xumelanie

No need to run. I think that comment is funny! :D Oktoberfest is a real celebration in Germany, and they do drink beer. I wouldn't think that would be an insulting holiday or event. I believe the reason Cincinnati has a big Oktoberfest celebration is because several waves of German immigrants settled in Cincy.

There is a sign on the door of the now-closed Javier's that says the following: "Coming soon Taqueria Mercado Mexican Restaurant taqueria mercado.com" I looked at the website, and most of it is in Spanish. They already have a location in Fairfield.

^I hope it's just a rumor that Bartini will be owned by the same group that owns Cadillac Ranch.

We registered at Babies R Us and Park + Vine (local green store in Cincy). I have heard that different babies liked different bottles, and that it can be trial and error to find the right ones. I wonder if we should just register for a few and not go overboard.

^Thanks for the advice! I will check out those books.

Speaking on preparing for the nursey, bfwissel and I went to two stores to start registries. It is overwhelming! There is so much stuff out there, and we're trying to keep it reasonable because we don't have a lot of space. I think we saw at least 20 types of bottles alone. I think going to so many baby showers in the past ten years really helps, though. I remember hearing comments from some of the current moms on the presents, such as "you can't get enough of that product" or "that is a waste of money."

We are sticking with neutral colors, and we would probably do the same even if we knew the gender. If we have another kid, and it's a different gender, we want to be able to reuse everything. After the baby is born, then we will have time to buy some cute gender-specific outfits. There are definitely good arguments for and against finding out the gender in advance.

I think people are probably more concerned about the results of the test than they are of the test itself. I'm glad to hear that the drink is small. I was picturing some big container with a disgusting liquid.

^Not yet. I take the glucose test in about a month.

Last week I had my 20-week ultrasound done, and everything looks great! We did not find out the gender. We are waiting until birth.

This was pretty much my reason for going with 5/3 in the first place. Truthfully, I think all big banks are bad, and I've heard complaints about every single one. Small, neighborhood banks were the best in terms of customer service and lack of fees. Unfortunately, most of these small banks have been bought by the big banks.

I was living in PR when the old Pleasant Ridge Elementary was torn down, and the parents in the area worked to have it converted into a neighborhood Montessori school. Considering the parents were so involved, I have hope that the school will be successful. I believe that parental involvement in a school will help its success.

I don't know much about the new Pleasant Ridge Montesori school, but people seem to be happy with the montesori schools and the magnet schools in CPS.

I would think location wise those could be better just because it's a little closer to the business district than Mapleleaf. It's really nice to be able to walk to some restaurants, UDF, churches, schools, and a park. Mapleleaf seems a little further away.

When we lived in Pleasant Ridge from 2003-2006, I did feel safe. There were a few incidents, but overall I liked the neighborhood. I felt it was improving.

This is the first time I can honestly say I remember everything that happened at Bockfest while I was there this weekend. ;)

Keep in mind if someone mentions here that they personally received a paycut, they may not want to post where they work. Many people are hesitant (and probably for good reasons) to post where they work on a message board.

There are some doctors, dentists, and optomatrists in the basin. Of course downtown residents will travel for some things, but I'd imagine people are interested in know what is at least near downtown. I plan to ask other downtown parents for recommendations about their pediatricians because they probably won't be recommending places up in Mason, West Chester, etc.

If the signs had to be replaced anyways (for poor conditions, outdated information), then I think it would be fine to include a second language on them. Otherwise, it does seem wasteful to replace perfectly fine signs.

I'm curious if you have any examples of companies that actually did this. It's generally pretty hard for companies to cut wages as well, since an experienced employee is much more likely to leave for another company if he finds his pay slashed. I don't know of examples of a pay cut, but some companies have frozen salaries and eliminated bonuses. That could be seen as a pay cut. I do know a few people that have mandatory furloughs.

I'll be honest and say that I probably would not have considered cloth diapering if it wasn't for the store Park + Vine near our home. I had no idea that modern cloth diapers existed until they added them to their merchandise. They look so cute, and then I heard they are easier to use than the old-fashioned ones.

rockandroller, that does sound like a great arrangement for little rnr. That first provider does sound ridiculous, especially with the cold basement! I'm surprised anyone would allow this woman to watch their kids all day.

You're not getting out of diaper work!

Breastfeeding and cloth diapering here still. Woo hoo! I sure hope we can keep the BF up as long as I want. With his dairy problem, we'd be shelling out enormous money for one of those special formulas if we had to switch. Very cool! We're going to look into cloth diapering as well. There is a store a block from me that sells many types of cloth diapers and offers workshops on how to use them. This just reminded me that I need to sign up for one of the workshops. Is your son in day care, or does he have a baby sitter? Are they okay with using the cloth diapers?

I agree. I'm able to buy most things I need in downtown Cincinnati, and it's nice to be able to walk a few blocks if I need to buy a gallon of milk. I even have my prescriptions filled at the downtown Walgreen's. The pharmacist there is one of the nicest and most helpful pharmacist I've met. I totally agree about the grocery store. If I'm stocking up on things, I would rather drive my car to a large grocery store anyways. When I was a kid, I usually went to the main library over the branch ones. My mom always drove me to the downtown one any time I had to do research for school projects. I was so used to the main library that I felt lost whenever I stepped into a branch library.