Yay Miamla more furious shaking of pom-poms! May I be the first to congratulate you (and T of course) Hopefully you've cracked it now.

Yes it does mean we can stay put. Our lease is up in January/February time but I think I'll be ready for a move - would like somewhere a bit bigger (just in case no 2 puts in an appearance) and would love some outside space or a balcony at least but will have to see what rental prices are doing then.

good morning
he slept from 10.40pm until 4.30am
longest he's ever slept!!!!!
my first thought when i saw the clock this morning was 'oooh, i can't wait to tell the girls!'

oops Thanks for the pom pom waving

TS its amazing how different your girls are! what do you put it down to?

notso shame your picnic was rained off. good news re DH's job. Does the 'new team' option mean that you have to move or can you stay living where you are now?

No1 forgot to say congrats to DS on the walking. DH most annoyed that our picnic got rained off yesterday afternoon as he was looking forward to playing proud Dad with walking boy

Miamla glad you finally appear to be winning the battles.

TS hope you have a good day today for your belated 4 July holiday.

DH been in more discussions at work about his next move. These were the offers on the table - stay where he is and probably not get promoted till 2011 or 2012, move to new team (still in Singapore) and hopefully get promoted if not this year definitely next year or move to NY in 6 months time and promotion a bit more difficult to say as he'd have to prove himself again. Anyway although I had my wobble last week I'm not sure moving in 6 months time to another new country is really right for us but we have both talked about going to NY before as something we wanted to do so plan at the moment is for him to change teams, get promoted as quick as possible and then look at moving to NY in maybe 18 months to 2 years. At least then the flights home will be shorter and cheaper

woo hoo miamla
i'm guessing you won the battle.

speaking of battles...
dh is in with dd1 now. she is screaming, "I DON'T WANT TO GO TO BED!" over his attempts to read Madeline to her. she's a fitting fool tonight.

on the flip side, reese has been watching her sister fit with the look of . and to prove how OPPOSITE they are i just handed reese her pacey, took her to her bed, laid her down, handed her the blanket and walked out.....no fuss....no crying...she's on her way to dreamland.

all this talk of race for life makes me want to attempt it. off to google....

night night all

Miamla - I think if you carry this on for the next few days you may well crack his sleeping. It will be difficult though but we will all be here cheering for you <<waves and shakes pompoms>>

lovely photo oops

he woke up as i stood up earlier! only a 10min settle though

DP back now

Excellent work Miamla.

Great work No1, and all credit to your stepmum.
And yay for No3-DD2 took her first steps a few weeks ago and has refused to do any more since though she was threatening again today.

VG- I have secured a pass out with DD2 only for Tuesday at a time of your choosing if that suits, and am free on Wednesday too. Let me know what is best for you. I'll call tomorrow.

I've had a sore ear all day. Hoping it is gone by tomorrow. The pain, not the ear.

Miamla can I shake a quick pompom in your direction too? Fingers crossed that DS stays asleep. I can't believe how much stamina you have to be lucid and generally cheerful here every day when you're in pain and getting no sleep. I doff my cap to you, madam.

Well done on the walk No1 and for supporting your stepmother. Hope your sleep issues can be resolved too...

I can't put DD down to sleep without feeding her. (Except she will nap in the pushchair.) Which is fine, though once I go back to work DH/DM/MiL will have to hope for nice weather on all the walks they will have to take! Or perhaps they will have more willpower luck in getting her to settle

Just to say new piccie on my profile of DD

oops hmm, tricky question that.. i reckon the answer is 'your ILs'? am i right? am i? am i? what's my prize?
i did think i saw a pom pom over your way but i wasn't sure

hmm, ds is still asleep, its almost been an hour..better go and check he's ok

Miamla - well done for persevereing - I was rooting for you but the IL's interupted my posting, who comes visiting after 9pm on a Sunday night???

No1 - well done to M the boys are leading in the walking stakes! Well done on the RFL I did it in 33 minutes 2 years ago - when I was fit and babyless.

Hi Sazzles <<waves>>

its good to hear that the op works at least

Good on her no1, and good for you supporting her too

miamla mine is so much better since the reconstruction, just the odd ache in the cold/damp weather now

good grief, your poor step mum

hmm, i will add lemon verbena to my list of things i want to grow. be warned, i will never be able to find this post again so i will be asking you for a reminder!

no1 how far is it?

re knee.. i'm on a 10 week waiting list which i think brings me to mid sept ish. it really gets me down most days. i hate not being able to walk far and its really restricting me especially on stairs. to be honest i'm fed up of moaning about it which is why i haven't mentioned it for a while but thanks for asking!

I saw so many with crutches doing it, and felt so bad that I was walking.
My step mum was run over by an Ice cream van when she was oyunger and was in hospital for a year. She only has one kidney now and has huge scars on legs and struggles sometimes with walking and needs a wee very frequently, so I felt obliged to walk at her comfortable pace. Was proud of her for doing it though, and she lost her rescue remedy on the way round too, which she needs to calm her down.(as she panics about needing the loo)

I did it in about 40 mins but my excuse was i had a buggered knee at the time

How is your knee miamla - any news on an op?

The bed had really good reviews so i hope it lasts. We are going to order another one for DD2 in case they are discontinued by next year

I am doing it agin next year,but on my own so I can just go for it.

miamla you should grow some lemon verbena, it is a fabulous herb which goes brilliantly in Pimms. I thought the 12 inches of snow had killed it but it is just reshooting [hurrah]

I like that bed.

I did it in 50 min, but didn't run as felt guilty leaving little sister and step mum behind, however me and my dsis decided to run last k.

ooh i love DD1's bed!

No1 well done for doing the race for life!! can't believe you went for a walk after it!
sorry to hear you're having sleep problems too. it would be so much easier if the DCs understood that life will be happier and filled with more activities if mummy isn't so tired. i'm not even going to attempt to offer any advice but you sure do have my sympathies and i'll share Sazz waving her pom poms with you

sazz ooh i've got some strawberries.. off to add one to my pimms

no1 well done on the race - what was your time?

We got this bed for DD1. I looked at the kiddy beds and they looked a bit crap. this one was brill with quite a good sleeping bag bit

Well done No3boy on walking

stop the clock!
woo hoo 4mins that time! i like this game! he had a bit of a whinge, rolled over and went back to sleep! didn't even need to rub his back this time

he may be starting the battles but i'm winning them!

Evening all.
miamla well done getting ds back to sleep, I sympathise I am having trouble at the moment/again with both mine, nightime routine getting harder. I won't go on about it agin on here, have started another thread for more tips/advice.
sazzles great to hear the camping trip went well, sorry dd2 didn't like the travel cot.
my dd had one of them blow up ready beds. ITNG she loved it but we made the mistake of letting her have it out and she broke it after already doing around 10 puncture repairs.
at E climbing stairs, dh pointed out to me that ds climed a few the other day.

Ds also stood up and took his first few steps yesteday [sob] [soppy proud mummy] he just seems to small/young to do this.

I am very tired after 'race for life' and mammoth walk after that with dh dc's and dog.

LOL, yes we have concrete stairs from the kitchen to the patio - only about 10 in a spiral

<<Channels VG for some stair defendants wording [grin>>

Keep up the resettling. I'll pour you another Pimms with strawbs, mint and cucumber over ice for your return

DS awake AGAIN!!!!

not by me i might add!

you have concrete stairs??? <phones stair police and leaves an anonymous message>

we have a horse that we know can bolt but still the barn door keeps getting left open

LOL - At least she practised on the wooden stairs and not the concrete ones

We know now to close the stairgate. Possibly a bit like shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted

think you'd better keep quiet about your danger stairs otherwise you'll have the stair police round!

Hurrah!!!!!

Clever?
Fearless? [definitely]

how very clever of little E!

stop the clock! he's asleep again!!! only 20mins this time!!!

Absolutely, that's what i'm here for . DD1 & DD2 are both the same, if i stay in the room they go mental but revisits work much better. Even now still with DD1

just recounting some amusing moments of the day with DH and remembered that i came downstairs and E was heading out the front doorstep across the patio. I looked for DH, nowhere to be seen, called for him like a fishwife and he was on the loo downstairs. Apparently he had put E in the study and gone to the bathroom. She must have climbed the stairs (6) and headed off outdoors . We had no idea she can climb stairs . I asked DD1 if she carried her up and she said no and i totally believe her. I think we need to up the security levels

thanks Sazz, i'm having a screaming break already. he's got himself so worked up already. i find that if i leave him to scream for a minute and then go back in, he calms down. but if i stay in there he gets more and more worked up

right, keep those pom poms moving, i'm going back for round two....

ps really appreciate the support, i know i'm not providing the most scintillating conversations at the moment on here!

Just do the same again miamla - stay strong, i'm here cheering you on

<<waves pom poms>>

arse! he's awake already <sigh>

Miamla the tshirt bit is one of the top settling tools for both kids and pets. Odd how yet again I've tied the two together today.

Sometimes is Reese won't settle quickly I will hand her a non-noise making toy for her to fiddle with until she's ready to doze off on her own. She's sat up and played for as much as a half hour before falling asleep on her own. With the toy she doesn't fuss, just plays till she literally falls over.

Miamla - I am really lucky with bedtime as she is rubbish during the day, she sleeps in the car, on me or with me and if I put her down she wakes up and yells.

sazz i'm really hoping he will! in fact he has to... he's too heavy for my mum to rock him so when she looks after him ie last friday, he's not having any naps. this doesn't bode well for man nor beast!

i'm quite surprised how calm i managed to stay during it all tonight, i suspect this may have had a big effect on T too

TS ah ha! i wondered why the photo was for me! I pinched the idea of rubbing T's back from you! i remember you mentioning it a little while ago. it really seems to help calm him down. we did try a dummy with him but he was having none of it. he usually took it out and put it in my mouth!

perhaps my t-shirt is proving more of a comfort to him than i was appreciating. i guess it smells of me, is nice and soft, its a familiar texture for him

miamla usually she protests for about 30 seconds and then gives up her rather pathetic protest . If not, i go in every couple of minutes and lie her down and say night night and walk out again. 3 or 4 times max, so i reckon T will get the idea

Miamla I just uploaded a picture of Reese to FB for you. This is how she wakes up every time. All Cheery!! I guess we have our system down pat by the looks of things with her.

{{{twilight wanders off scratching head about the system that seems to be lost for dd1}}}

Miamla I put Reese's dummie in her mouth, lay her down, drape her fuzzy blanket across her (making sure it touches her face) then I walk away. Sometimes she'll fuss enough that she looses her dummie. I'll go back and reinsert it...maybe rub her back a little and speak softly. She'll mumble, roll around and then be out. I have often put her down and she closed her eyes immediately going to sleep. I never rocked her to sleep. I hold her all the time while she's awake, I figure that's enough.

sazz i tried your way but he resisted for a long long time!

red lol! she's got you just where she wants you!

oops ah, sounds sweet! and easy!

well, i'm happy to announce that DS is asleep, in his cot and he actually fell asleep in his cot tonight!!! woo hooooo!! It took almost an hour and a half and i've lost my t-shirt in the battle (DS is currently clutching it like the trophy it is!) but I won this one! My cunning technique was to lie him down again every time he stood up. He started getting really screamy so i walked out, posted a message on here and went back in again. I gave him a little cuddle and then lay him down again. This happened a million few times until eventually he gave up and just lay in his cot giggling at me. I managed to resist smiling, continued humming his lullaby to him and rubbing his back. His eyes started getting heavy and hey presto!

woo hooo i'm about to have a celebratory pimms

i'm sure my method breaks all the settling rules but hey, its worked and i figured it can't get any worse than having to rock him every night so <clink> cheers

ps reason i asked what others were doing was to see if the continual lying him down from standing was actually worth persevering with, it would seem it was.. for tonight anyway!

Miamla - I am fortunate enough that she just lies there with her muzzy in her mouth and goes to sleep. She now has her bottle (finally up to 5oz) when we are dressing her after bath then we sit on the chair in her room, I sing to her then put her in bed and that is all we hear from her until 45mins later when she groans and then at 10.30 she whinges for 10 seconds (both like clockwork) BUT this is only in the last 2 weeks before then she needed singing/cuddling/feeding to sleep.

TS - we could have won the Tip of the Year award here but DH just hoovered and got a whole bag of dirt

Then they do that funny 'furious, flat on face, snooze, furious' cycle thing.

Apparently. Not that I would know Sazzles obviously.

Not that I've tried it on the littlest small here. If she thinks she is being abandoned she has this new little angry, snarly cry which I'm powerless to resist.

I walk out and let her find her own way down, but then i am not going to be awarded attachment parenting genius any time soon

albs lol, no idea about the museum, i've never been and was relying on pertelote choosing a good place!

have you got a tape measure? if not, i'll put one in my bag for Tuesday

TS well done on being IT genius!

right oh wise ladies... short of using staples or strong glue, how do you get your DC to stay lying down in their cots? DS is getting too heavy to rock to sleep so i figured it was time i tried getting him to settle in his cot,. It has worked twice in the two weeks i've been doing it but he really doesn't like lying down unless he's already asleep. Is it just a case of battling on and keep lying him down when he sits/stands up? I need to win this particular battle because my back's not going to be able to rock him for much longer

pertelote and miamla having not been to museum of childhood since i lived in BG I have no clue, and want to ask if there is a play area or something for the babies? They won't have to stay in buggies/slings all day will they <fear>?

Is it just me or do any of you get the SWEATY BETTY ads here on MN? Honestly I'd rather not wear clothes belonging to a sweaty anybody.

ALBS sounds like you might have eaten something no so good. Better out than in.

DH handed Reese a bottle when she got fussy but I had to go get her and put her down for her nap. A gold star goes to him on the food front...he "made" something in the kitchen instead of driving to McDonalds. It was a frozen pizza but it was an already paid for frozen pizza with less bad things than the crap in a McD's Happy Meal. Joy!

I've not slept but at least I've been still. Thankfully something I did yesterday fixed my internet connection problems <<knock on wood>> which allows me full fun here in bed with the old laptop.

Sazzles my house would win the tip prize. Would someone PLEASE remind me to purchase a new mop this week. The floors REALLY are starting to look scary.

lol i forgot about your deadline!!!!! do0 you need to measure me again in case i've lost a few pounds <hopeful> ?

albs i missed the 'week on' bit and read 'on thursday' and you sent me into a mild panic! Thought my deadline had been brought forward a week!

DS and I have been to the park this afternoon. Was really lovely but he always seems to pick up a girl, usually about 7 yrs old, who wants to play with him! Just like his father going for the older woman!

miamla i hate it when dh is away. in fact io tend to beg my mum to come and help . she can't do anything for ds in the night but she can help in the day and deasls with dd if she wakes up (though dd normally gets to sleep in the bed with grandma so very little trouble).

I've been feeling really odd since last night. kind of sick but not a normal kind of nausea/sickness - more a stomach churning one. oh well......

Took dd to a bowling party. was lovely but i ened up supervising/refereeing one lane of the bowlers! Dh stayed with ds and they ended up going along to a different party so we all got parties. yay us .

I am counting the days down til a week on thursdy when it is my birthday and dh and i are off out who a whole eveing which we havenot done in over a year. harry Potter and china town is our plan atm. then on the sat miamla is accompanying me for a nice day out as another birthday thing (can you tell it's a special birthday and i'm trying to milk it for time off?).

LOL TS I am SO with you on that one - things seem to run like clockwork when it is just the 3 girls and much tidier too

miamla sorry to hear your night was pants. We were up at 5am for the day too <<sigh>>

Been to a lovely christening this morning and currently watching the very dull tennis. House a tip but i am successfully ignoring it

oops i really hope the travel cot dislike is not transferred to France as the DD's will be sharing a room. One of the problems i think is that she prefers powdered formula to ready made and i only took the latter camping so we can eliminate that issue in France

sambo hope you and DP had a lovely time coiffing champers last night

I'm trying to ignore everything here today. I'm in bed with the laptop. DH is suppose to be ON DUTY but both dcs are here in the room with me pulling everything out of my closet.

