Ran Malwarebytes complete scan; nothing found but some adware in registry which we deleted. She had already run a complete scan with her McAfee Security Suite and found only some tracking cookies. Online virus scan turned up nothing. I went online and opened Vista Mail which began to download e-mails from several days ago. Opened an e-mail with no difficulty. Went to a couple of web sites with no problem. Vista SP1 has never been installed, and I noticed the date of April 28 on it. I think that is what was triggering the request for user name and password, since it wants to install. I told her to install it ASAP as soon as all her e-mails are downloaded. She is on a very, very slow dialup connection, and this is probably the source of all her difficulties. That's all it was previously when her McAfee was trying for days to download updates. I told her to bite the bullet and get a Verizon cellular broadband modem. She is less than two miles from the tower where I get my connection and has a perfect line of site for that. It will cost her something, but will cure so many of her headaches. She can afford it, too.

I had an experience in recent months where I offered to help my friends do some work on their house. After a visit one evening where we discussed dreams they had for their house, I offered to come help them work on a project. They were initially surprised and thought I might be just talking, but I maintained I was serious. We spent a week working on their house and they were really pleased with the results. I'm so happy we did that, because it turns out it was just the thing that inspired them to start working on other projects. And they're really happy and feeling good about it. So, I like to think that being a little pushy can be helpful, but I would only do it if I knew someone very well. I've had friends and neighbors over who tell me our place looks nice and how organized I am. They ask if I would help them do this or that, and I tell them I'd be glad to do it and to just call me and make plans. It's come up more than once with some, and I've repeated my willingness to help. But I leave it at that, because it's not my job to make their project a priority. This last experience annoyed me. I had someone, more of an acquaintance, ask for help with selecting something for their home. They were at a loss for ideas and asked me what I thought. I made a couple of suggestions, and the person actually responded with "ew". Yes, ew. Not, "I don't think I'd care for that" or something polite in response. I decided I didn't need to knock myself out for "ew". Tina

Couple of things about this... Nothing will help a baby "sleep through the night" except maturity. Giving them cereal to try to do this is a well-worn wive's tale. Solids are discouraged by the AAP before six months because avoiding them decreases the incidence of allergies. Babies have very sensitive GI tracts. They're not meant to eat solids this early. As someone already mentioned, give solids before they're ready and sometimes this can backfire, cause GI upset/gas/hard stools and they (and you) will be up more. (But with number one child, I tried it early anyway. Didn't do a darn thing.) Babies wake a lot during the first months/year because of many things...First, their sleep cycles are not like adults (takes years to get to that point). Their's last only 45 minutes long. And "sleeping through the night", MEDICALLY-speaking is considered a single five hour stretch. So if you put Junior down at ten, and he sleeps until 3am, THAT is considered sleeping through the night. And it can be YEARS before you see them do the 8-10 hour thing (and even then, they don't necessarily do it consistantly..might do it one night and then won't again for weeks...). Every child is different in this area. (Some do it very early, but I always tell new moms, don't count on it.) Growth spurts will wake them (they'll want to eat more)..teething...gas or GI discomfort..something you ate (if you're breastfeeding)..reflux...illness...and all of the developmental leaps they go through. If they are about to 'do' something new, THAT will also inevitably increase night-waking. This would be things like rolling over, sitting up, crawling, standing/walking..language development, you name it. (*If you watch them closely, you might see them acting some of this out in their sleep.) Too much stimulation during the day (like lots of family activity)..changes in their routine because of other family needs (like having them out during naptime). Basically you name it, it can cause them to wake up. And if it's not one thing, it's another..My 7 month old ds started to crawl, a few days later pulled himself, caught his sister's mild cold, and just cut two teeth..All in a two week period! Lemme tell you, we've had a lot of late-night partying these past couple of weeks! LOL! And it will end when he's done with it. So, sometimes it can be more than one thing going on at the same time. With two kids, this is my only advice about sleep. You can make it conducive for baby to sleep, but you can't MAKE EM sleep. A calming routine, a calm household, a warm bath, cuddling, eating, rocking (whatever) can lull him down IF he's ready to go. If they don't want to go, ain't going to happen. Not like they have a sleep switch (and trust me, if they have one, I would've found it! I looked! LOL!). That's the bad news (if there's any bad news with babies). The GOOD news is that this time period doesn't last forever. Blink, and they're crawling. Blink twice and they're walking. Blink several more times and they're riding a tricycle and sleeping like a log. That first year goes by in a flash...but yes, you will have some year-long nights. And then all of a sudden it hits you that your 'baby' is not a baby anymore..they're a KID. Running, climbing, laughing, talking up a storm, playing...And then something weird happens. The woman that wished that her baby would go to sleep, now wonders where her baby went? And would he/she please slow down enough for a lap cuddle? :)) I'm 40 years old and this is my last baby. Although the sleep deprivation is really kicking my behind, I'm ever mindful that I'm not going to do this again. And considering that my first baby is going to start kindergarten in the Fall (how did THAT happen so fast??), I already know how quickly this part of motherhood is over...The baby that woke up every two hours for almost a YEAR (I'm not kidding), and currently sleeps like a rock, came up to me the other night and said "Mom, when will it OFFICIALLY be my bedtime?" I told her and she said "fine, thanks for letting me know"..and trotted upstairs, got into bed, snuggled down and went to sleep (She turns five in March). My how things change! LOL! So hang in there ladies, you'll do fine whether or not they sleep when you want them to. And cherish the baby time. It's amazingly fleeting...

Aw caroline94535, that was such a sweet comment. I was not able to bring those antique pieces b/c they are too big, but the library card holder I purchased from dh, Randy's, elem school in Marksville. Small desk is from a school where I taught. The washboards and triangles were purchased through a grant I received from The Cajun French Music Association. Renowned musician, Mr. Hadley Castille, and his band did a 6 week set of lessons with my 4th grade class and the kids learned to play these primitive instruments. They did a PBS performance. It was fun. The 2 sets of shutters on windows are from Mom's kitchen (they make me smile). The huge roll of craft paper was my mom's. She was very artistic and always sketching something. I need to get a holder for it. That little wooden index card box is from my daddy's furniture store. He and my Uncle Oscar borrowed $500 from my Aunt Lillie's husband - an "orphan train baby", my rich uncle (LOL!), and opened a mom and pop furniture store in 1949 after they came home from war. Daddy and Uncle Oscar were both unmarried so they volunteered to stay longer so that married men could go home to their families. Many other items are gifts from my sis-in-law, best friend and soul mate, Carmen- old jars w/ zinc tops, soda pop crate, pics, a sheet of Elvis stamps, and old phone. Shades-of-idaho, Carmen is "Louise" to my "Thelma". Thank you for the prayers, caro.