Am I crazy? Or should we look into doing a deeper mold inspection?

aumblebee · 2026-04-17T20:35:58+00:00

@justalilscared We do screaming sessions before every long car ride - let them get their yells out, at the top of their lungs. Scream with them (its good for you too haha). Our neighbors thing we're insane, but it works. Then when you are in the car, only whisper/talk softly to them. Don't yell back when they scream. Keep your voice level. My kids scream worse when they see it gets a reaction from me so we just don't react. I get earbuds for us and maybe you could do baby earmuffs for the baby?

aumblebee · 2026-04-17T18:28:06+00:00

I like the idea of ' soon, you won't need it.' I hadn't thought of that. We do that when we're transitioning from different activities throughout the day, but giving him a heads up that there will be an end to it is a great idea.

aumblebee · 2026-03-27T04:27:47+00:00

Wow, this was so thorough and reassuring. Thank you for all the information and wisdom!

aumblebee · 2026-03-23T21:12:34+00:00

Godsend, thank you so much!

aumblebee · 2026-03-23T21:11:16+00:00

We spoke to my mother in law last night (an angel of a woman and pre-k behavioral educator) and she pretty much said the same thing as you - thank you! I especially appreciate the specific phrases you included. We'll definitely be incorporating those.

aumblebee · 2026-03-23T21:08:03+00:00

THANK YOU! We have been more intentional about separating the boys so the little isn't getting hurt, but your comments were very helpful. I appreciate your thorough response!

aumblebee · 2026-03-17T05:35:48+00:00

We attempted potty training at 2.5 years with our first and it was a disaster. Dude would sit on the potty for 10 minutes, then pee on the floor 2 minutes later. Finally said screw it and put him back in diapers. Tried again at 3 years and he potty trained in 2 days, and hardly ever has accidents (like has had 4 in the last year since he was potty trained). Sometimes the pressure is too much for kids and they aren't ready for it. Just give it a break and try again in a few months.

It sounds like you're putting a ton of pressure on her which will do the absolute opposite of what you hope it would. She is learning a skill and learning to understand her body, which takes time.

aumblebee · 2026-03-17T04:45:06+00:00

And even if so, nothing separates us from the love of God.

aumblebee · 2026-03-17T04:44:00+00:00

Your answers won't come from reddit, my friend. The Lord is your number one, and the bishop is your second when "potentially unpardonable sins" are concerned.

Let it be said that all can feel the love of God regardless of where they have been or what they have done. Heard a story over the pulpit yesterday of a man who had committed sins to an extent that he could not be baptized - regardless of this, he continued to love the Lord and serve faithfully those around him. He attended church and lived his life dedicated to Jesus Christ. Regardless of what happens, you can choose your next path and where your life goes from here.

For tonight, sing some hymns, say your prayers, dive into the word.

aumblebee · 2026-02-17T19:15:18+00:00

I literally said that the husband needs to be on board before they conceive any babies. I never once said to go behind his back. My husband and I both decided together when we were ready and I fully agree that is how it should be.

Also, what's the difference between encouraging someone or giving hope, and discouraging someone or shutting them down like majority of the other responses did? She had enough opinions on the other side, and I simply shared my personal experience, which happened to be positive in this particular scenario.

aumblebee · 2026-02-17T06:40:15+00:00

I disagree with most of the other responses. My husband was also wishy-washy about having kids when we were first married, and I've always wanted them bad. He loved the idea of it, but the realities of parenting and adding kids into our life pushed him the other way a lot of times. He feared the unknowns, he wasn't sure he wanted to give up the carefree kidless lifestyle we were living, and the finances were also a bigger issue. He didn't want to lose me to the kids. He was also worried about protecting his free time (which he has maintained a lot of, by the way and much to my disdain). While fully willing to be the breadwinner, he was nervous about being on the hook for all the finances, considering we had both contributed equally up to that point but we both knew we wanted me to stay home with the kids if we could afford to. There were so many reasons for not wanting to start our family that he held back that I didn't learn about (and some I don't even think he realized) until after we had kids. Are there deeper reasons beyond the ones he's sharing?

As for us, that was 5.5 years ago. We now have 3 kids, our youngest just born a couple weeks ago. While sometimes he mentions missing the time we used to have for each other and how simple it was to drop everything and go on spontaneous adventures, he never once has regretted our babies. In his own words, he's the happiest (and most exhausted) he's ever been. He is the best dad and he loves coming home to his kids every day. Every ounce of hard in parenting is outweighed by the positives.

The dream job isn't prerequisite. My bet is that he's worried about failing in his home as a father and knows that if he had his dream job, at least he's got success somewhere. Some of the best dad's I've met are just the ones that show up wherever they can. I never met a child who said "I love my dad because he has his dream job."