Miamla I find it easier to manage both dcs when dh is away. He has a way of mucking up the routine.

TS thank you for making me laugh! "ready to add to my brood"?!! what have you been drinking today?!

I really don't know how you ladies with DHs/DPs absent regularly during the nights/weekends cope. I'm just thankful i had last friday off. My hat goes off to all of you regularly coping on your own, especially if you've got more than one DC <round of applause and huge admiration>

is it pimms o'clock yet?

Okay now I've had a little food. Mood's still the same but at least the tummy's not grumbling.

Miamla I am very impressed with your ability to step away from the crying baby for a break. That is very second child of you. You have an amazing ability and are ready to add to your brood.

Oops my indoor cat has on more than one occasion been in the wrong place and the wrong time and with the wrong volume. I think they do what they do to get attention. This is EXACTLY what dd1 does. Funny how our pets are really just kids in fur.

I hope things are going well for Dizzy.

ALL I WANTED WAS A FEW MINUTES TO SLEEP IN THIS MORNING. I DESERVE A FEW MINUTES, right? Well it didn't happen. So after the second morning wake up I got up and turned ever last television on and up as loud as possible and went about my day. DH is still in bed but awake and watching tv.

Fireworks were good. We live in a fireworks BAN area but the authorities look the other way on the 4th. So folks went all out. One set was exploding on top of our house. They were actually quite nice. We sat in the yard on a blanket to watch. DH with his beer and me with my Blackberry Storm.

Off to FB land now....

worry not, i'm ok, DS is ok. Was just a really bad night with no hope of a reprieve

oops, you've made me very pleased that our cat lives outside!

pertelote happy hidying and happy birthday to your mum

Miamla I hope T is alright - let us know how you both are if you get a chance, the screaming didn't sound like fun.

Travelcots: every single time we've used ours, DS has done a massive flooding wee all over it

Oops I don't blame you for swearing at the cat! However, you have said everything I was going to [...

TS hope you had a great day yesterday.

Dizzy hope you have a great day today.

Miamla hope you are now sleeping.

Must go and hidy - parents and two brothers coming for lunch for Mother's bday. Speak later!

We have been up since stupid o clock and DD just fell asleep when the stupid &^%$!" cat started yowling and jumped on her - blah is as polite as I get.

Good day yesterday - DH got up with DD and they went downstair to play until I woke
up at 9. He did forget to feed her but not a huge issue and she had a huge BF at 6.30. He has been great and is now having his lie in as he earned it yesterday.

Was just popping on to say....

DIZZY I hope today goes well and you have good weather too.

TS Belated happy 4th of July*

*Miamla Ihope you got some sleep. {{{{HUGS}}}

DD can now get herself into the garden when the patio doors are open and she knows where the peas are, I keep finding her trying to climb in the veg beds to pull the plants.

Sazzles Glad you had a good time camping - DD really idsliked her travel cot too whilst we were away.

VG and Red - very of meeting and literary thingies, my brain is only good for 'chick' lit at the moment.

ooh, its gone quiet. i'd better go and check him!

DS is upstairs screaming. He's been like this for about an hour now. He screams if he's in my arms and he screams if he's in the cot so I figured it won't do either of us any harm to have a break. I'll be surprised if the neighbours don't turn up in a minute. DP away this weekend so i'm on my own. I've not even had an hour's sleep so far tonight. Not sure how much longer i can do this for. i don't know what to do. we're both so tired

Firwork Chaos should begin soon. The cats and the girls will probably freak out...as usual. Thanks for all the cheery holiday wishes.

Dizzy sending you sunshine!

No1 sending you endurance!

Sazzles sounds like ya'll had a really good time. I think I might look into a tent. We're traveling to Cuthbert the first of August for the family reunion. It might be fun to camp out while their. We'll have the house to go in if we need to....the tent would really on be for sleeping. {{just vocalized idea to dh and received a negative response}}

STAR WARS WEEKEND CONTINUES
"Luke, I am your father." <<breath>> <<breath>>

Happy 4th July TS!

And VG-maybe we could talk tomorrow at some stage. V. looking forward to meeting you and your lovely boys.

Sazzles-that camping trip sounds fab. I have been told off countless times this week for referring to Marv's dog in Charlie and Lola as Sazzles when his name is Sizzles ...

DH v. about being a star in your DD1's eyes by the way.

A slightly hectic few days here with DD1 giving up her nap and coping poorly as a result. Any scolding has been met with tears and a cry of 'Oh drat! Not again!' which is at once award-winningly hilarious and a bit heart-breaking. Poor love.

No1 - good for you on the run. I hope it's not going to be too hot. Cheering you on from here ...

Dizzy -hoping the sun shines on you and yours tomorrow. Your mum not being there will be a sadness ... You have all our support and thoughts for whatever the day brings.

Only v. quickly - welcome back Sazz and dizz and happy Independence Day TS, and good luck for tomorrow No1.

My gap is ten years and while I was full of trepidation at the start, my boys are so fantastic together that I don't actually want to look over old threads to see what I was worried about! If we were to have another, I would want to do so sharpish though, but that's more to do with my age than theirs.

DS is 11 months today and he is as delicious today as he was 11 months ago. In a month he will be 1. I can't get my head around it at all.

dizzy thank Christ you won't have to go to work tomorrow !

Back tomorrow for proper chats sleep well all.

Evening all

Back from camping - had a lovely time with lots of sunshine, beach and ice cream . DD1 slept like an angel in her new pink blow up bed, DD2 was a nightmare in her travel cot (i think we saw every hour from 10pm, both nights [tired])

Great fun was had by all though i did have to LOL when DH became very houseproud about the tent and envoked a 'crocs on outside, shoes off inside' rule for DD1 who completely ignored it . I told him not to be so silly and wandered in and out barefoot

dizzy hope you have a fantastic day tomorrow (i think it is the christening?) and you are blessed with good weather

steaky hope all is well?

No1 all the very best for tomorrow

and finally....

HAPPY 4th JULY TS

Sorry to not reply to everyone but my laptop won't let me open MN Talk , hoping it is just a blip

Quick hello ladies, I am doing the 'Race for life' tomorow so going to try for an early night, after the stress of bedtime routine tonight I think I need my bed.
Well going to watch a film with dh first.
Hope you ahve all had lovely sunny days.

Hello everyone.
Good to see you're all ok. Although miamla I'm pretty sure a massage shouldn't leave ruises
Looking forward to seeing some of you on TUesday0 at0 0noo0n0 i0sh000.
Ar
gh
ds on keybo
ard

Hello everyone.
Good to see you're all ok. Although miamla I'm pretty sure a massage shouldn't leave ruises
Looking forward to seeing some of you on TUesday0 at0 0noo0n0 i0sh000.
Ar
gh
ds on keybo
ard

happy 4th july all, ds 10 months old today!

had lovely day at nct friend's bbq. She lives in the area we used to til moving to cheaper, smaller house in crap area to afford ds. Feel sad about moving from that area though. Lovely and quiet, big houses, v nice. Not sure we made the right move. Maybe we should have struggled on. However I would have to have gone back to work at 6 months. Trying not to feel depressed about it as we'll never be able to afford to move back

cc poor O; ds covered in bruises too

off to buy cava; dp and me going to sit out this evening and get tipsy

Hey hey hey! Hope you are all ok?

Happy Independence Day TS

O is sporting a fat lip, courtesy of ds1's plastic piano. He was holding onto it and 'playing' it, then fell over backwards, bringing the piano down on top of him. Poor little fella. I think he's teething again too, so that must have gone down a right treat in his books .

AF arrived yesterday evening bringing an understanding with her of all the craziness with me for the last week. TBH I was worried a little bit so glad she showed.

On the broody front, I find it very difficult to manage the "do I" "don't I" thoughts. I am thankful we chose the "don't" path but understand fully that failure is a possibility. If that happened I know I would find great joy in the end but it would be a very scary road to travel. Hopefully as the months meander on I'll feel more at ease that procedure failure will be less and less.

My girls are 4 years 6 months and 38 minutes apart. This gap is perfect for me. Had things in my life been the way they are NOW back when I had dd1 I would have probably tried to have the children closer together. Life however was different and I needed the gap. Side note: I was 34 (well 33 for 5 days) when dd1 was born and 37 when Reese was born. If I had wanted a third I would have been birthing at the age of 39/40 (that would have been the guideline for birth following a csec.)

Cyteen I'm going to flag that event. I'll keep you posted.

Off for a bit to find some fun.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY from the USA!!

morning all
DS almost finished lunch so only got a min

yday was lovely but massage was sooo painful and my back is really bruised. dp sid he was aching as well but was suitably sympathetic when i showed him my bruises! didnt realise it was going to hurt!!

ds had fun with my mum. i left him whilst he was having a nap. he woke from that at 11am and didn't sleep again til 10pm!!

ooh, time's up! hope everyone has lovely day

hots* haven't forgotten about the vanilla cake just haven't had a second sorry

sun shining here today so if I could get on with things it would be great

pertelote I had just under 3yrs between DD1 and DD2 and thought it was perfect as DD1 out of nappies, sleeping through, in bigger car seat and didn't need buggy

have less of a gap between DD2 and DD3 as was trying to have baby before we lost mum and its been ok too - 3yrs would still be my preference though as its easier financially so not considering DC4 just yet

feck I'm tired, I've just read the same page twice

so its been a SHIT morning because DH came home and told me that according to the work shift system I am meant to be starting back at work tomorrow [meep]

phoned and had a paddy at my supervisor and told her that on no uncertain terms I would not be in and if there had been some stupid mistake made by my previous idiot supervisor it wasn't my fault and I'd be phoning in sick

she's phoned back and told me not to worry about it that she'd sort it and just relax and enjoy tomorrow - I was a tad fraught

now I've no problem going back to work, I just hadn't expected to be told it was tomorow when I'm all set for 20th aug [meep]

sorry for usual drama ladies am also sitting here with phone on redial for over an hour trying to get Billy connolly tickets and I can't get through <<wails>>

no1 I can't believe they're almost one either In fact tomorrow we're going to the first first birthday party out of all our NCT group's LOs. Meanwhile my boy is wriggling himself around, into everything, making the start of word-sounds and very definitely letting us know when he's pissed off about things. I guess his real baby days are truly over but then as wise TS said a while back, this just means he's entering toddlerhood which is a whole new world of discovery

<puts fingers firmly in ears as all the experienced mums start laughing and muttering words like 'tantrum'>

Also know how you feel about being torn between wanting and not wanting. I could happily start trying again tomorrow and would love to be pregnant again, looking forward to meeting new baby, being a family of four etc. But I'm also really enjoying being back at work, getting stuck into new challenges, gearing up to start year 2 of my MA and using my brain again. Plus, with Joe entering a new phase, I feel like we're all about to enter a new phase of parenting/family life and it will be great to concentrate on that as a three. He is so lovely, so fascinating, I don't want my attention to be divided just now.

Having said that, he did have us up at 5am this morning again so he's snoozing now and I have made a batch of heart-shaped cheese scones Off to DP's boss's wedding reception this pm so needed some finger food for DS in case there's nothing for him.

My back is better today, thank fuck - not all the way better, but getting there. I can almost stand up straight again!

TS are you there? I noticed this Team Sarcoma family fun day in Chattanooga on July 25th - sarcoma is what my brother died of, so I thought I'd flag it up in case the family Surfer was stuck for something to do that day

steaky those dresses are gorgeous and a stunning littole model too.
pertelote I agrre with hotter that any age gap can have it's own difficulties.
I have 18 months between mine. I was crazy when dd was nine months and though hey lets do it agin Would I do it again this close............. Yes of course I would.
I think any age gap I would have moments of guilt, that either child wasn't getting the same amount of attention, or the same opportunties you can do with just one child, eg swimming.
I think it will all be worth it in the end, they are only little for what seems like 5 mintutes. iykwim. In fact I can't believe our babies will soon be one
hotter I am totally with you on the baby front. Some times I feel happy and satisfied with one of each, other times I think I can not belive I won't have any more.

Oh also pertelote as for hating preganncy/childbirth etc... I said I would never go through it again, but the birth was much different and wonderful this time. IFor me this was because I knew what was going to happen, so could try to make sure I got what I wanted.

pert noon is good for me. I know what you mean about the big deal that is being pg and giving birth and the terrible sleeplessness of the first months but I am 38 and nurse said to me to get a move on if wanting more so that's that.

steak how beautiful your Izzy is! And lovely dresses too.

ds up again crying in wee small hours. Gave him a drink of water (bet that shocked him), put dummy in and he went off to sleep after a bit

nct meet up today - we are hopefully all going to be there including the workers. Have not seen some of them for months so should be nice and chaotic.

Actually I have surprised myself at how and also I am at these thoughts of more babies. I know I should be grateful that I have two beautiful DC, I am so lucky that I didn't even start trying till I was over 35 but managed without too much trouble both times, in fact I was 39 when DS was born, but I really really want another . There is no way DH will agree, and I can totally understand why, he is probably right, but it hurts to think two is my lot. Oh well, I'll have to get a kitten instead

Steaky lovely dresses, and lovely DD

Pertelote our gap is 2.8y; it has worked quite well, DD was just potty-trained before DS was born. To be honest I think any size gap brings its own issues so you should just go ahead when you're ready

Dizzy where is that recipe for Vanilla cake???

Drunk typing better go to bed as have already had a row with DH due to being tired and have swapped the chance for a lie-in tomorrow so I can have one on Sunday and not crash the car

Cyteen and Cavey also anyone else who feels like a trip oop north, how is 14th looking?

Night-night all

BTW I am of all the next baby plans starting up (or already in progress LWFH ). Not because we're not planning another but because you all seem so sure - when oh when will my broody kick in?! I know we want two children but golly I don't want to be pregnant/give birth/do the sleepless tearful shambolic early days again... I suppose there is no rush (I'm 31) so I'll just have to hope this feeling wears off once DD is sleeping through/fully weaned/potty trained/entertaining herself/starting school! What's the biggest gap anyone here has between 1 and 2? VG would that be your DSs perhaps? How has that been?

Absolutely, lovely dresses Steaky! You are clever. We've just booked another trip to France for Sept, Paris and Bordeaux but both are miles from you aren't they?

TS congrats on the cheque. It is good to think of this time last year, isn't it?! I have now been on mat leave exactly one year. (Four weeks of annual leave to go before I go back...)

Are we all (London ladies) good for Museum of Childhood on Tuesday then? Shall we meet there (in the cafe?) at noon? If anyone wants my mobile no and doesn't already have it/can't find it on FB, give me a shout.

Gardening sounds great Oops, hope DH keeps the Good Daddy stuff up all weekend (at least).

Dizzy hope you are feeling more energetic or have some help to do what need to get done. I'm sure it will be a lovely occasion anyway.

STEAKY I love ALL the dresses!! I hope you don't mind but I posted a link to your online shop on my FB page. I'm all about passing the word about awesome things.

Everyone is napping BUT ME!

My financial boo-foo this week has been temporarily corrected. My mailbox today contained a refund check from my old mortgage lender. How sweet is that! I would have rather shamelessly wasted the fundage but OH WELL.

