No one that has ever used Felcos for any length of time would replace them with Fiskars :-) I use multiple pruners for various purposes and at various places and have broken more Fiskars than I can count. Yes, they are cheap but purchasing frequent replacements adds up and eventually you will have paid the equivalent of a good pair of Felcos with a lifetime guarantee. And ALL parts of a Felco are replaceable, not that I've ever needed to do anything more than sharpen mine. I do like Fiskar loppers however - they have a "powergear" feature that increases the torque and makes cutting through large branches a dream, even for my poor old arthritic hands. I'm on my second #600 saw :-) The first was overlooked outside one day and the blade rusted. I could have replaced the blade but elected to buy a new saw - the old saw is used for all sorts of vital but improper saw purposes :-) The new one is getting a serious workout taming my new, overgrown and seriously neglected garden into shape. (FWIW, I use the cheapy pruners at work, where breakage and theft is less of a concern - they are replaced at cost. My Felcos I reserve for home use only.)

I too am slightly embarassed to admit that I still have about 35 WS seedlings in small nursery pots sitting in the pot ghetto. Well, in mid-summer it was over 100, so that's an improvement. That's one of the problems with winter-sowing - too many seedlings! :) We have had unusually mild and drizzly weather lately, so it's perfect for transplanting. Two days ago, I planted out 12 seedlings of Polemonium reptans (Jacob's Ladder). These are easy to start from seed, and I already lost most of the first wave of transplants during the summer - slugs! So, I'm pushing the envelop and planting stuff to see if it will make it through the winter. What's to lose? I've got about a dozen seedlings of native perennial vines - Campsis radicans (trumpet vine), Clematis virginiana, and Aristolochia - still sitting in those little pots. I don't have trellises ready for them, so they are going to have to be sunk into the ground in a veggie area for the winter. There are also a few warm-season grasses in little pots. They are dormant now, but I'm thinking of planting a few just to see if they'll make it. They too are very easy to start from seed.

Hate to say it, but I agree you have already been told by this man that he does not want any more children - ever. Though they say vasectomies are reversible, it does not always work. If you want a child of you own in the future, Walk Now. Further more, any bond that you thought you had with this child was that of a care giver and not that of a parent in this child's eyes. Yes he may care of you. But for a child - at the age of 5, to state to you that 'he was talking to daddy and not you', and is already questioning your authority as to being able to give instructions, he is telling you that you are NOT his parent and he knows it. While I agree with others that he is being a boy and wanting to spend time with Dad is natural, these other behaviors are not. This child already is stating that you are an interloper in his eyes and if you have the child work experience you state, you would recognize his behavior as being confrontational. It is so easy to idealize a parent child relationship. It is also easy to idealize the step family - take it from me, most of us Stepparents started out like that! But reality is starting to set in for you. The baby is now starting to grow and things are going to change with him as you are going to deal with him feeling you are taking his Dad away etc. If you stay with this man, I would recommend counseling for the family unit and yourself for the grief you will need to work through for not having your own biological child that you want so badly.

"shead I am already looking around andcasking myself why certain things felt so important and now I realize they arent at all. I coukd have saved us thousands. " I think this is why a lot of people say it takes 2-3 new builds before anyone ever feels like they got it "right." Our first new build was when we were in our 20's and I know that I had a ton of regrets after that 18 month long process. Some of those came because we had to sacrifice finishes in the end because of going over budget. Some came because I let form rule over function and was too worried about "keeping up with the Joneses" versus really considering the needs of MY family (which was quite smaller then, too :) ) I had a quite smaller list of regrets on our last big project (gut remodeled entire house) except for regretting obsessing over my kitchen cabinets as much as I did and also our shower size. It was too big at 4.5' x 6' but it had to fit in a certain space to make everything else work. I think that's why I'm procrastinating so much on getting started on this upcoming project. I want to be even more sure that I'm getting it right this go around and focusing on my family's needs versus "standards." I'm planning to use IKEA cabs this go around and my shower will be 4'x5' (still plenty big). Heck, I'm even considering laminate countertops which I loathed having to "settle" for on our first house because the granite in our last house didn't bring quite the enjoyment and satisfaction I thought it would :/ I'm still dreading the months of headaches, decision making, etc. because I know that in the end, there will still be some sort of feeling of letdown, no matter how great it turns out. The feeling is definitely akin to postpartum blues.