Tracey - Mom to O, N & S

I'm running my first 5k in September and I've been training in standard cross-trainers, but I feel I need a better pair of shoes that are meant for running. Any suggestions on brand?

A while back, I had a banana spoil on my counter top and undoubtedly, it attracted fruit flies. Since then, we've had no rotting food, but I can't seem to get rid of them! They seem to gather around my kitchen sink. Any ideas?

A friend told me if you put out a small cup of juice, it will attract them and they'll virtually drown themselves, but I left out juice and had not one fruit fly in it! Help!

Years ago when I was struggling to get pregnant, I had a conversation with my dad about adoption. My husband and I had started looking into it and I got a very negative outlash from my dad. He basically said that you could never love an adopted child as much as you love your own. I definitely don't agree with that, but now I fear that if we follow along our path and do adopt a child that he or she will be treated different by my parents.

It's odd to me, though. My brother dated a woman who already had children of her own and they treated those kids great, but if we were to add to our own family, that child may be treated differently?

My husband and I are all-in. We've talked to our 8 and 4 year old (we also have an almost 1 year old) and they like the idea, too. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had iffy extended family members that they've dealt with when considering or going through with an adoption?

Hey everyone. I'm pregnant with my third and she's going to be born on October 8th (via c-section). We have two other daughters and we've struggled this whole pregnancy coming up with a name for our third daughter.

The names Ruth, Rebecca and Elisabeth are all high on our list. My husband REALLY likes Ruth, though. I can totally see using this name, but it needs the perfect middle name. That's where I need help!

I know Ruth Ann sounds nice, but my other daughters have longer, flowier names. Olivia Claire and Natalie Wynn. Can you please help me find a middle name for Ruth that is comparable to my other daughters' names?

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone. I'm having some trouble with my 7 year old daughter regarding school. A little background... We moved here about five weeks into the school year last year when she was in the first grade. She struggled with emotions and anxieties over school almost the entire year. We pressed on and she barely passed her grade. We had assumed the problem was her starting school later in the year and thought this year would be better.

Today is the 4th day of 2nd grade, and I've already had a phone conference with her teacher. She cried at school yesterday because she missed her friend. Luckily they were able to get her face to face with this friend and she was okay. Her teacher said she was very distracted and she's not getting her work done in class. They were playing a game and she didn't want to play but instead of telling her teacher, she just stared at her.

I'm not trying to label my daughter as an excuse for her behavior, but I want to know if anyone can tell me what could possibly be going on in her head. I'd like to be able to fix this problem early, or at least get on the right path, so her 2nd grade year isn't as big of a struggle as her 1st grade year was.

I started doing some research on ADD today. The websites I found broke it down into three categories: inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. She really only fits into the inattention category, but the websites said that a child doesn't have to have all three to be considered ADD. It also said that ADD is genetic and can show through in other forms, such as depression and anxiety (I have both and my grandmother suffers from depression) and learning disorders (my brother and one of my husband's brothers had learning problems), as well as alcoholism (also prevalent in my family).

Last night we tried talking to her about things she could do to focus better in class and she started giggling almost uncontrollably. Finally, we asked what was so funny and she said that her stuffed bunny farted. I mean, seriously? She couldn't even stay focused on us telling her ways to keep focused.

So, any ideas? Please no mean comments. We had such a rough year last year and I would hate to have to go through that again this year. Like I said, we're not trying to jump to conclusions, but if anyone has dealt with a low-level of ADD like this, I'd like to know so I can talk to her pediatrician sooner rather than later. Thanks in advance!

Besides Margaret, what are other names that can shorten into the name Maggie?

I'm expecting my third daughter in October. We've pretty much decided to name her Eleanor and call her Nora for short. I'm completely stuck on a middle name. Our last name is Davis.

Her sisters are Olivia Claire and Natalie Wynn. Both have traditional first names, but we have one classic middle and one a little more modern. Pretty much for middle names, anything goes.

So, any suggestions?

We need to change the knock sensor to get our van to pass emissions testing... Does anyone know where it's located?

The van has a 3.0L engine, if that helps any!

I have an 18 month, neutered male cat that seems to have taken a liking to my daughter's stuffed animals. I caught him earlier today on top of a stuffed tiger, basically humping it (sorry if tmi) and purring about as loudly as I've ever heard him. Thinking it was a freak attack, I left him alone and then caught him tonight doing the same thing. This time I took the tiger away and he went after a stuffed dog instead.

So, my question is this: does my neutered cat still have the ability to be sexually aroused? It seems like when he was neutered he would have lost the want for this kind of activity. I had another cat for 16 years and NEVER saw this kind of behavior from him. Any ideas?

I had some spotting that I thought was implantation bleeding on Tuesday, exactly 6 months since my miscarriage. My period started on February 1 and the spotting happened on the 19th. I immediately thought it was implantation bleeding and I was SO happy. But last night (Feb 20) I had some more spotting and I woke up this morning with a bit of blood on my pad. It's nothing near being period level bleeding. Is it possible that I am still having implantation bleeding? I have two daughters that I never spotted with but my last pregnancy had some implantation bleeding and resulted in miscarriage.

I guess this is what I am asking.

1. Can implantation bleeding last more than one day?

2. Is there any connection between implantation bleeding and miscarriage?

3. How soon can I take a HPT to see if that was indeed implantation bleeding?

Thanks to everyone in advance for their ideas!

I had a miscarriage on August 19, 2007. I had about 5 weeks of bleeding (I miscarried naturally) and I got my period on the first day of the 6th week. It was a normal period (length and flow). I didn't get another period for 46 days. Then the next one was 41 days. My latest one was a 36-day cycle.

My periods have been about the same length (about 4 days). My mom said this is common in our family, but it seems unnatural. I was going to make an appt with my doctor but I got my period nearly a week earlier than the last, so I was going to wait it out and see what happened this next month.

So, what I am wondering is if other women have had this experience after miscarriage? We're trying to get pregnant and it's extremely difficult considering I can't gauge my cycles well.

Please only serious responses and no "chart your temps" stuff... I am just asking about the length of my cycles! THANKS!

My daughter is turning 6 in March and we're going to do a bowling party for her and her friends (and their siblings most likely). My biggest concern is that one friend of mine has four kids, ages 14, 11, 6 and 4. The cost per child to bowl is between $10 and $12. Do you think we can just invite her two younger children (who are friends of my daughter) and if they want to bring their older kids ask them to pay for their bowling, or do we need to include them all? I don't want to step on any toes or hurt anyone's feelings but that is at least a $20 difference in price for us!

I have two daughters; Olivia Claire and Natalie Wynn. My husband and I are trying to conceive baby 3 and I am curious what names people think would fit with Olivia's and Natalie's. We like traditional names and spellings. Please leave suggestions for boys and girls! Thanks!

When I send email, it makes me type the weird number/letter code and when I click "ok" it tells me that Method HumanVerification does not exist. I am unable to send ANY email.