Tomorrow is the FOURTH OF JULY!! I can't believe last year I was the size of an elephant and absolutely miserable. AH THE MEMORIES!!

steaky she is GORGEOUS and so are the dresses, well done you

oops thats lovely, I couldn't do that with Dylan as all she does is eat the mud/stones etc etc

Ann glad you're feeling a bit better, nothing worse than someone waking a sleeping baby

evening cyteen

Steaky, why am I the only one who can't see your dresses <<stamps feet>>

Steaky o Steaky - am mucho loving the polks dot dress on your etsy - Is that DD wearing it? I would love one for DD but not sure about sizing? can ye help?

Dizzy - DH has stolen your motivation, he seems to have taken chat on board and is being very pro active about DD. Bets are on as to how long it lasts.

DD and DH have been gardening and they are both in the bath as they ended up covered in mud - she assisted him in digging veg beds and planting veg and carrot seeds. I can't wait to see what grows where.

Very nice Steaky! I love the live modelling, nothing will get the sales in faster

I can't get it to work Steaky

This is what I've been doing today. I took the piccies the other day but only just got around to updating the listings.

[shameless promotion emoticon]

dizzy is it hiding in the biscuit tin?

afternoon ladies, am on quickly whilst Dylan has a nap as I've done sod all for Sun and really cannot find the motivation

will try to catch up

I often turn of fthe doorbell . ds wouldn't be woken by the phone cos both are downstairs and too far from his room, but the door bell is farking loud especially when inconsideratesods idiots keep ding dong ding dong-ing on it . Then it turns out to be a child from the flats next door wanting a ball back. raaah. They're scared to come when dh is here cos he makes them tell a joke .

telephone preference agency

doh

I used to work as a telephone fundraiser, it was my first job in charity land, fortunately most folk were polite as it was for charidee. anyway what you need Ann is to either go ex-directory or register with the [[http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/ telephone preference agency)) once you have done that it is illegal for them to contact you without your consent, so always read the marketing bit at the bottom of everything you ever put your detials on and make sure you opt out.

Ah, have calmed down a bit. Phoned MIL to vent. As she said 'better out than in'.
And <<breathe>>
Think he may be going back to sleep now. From now on though, I will be unplugging the phone every time he naps. Have had enough of this really. Do they actually gain anything by doing this? Surely no-one ever even finishes listening to those calls? I know that every time I get one, I hang up before they get past 'Hello'.
going out for a cig I think.

steaky my house is far far far from anywhere near pristine. Or even clean for that matter. Tell your DS DH that it could be worse.

I am busily tryig to update photos on my etsy shop while I ought to be making the flat pristinely immaculate or immaculately pristine for babysitting.

Whatever, 2 loads of laundry done and the recycling done, only the bathroom needs a lick and polish.

Ann unplug the phone for a bit, any emergency will call your mobile.
Can you pop him in the pushchair and go out? Even if he doesn't sleep it will be a break for you.

Maybe pop into local cafe for emergency tea and cake?

Izzy decided that she didn't want her nap but did want to do the mother of all poos. nice!

AAAAAAAAARRRGGGHGHHGGHGHGHHG.

Absolutely bloody fuming!!

EVERY SINGLE TIME HE GOES DOWN FOR A NAP THE BLOODY PHONE RINGS AND WAKES HIM UP!!!!! AAAAAAAAARRGGGHGHGHGHGH!
And EVERY SINGLE TIME it is one of those automated sales things. bloody driving me nuts.
I now have a baby that needs to be asleep but is crying upstairs and I NEEDED him to nap so I could have a break. GGRRRRRRRR.

arse pie <<shudders>>

sonot maybe you should be notyet .

Has been so hot we have not even bothered with grobag lately, ds going to bed in nappy and long-sleeved vest and usually throws off the one blanket. Don't want to jinx things btw but this week, with giving up the bf and offering cup of milk at night ... I think ds is going to start sleeping through . EG last night he woke once, looked at the cup of mlik & went back to sleep.

However he was sick yesterday - vomited a couple of times, was lethargic, hot - making me a bit about rapid switch to cow's milk. I mean it is meant to be v. hard on the digestion even of adults. However was also possibly reaction to jabs earlier in week.

lwfh that's lovely lovely lovely that the shortestwayfromhome is on the move and you can feel it! Lucky you . Enjoy it all.

Come on cyteen sod common sense you KNOW you want another one!

I am balancing - want to lose weight - am not getting any younger (37 ) - as they are older better closer in age - get the v physical bits over soonest poss - am only feeling like self again - would like to act like adult for a bit (well that's clearly necessary ) - etc etc etc but also aware you can't always rationalise these things.

sonot my dp says that too

Hope that answers it - as DH would say 'chance would be a fine thing' sorry about the rain.

Albs DH only has 0.5 grobags - are there any offers on at the mo? Thinking of buying some in the next size that MIL can bring out here with her along with the long list of stuff I've already sent her of things I want from home.

Rain, rain and more rain here
cyteen hope the pain killer shave kicked in poor you.
lwfh yay for movement. How exciting
expectant are you????
lol at arse pie

V interested in arse pie. sounds good.
Ihave a grumpy baby who is refusing to eat the food I made him while determined to eat bits of paper etc off the floor Think I need to get out a bit as my fuse will be prpoery burnt off by the time dp gets home at this rate

arse pie? sounds delicious

<<sending you sunshine>>

arse pie I was blind6baking is burnt, looks like omlette with last nights sauce for lunch.

yay albs

btw not that anyone is interested but before i moved my arse from the chair ds stopped grizzling and went back to sleep. yay.

poor you cyteen surely tis codeine oclock.

Just had a long chat with the neighbour, well she chatted and I ^retended i understood every word

wotcha ann along with "par mer par terrain" which is my other handy latin phrase. Tis the Royal Marines motto, but tis another tory as to how I know that.

Right pie to make for lunch.

poor you cyteen.

No rain here. I wish it would. ALthough the 0.5 tog grobag i orderd ds just arrived so i hope i've not wasted my money lol.

Aye, it's raining furiously here but still sweaty as hell

Steak that does put a different light on things, all that stress and upheaval. It's just so shit that in times of trouble we tear apart the people closest to us. I suppose it's all that 'safe boundaries' stuff, but it's still bloody hard work.

<witter>

Is it time for more painkillers yet? I am hurting quite a lot.

Good morning everyone.
steaky nil illegitimi carborundorum

Well it's grey and drizzling here, but still incredibly muggy. eurgh. Not much else to report though, just pootling along.
Hoping everyone's having a good morning.

Albs Yes of course how things are with me and DH is a factor in deciding on whther or not to have more, but not the only one. My age, not ancient but on the decline fertility wise, so if we leave it a couple of years there are no guarantees that we would conceive and if we do then there are the age-related complications. My friend who was pg with twins lost one of them recently which was age related. Then of course I wonder how I will cope with two, never mind how DH will cope. And then come the shallow/lifestyle reasons. I had a v easy pg, birth and recovery and reading of others experiences then I am not sure I want to chance it all a second time. And the financial/logistical side of the expense and doing the traveling that we would love to do is easier with one than two.

So that is pretty much it, seems easier to stick on one. And we made such a good one.

Albs i will reply in a bit but I have a ripe baby bottom to attend to.

Cyteen pry away. We do have fun together but at the moment it does seem a bit hard won. Iykwim.

If you look at the stresses we have had in the last 12 months, on top of getting to grips with parenthood then who wouldn't be finding life difficult?

We closed the doors on our business, the day before I gave birth as it turns out.
Dh got another job, but because of a broken ear drum could not work and his boss wouldnt keep his job open for him. so two months after losing the business he lost his job.
This means we had to move countries and move back in with his folks, rather than stay the first year of parenthood in GC.
four months living with his folks, having a temp job and trying to find a new one, benefits being delayed by six months, me with PND.

And without making excuses for his bad behaviour then I do recognise that I have been quite vile to him at times so it is down to both of us to make an effort.

I think I am just a bit more laid back about the day to day stuff than him and he construes this as not caring.
For example, the pils babysitting. I know that MIL is a clean freak, that is just her, and of course I don't want her to think we are living in filth and we don't btw. The house will be cleaned to my usual standard and that will do. I don't need reminding and I don't need to discuss it, it will happen.
DH on the other hand needs to have his say, but when questioned does recognise that we don't live in filth and actually house is usually fine.

Tis annoying but tis his way, I stick up for myself as far as I need to but it isnt worth an argument as we have the same outcome in mind.

So what was I saying - oh yes he hasn't learnt not to sweat the small stuff tis all.

steaky and to add to cyteen's qst. If dh's behaviour wasn't as it is would you eb intendign to ahve another baby? is it because of the ways things are? Remember there is absolutely no need to decide about another baby yet. Just because several of our number are going forth and procreating it doesn't mean you have to even think about it. Several of us had large gaps between dc1 and dc2....

argh. ds whinging in cot. that was a short nap - less than an hour. I thnk we're on the way to dropping the morning one soon. argh. although eh can't do without it yet, so it may be getting shorter first.

Expectant I am so jealous of your day at the zoo, it sounds idyllic Paddling in sweat and feeding the cats doesn't really have the same ring to it, I fear. Also very excited by all this ttc talk, not to mention the new minilongway kicking about; you girls will have me making a suggestion to DP if you're not careful <must restrain self, broody broody broody>

oops holiday and air-clearing chat sound wonderful. Maybe your DH could bottle up some of that understanding and post it across the Channel to mansteak?

I am so looking forward to our holiday next month, DP is worn out and stressed out with work at the moment and really needs a break. He is very underappreciated there, it makes me wild

Steaky feel free to ignore my prying of course, but is there anything good between you and Mansteak at the moment? From the way you talk about him, he seems to have changed so much and there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of fun there anymore. I don't like to think of you and Izzy living a funless life

sambo I just ignore it, leave him happy in his grumpiness.

<boak> indeed at sunburn, we saw some terrible stuff on Gran Can, seems like brits are genetically unable to put on sunscreen, I include myself here, some folk would look like a snake shedding their skin. eugh.

bonjour steak my goodness you have the patience of a saint. I'm afraid mansteak would receive short shrift in this house, in fact I would probably have punched him on the nose before now

croissants, yum, ta

morning

expectant no need for a name change then, you'll only have to change it back soon

oops are you able to make the mini meet up on Tuesday? bit short notice I know
glad the holiday went well, clearly you were both rested enough and away from the daily distractions to have a productive chat, very grown up indeed

another bad night here, I hope that run of long sleeps was not a fluke. Just had to attend to dp's sunburn, looks like second degree burns to me. I would never make a nurse, thankfully had not had breakfast beforehand.<boke>

smotcha spectnnt

<steaky wipes away clotted cream>

Wotcha expectant hows life with you?

Wotcha oops v of your sw romp. I loved Heligan when I went, did you visit St Ives and St Michael's Mount?
Also v at grown up chats.

LWFH ooh exciting for you. I think I've more or less decided to stick on one. Before I would have liked two but I think our family can be complete with just one.

Fortunately house does not need to be immaculate, only pristine, so I was informed in bed yesterday. Cue lots of teasing of DH from me and I told him that if it wasnt up to his standard he could stay home and clean and I would go out tonight. cue lots of sulking from him.
I did point out that his mum is far too nice and far too polite to every say anything about my housekeeping and probably too polite to even think of scrutinising.

DD took ages to settle last night and was up for a feed at 3 and up for the day at 6.30
I could have cried as DH had left the coffee table full of crumbs, a beer bottle and packet of fags so the first thing I did today was cleaning. Not as bad as yesterday when he had left out his pot. I keep telling him it has to be put away in-case Izzy finds it and it has to be in a safer place than a baby level broken drawer. The real clincher this morning was DH getting up and doing passive aggressive cleaning. You know when they wash two glasses, huff as they move a spoon to the draining board and shuffle some papers on the sideboard. Not actually anything particularly useful but just enough to say "look me big man doing cleaning - ugg"

Glad to see the back of him.

But getting up at 6 30 means you can go up to the boulangerie and buy croissants. I had a v silly grin on my face as Izzy and I pootled in the sunny hazzy morning.

<<piles table with croissants and overdoses on clotted cream>

Well done for getting through the holiday oops and glad you managed to have a good chat with DH.

yes it really did take nearly 15 hours to type that post

Hellooo

<<leaves pile of pasties, rock and cream teas>>

We are back and it was okay - not my favorite holiday but I didn't have to cook so that was a bonus. We had the most amazing thunder storms late last night - the whole sea was lit up by lightening. DH relaxed and I just carried on as if we were at home - he slept in, went to the gym and generally did 'him' things. DD and I went swimming and we dragged DH to Heligan and Lands End. DD loved the beach and ate copious(sp?) amounts of sand and yelled at the waves everytime they came close.

We are home and DD is causing chaos it is lovely to be home.

12 hours later............

Dh and I had a huge 'chat' about his seemingly selfish behaviour and how he never takes any initiative he agreed to try and we had a great conversation about everything that has been bugging us. No yelling, shouting, insulting, blaming it was very grown up. DH wants me to be a bit more positive about myslef and take a little more time for me. So we seem to be a bit more sorted. We are off to take DD swimming and then to Bristol to see the Banksy Exhibition.

Cathc up properly when I don't have a monster on my toe.

LWFH oooh how exciting. You've probably already said but are you going to find out the sex?

VG maybe we should work together on the weight loss thingy then you me and Sambo can share a thread - I have imposed target of 5 April next year for weight loss though so not sure if your target is a bit shorter than mine! Am suspecting Sambo may already be on another thread by then !

TS are you around - hope that the Jack not going down too nicely.

We had a lovely day at the zoo yesterday. DS excelled himself walking without falling in mid-thigh high water in the water play area (which is fab as it is all rubberised flooring with loads of fountains, water jets and things). Then DH got to feed the giraffes whilst carrying DS - it was difficult to see who was grinning more

hello everyone, just popping on to say that I think that I have been feeling some gentle kicks today (16 wks, so about the same as before).

<passes small espresso to ts>

ooo vg how exciting!

Ooo sambo I wonder will you and I share a little thread some day soon...

NOT before weight loss sorted here btw.

<<hic>>

lol steak a veritable revolutionary bbq

ts thanks for that classic line re the mop. Thought you'd like to know I often use your 'boot her butt into the internet wasteland" phrase re getting rid of troublesome friends on facebook. (not mine as I'm not on fb, got dp to boot his toxic ex and her vile cronies off his friends list, heh heh)

sazzles meant to congratulate you on your fab weight loss achievement, well done. You have inspired me to tackle my muffin top and cake has not passed my lips for a week. Have also refused seconds for 2 days (previouly unheard of)

Got letter from my boss. 4 weeks parental leave agreed (woohoo) and meeting booked for Monday to discuss possibility of moving to 4 day week. Not sure I'll be successful with that though as form was prepared without vg's wonderful phrasing. Also was informed I will lose my office and will be out in the open plan office. Not surprised as people returning from ML often seem to lose perks. Not an issue for me as I will be ttc soon (I hope) so they can stuff their office

TS Chin up lovey. Just think that is all the months financial errors out of the way in the fist two days. Now that is efficient.

Evening comrades. Don't fret about the mansteaks daftness it is laughable as we are far from clean freaks. I subscribe to the good enough school of housekeeping. Though i am upset that while it is clear he has had a bad day he has not asked about mine. But he has made an effort not to be snappy. Nearly bedtime for me. Come the revolution the mansteak will be first on the grill.

Open-mouthed kisses all round. Drool optional.

TS even when you are mid-mayhem I'd be willing to bet your finances are about a thousand times more organised than mine . Must channel TS, must channel TS <<pf-stylee stare at slithering paper pile>>. You are not taking anything are you (not being a smartarse btw).

dizzy glad was only techno probs.

before i go allow me to correct my english translation. my brain and my fingers are obviously not working well together today.

