are, the thinking being is that's how many people they can handle. So in addition to grandparents, etc, a 2 y.o.'s party would only have two other kids, a 3 y.o. could have 3 guests, etc. I think it's really clever (but hard when you feel obligated to invite the whole preschool class) and makes a lot of sense.

You know, I would've said that same things as you when my DS was 8 m.o. You're in the trenches right now, and it's hard to see how you could possibly do it again. At one point, I thought I would go nuts if I didn't have a little time to myself, get a date with DH, get a little of my old life back, etc.

My DS is 14 m.o. now, and just over the last month, has gotten LOTS easier to handle and much more fun to be around. He knows how to slide off the bed backwards instead of crawling off of it, knows how to throw away his own diaper, and kind of 'gets' hide-and-seek. I can totally see myself having a second baby now that the first year is over. Anyway, just some thoughts: but don't make any decisions until after your DC is 18 months old, no matter what it costs FIND A BABYSITTER to get some alone time with your DH, and hang in there!

DH maxes out on his 401K and I either max out or put in 12-13K. We also try to put in an additional 20-25K into index funds. That said, the rest of my paycheck goes to the nanny, preschool, and the housekeeper....I'm one of the those gals who works part-time to keep sane, keep the family savings up and keep my toes in the professional arena.

I'd also recommend a ring sling. I initially bought the New Native carrier, and it's a little unwieldly to put on and off b/c it doesn't adjust. My 14 m.o. is 24 ilbs and still goes in the sling for quick trips. It's great!

They are really different personalities. Dr. Hill's really jolly and some say a little weird. He has everyone take a picture with him with their thumbs up after the delivery. Dr. Abraham is no-nonsense and I don't remember Dr. Muangman among the cast of thousands. I WILL tell you that if you can get Dr. Johnson, Dr. Jackson, or Dr. Loveland, you'll be happy. They are all lovely doctors and nice women.

Could you be having implantation bleeding?

Anyway, I echo PP and say take a pregnancy test.

Good luck!!!

We got the Aria double stroller and HATED it as well. We ended up with the MacLaren....sooooo much more sturdy....but it doesn't accomodate an infant seat. My understanding of the Graco ones are that they are pretty heavy and some kids don't like being back to front.

What about the local fire station?

OP here. I know, I'm a total sucker. I've always been confused as to what is ok to ask of the cleaning lady. Are these things standard:
- dusting
- wiping baseboards
- windows
- wiping down the inside of the refrigerator.

Also, if I let her go, how should I do it? I'm not usually home when she comes (Tuesday mornings). Should I stay home one day and talk to her? Leave her a note (that seems kind of mean considering she's been with us for three years). I swear, I don't have this much angst filling out people's performance reviews at work, but feel like I'm taking food out her kid's mouth for letting her go.

I love my cleaning lady. She's come every Tuesday for three years, loves our son, and is so sweet. However, she doesn't do a particularly good job with the house. She spends about an hour at my house doing the bathroom, floors, kitchen and changes the sheets on our bed (not our son's since that wasn't part of the agreement when she started). She only does the main level of our house and gets paid $75. Based on what I've been hearing on listservs, I can get a housekeeper to come for four hours for $100 who will do all that AND dust and do laundry (and come highly recommended, which I would not do for my cleaning lady). I don't think our present cleaning lady will ever get that much better. Some neighbors with long-time cleaning help say that I should just start listing what she should do rather than letting her go. I did remind her to take out the trash a couple of times and she's been better about that. Oh, and she's petrified of the dog, who has to be locked in the basement (where the washer and dryer are, precluding her doing the laundry) whenever she comes. What does everyone think?

I went on a 3 hour plane trip with DS by myself at Thanksgiving b/c DH had to come later and I think all the tips here are totally awsome. One thing I'll add is that I went to a GOOD toy store (if you're in DC, the one on Conn. Ave near Chevy Chase circle) and threw myself at the mercy of the salespeople and told them what I was doing. I walked out iwth $15 worth of toys that were produced on the plane and amused my son for about an hour and a half. I got two sticker books, a little plastic alligator whose mouth opens to reveal teeth...when you press the teeth the mouth shuts, and a plastic tube that pulls out and crinkles shut. Of course out of all of those, he loved the $.99 tube the best. We survived. You'll be fine and never happier to see your family in your life

I think the three keys are:
1. Direct flight
2. Renting an apartment (www.vrbo.com is a good site to check out) rather than a hotel so you can cook for finicky kids...and save $$
3. Finding a city that you an stay put in for a week or can do easy day trips rather than dragging people around from place to place. So it has to be interesting, beautiful, kind of big, diverse, etc.

Some good cities with those criteria:
- Barcelona (We did it and loved it)
- London
- Paris
- I second Prague even with no direct flights!
- Lake Como region in Italy
- Rome

You can do it! The flight over is pretty easy as it's overnight and the kids will sleep. The trip back can be a bear but you'll survive with lots of walks up and down the aisle. Good luck

It's got a very good reputation but is really hard to get into. I was on the waiting list for a year and a half. We ended up in a nanny share with a nanny who we love, but got back on the waiting list for their pre-school program. Lisa Danahy, the Director, is really personable and knowledgable. They have new facilities, which should be really nice.

After going to Reiter, Hill and Johnson (aka the baby factory) for my last pregnancy, I decided to try out Dr. Malcom DeSouza on some rec's in this forum by a doula. Granted, this was my first visit, but I was really really pleased! He's very laid back and caring, and seems to really listen to concerns and thoughts. It was just a check-up (I'm not yet pregnant with #2 yet) but I think the next pregnancy will be worlds different in terms of care. Since he's a solo practitioner, he said that some appts will get shuffled around when he has to go to Sibley to deliver. I think that will be a small price for someone who remembers me, who has nice front office staff, and who isn't pushing me out the door the second the exam is over. He's also open to doulas and birth plans. I'm really impressed.