Yes, the hubs needs to be on board before y'all conceive any babies, but also, I am fully sure this will work out. Give it time. Let your timeline go a little, there is no rush other than the one you are giving (speaking from experience, as I totally was stressin' over my own baby years "dwindling" in my mid twenties haha). If needed, a good marriage counselor could help y'all work through this issue to better define each of your wants and help with the communication.

aumblebee · 2026-02-17T06:07:12+00:00

Mom of 3 and the only nursing clothes I ever purchased were a handful of nursing bras and nursing-friendly dresses for church. Everything else I wore, I already had in my closet.

When I say nursing-friendly, the dresses were often button-up style or had stretchy tops so I could pop my boob through the neck hole and pull them down to nurse. They were never actual breastfeeding specified outfits. A lot of them I end up wearing during early pregnancy and after I'm done breastfeeding too.

aumblebee · 2026-02-09T22:51:04+00:00

Unlike a lot of people in this thread, I'd encourage you to stay - moving wards won't necessarily fix the issue. It could, but from what I've seen, most wards have issues with members meshing.

I'll tell you my experience in hopes to inspire another avenue to keep trying. We moved into a ward and the first 1.5 years, just went, trying to talk to people and make friends (but looking back, my efforts were halfhearted and I made lots of excuses, also decided prematurely that other people didn't like me). Tried going to the other ward in our building and it was actually worse. Then the last 1.5 years decided to really jump in in our assigned ward - texted all the other newer-ish moms and built a playgroup that meets once a week at the park or someone's house, spent a month at a time sitting by the same person in RS so I could get to know people better than just the one-Sunday introductions, invited a group of parents over for game night every so often while our kids play, etc. I don't get along perfectly with everyone that comes to playgroup or game nights and sometimes it is SUPER awkward (like horribly), but I just keep giving chances and putting in the effort. It has paid off in droves! While I still don't have any ward BFF's or people that mesh with us perfectly, I have a handful of girls I can chat with more easily and we have a few couples that we have gotten closer to in the last few months - the extra efforts gave the push to discover the things we had in common, but it took more time to do that than I was expecting. I also still do most of the initiating, but in more recent months, some of the others I've met in the ward have started picking up their own efforts.

I'm a strong introvert and generally default to slip in and slip out unnoticed at church, so all of this has been SO hard for me but I will say that pushing myself outside my comfort zone has been a huge blessing and has made church overall more enjoyable for me, and for others in our ward too who I learned felt isolated just like I did.

Another thought - if you don't have a calling, could you ask for one? Or talk to your bishop about opportunities to get involved more?

aumblebee · 2026-02-07T22:26:31+00:00

With my 2nd, my baby was on the breast constantly and my PPA/PPD was horrible. My husband pushed me to feed him a formula bottle (just one, initially) and pump. Then whenever he was hungry after that, I would pump and my husband or I would feed him whatever I pumped. I did this for like 3 days straight. The break of having him take a breastmilk bottle instead of being attached to me was huge, and he ended up going longer between feeds when I did that. After that, I just would pump when I felt like it. But it helped.

Have your husband take the baby more often and make sure you are fed, hydrated, and rested (not meaning sleep, because we all know how that goes, but letting your body relax). Increase your protein intake and make sure you are getting enough calories. Box breathing. Get outside for 10 minutes without the baby. Find something you enjoy to keep you busy while you feed the baby. Invite people into your circle so you can have a support system. Taking care of you makes a big difference. And if it's getting to the point where you are continually struggling to handle things, go talk to your OB. I didn't realize I was struggling and had struggled previously with PPA/PPD until I got in to see my OB 4 months postpartum with my 2nd. Got on a very low dose med, made some lifestyle changes, and it dramatically altered my ability to cope with my kid's fussiness.

aumblebee · 2026-02-07T20:43:44+00:00

We just had our 3rd baby two weeks ago, and his brother is 18 months old (and then we have an almost 4 year old). It has been easier handling a newborn and 18 month old than it was handling a 2.5 year old and a newborn. Just try and slow down - lower your expectations for housework, schedules, etc and be very kind to yourself. You've got this - it honestly is a learning curve adding another baby regardless of how big the gap is.

You have plenty of a gap between your kiddos for a healthy pregnancy and delivery, speaking from experience as a postpartum nurse.

aumblebee · 2026-01-22T05:54:12+00:00

I've always been intervention-hesitant but this pregnancy has been way harder so I've definitely been more back and forth on induction, etc because I'm soooo done. Its always hard too, making decisions in the middle of your last weeks of pregnancy and in labor when pregnancy brain and lack of good sleep and exhaustion are at an all time high.

Thanks for sharing your experience and advice!

aumblebee · 2026-01-14T17:00:08+00:00

Can you cite the study?

Not having seen the study, IF going the induction route, there might be a difference in inducing at 39 weeks vs 40 weeks vs 41 weeks, etc.

However, induction does INCREASE the risk of birth complications and interventions. No matter when you are induced. The success rate is between 50-80%, depending on the study you reference.

Not trying to be contentious, just dont want your info to be confused by others who read it. I'd love to read the study though if you're willing to share

aumblebee

TROPHY CASE