STEAKY*:
*HE needs a wake up call
or
YOU need to give him a wake up call
i'm not sure which route my brain was attempting to take but my fingers went their own way.

evening all, just nipping on as have a wrecked laptop and its doing my head in

VG thank you thank ou thank you

thinking of you all, will put laptop in for repair over weekend whilst don't have time anyway and will hopefully be back up to speed soon

if anyone needs me i'll be out back with a very large bottle of jack.

thanks for the mojito red.

steaky your thoughtfulness is appreciated. i'm with red though, you need a wake up call. wtf! if my dh said something like that to me he'd be sleeping in his car. that's about as rude as it gets in my book. where's his f#$%ing mop? he might want to take it out of his ass and use it himself!

btw....my gaps in posting are due to my crap wireless router that hasn't worked for crap in 4 f#$%ing months and is about to find it's new home on the lawn with the sprinkler!!!

VG I don't have a clue what's wrong but thanks for asking. I've been out of sorts for a few weeks. Today I realized my days have been off all week. Now I've found I've paid one bill a day late, another bill I paid TWICE and a third bill I paid the wrong a amount.

If I had to DIG for a reason for all the errors I'd have to blame it on being uprooted from MY DESK for the past month because of computer/network issues. I'm going between two different computers right now. Both in our spare room. My papers are strewn from one side of the queen bed to the other with my cat in the middle chewing most to little bits when I'm not looking.

This makes me sad and mad! I've broken three cardinal rules of bookkeeping this month and it's only the SECOND DAY OF JULY!!

<<<sllluuurrrppppp>>>
<<<slllurrrrppp>>>>
<<<ssslurp>>>

Third Policeman should be next up VG - the little boxes and the bikes.

Seriously Steaky - this must all be excruciating for you. What is the hardest thing to deal with at the moment?

Oh I have vowed to do that before the end of next week - and name the damn things too. Will make return to school in Sept a calm and stress-free time.

Bit soggy here all right. Can I suggest Tennessee? Or shall just take to my bed and retire into the kingdom of my mind? (Screaming with laughter last night at Swim Two Birds. Forgot how hilarious.)

<borrows TS's glass of something cold and refreshing and deposits it over mansteak's head; hands TS a mojito as consolation and heads off to continue the immaculately punctuated revolution elsewhere. Not in Dublin though as it is too soggy>

Mucho rain here too VG so we went to Killarney to buy school uniform for next year ... Glam or what?

French-in-laws baby sitting tomorrow night and DH told me that the house had to be "immaculate" I told him it would be as clean as it is, then he said he meant it had to be tidy sorry but I would been lining up my blunt instruments!

Ann hope Seb's bottom improves, naked crawling deffo best.

TS wassap? You are normally cool as a cuke in face of everything.

We had torrential rain last night, broke heat. They said 15 days of rain fell in one night .

Better make a start on dinner. Sigh, never ends does it?

no1 at your house cleaning and I was fed up at having to do the kitchen and living room. that said I've been up with lil miss since 6 and I cleaned the easy chairs before 8 am. Needed doing as DD had shuffled up to one yesterday and had been chewing the side, just where the cat rubs. She had a faceful of cat fluff [boak]

French-in-laws baby sitting tomorrow night and DH told me that the house had to be "immaculate" I told him it would be as clean as it is, then he said he meant it had to be tidy, so I told him he needed to make sure all his stuff was away then.

<passes TS glass of something cold and refreshing>

lol ts I have had many a day like that the last 2 years

thankyou ann & steaky they are not my best ones,which is why they are low starting prices. It is very competitive in the bear world lol. So if noone knows the 'name' then they can be reluctant to pay good money.
I do sell in my mums shop and have got good money for them though. I sold 2 that were on ebay last week.
Sadly the material /mohair to make them costs a fair bit depending on style, so has to be sell one to make one iywkim.

miamla you will look gorgeous, hopr you have a wonderful night and hope things are looking a bit better for you all.

steak lots of sales here at the moment too.
sambo sorry for the rough night, fingers crossed for a better one tonight.
The heat is really unsettling dcs at ebd time as our upstairs is very hot despite all windows open.
He went to bed as good as gold at 9,when it had cooled down a bit.

Had lovely morning at toddlers, then done mammoth house clean with dh took 4.5 hours dh gone off to work,just had dcs in pool outside. Brought them in for some dvd songs to cool down a bit.
Can't decide what to do for tea.....

here and gone....

miamla, a note to you on your beauty thread.

mind is mush. i'm beginning to worry that something is wrong with me. things i normally have under control aren't. realized it is thursday not wednesday. off to console the unconsolable.

AAAAWWWWW NO1!! Love your bears!!!

Stay indoors Ann, for the love of god. I am literally running with sweat, it's not a good look.

Ooh hi Steaky!! I've revived the thread!!
<<hurries off to try walking on water, turning water into wine etc>>

Hi everyone!
Yay Museum of childhood, in my old stomping grounds. never actually visited the museum though. i'm not sure what I'll do - might bring the sling or maybe the pushchair would be better. Um AH. Will decide later. What time are we meeting then?

Can someone link to no1's bears? I love teddies, and used to collect them.

S has terrible nappy rash atm - proper open sores on his bottome so he is currently stark naked cruising round the room on all the furniture He's getting so Good at that, he moves really quickly now.
Ho hum, lovely day and I'm sitting here on the pooter periodically wiping up wee.

oh bugger it looks like I really will have to wash the floors if there is no on e to play with.

<sulks off>

I am the thread killer Mwah ha ha ha ha Mwah ha ha ha ha

No1 I've been looking at your bears on ebay, they are stunning. I hope they go for lots more than your min bid.

We pottered round the park this morning but could not find our new friends so I went and tried on dresses for datenight with Mansteak tomorrow. couldnt find anything so I got Izzy some stuff for the autumn in the sales. Seriously sales every three months here. I spose there has to be some s ilver lining to the recession.

And remember comrades, all legumes are equal but some are more equal than others.

Hey all, likewise posting from work so a bit rushed <waves to hp and makes 'solidarity' grimace>

Unbelievably DS slept through last night, so the 5am start to the day was actually bearable. Perhaps he was knocked out by all the codeine in my milk

Sazz have a wonderful holiday

poppy lol at your parenting milestone Will you be investing in a top-of-door bolt now?

Just sneaking on at work to say I miss you guys, but no real chance to sit down and chat at the moment. It was so hot in DS' room last night that although he was asleep by 8 he woke 3 times before I gave up and brought him downstairs to cool off at 9pm, and he didn't go to bed till nearl 11 So he has seen his first episode of The Wire , although he was more interested in trying to eat the remote control .

So today for the first time I have left him sleeping and come to work without my sweaty milky cuddle but got in early which is all good for my flexi.

Sorry to post and run but I hope you all have a lovely day with much splashing of paddling pools and no puddles of sweat

no shreddies here if you get my drift

2 hourly wake ups last night think ds was chilly as he was easily resettled with blanket and dummy

dp has serious sunburn and cant work - scary looking blisters all over his back (thought he'd get a tan at work on Tuesday and took his top off for 10 mins ). Off to buy gauze and paracetamol later.

Museum of Childhood looks good and quite easy to get to. What time shall we meet?

shreddies for breakfast will never be the same again

Thankfully managed to avoid all conversation of it by agreeing to her request for shreddies for breakfast... if she went back to bed for a bit. Easily pleased.

Thanks poppy - we have made a note of all of those

LOL at DD1 - did you tell her you were adult wrestling?

I now have first hand experience of this heat wave of which you all speak. Am no longer jealous having spent the day chasing three small people (going in opposite directions of course) around the park. [melt]

Nothing to add on the subject of jam except, yum and respect.

sazzles - have really just whizzed on when I saw you were going to Studland/Swanage as that is where my family is so know it all v. v. well. [WARNING: uninvited tourist guide coming] So many great things to do...the railway would prob. be perfect for your girls (and for added child points with DD1, Mr Tumble is on it in his opening credits). Monkey World, we find, is a bit old for ours at the mo, but Farmer Palmer's is perfect. Then of course, beach, beach, beach. Lulworth, Tyneham, Kimmeridge sooooo much nicer than Studland. Although you probably knew that already . Have a fab time though and hope France is great too.

Passed a parenting milestone this morning... DD1 walked in on us . She clearly had no idea whatsoever what was going on so no harm done, but still....

LOL at Sazzles and VG

Nice house TS! So many of our friends are looking to move house at the moment, gives me itchy feet even though we have no need/plan to move just now...

Books also v popular here though mostly for eating. Favourite is Mr Croc, a board book about animal noises with a pop-up crocodile at the end. That crocodile gets a lot more kisses from DD than I do

Miamla that's Museum of childhood, yes? Suits me. Only issue might be that Bethnal Green tube has a lot of stairs... if Sambo and/or Ann (yay Ann, glad you can come!) is coming by tube with a pushchair? Bus from Liverpool St would avoid that prob. But maybe I worry too much, lots of my friends say they just go anywhere and always find someone to help carry the pushchair upstairs! ALBS are you coming? Oops you were keen too weren't you?

You know it doesn't mention it has a community club house and POOL! There's maybe 10 houses in the small neighborhood so I doubt you'll need to fight over a pool lounger. ;-)

In part VG, but acksherly twas the Head Girl/Prefect badge combo that topped the balance on the weight issue

Off to watch Ugly Betty [saddo]

I love the Shirley Hughes books too, gosh my naughty little sis is a blast from the past.

Currently with ds1 we have regressed a bit and are reading Pippi Longstocking, he loves her humour! There's a new Lauren Child-illustrated hardback version which would be a nice pressie for some of our littluns but we just have a bashed-about secondhand copy at the mo.

I have just booked ds1, his friend, me and his pa surprise tickets for the first day of the new Harry Potter film! He will be tickled pink. Is day before his birthday too .

Small Communist Lentil, your mil should produce a book of sayings, would be a lovely stocking filler!

Oooooooooooooh get you with your cashmere wrap, was that the only thing you could get which was a heavy enough knit to carry your PREFECT'S badge then????

Have a great time sazzles hope sun keeps on shining
Love the house ts it just looks like mine

Perfect TS, although i would HAVE to put a pool in dahling . Ever thought of becoming a personal relocation agent?

<<leaves cashmere wrap on chair (jumpers are so yesterday dontch'ya know?)>>

Oh, the Shirley Hughes books are fab No1 (another vote for your lovely bears too).

DD1 loves the Alfie books too and DS is often asked to consider whether the thing he is doing is Alfie or Bernard-type behaviour.

DD2 is mainly eating them, though she is fond of the flaps in the Spot and Maisy books too.

When mil was around at Christmas she kept saying to him, 'You didn't get a book? You're sure you didn't get a book? No book for Christmas?' in horrified tones not quite justified in a house where everyone is steeped in fiction ...

DH got me the new Sarah Waters and Colm Tóibin novels as a peace offering spontaneous gift.

TS - very nice house there. Does it have rooms for us all?

A chance to sit and chat to DH now so I must run. Ta-ra

Soddy Daisy what a sweet name.

Sazzles I hope you have a fantastic camping holiday! Enjoy yourselves, you can leave your jumper on your chair here & we'll make sure no-one sits in your place.

This house just went on the market last month. It is in the neighborhood next to mine. (note: it's 4 times the size and cost of mine.) If I had the money this very moment, we would be moving in. We already know the neighbors....our kids go to school together.

Yes please TS, One like the beach house will do fine

Here's my dinner recipe but I'm going to tweak it slightly since I have no rosemary and I don't like mustard. Parmesan couscous and green beans will be the sides. Hopefully dh will like it.

Sazzles I'll start looking at houses for you. Shall I look for one with a pool?

Hot here too - am loving it . I know i live in the wrong country . TS i think you are about 10 degrees hotter than us so i may have to relocate

LOL at VG and her educational books - we are stuck on Thomas the Tank Engine here

Both DD's went to bed well and i have been running round and packing. Dh loading the LandRover so i have snuck on here . Location for camping trip changed to Swanage/Studland as the West is getting right royally rained on in the next few days so I we though a swerve South was in order

LOL cc
Tis very warm here too, very close and sticky.

Hotpot, 14th July - let me see what i can do....would love to, just got to check I can cancel whatever is on at work

ts glad you are feeling a little uplifted.
It would be wonderful to meet you in person.

vg thankyou re my bears. The books are lovely, I think it's never too early to start reading, and feel it is quite important. I read to dd every night from very young,and I still read to her every night. Although ds doesn't get many stories on his own, he still gets one every night as he is with me when I read to dd.
I am on the look out for new books, we have lots (Also the books from Dolly every month) but her favourite at the moment is the 'baby catalogue' I am trying to get old of some Shirley Hughs books as I loved them. esp 'My naughty little sister goes fishing'

Re ebay I find it quite addictive, or should I say dh does, I tend to freecycle bits, charity shp bits, and sell bits.
I have just made £300 this week

Well dd is fast asleep, but ds has screamed on and off for an hour so he is back down here with me, as the crying was just making him hotter.

Am currently melting............Lordy Lord it is HOT. This is one of the few UK days a year that I wish our house had air con.
My car does not have air con either. Thats nice in this heat

dh moaning that the house smells of stale nappies...when he's the one who bathed ds2 last night and left the nappy on the bathroom floor. Again, thats nice in this heat . He really can be a nob at times.

Hope all are ok? I've enjoyed being in my air con office today

VG i've got a similar book from my teacher training days. both girls are swimming in books here and read to daily. although i believe dd1 was read to more than reese. by now with dd1 i'd read all by beatrix potter, several by e. b. white and a. a. milne, and loads by mercer mayer. i had more story time with the first child.

my mood is slightly brighter after a dr pepper, popcorn and hershey bar fix.

it's 2:45pm here and we are all still in pj's. the kitchen, living room and dining room are clean though. it "looks" beautiful outside but it "feels" like a pizza oven.

i wish i were braver (and had more money) because i have nothing to do for a few weeks and would love to pop over and join the meetups. i'm missing out on some really cool opportunities!

Steaky: your version.

LOL TS more like "until scalded and caught"! I have scarcely any lips left after my testing!

Well done Reese on the steps! We still have only crawling here (speed of light, though) and endless investigation, which is rather sweet but makes for an unholy mess. Everything tipped out, tipped up, undone, emptied, spread, scattered, disconnected, you name it. House looks marvellous as you can imagine .

I was bookshopping with the two boys this morning and got this for ds2! Oh dear oh dear the poor fellow can't even say "no" yet. However the intro does talk about introducing books from birth & the importace of talking to your child etc so I suppose there is some relevance not sure what I was thinking there. Did get nice Seamus Heaney for self and LOVELY new Quentin Blake for ds2 (Steaky there's a version in French & English, you should get for Izzy) and a couple of treats for ds1.

VG my grandmother use to make jams every summer. I recall like the hot syrupy stuff best...until caught and scolded.

I forgot to mention earlier that Reese has not taken those official first steps. Several times actually. NONE captured with the video recorder yet.

She is also saying "uh oh" after everything and will repeat it if you say it to her. Very cute!

Yes I might try that cyteen, I love gooseberry fool!

No1 you are a kind person but you know tis but a short step from here to my singing a few hearty hymns as I walk the dc the 6-mile trot to school, growing a vigorous moustache and slapping my prize-winning marrow on the back. I must get some ebay lessons from you at some point No1 I have never even tried to sell anything - I have only bought twice, I think - and I have so muchjunk many items I could usefully get rid of.

Did I mention already how much I like your bears? I thought they were really lovely, how talented you are!

Steaky shame your new friend didn't make it! Sleepins excusable these muggy days.

