I found the tax shelter in this posting when searching for a gift for my brother. He is a tax preparer and has everything. So I just had to share what I did for him. I took one of those woodcraft houses from Walmart- removed the two screws from the base. I cut a 1" block of wood that fit into the bottom of the house. I glued this block onto the base thus allowing the top of the house to be easily lifted off the base. I cut a 1/2" groove in the center of the block with the table saw so I could set a card of thumb tacks into it. This was hidden in the house until the top was lifted off. I wrote a poem for this & read it to him while my daughter did a Vanna White presentation of the house. Everyone got a good laugh out of this and I finally did a complete craft project! It's been a while. Hope you have as much fun with this as we did. Here's the poem: I drew your name for Christmas It's an honor, don't you know To get my brothers name for Christmas Ah! ashopping I will go. But then I started frettin After searching high and low Whatever will I get 'im (Twas wrong to worry so!) I went into an office shop Maybe something for your desk? I talked to the clerk a lot She tried to aid me in my quest. He could use a tax shelter Is what the lady said It seemed a bit off-kelter But there was nothing left instead. So here's your little shelter All painted so very nice The foundation has been mended The roofs' been polished thrice. The flowers are all blooming In the big pot by the door The bumblebees are buzzing And there's no sawdust on the floor. It seems to be the perfect place I do agree she's right It sure beats a plain old case And your tacks! They're finally safe at night!

I have five kids (eldest is almost 12, youngest is almost 2) -- they are fantastic, incredible, wonderful creatures :-) We have four sons and a daughter, and our home is filled with the sounds of giggling and arguing and jumping and running and chitter-chatter. My husband and I go to bed every night thanking one another for the family we have. The first two boys (26 months apart) each arrived 11 weeks preterm (29 weeks' gestation) and required months of hospitalization in the NICU, including multiple surgeries, ambulance rides and long nights of wondering if they'd survive until morning. They finally became healthy little toddlers and I had my tubes tied, thinking there was no way I could bear to bring another baby into a terrifying scenario like that again. Time passed, and the yearning got only stronger for more children...I discovered the source of my obstetric problems (a congential gynecological defect) and underwent a grueling seven-hour surgery to repair my tubes and correct my dysfunctional anatomy. Went on to have three more scrumptious kids and now I have five healthy, gorgeous children. It's exhausting, yes. It sometimes causes a bit of financial juggling (I'm a SAHM). The volume in my house is often very high with clamors for my attention or frustrations among the siblings, but it's nothing compared to the joy of hearing them laugh uncontrollably during an afternoon of goofing off as a family. I don't worry about the teenage years -- we've done our best to lay the groundwork to raise our kids with enormous self-respect and self-esteem. They'll make mistakes, I'm sure of it, but hopefully they'll return to their core values and continue to grow into fine adults. Until then, we have years of baking cookies, chasing the dog around the backyard, monitoring homework and tidying up mountains of Hot Wheels and multi-colored wooden blocks with these sweet, funny little kids we're so lucky to call our own. It's all good. Create the family you want, and then pour your heart and soul into enjoying your blessings. If you already feel sad about *no more babies, ever* and the vasectomy hasn't even happened yet, you're clearly not ready to move on -- you'll know in your heart which path is right for you and your family. Warm regards.

Thanks all. We were going to do the toddler thing too. I had posted before about toddler beds and decided to skip it. But then, as we shopped my dh kept wanting to buy proper bed furniture (not just the mattress and boxspring) and he's a carpenter, so he liked all the wood ones. I wanted an Ikea type bed - low to the ground, probably with one mattress (no boxspring). We couldn't decide. When we saw this bed... we just fell in love. Anywya, maybe it was stupid and hasty, but I'm stuck with it now. (Hindsight is great eh?) So, I've stuffed the one side for now and there's no way he can get out, and I've got a giant couch like chair (that we usually read stories in) agains the other side. Either I'll customize the regular rails as suggested above, or get my hubby to rig something up. Hopefully, ds isn't too traumatized by it! Ugh. Ad

Our son was about 18 months when we did the switch. He was climbing out of his crib all the time and we were at the point where we left the sides down so he wasn't falling from the top of the rails. At first he did the same things your son is doing. Just continue to be consistent and start shortening the length of time you lay with him. Tell him you have to go the bathroom or something if he's still awake. Soon enough they start going to sleep on their own. Could he be waking for a drink or something? Or just because he's not used to the bed? We have left a sippy cup in our son's bed with him for years now. He's almost 3. This way he wakes up, finds his cup, takes a drink and goes right back to sleep. He's not getting everyone in the house up and we're not stumbling around to find his cup and fill it and all that. We all get a good nights rest this way. ~Leslie~