Hi and Welcome! When my muscovy eggs hatched (I had 13 to hatch) it took a few hours. But, one time I had a muscovy that only had one egg to hatch and it took all day long! So, it can take anywhere from a few hours to all day once they start hatching. If the eggs is dark then it is probably a bad one, but I'd leave it in there for a while until the others hatch just incase. Where are the babies? Outside? In a shed/barn/room? In your house? You can leave them for the moms to care for; they will take care of them, but I took my babies and raised them myself. I don't think they need a lamp if you let them stay with the mom. Ducks in the wild don't have a lamp. I took the shells away after they hatched. I also heard those kinds won't sit good, and I have also heard that khaki campbells won't sit on their eggs either, but I had a KC lay some unfertile eggs and she sat on them faithfully for several days until i just decided to take them. Yeah, I think she'll know when the babies can come out and swim in the pond. It's her instincts; she'll know :) Your ducks sure are pretty! Bill reminds me of my pekin I use to have named Apple Genny

Ok, portrait aside...I think there is a bigger problem. Why are you calling all the shots? Have you asked your siblings if they even want to be in the picture and what they think about who should be in it and what you are doing? Get on the phone and ask them... I would never just arrange to have a pic with me and my siblings without going over with them who would be in it, etc. I think it's the fact that you appear to be controlling everything and everyone that may be the real problem. "Your plan" really doesn't matter if it brings heartache to any one family, marriage or wife. It really doesn't matter how many photos you've gone through or how much better or easier the pic would look with just you six. If you are hurting someone, you need to rethink your options. And I gotta tell you from a traditional etiquette standpoint, not including spouses can be kind of harsh... they are either considered part of the family or they are not. I think it's naive to think you're not gonna ruffle some feathers. Although your idea may be best...you didn't allow others who should have had a say in it, vote, so now not only is it not the best idea but hardly anyone will be happy with it. Back to the drawing board...

Clare, I didn't say before, but I'm sorry your celebration wasn't what it should have been. Annie, believe it or not, a restaurateur who has any idea what they are doing would far rather you send something back than walk out dissatisfied. Ticking customers off on a regular basis is death to a restaurant. I cannot tell you how many times over the years I had to drag a criticism out of a customer who was obviously not enjoying their meal because something was not to their taste or poorly prepared. And I worked in a very nice restaurant! But chefs are people, like anyone else, as are those who write the menus, and yes, the servers, and everyone is subject to error or just a bad day. Clare, some customers will sabotage their own complaint by making it in a rude or aggressive manner, but I just don't believe that was the case with you. I think you got one of those waiters who gets his nose in the air because he's part of the "foodie elite" who know how things "should" be prepared. When I was training staff, that attitude brought tongue lashings from me, I can tell you. If you like your food prepared a certain way, you don't care (nor should you) what some foo-foo trend says about it, and you're the one paying for it anyway! I used to have customers who ordered their prime rib well done and asked for ketchup. That is not the way that I would eat it, but then, I like it mooing at me and many wouldn't eat it like that! Anyhow, I figured that since I have a secret penchant for Chef Boyardee's Beefaroni, I haven't the cheek to criticize the tastes of others! :D

Do you have some type of program like Beth suggested in your area? My son was born 8 weeks premature and the dr's got me in touch with the Infant Evaluation Program in our area. A lady came to our house once a month until Shane was about 4 months old. She measured differnt things he was doing and making sure he was on track with other kids. If he wasn't, she tried to teach me things to do to get him to do them. In most instances he'd start doing the things a week later with no help and that was fine since most kids aren't right with the chart. I know this program was also for older children and they had more to it, like counselors who could do a whole evaluation of your child and tell you where they were on the charts and what needed to be worked on and developed in more detail. This type of program might be able to help you with your son. It's hard for a teacher to really pay attention to all those kids and they can't really diagnose things because they aren't a doctor. Good luck. ~Leslie~