Afternoon - DD's are currently waving breadsticks around so i reckon i have 5 seconds minutes to type

Fab jam making VG - I am like this, buy loads of EVERYTHING and the get traumatised by the amount of food stuffs, jars, preserving pans and the like! Gooseberries do freeze i believe as my parents used to do it. Can't stand the things myself

Swimming this morning then signing, home for lunch and nap (DD2 2.5hrs ) then DD1 had a friend over to play. I got the paddling pool out and they had a whale of a time dive bombing in it, then DD2 joined in and it was all great fun. Top form girls and fabulous weather, all good chez Sazzles

steaky i LOVE the french shutters . Oh and re yesterday's food incident just tell scant truths to DH about it - DH's best friend used to finish the formula left in the night time bottle and claim his DD had drunk it as his DW made him sit upstairs with her till it was gone

Have to dash, yoghurt now liberally smeared and DD1 wants the pooter

pmsl at vg being the thread Jam bore.
I don't think you are, I think it is great tbh. All sounds very yummy.
I just drooled looked at dcs toast and ordinary supermarket jam this morning.

Hello to everyone, I have been to a shopping centre today, as too hot for dcs to play out in it, and we only get stressed bored staying in all day.

steak gla dthe swim went well, shame you're friend didn't make it though.
I was hoping to tske one of the dcs swimmin this am as dh had booked a few hours off work. So 2.30 start instead of 12. However he was too busy wrapping/sorting all the ebay stuff

VG will the gooseberries freeze? I know black- and raspberries do, so you could give it a go and then have lovely gooseberry fool ingredients for the depths of gloomy winter.

You old commie legume, don't worry I have just commandeered the emergency phone on standby for ds1 when he goes off about his travels alone, so we can still be in contact. Just means I am on credit, and have crazy message alerts, ringtones etc... Will mail you number.

Hey a London meetup and a Cork meetup on the same day!

Where's the dizzy one?

Jam results: 6 x gooseberry & elderflower, slightly burnt caramelised; 8 x strawberry; 7 x blackcurrant. Still overflowing with unused fruit but am losing the will to light the gas / open any more bags of sugar.

sambo you are dead right re. sloppy strawberry but I have seen redcurrants or lemon juice suggested as an add-in. I think I boiled mine for a whole radio chat show, therefore = 2 hours, and am still not sure I got a set. I am going to make blackcurrant cordial, think of something for the remaining gooseberries, ditch the strawbs (going pulpy) and give blackcurrants to my mammy.

Oh Christ I am the thread Jam Bore.

HP shall I get you the flight schedules. Your friend is just up the road. That's awesome!!! So when will you be visiting????


HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPPY!

I apologize for being away. I'm doing my best to read but for some reason time for me-me-me things is extremely limited. As a result my mood is rather foul. Promise to return soon.

Wotcha. We had a nice time at the pool even though the other mum we were supposed to meet overslept and didnt make it.
DH has vetoed baby swim classes as it works out at 200 euros for three terms of 2 45 min sessions a week. So I went and got one of these the baby pool was shallow enough for her to put her feet down so she just bobbed about and kept trying to stand up so in the end I took it off and just dunked her around and about.

She's snoozing now.
Can't remember who asked about getting los to sleep in the cot, but I have given up trying to put her down awake so I just feed or rock her till she sleeps on me, have a half hour snooze myself and then transfer her to her cot. That way at least I know she gets half an hour.

Outside shutters are a godsend for keeping us cool, you can shut them over the open window and there you are.

Sambo did apologise repeatedly - not much else I could do! Have been reading the threads on MN on biting since! And no I'm not expectant just never got round to changing my name

Planning on waiting till after my brother's wedding next year to start ttc again - there's no way I'm fitting into that bridesmaids dress otherwise.

just popping on to lay a wreath

Oh Noooooooo!
I killed the thread!!

<<falls to knees, wailing>>

Morning all!
London Ladies I could do a meetup next tuesday! Takes about an hour into london. I can get off Charing X, Waterloo East or London bridge. Although there's a new high-speed line coming in soon, Ebbsfleet to St P in 17 minutes. maybe working in london will be an option once that's in, although it's going to cost a fortune
have forgotten everthing I just read

Buckets thanks for advice, Haven't been using soap in Seb's bath for ages now, just use Oilatum, although it doesn't seem to have helped much.
steaky well done you on your tolerance and patience. I would have exploded I think.
no1 I also change S on the floor with a foot on either side of his head to keep him from rolling over. He has turned nappy changing into a new type of hell lately.
lol at small communist lentil

I'm sure there was more I was going to reply to but I really can't remember it
Hoping everyone is surviving the heat, or even managing to enjoy it.
Right must be off, matey' is sucking a lemon and rubbing his face cos he's tired

the whatties miamla?

I MIST open ds's big window. At present he has his small one open but i guess that's not good enough. I need to order a o.5 tog gro bag too.....

to hear about all the suden endings to bf but that not too much trauma followed.

sambo eek about the fall from the changing station. I have always changed ds on the floor. I tried dd on a changing table on top of her chest of drawers (that i insisted we needed ) but i found it millions of times easier on the floor. I need to fling my leg over ds often now to pin him down. sigh.

miamla is dp talking yet?

i vote for going to see the Snozzcumbers and Frobscottle

I arrive into Waterloo if that's any help. 'rampaging' is about right

pert sambo's in sarf landan
we absolutely definitely need somewhere we can let them run riot, literally! DS has decided that walking's too slow for him <sigh>

sambo apologies for answering for you if you're still lurking!

Hi Sambo, glad you had a good night. Yes I rarely feed in public these days but DD's wriggliness must look a bit like reluctance to the casual observer - funny looks ahoy! Can you think of anywhere good to meet? Museum of Childhood has lots of space for rampaging - ditto Royal Festival Hall - or would a park be better? I can't remember where you'll be coming from?

DH would like me to report that his key was in the door just as the clock struck midnight last night. So he has not turned into a pumpkin just yet...

Oh and windows open but curtains closed kept us just about the right side of stifling yesterday. Was still 26 degrees in the bedroom at bedtime though.

does anyone have any advice for resettling ds into napping in his cot? I want to train him for the CM as he will be sleeping in a travel cot at hers in her bedroom. Recently he's been difficult to get down for a nap and I've resorted to the buggy but he only sleeps 20 mins due to discomfort. He goes in his cot then whinges and sits up and pulls to standing instead of sleeping. also the heat is not helping I think. Currently I put him in his cot and go in every 5 mins to resettle (dummy, straighten sheets, drink of water etc sometimes a cuddle) until he falls asleep but for instance, he's been in there 40 mins now and still not asleep despite rubbing his eyes. I think I missed the crucial time to put him down.

pert I am also bfing all day is seems I guess its the heat. I actually bf ds at our baby signing class on Monday although I hardly ever bf out and about these days due to much reduced frequency of feeds and got lots of funny looks - not sure why but I suppose you dont see many big babies being bf in public.

miamla I had the windows shut all day plus blinds down and curtains shut on the advice of Radio 4. Result: one million degrees in all bedrooms.

Good news about work, it's nice to be appreciated.

morning all

another good night despite sweltering conditions (no fans), starting to get used to this sleep thing but I dont want to take it for granted yet

expectant goodness, no solutions here Im afraid as I'm a novice, I suppose all you can do is apologise to the mother..?
ps are you 'expectant'?

steak thanks for brekker, I see that cake turned out ok

vg well done on the preserving. There's nothing like jars of homemade things to make your heart swell. They make good credit crunch pressies too with ribbons on. I am making strawberry and red currant today using preserving sugar for the first time as dp says my normal runny strawberry jam is nice but not good for spreading on toast

poppy happy belated birthday hope you enjoyed that ironing

I would be up for a mini meet up on Tues venue would have to be very baby friendly as Felix is into everything and wants to go everywhere now. No more sitting about looking at stuff

sheet over window curtains closed all day anyway. someone on another thread suggested spraying cold water on them so i'll be trying that tonight

just had a call from my manager... he welcomed me home He loved my form (thanks again VG )
just need to sort a start date out now

back in a min, ds requiring attention!

four paws that is

Morning all Izzy up for an hour at 5 but managed to persuade her to sleep till 8 again. When I went in at 5 she had wriggled around a full 180° wriggly little girl she is.

Off to the swimming pool later. It will be our first time, so glad I got her swimming things at the weekend and me a tankini top. All my pre-baby bikinis have tteny tiny tops which look a bit indecent while I am still bountiful bfing. Right, just a last minute defuzzing of legs to do.

DD ver ver mobile now, mostly bum shuffling but gradually working out how the four pws works. Isnt that expression cut? It is how the french translates.

Our cat is officially doomed as Iz has for the first time made her way to sleeping kitty and pulled her tail, whichi s probaby my cue to go.

Friut, porridge and yogurt cake in the kitfchen, door key under the mat.

Can't believe it's July and some of the August 08 babies will be 1 soon!

We're off to the zoo tomorrow (to celebrate Sam's friend's 1st birthday).

We went to soft play earlier and Sam bit one of his little friends - what do I do about that. It was awful I'm mortified he left teeth marks on her forehead

Well done Sazzles. I have about 10kg to go still....

Jeez, VG.
We need working telecommunications for when the revolution comes. Or are we just going to lob fruit at Brian Lenihan?

Which reminds me of one of the best lines from my students' essays a few years back: 'The fight for Irish independence began after a row in a post office.'

Miamla - keep blinds / curtains closed by day if he's not using the room.

Small Communist Lentil - ALERT - my iPhone won't turn on - I dropped it - and with all the iPhone mania at the mo I can't get one in the siopai, they are sold out partout - message will still be taken though - I hope I can get one by end of week . Sad news is I don't think DS1 will be in time for HH on the Tue, will be down on the Wed though, and I will be there with ds2 on Tue - but we can do our minimeetup admin off thread! I'll mail you tomorrow.

Poppy I am SORRY - I didn't say HAPPY BIRTHDAY and I certainly didn't light you a text candle, consider it done now!

I agree not in doghouse till midnight if he said he'd be late.

Argh. To bed. Kitchen v jammy. Yikes. I don't even like jam that much but I love the idea of storing nature's bounty against a hard winter. You know how difficult it can be to get jam in the corner shop in, say, February .

Night night.

Come and stay with us Miamla - downstairs bedrooms with 3ft thick walls have their uses sometimes . For the first time DD2 is actually in her summerweight sleeping bag

pertelote i agree with anything past midnight on a school night being late late, but then i am an exhausted mother of two, so probably best ignore me

Something like that Poppy Hope you had a decent day yesterday, I'm a bit like your DH - I want to make it special for DH but since he isn't that bothered and I'm knackered/busy I never know quite how to go about it (other than the obvious )

Miamla glad you've had a better day. So far I think you me and Sambo? Mini meet sounds good to me. Any ideas for location? If it's just us three East London sounds good to me

sambo crikey! sorry, missed that on first read. they certainly know how to keep us on our toes don't they! glad all is ok

anyone got any cunning ideas for cooling DS's room? its currently 30 degrees and that's with the fan on!

Thank you <<small bow>>. B'day actually yesterday and celebrated with a day at work and a pile of ironing in the evening. Poor DH, bless him, tried to make a big thing of it, but was still feeling rough from Saturday night, aware of big work meeting today and the tons of stuff to do before our hols. Plenty of time to celebate then.

I'd give him 'til midnight pertelote. Still on birthday licence?

i'm ok, playing at being an ostrich with my head in the sand so actually had a lovely day with DS in the garden in the paddling pool. It certainly beats crying for most of the day ie yesterday!

sorry to hear about DS and his bfs

Evening comrades.
And happy birthday for the weekend Poppy.

I am so tired that I can read and process what I read to catch up, but forget everything when I start to write.

I will call tomorrow if I can VG. The last of the very hectic days for DH he promises.

Still reeling from a visit from DS's friend from school today. I invited him here even though DH was away because DS is a bit frightened of going to his house in case he gets hit.

Ended up trying to explain to DS this evening about fostering and how his friend has had a more difficult start than him, knowing that DS will be able to make sense of it on some level and crucially keep schtum about it.

It felt very sad trying to explain to him that some children live away from their mummys.

Aghast too at all the v. negative threads about mothering in the last few days in the bigger world of mumsnet.

Tis always lovely to return here to all the warmth about our increasingly adventurous offspring.

Glad to hear miniSambo survived his literal springing off experience....

miamla how are you???
have been thinking about you all day

x post pertelote!

who has confirmted for the 7th so far? we could always do a mini-meetup

london meetup
7th july good for me

Oh dear Poppy Happy Birthday!

Fair enough Sazzles. Not that many people jumping at the idea so maybe we'll put it off until august after all...

Straw poll: DH not back yet; his parting words this a.m. were 'late but not very late'. Is he in trouble yet or not?

Sorry poppy happy birthday to you, are you doing anything to celebrate??
sazzles sorry but lol at dd, they know how to try it on with other people don't they.
My dd has dh wrapped around her finger when I am not about.

that's meant to be a candle!

happy birthday to you
happy birthday to you
happy birthday to poppeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
happy birthday to you

S
x
x
x
x
x

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPPY

<<<Frantically puffs uselessly into a balloon>>>

Evening all . Just popping in before bed. DD's had tag team screaming from 7-7.30, got them both to sleep in time for my neighbours to come and babysit, then rushed out to very important playgroup planning meeting in the pub. Got back at 10 and DD1 had woken up, done a huge poo, (she NEVER does them at night ), then messing around with wee's, looking for fresh nappies under the sofa cushions and generally entertainining he neighbours . She realised her game was up when i got home and put on 'stern mummy' and 'you won't be going swimming tomorrow mummy' and has now gone to sleep

Well done to all the BFeeders so far and i think it is lovely to get to the point when they throw the towel in. Much easier i imagine than having to wean them off more forcefully

poppy we are off camping Thurs, back Sat and then France next week. We will be around on tues pertelote but stretching myself a tad thin to get to London i fear

Hello everyone else <<waves>>

Sorry, didn't mean to make you all sad . We'll see whether I can keep the BFing up once I go back to work in aug. Maybe.

Oops your hol sounds brilliant... glad you are enjoying it.

Likewise your fruit-picking, cricket-playing, jam-making day, VG! Why oh why are grassy spaces so yucky though We are going on a picnic tomorrow, I think I might have to go shoe-shopping for DD first...

What a shock for your friend No1. I was utterly petrified that DD2 was twins (see threads of Jan 08 ) as I had a bump so quickly (turned out to be absence of tummy muscles ) and bro and sis are twins. Would be lovely when they're all grown up, but just those first, oooh 18 years could be tricky.

Almost finished for the week hp - just a short day on Thurs. Super busy with getting ready for hol though. Do the windows open in your office hp, or is there air conditioning? Just never an issue up here...

Did no-one pick up my subtle reference to birthday....? <<minor sulk>>

<snort> at VG's instant disclaimer Am sad on people's behalf to hear about the end of bf, it's been on my mind a lot lately with the whole going-back-to-work thing but not because either DS or I is ready to give up, just that I wonder if/when we will be ready to give up...part of me yearns for the freedom and will be so proud to see DS independent and I also don't know how I feel about potentially feeding till 2yo or beyond, but on the other hand I have worried visions of what weaning might be like (sobbing DS clinging to me as I refuse to feed etc)...I am a sap.

It is stifling here, I feel like I'm wearing a body stocking of dirt and sweat under my clothes <boak> Dragging myself to bed now so no need to get out the air fresheners.

Hi oops sounds like a lovely holiday

hotter will check diary re. the 14th

10pm my two fell asleep, too blardy hot here.

oops sounds like you are having a great time, it's lovely to hear dd is charming everyone as usual
vg at all that fruit wow.
and at the poo kneeling, I bet you were holding you're breath when you checked his mouth.
lol also at the not being pregnant snd very about the 'pipeline'
I was talking to a lady the other day, who had a ds same age as my dd and they decided just one more and that is it. Turns out she is expecting twins
I am re BF but should really be proud of myself for doing it this long.
He hasnt had a proper bf for a while now.
It is hard enough getting him to have a ff as if anyone is about he is just too nosey to sit and drink. My supply has dwindled to almost nothing now.
poppy glad you managed to get rid of the snot. I do a snot shoulder check everytime I leave the house now, but by the end of the day I have it on both shoulders or somewhere on my top

Just realised I missed your post oops, wasn't ignoring you glad you're all having a lovely time.

VG you made me LOL with your pipeline sometimes do you think we share a little too much! too though as there is no chance of another baby in my pipeline

Glad you rescued the top Poppy, and that the meeting went well. Is that you done for the week then? I'm due in tomorrow, no idea what to wear as it's gonna be sooooo hot. Better go to bed really.

Night all

Thanks no1 - snotty top revived just in time by a quick clean under the tap. Almost a disaster as wouldn't dry in this horrible non-hot weather but got it in the nick of time. Meeting went fine. Had loads of butterlies fluttering around beforehand. Realised it was the first time since 08/08/08 nad reflected that I would so rather be about to meet my new baby. Rather more glad now though that I don't have a new CS scar and a screaming newborn.

Glad the hol is going well oops. Both my DDs love munching on a lemon slice .

I was thinking earlier how easily DD2 seems to have just forgotten about bf. for us soppy mummies but a lot less traumatic than it could be I suppose.

I AM NOT PREGNANT BTW

I think it is the thought that there might be one more in the pipeline (as it were) that makes me not actually howlingly .

It shouldn't be should it, they are doing what they're supposed to, growing bigger, getting more independent and less baby-like. Still does make me very though. Why oh why won't DH let me have just one more...

DS1 off on boat trip tomorrow for a week will miss the old darling but he will be having a blast getting soggy with his dad.

Lucky you oops in Cornwall! Sounds as if you are having a wunnerful time!

Wow you and TS could have a meetup by proxy, hots!

Not as melting here as you lot. We went to pick your own fruit place this am and got 10 and a half pounds of strawbs, eight pounds of blackcurrants, six pounds of goosegogs so the kitchen is awash with preserving equipment and I have already been on the phone to my mum begging her to take some of the fruit! Both ds's enjoyed trimmensely, and picnic lunch.

DS2 knelt in dog poo while watching me and ds1 playing cricket! Bleeeeeeeeeuuuuuuuurch I whipped his dungarees off prontissimo and reviewed hands, mouth (please God, please God) but all pristine apart from the one knee.

Re. night feeds etc, I was astonished last night. DS is the baby who wakes twice a night for feeds without fail. Last night he woke, I gave him a cup of cow's milk, he had a bit and went back to sleep and that was it. I think we are done with bf just like that. Have not fed him since the night before - approx 5am so that's 36 hours plus sans feed. my little baby, done with breastfeeding.

Also, not only have I been found by one good school friend on facebook this weekend, but my other best friend found me today We'd drifted apart obviously as I hadn't seen her since I was 17, but she's alive and well and living in...wait for it TS...Sewanee, Tennessee!

That book looks lovely Pertelote, aah. Am quite of your boob-guzzling girl though; since going back to work my supply has really dropped and we're now reduced to a quick feed in the morning and another little one at bedtime but there can't be much because he'll down 6-7oz of formula straight after . Oh well, he's not wasting away...

Ha, I see all your weeing babies and raise you a wee and a poo <bleurgh> on the rug this afternoon. Thank flip it was a solid one and immediately spotted, otherwise it could have been nasty. DS also likes playing with the loo (he is a scummer) well I have found out today he likes playing with it so much that he has even worked out how to open the bathroom door . He might as well be walking for all he trouble he can get in now...

No1 hope your DC are snoozing now. DS had two naps yesterday which is very rare now, and although he went to sleep OK he was up twice in the night which may be related. Bless my (sometimes) lovely DH who let me sleep in till 9.45am although got my comeuppance as my friend arrived at 10.15 for coffee which I hadn't realised we had actually arranged, DH in t-shirt and pants, me in maxi dress but no bra Luckily she is a good friend

Also, following on from Pertelote's attempt to galvanise he London ladies, weren't we northern lasses doing the same? Cyteen and Cavey, you up for meeting somewhere on Tuesday 14 July? No1 said she's up for it

Thanks No1. And thanks to all who sent birthday wishes to DH, he appreciated it! I made him a white chocolate cake and loaded it up with whipped cream and passionfruit, yummy. And got this book 'from DD' which made him laugh

Is anyone else still BFing a lot? It's almost like having a newborn again atm (because of the heat, I hope), even though she drinks water as well DD is asking for milk ALL the time... Unlike a newborn though she knows exactly where the milk is hiding and how to get at it

Hi All from Sunny Cornwall

Just a quickie to see hoew evertone is getting on and the check on Steaky and Miamla hope you are both okay.

We are having a great time, we took DD to the beach yesterday and she screamed at the sea when I dipped her feet in but loved the sand - especially for eating. She has been fantastic and is coming down to dinner in the hotel restaurant every night and charming everyone and is very well behaved even if I say so myself. She has rtaken a liking to lemon slices and will eat the entire thing so we have to be careful when we have drinks. She also discoverdd the water in our glasses could be played with so spent most of today with her hand in a water glass It is very hot here and humid but lovely all the same. We took DD to Lands End and to the local castle where she met and fell in love with a dragon, we had to buy her one as she cried when he left.

Going to hope ijn a big bubble bath now then an early night.

Hope you all get sleep tonight.

oops

X post pertelote hope you are all well, tis very sticky here too. Has started to rain a few times today, but not amounted to much. I think a good storm would clear the air. Poor dd on a tiled floor too
Yes I agree on it being difficult to avoid.

X post pertelote hope you are all well, tis very sticky here too. Has started to rain a few times today, but not amounted to much. I think a good storm would clear the air. Poor dd on a tiled floor too

sambo bless him, hope he is ok now and you too. I do nappy changes on the floor most of the time as I have to hold him betwwen my outstretch legs, because he is such a wriggler. I use the changing station some times, but have had the heart thumping moments a few times when he as nearly launched himself off.
steaky the cake sounds yummy all the same. [drool and tummy rumble emoticon]
poppy no need to apologise at all. Did you get the snotty outfit sorted

both dcs still up, starting to get tired (me not them) I am paying the price of both of them napping in the afternoon. Oh well. I am just offering ds some cereal, in the hope of a sleep through. You never know.
red glad all is ok I have had very similar comments in the past.
cyteen hope you have cooled down a little, My ds has been in just a nappy all day today too, I am loving his new itti's .
ann hi, hope the cream is helping Ds.

No need to Poppy! Nobody's important out of context, are they?!

Sorry everyone, have read but brain has melted into small puddle of sticky goo due to extreme heat here. Well done to all those rising above stoopid remarks from DHs though.

Sambo DD has also fallen from changing table - on to tiled floor [ouch]. Under DH supervision so I didn't see quite how she landed... Magic boob did the trick though so I deduced she was ok.

No1 there is a case of swine flu at the nursery where we go for singing. But as the woman said to us this morning, unless you stay at home with the door shut you can't avoid it...

Come on then, would anyone be free next Tuesday for this London meet? Sazzles I guess not you?

Oh yuk albs. DD2 is also very into following people into the loo. Very annoying phase.

Glad relative harmony is restored the lentil household, but roll on the end of term?

Your energy never ceases to amaze me buckets. No wonder you're knackered!

Had to LOL at your hot day cyteen. 'Tis cold and grey here. Fancy a swap?

Hope DH's late return is a relaxed one steaky.

Where are you off to sazzles. The Lot for us.

Just popped back in to apologise for what must have appeared to be an appallingly pompous post before about my meeting. I should clarify: an very very important person in my small world.

ouch, ds fell off his changing mat - a good 3 feet on his bum. poor little thing cried for 15 mins but seems ok. It had to happen, I turned away for an instant as he seemed engrossed in his nappy nippa. Will be moving to the floor for nappy changing from now on.

dp has serious sun burn after deciding to 'get a bit of a tan' at work today . Now reeks of lavender oil.

love the name Silas
lol at small communist lentil

albs ds has wee ed all over the house as dp is keen on nappy off time, including on our expensive new sofa

have you seen this thispage

Euwh Albs. Not nice.

I met DD2 on her way out of the bathroom today (crawling at great speed). When I put my hands up to pick her up she looked at me, considered the offer and took a sharp left to hook up with her brother and sister instead.

She is getting her own notions I think.

well, ds excelled himself in his quest for a cheeky boy award this afternoon. Dh and dd have been primed to shut the door of the downstairs loo, but dd being a flighty 6 yr old forgets such things. I went to put the potatoes on (so only a min max) and came back and went to hunt for ds and found him in said loo, hand down it, fiddling with duck loo thing on the rim. eugh. and dd hadn't flushed either so i hate to think if his hand went any further down. Must teach her to shut lid!

Then as dh got them ready for their bath he (ds) wee-ed on dd's carpet.

Now where did I ût the spoke too soon emoticon?

Cake a disaster. I tried to turn it out and the top fell away revealing the raw innards so I shovelled it all together and stuck it back in the oven. Should taste okay whatever.

And BAH to extra meals. Izz resisted her very temtping tea of scrambmed egg and nana. At supper I purreed our spaghetti from lunch and managed to get o ne spooneful in, so I j ust piled the non-purreed stuff on her tray and she ate, threw and smooshed it around at will. Managed a fez spoons of weatabix and ended up with chunks of pear. I got v stressed as worried about reporting back to DH.
So that took forever and so we were late for her bath, which she really needed aftger pasta and tomato sauce, but she didn't want it. Wouldnt settle on the boob so is in bed yellling.

DH text to say he is running late, no idea if it is work or play. And I have to think of something imaginative to do with pork chops that does not include rice or potatoes. Pwsta with tomatoe sauce it is then.

Signing off for the night - hope you all have good ones.

Steak I salute you. Feels good up there on the moral highground doesn't it?

Buckets I like the sound of your room. We're still chipping away at our rental place, trying to make it ours; DP cleaned the bathroom and upstairs hall floors on Saturday, dear god the vileness of them (left that way by the previous tenants I hasten to add). Of course now all the rest of the floors look double vile by comparison.

Have somehow put my back out again Lifting DS in and out of pram/cot/highchair is a horrible struggle. At least I've still got a drawer full of cocodamol, but still.

Steaky Blimey well done you staying cool under fire.

Hi all

Am feeling a bit anxious and have realised it is cos I'm leaving Kurt with non-family for the first time. He's going to play ith one of my playground mum-friends so I can get to hospital for my probably-unnecessary bloodtests for 9.30. He will be fine, they will be fine but I will admit I am way more clingy with this baby than the other two (thanks to the initial BF success I think.) Am entertaining stupid dream of getting to baby cinema club at 11am but should really nip that in the bud now.
I would also like to postpone a surveyor who is coming round at teatime <<hairpulling emoticon>> but DH made the arrangement so of course we have no contact details.

On a positive note, my lovely dad came round and put up new chandelier, lamp and blinds and my lounge is now finished and ready for my cake party on Friday. It is now one deliberately mismatched (terracotta, red and now turquoise!) but cosy, comfy room. My defence to DH is that the colours all come from a set of Japanese prints we have on the wall - which could be lucky coincidence or subconscious design genius.

Ann DS's eczema has cleared up for the summer as it usually does but my top tips are not to use soap or bubble bath (only shampoo for hairwashing) and Waitrose Baby Bottom Butter (is just olive oil with chamomile and vanilla.) And stick to bland washing powder/liquid if you can't afford Fairy.

Afternoon all.

A nice day here too - though far too hot. I've completely forgotten what it was like to live in the heat day in and day out.
Cyteen nekkid babys do rock dont they.

We too have been to baby group, none of the usual baby suspects though the usual toddlers zere there including Hippy Dad and Silas - isnt that a cute lil fella name? We made friends with a mum who has a brit DH and we are meeting on thursday in the park. Could this be the beginning of my social life?

I tried to look in the sales but Iz was having a feed me now strop so home we came, lunch, snoowe and cake making in the afternoon. rooted out some CDs and have been dancing aroudn to Eurythmics, Elvis and Rolling Stones.

Red I always see your name think of a small communist lentil, possibly wearing a Che Guevara (too lazy to check the spelling emoticon) t-shirt.
DH also had a fit of me-tarzan-you-jane yesterday and came out with the same as yours, I just ignored him. He actually spent the whole fo lunchtime and the evening trying to pick a fight, which I nobly ignored and went out for a stroll so I didn't break something over his head. I came back and he apologised for being an arse. claimed he was stressed [sheesh emoticon] It was as if he had read VGs post from the other ay and actually acting it out.

Right cake done, tis yoghurt cake and Ive been peering through the oven window every few minutes to check the thermometer, hopefully it will be yummy. It was yummy last time when it didn't cook properly so should be even better this time.

<helpfully loans West Cork rain shower to thread with an especially cooling bit over Leicester>

Feeling a bit about citing DH now. He is a marxist feminist for a living (when he's not school teaching) so it was a bit like the pope channelling Richard Dawkins ...

He is suitably mortified and will I think need surgery to repair his ears after my initial response.

<melts onto thread and turns the air con up to 11>

It is like an oven out there, literally. I was actually scared for DS a little bit, it is so hot. Been to baby group this morning, lunch with DP and then picking up a load of bits and pieces from town, hence slogging home at 3pm in the blazing heat with black pram laden with heavy bags.

DS now rocking the casual look in just nappy and wrap (today's combo is a pale green Teddy with yellow Airflow ). He is absolutely desperate to crawl, constantly turning over onto hands and knees, and so full of chatter

He is also filthy Suncream is pretty disgusting, isn't it?

Hello to all, I have read everything I promise. Arguments and holidays and work meetings avec snot...if we hadn't spent the last few nights getting up every couple of hours with Mr All Night Rave here, I might have something useful to contribute.

Must go, DS is destroying a speaker.

Afternoon . Hope you are all enjoying the cloud sunshine

Red - i think DH's comment would have rendered me speechless TBH. DH has finally stopped saying 'well you just sit round all day drinking tea with your mates' and conceded that it is hard work. Mind you we still have slip ups, as last night

expectant my news was that i have lost a stone in the last 6 weeks. It is great, but i should put it into context that i have another 2 to go . Sorry to hear you had a wibble about being so far away from friends and family. We only moved 2hrs away and i still get wibbles

poppy have a lovely time in France, we are off next week so will wave randomly at any British car (with a Scottish flag sticker of course) in case it is you

ann doublebase did bugger all for DD1's excema. Our miracle cream is Epaderm which you can buy in supermarkets if you want to try it out before asking docs to prescribe

ts you are confirmed a true nutter!

Well done Miamla on the cot achievement. Long may it continue

Right, must go continue packing for our camping trip.......laters.......

oopsey forgot to say hello...'hello'

DS has just fallen asleep in his cot for the first time ever!!!
i had to swaddle him to calm him down but still, he can do it!!!
nb... i unswaddled him as soon as he was asleep otherwise he would have cooked.. literally!

Oh and one final, inane post from me for now…. Have a hugely important meeting with a vay vay important person this afternoon and I got to work to find not one but two snot stains on my top . So…. off to spend my b’day money on an emergency outfit at lunch . Oh well. The joys of motherhood.

Absence due to stupidly busy few days. ‘Twas ten years since graduation this weekend so had 14 friends up (although not staying with us thankfully) . Biiiiggggg weekend. Went out on Saturday night and got home at 3.30am. Defo the first time we’d seen that time in non-child (of malfunctioning burglar alarm ) way for the first time since DDs. Suspect we won’t be braving a proper social life again for a while though as DD1 was up for the day at 6am. 2.5 hrs sleep is sooo not enough. Don’t need to tell the ladies of this thread that though, but I have proper empathy now, not just my usual buckets of sympathy .

Anyway, after all that, my birthday yesterday was spent trying to keep my eyes open at work and ironing all evening at home. Rock n Roll, eh?

May not be around much for a while due to busy week with DD2’s 7ft tall Austrian opera singer godfather staying for the rest of the week and then off to France for ILs 40th wedding anniversary at the weekend, but will be thinking of you all and esp. dizzy and the dixettes on Sunday.

miamla - how are things today? You poor thing. Know what you mean about trying not to get those in RL involved in these things, but am glad that you can come on here to vent/find support. I don’t have anything that is likely to be useful to add, particularly at this late stage, but glad the others have.

sazzles - cor blimey with the hot air balloon.

dizzy - so glad DD1’s birthday party was a huge success. Was a weekend of touch and go weather wasn’t it. Great to hear you got the best of it. Am guessing that the next few weeks will be increasingly tough for you, but I hope D’s christening will be a really happy distraction rather focusing on your Mum not being there. Am sure she will be there in spirit, unbelievably chuffed at what a fab Mum you are.

So much sympathy on your night-time shouting match no1. Must be so hard. I am always so petrified of DD2 waking DD1 but thankfully she’s pretty used to ignoring her and is really good at staying in bed. I still remember bitterly the time she didn’t though and it was child tennis all night with the backwardsing and forwardsing .

Lots of waves to everyone else.

Morning everyone. So far today I have:a got one load of washing out on the line, got a nappy wash in the machine, done a load of washing up, given S his breakfast, slathered his entire body with doublebase cream and managed to have breakfast myself. I'm on good form this morning.
Driving lesson yesterday was great, I was much more relaxed than I have been. Although I did nearly go the wrong way up a one-way street Oops.
Took S to docs yesterday, he has mild eczema, but a lot of it.

Sorry to hear of the rough times being had by so many.
Special hugs to Miamla, Steaky, No1. hope I didn't miss anyone there.

OH and S now says 'Mummy'!! <<sniff>>
Hope everyone is ok on this lovely sunny morning!

morning.

red am amused in a "dhs don't think before opening mouth" way!

expectant. Is coming home an option?

ann yes that too re bottle .

What is it with our menfolk?! DH rocked up at 3am this morning . I'd been awake since 1am - not because DS was awake (he incredibly slept till 6.30 with a bit of a cry out at 5am but went quiet before I got to his room). So I was calling DH and texting him to find out where he was (he'd gone to some work function as some visiting VIPs from the UK and US were in town) and he claimed he couldn't get out of it - 'if I want to get promoted blah blah blah' Anyway as usual he wasn't able to resist the temptation of 'just one more' - I know this is a weakness of his as it's one of mine too we've been together for 15 years this year so should know him well enough by now but surely it's a bit different now. Anyway my last text to him (a bit of a cheap tactic) mentioned that I wanted to go home. So he came home and wanted to talk about it. I said I didn't want to but just wanted to sleep as I knew that DS would be up in a couple of hours if not before and he was drunk and I wasn't sure whether I really do want to move back to the UK or if I was just pissed off with him. My problem is I really appreciate all the advantages we have had by coming to live here but I also really miss my family and friends.

Anyway rant over! Gosh your lo's seem to eat and drink a lot. Think DS solid food intake quite good but we are only on 3 bfs a day. I haven't been bfeeding him from 7pm when he goes to sleep till 6am in the morning as even if he wakes he doesn't seem to want milk just a cuddle then cue me trying to put him back in the cot about 10 times with him standing up and crying as I try to make a quick exit...(yawn)

Sorry that was a bit me me me. Sazzles can you post your achievement on here? Still haven't made it across to Hotmamas .

Red yes sometimes engaging brain before speaking is not a concept DH or I grasp sometimes. It's easy to say stupid things in the heat of the moment especially when tired.

Steaky I understood your ramble earlier. That's the idea...BM & formula are not only higher in calories than whole milk but BM & formula have <<<crap what's the word i'm looking for>>> loads more vitamins/minerals that are necessary for the growing child.

I'm not advocating bottle feeding/breast feeding beyond a year. A cup is best for whatever choice you choose.

There is a "toddler" version of formula (at least here in the US) that is recommended after 12 months.

I've truly been amazed at how much Reese can eat (spoon fed or self fed) before downing 4 to 8 oz of formula at each feed (3 main feeds a day). Tomorrow I'll try to write down when and how much she's eating/drinking because as I sit and ponder this I'm struck with empty-headedness....I know she has at least two other lonebottlefeeds during the day plus those three feeds I mentioned.

Red, nicely written. That's pretty close to what I attempted earlier and then deleted because it got all soggy with realmelifecrap.

DANG IT! Reese's sippy cup ISN'T leak proof!!!

If I had to count how many times I've had to STOP what I've started today I'd be in the MILLIONS by now.

DD1 got bored with Tennis after the Williams match.

Sazzles I keep meaning to come unload the truck load of praise I have for you over on the Hot Mamas thread. <<See paragraph three above>> Here's a snip-it. WOOOOOHOOOOOO YYIIIPPPPPPEEEEEEE YOU ARE TOTALLY AWESOME! Shwesh, you wouldn't what else is in this truck.

INTERRUPTION NUMBER 876,563,986

He is such a lovely, generous, gorgeous fellow generally that I've put it down to the fact that he is wild-eyed with tiredness.

If he'd meant it I'd have done damage I think ... Having checked that he really didn't I'll just put it through the 'stoopid things said in anger' shredder.

Red what a cheeky DH glad you're coming out the other side of your difficult time.

Have not been waching Wimbledon or stuffing my face , rather I have been finally finishing my Mei Tai mk4. It is absolutely beautiful, just hope DS appreciates it . Dark blue sewing in artificial light has made my eyes ache though, and my head is still spinny from my not too good driving lesson this afternoon so am away to my bed.

Hope to elbowDHandDDoffthecomputertomorrow find time to chat tomorrow

What a long-winded old gasbag I am.

I am lurking but writing a bid document for DH. My main skill is blagging and so bids are my natural medium. A sad state of affairs.

Much support going out to Miamla and Steaky too. VG was spot on as always.

I do think it takes men a vastly long time to adjust to fatherhood. It is like jumping in to the atlantic here. If someone pushes you in you'll swim but if you had a choice you'd keep dipping your toe in and pulling it back out.

Finding where the line is in your relationship between them finding their feet and taking the piss is the vair vair tricky bit.

I still find it hard at times to let DH make decisions about the children and we have had our biggest row in years this week.

No blow by blow account here, but our conversation this morning after much tiptoeing around each other over the last few days included the following exchange:

Me: 'Just a tip. If you are talking to your feminism SAHM wife it might be a good idea not to say "Well, I'm the one who makes all the money round here"' ever again.'
DH: 'Ah, yes. Point taken.'

Normally we have an unspoken bell curve policy for arguments and ignore the top 20% of ridiculous claims/accusations made on either side but that one I couldn't let pass. We have learnt the hard way how to argue in constructive ways ...

Tiredness has made me a cantankerous fecker in the last few weeks with DD2 waking 5 times a night so there has of course been fault on both sides.

I am currently having to bite my lip on DH's approach to stopping DD1 biting her fingers because he so rarely intervenes to change the way things are done and I need to let him do it when he feels strongly.

It is v. hard to make room for them when you are the primary caregiver and I think it is often right to pull rank when you are the one getting up in the night for example ...

As my grandmother says, bringing a third person into your house is never going to be easy. She has a range of rather less worthy expressions too which I'll share another time.

Sazzles - bad luck there on having to tidy with no audience to show it off to.

I take it you ladies can't multitask and watch Wimbledon & MN [poor show]

LOL at BridgetSteaky . Sounds like Izzy is eating far more than E so you are doing great

no1 sorry to hear DS may be self weaning earlier than planned , but it WILL all work itself out. Re C, did you get the bunny clock in the end? i swear it has been our saviour although i know it won't work for everyone. Hope DH gets behind it 100% now

Good day here at playgroup then NCT coffee and nekkid playing in the garden (DD1, not me ). DH was supposed to be having a guest so i was frantically cleaning from 7.45am and nap times and then he canx , so i could have spent some time enjoying the sunshine. Then i got home, DH nowhere to be seen, so i fed the girls, changed them and bed, and still no sign (well other than his Landrover in the drive). SO he finally rocks up at 7.40 and can't see why i am peed off (he is away tomorrow night as well) . He said 'well you could have called (he was at the neighbours). I retaliated replied that he was big enough and old enough to tell the time and i wasn't going to chase him to come and help. FFS, men! <<rant over>>
He has now apologised and i have had gin

hi everyone gosh it's been a hectic day
Can't stop for a proper post but albs thought I'd say I've been told it's bad for kids teeth to have a bottle past one apparently!
hope everyone's ok! All good here, hopefully post better tomorrow!

No1 That's good news that your DH is getting the need to be consistent about bedhopping. My DH sleeps through it all quite happily so I've had no such interference.

Have had another tetchy sweaty time with 3 kids at dd's swimming lesson, DH says we should quit as it stresses me out so much. I had already decided not to go back in Sep as DS1 will be too tired to handle the waiting around. Dizzy How on earth do you manage with all your out-of-school activities? DH says I am spreading myself too thin, running myself ragged and not getting stuff done. I say I am trying to get more me-time by procrastinating about the boring stuff eg furniture shopping and coffee in Ikea vs laying linos / organising a lino-layer.

re cows milk. We don't have a lot of ebm left in the freezer and i think we have maybe 3 cartons of formula (not used for 2 months - yay me), so once they're all gone (ie when i'm out and dh has to give ds a milk feed) i think we'll move over the cows milk.

I'm a snob though and hate toddlers with a bottle . I know there is nothing wrong with it, but it's my own crazy thing i guess. I switched dd over to a cup (avent magic cup then tommee tippe thing with soft spout) at almost dead on a year and i think that with ds once cows milk comes into it we'll give it in a beaker not the bottle. of course he may refuse beaker etc but we'll see.

Intending to bf for a while longer though. not thought about if i'll let him self wean or if i'll do it at some stage. i guess i don't need to give him cows milk unless i'm not there. . or what? no idea, this is all new to me, as dd was on ff by now so it was a simple swap.

la la la. rattling on to myself .

Anyway I leave all the moaning and gloating to him, he is a bad loser and a bad winner on that front.

Right lil miss demanding some attention. T'ra

ALBSSSSSSSSS!! <steaky wonders if stoopid posts are a sympton of heat stroke>

Actually especially self controlled as he was being shouty and rude. I just sat there saying things like, 3oplease dont shout at me, you are being rude to me, we agreed not to do that"

<<all by myself, dont wanna post all by myself dubbie dum dubbie dubbie dum>>

ooh am v impressed at your v grown up self restraint. I could never say anything along the lines of "it can be v frustrating can't it"? I always moan or gloat .

I"m confused about something....

If BM/formula has the highest calorie content then if I need to inrease Izzys calorie intacke should I not just continue feeding as much AND add solids?
Ah just reread TSs comme,nt about Reese and ff in the day, is that what I mean?

Oh so confussled and I am guessing that since there isn't a volume control and a sleep switch there is not going to be a BF off / Cows mil on switch on Izzy either.

gold star to anyone that understood that appalling typing. I blame the keyboard.

Albs you are not going bonkers, my DH might be. We were trying BLW but compromises had to be made to avoid DH exploding with pent up control-freakery.

Breakfast and lunch Iwwy feeds herself, I make my porridge thick so you can pick it up.

Weatabix and yoghurt are spoon fed, despite her being able to use a spoon she chooses to just chew the wrong end at the moment. The newly introduced high tea will be spoonfed if it is pureed so as DH believes otherwise she wont eat enough if she feeds herself.

Him being the expert and all he cooked her beef, carrot and potatoe yesterday lunch. He mashed it up and tried to feed her, would she have any of it? course not, despite being wuite keen on all of those things. So in the end I think she ate half a tomato and half an apricot for lunch. I did very well not to laugh or say "I told you so". I think I just said something along the lines of, "it can be frustrating cant it'

He sees it as his role as teh adult to forcefeed ensure that she gets the proper amount of food, whereas I just think, give her loads of stuff to choose from and some i bound to go in.

The three poos she has had today tell me that there is definately food going in!!

I'm going bonkers. I thought you were BLW steaky. Or is izzy feeding herself with a spoon ?

v confused albs . Nothing new there .

No1 it must be so frustrating to see your hard work be undone by DH. I realise that I have been guilty of this in the past but now I jusst tell myself that if I take Izzy into our bed then it will just make her sleep worse.

Albs I qgreed with DH that I would give same as lunch but pureed, but today we had prawn risotto and it seems a bit odd to puree that so it is bananana and eggy bread. (mine with extra sugar)

Usual solids are
Breakie - porridge, fresh fruit and yoghurt
Lunch around 12.30 same as us
Tea at 4ish whatever I can think of
supper at 6.30 weatabix, yoghurt and fruit. Though DH wants to add something "proper" to this aswell.

no1 you;re making sense.
re no bf for a few days poor you.

Miamla I wrote you a long supportive message but deleted it because I think it turned into a personal rant expressing my own personal relationship issues at the moment. In short, Life's hard on a couple...add kids to the mix and it only gets a little harder.

Ds hasn't had a proper bf in about 3/4 days.
Didn't want to wean off yet, but will just go with wahtever he wants.
He had a small bf in the night, but I still ended up going down for a bottle of f.
I am just too tired to do the offering water, as can't deal with the crying atm.
I have told dh that something has got to change re dcs sleep routines. I can deal with ds waking,but dd should be in HER bed and sleeping all night by now.
She used to sleep so well but all went tits up whends arrived.
I did so well with the rapid return a while back, it was hard work and heartbreaking to do it. Most importantly it worked. When dh is off he undoes all my hard work for the 'quiet life'. Yet he moans about the lack of sleep. He has agreed to do it and stick to it, and we will start when he is off work next week. I understand when he works 12 hour shifts it is easier to let dd just hop in our bed, but would be ewasier to deal with 1 child waking in the night than 2.
Does that make sense or am I rambling as usual

VG I think Reese continued her night feeds because she wasn't getting the full amount of nutrition she needed during the day. I was trying to be a good mommy and give her lots of food-foods when what she needed was more formula in the daylight. To get her off of night feeds I stopped food-foods for a couple of days, offering only formula at feeding times, then giving a bit of rice cereal at bed followed by a bottle (8pm). Night one was difficult but we made it through til 6:30am. Night two easier. Night three PERFECT! We've only had one night feed since and that was one day of our travels this past weekend. I think that was due to all the confusion/travel. After the 3rd day I reintroduced food-foods at normal feeding intervals PLUS formula in a bottle at the end of each meal. Her intake during the day DOUBLED in just 4 days time. As for the introduction of milk versus using a formula...you would have to add a daily vitamin if you switched to the milk. You would not have to do that if you switched from bf to formula (cup or bottle). That kellymom link a few pages back that I think sambo gave me had really good info on the subject.

albs H obviously has hangry tendencies

Miamla nothing to add to VG's world class analysis of the situation, except this large slice of home made apricot tart

Hope you're not all as sweaty and irritable as we are here. It is actually too hot to go outside, DS and I are hiding in the house after another stupid early rising fiasco and a trip to soft play/lunch with friends.

Wow have only just read back over hot air balloon drama etc .

Expectant ds doesn't take a bottle either. Yes, in a way it's unfortunate as the bottle comfort won't replace boob comfort, but also good as there's no weaning off the bottle to come. I know it's only a month till he's ok to be fully cow's milk but I do still feel a bit nervous. Gave him a cup of milk after his lunch just now, drank about 50ml. Seems like nothing!

VG no unfortunately he's never taken a bottle and only really sips out of a cup and also prefers water. One thing I can be sure of is that he gets enough vitamin D in the form of sunshine .He has cereal with cowsmilk in the morning.

My ds will not eeat off a spoon. well he will if you hand it to him but very little of that makes it into his mouth. SO we are truly BLWing now. Sometimes makes family meals more complex as where i might have done rice or couscous i have to rethink. Though i guess he would either learn to pick up rice etc in mounds or else be fed those bits .

steaky what are you giving as afternoon tea?

I think ds needs an afternoon snack as it is a long time from 12-1 lunch (depends on day) and 6pm dinner. he has 2-3 bfs in there between those meals but I think he needs solid food inside him. He gets very fractious when hungry - and can be v upset at dinner time until given food .

Oh it's ok ALBS you feel free to laugh at my parenting quandaries, you just laugh away there.

DS here eats breakfast (Weetabix w cow's milk and a banana/handful of strawbs/bluebs), lunch (scrambled egg / rice / cheese sandwich / yogurt & fruit (raw/stewed) / quite often will be leftovers of last night's supper, then might just have a banana or something in the afternoon, then supper round 6 which is usually the same as our supper, then 2 bf's at night. Water with all the meals, sometimes milk but he prefers drinking water. He waves the cup away rather imperiously if it has milk in it.

Sorry to bore you all! Why was I saying all that...?

Ah. So I think he gets plenty of food and I am (thankfully) not too worried about the weight issue, but the doctor said particularly in Ireland children don't get enough vitamin D - as we have little sunshine - and that it's often the iron content which is most missed. And calcium.

btw (vg* ythe lol was at your post to miamla's dp not about bf or anything - x posting me thinks.

re bfing i think the dr gave quite sensible advice. Though I know dd had 2-3 cups of milk a day for a good while, water at meals and milk at other times...

I too want to phase out BFing in the next couple of months. Izzy has at least 4 feeds a day, sometimes 5 and at the moment a couple at night - though I am not sure how much these are comfort or hunger.

I am replacing her occasional afternoon feed with a solid tea so she will be on three 3 meals and afternoon tea and the BFs when she wakes, before naps and at bedtime. <Steaky wildly optimistic that night feeds will fall away again naturally>

Oh ALBS I hope your two are ok! You are on pox alert I suppose?

Expectant does your ds take a bottle?

Longway hope littlun's temperature down today?

Miamla I could have written your posts, apart from the bit about tree pruning. It is so trying isn't it? As you have to be the one keeping your temper or not bursting into tears because that just causes more agro.
However in fairness to the Mansteak he has got better at getting up in the night. I think it is just a long slow haul of re-education for them.

I have fb'd you my number if you want to have a good moan.

VG you wise lady you.

Shitey night here, though probably not as bad as some. Iz took ages to settle and then woke at half midnight and again at 3is and took two hours to settle. Why little girl Why?

This morning I have unblocked the bathroom sink so now it drains properly again, but unfortunately only into a bucket under the pipe as the seal has gone on the pipes. DH not going to be best pleased but it would have been the same if he did it, but with swearing and throwing of wrenches.

VG sorry can't help but I also want to give up at a year so any advice would be great. I'm leaving it till then as still a bit worried about his weight in case I really have to go cold turkey.

Miamla no DS not doing well on understanding no just laughs at me too. We had a wake up at 5.30am - seems the LOs are still in-sync. DS walking and standing up quite well now. Sorry to hear DP being an idiot - had hoped he might have come round by now. HP you're right though I too always end up even if he gets up with DS in the night because otherwise I sit there listening to DS crying and can't sleep anyway.

I don't know. He only has two feeds at night so from the supply pov I don't think cold turkey will be much of a problem. But is it a bit sudden / shocking for him?

vg lol.

miamla hugs. But you know that I'm thinking of you /here for you anyway. Don't you <pf stare>.

day one of new healthy living. ARGH!!!!!!! Drinking lots of water and telling myself I am NOT hungry.

Got dd home as she has a temp and also her and ds have a few spots on their legs .

vg are you going cold turkey or phasing out gradually?

fortunately DS is on good form today. he's currently on his hands and feet trying to pick up a round block with his mouth

sambo yes, form done with a whole lot little help from thelovelyVG*

*vg now you've made me cry! what's the betting that he doesn't read your post.doesn't matter, it helps that you wrote it, thank you, i feel a little less crap.

I had ds at doc's this am for jabs & told her I was thinking of giving up bf now-ish. She said, ok, replace cup of water at meals with cow's milk, stop yr. night feeds (currently x 2 usually - she said just give cup of cow's milk last thing at night) and maybe give a vitamin boost from chemist (baby one you drop into milk) if not eating a lot of iron-y things.

Anyone any thoughts on this?

And for Miamla's DP's benefit - if you are reading today - I hope you have read all the posts Miamla has made in which she practically has a Ready-Brek glow of love for you, especially when seeing you and your ds together - it's that, not getting hit over the head with discarded apple bough by all of us, that should make you see sense and text her a screenful of kisses.

You poor duck.

Yes he's tired and pulled ten different ways between work and friends and family and pruning but we are ALL like that and it doesn't change the fact that the silent treatment=sulking=ridiculous. If you have a problem and it warrants it, raise it and discuss it. If it doesn't warrant discussion, don't sulk about it.

And if he is not going to organise his life around ds's (ie be away 2 weekends on the trot) then you are not going to organise your day around his (ie get up at 5 and keep ds up to do his waving skills till daddy goes to work regardless of how tired he is - or how tired you are - because sometimes you need them to nap for YOUR sake.)

I should add I DO sympathise with the dads who feel they can't feed, therefore can't settle, therefore have no useful role, etc, but really it's up to them to carve out their own role - that's what they have to do for the rest of the babies' lives, we all do. You figure out what they need & how you can usefully provide it, whether it's funny faces or night settling or a lift home from the party or whatever.

miamla you poor thing, what a rotten way for your dp to treat you. Hope you manage a nap/something nice for you today. We're all tired but there's no need for such utter selfishness. Hope he comes to his senses and apologises later. I hate the silent treatment, so childish.
How did you get on with that hideous work form? Still no word from my work on either parental leave or 4 day week.

oops have a lovely relaxing break, hope the sun shines on you some of the time at least.

ds is certainly making a habit of sleeping 11pm to 7am, I actually feel quite rested and normal today

thanks hots but you've made me cry again. incidentally there's only enough milk because i went out yesterday to get some!

forgot to say, oops, hope you have a really good trip

I'm not excusing his childish behaviour in any way, but sometimes it can be hard for dads to feel any useful part in their DC's lives, especially when they're little and still bf. I have found it hard, especially since I've gone back to work, that even though DH will settle DS to sleep for his naps while I'm at work, if he wakes at night it is always my turn. But, on the odd occasion where he has tried to settle DS, I end up getting worked up and taking over because he 'isn't doing it properly'

Ewww poo, better go wipe...

Oh Miamla your DP is being a proper arse I'm not surprised you're crying sweetie, you must still be utterly exhausted from all the waking. That would be enough to set me off if there wasn't enough milk for a cup of tea, never mind a DP acting like he was in a prize pillock competition

Just wanted you to know I'm thinking of you today

Oh Miamla HUGS for you. Sometimes men don't see the reasoning behind why we do what we do for the LO's. DH got stroppy with me because I put DD to bed before her got home last week and I was wrong because he wanted to see her. and no amount of explaining would set him right - late to bed = overtired and less likely to sleep - just does not compute. Can you get a nap in today?

Well we are off today to the part of the country where the heatwave won't hit and is likely to be rainy which will of course teach DH that changing plans isn't such a good plan!

sorry for all the typos

expectant yup, had a 5am wakeup this morning!
i've got the same problem with ds and 'no'. he just giggles and carries on with what he was doing. ARe you managing to get through to S that no means no?

being up at 5 meant he was ready for a nap at 7. so 7 came, i gave him a cuddle, he closed his eyes and went to sleep. dp then got up 10mins later. reason for me telling you all thiss is because dp cross again because i put ds down for a nap minutes before he got up. so ecause of that he wouldn't say goodbye to me this morning. yup, i'm crying again.

Miamla hope you're not up for the day already!

DH is a bit like that about not being able to settle DS in the night too.

They're pretty smart these little ones aren't they? DS bit me on the leg so I said no and he did it again so I said no again and he shook his head at me.

just had a funny moment with DS. he'd managed to get one of my books off the shelf, was looking through it, saw me coming and pushed it away from him! was like he was saying "look, wasn't me, its miles away!"

he came up last night about half an hour after i'd gone to bed, woke me up and i found out that he doesn't think there's any point in him being around because he's not allowed any input on DS as i make all the decisions and don't listen to his views. the example he eventually gave me was putting DS to bed 12 hrs after he's got up. i politely pointed out that it was working, that he's sleeping a little more and until he was getting up for DS during the night then we were doing it my way. apparently that wasn't a fair thing to say and he wishes he could do more for DS. that he doesn't like it that DS can't be comforted by him during the night.
i'm fed up of all this. i'm fed up of being sad. i'm fed up of being angry

sazz but I don't feel like i need time out from DS. unless of course anyone's offering me a couple of hours now? a bit more sleep would be good! whereas dp works all week and was originally planning on being away two consecutive weekends.

expectant i think you're right, he is still adjusting to being a parent. i guess i thought he'd sorted it out in his head by now

oops glad you've had a lovely day.

lwfh hope poor DS recovers soon.

Miamla hope DP over his strop and No1 your DH has apologised. FWIW DH and I have had a fair few of these conversations arguments over the past 10 and a lot months.I guess we're all still adjusting to becoming parents.

Pah a heatwave at 33 degrees - welcome to my world and imagine that for the next 364 days of the year as well ! I suppose we do have the luxury of air-con though!

oops - how funny!, thoughts for miamla and glad that things went OK dizzy. Hello and apologies for people that I have not mentioned.

DS has a temperature. Poor unwell little boy. It makes me sad when he is sick, but I kind of had a "this is what being a mum is about" moment as I lay in bed with him worrying.

just another nonsense post - I couldn't leave it on 666.

I killed the thread

<<lays out wreaths, hymn books and post funeral nibbles>>

Dizzy - that cake was amazing - pleased the weathe stayed dry for you and the birthday girl.

Buckets - Which way do you drive up? Also how long is the longest train journey time you want?

Miamla - Sorry to hear about your crappy weekend {{{HUGS}}}

Sazzles - Did DH go down and see the crashed balloon? Mine would have.

No1 - Sorry to hear you had a rubbish night - I hope tonight is better.

My parents came down and we had a great BBQ - it was nice to see my folks relaxed and for my mum to sit and play with DD without having to worry about sorting visitors out. My sister drove the car home and was VERY excited - we haven't told her that it will be her 18th birthday present yet but I can't wait to see her face. DD in bed, DH on the phone for work to America and i am mning packing.

I can empathise with you there miamla , i have the same said to me on occasion in not so many words. So, now i arrange girls nights out, my trip to see thelovelydizzy and the like and let him look after the girls. In that way we both get to do something we want on our own, even though it is not all together. 'tis the only 'good' compromise i can find and hence when we do do stuff as a family, it is lovely rather than one person wishing they could be having time out instead. Hope that makes some kind of sense

Sleep tight {{hugs}}

he reckons just because i've given up everything for DS doesn't mean he has to
i'm off to bed now
night all, hopefully the smile fairies will deliver something to me tonight

sorry to hear you're having a hard time as well no1
thanks all for listening/replying/advising

Forgot to say buckets i don't actually know anywhere but you have 2 train lines to choose from Bristol - cardiff and the line down from Gloucester. If you are heading up to wales the latter might suit better. Will try and take a look and let you know

awwmiamla dizzy is right. Me and dh had words at 2 am this morning amidst screams from BOTH dcs at the SAME time
I snatched ds off him as he wasn't consoling him how I would have liked (he was moaning baout him crying) I said piss off to bed as I can't deal with you aswell like that it's like having a third child, which resulted in him calling me an arsehole quite loudly and slamming the bedroom door.
Yes I was as all windows were open ours and neighbours due to the heat. I was then left with 2 screaming kids to deal with on my own both fighting for a knee to sit on.
I realised that we are both tired and I forget that he is allowed to vent and be grumpy just as much as me.

miamla i think they feel when they have been working hard all week that they 'deserve' a break. Which of course they do. BUT so do we. Looking after DC's is tiring and also you want your other half to see them develop and to interact with them and it's sad when they don't quite see that. Hope you two can make up tonight

Balloon update: has come back over the house and crash landed down the hill, 2 fields down!

ah miamla, don't beat yourself up about it -blokes are allowed to have their wee strops too and maybe he's needing some time to vent

well i've found out what's wrong. its because i asked him "didn't he want to spend time with DS" this was after he told me he was going to be away all this weekend (camping sat night) and away all next weekened (again camping sat night). this was a conversation we had on friday ffs. i didn't even realise he wasn't talking to me yesterday. i thought he was just fed up with drving home in traffic yday
He's also been quoting me from here and reckons the tree wans't cut witin an inch of its life. i don't care if he reads what i've written. at least he knows why i was upset
i'm feeling really lonely tonight. typically DS is sleeping so i'm sitting on my own.
i can't believe he's the same person that was so lovely last week.
sorry for moaning. i can't tell anyone in RL

buckets - if you are going down the colouring route might I suggest the colour pastes rather than liquid, much more effective

Cheers.

Sazzles Logistical Q for you please if you don't mind, I know you love it. Can you think of somewhere just outside Bristol where we could park on a Sunday, get the train to Temple Meads in, stay the night, and train out again on the Monday? Without getting clamped on the Monday iyswim...

buckets I don't tend to unless its for the kids cupcakes - I like the smooth whiteness of the frosting against the red velvet or hummingbird cakes although the cocoa cream one sounds divine

having made the vanilla cake for the 3rd time now I feel confident enough to post it as it has been DELICIOUS each time

I had a nice game with Kurt today in bed throwing a pink plastic ball at each other from about a foot apart. He also tried to copy the sign (and noise) for pig although it was totally without context, not sure why I was doing pig signs at him without even a pic of a pig in sight. Ditto what Oops said about being in love at the mo, he is such a guileless, joyful little thing. Have seen many grown men quivering with a flattered broodiness when flashed the full Kurt-flirt (strictly for men only, mind. He just beams at them with this religious kind of adoration.)

I am also totally in love with Bristol and we're now going to have a stopover in the fabbo youth hostel on our way to Tenby in August.

Sazzles Good work on the weightloss, that's pretty damn impressive.

Dizzy Quick q, do you put food colouring in your cupcake frosting? I made a cocoa-cream-cheese one with red food colouring for Red Velvets and it came up a gorgeous maroon colour. Wondering if yellow for Hummingbirds is a good idea? Still cream-cheesey with cinnamon too.

buckets I adored the time travellers wife but just couldn't get into Captain Corelli at all - you've possibly inspired me to try again though

sazz well done you

Glad all is well sazzles scary stuff.
buckets glad you ahd a good time, sounds great I am not at all....much
I also cried reading that book. It is lovely

Infact I have been looking at villa holidays in Kefalonia and other places recently.

Both dcs asleep, dh gone to work.
Need to shower and get things ready for am so I can go out with dcs so dh can grab a few hours sleep.

Hey ladies, here's a fresh new bottle of red to replace Steaky's one.

Had a great escape to Bristol with my friend, the singing thing was equally as much fun as the dining out, sitting in cafes and sleeping til 7.30am. Thanks to anyone who sponsored me, suddenly realised I done nothing in real life to find sponsorship so blatted as many FB friends as I could befo