Hello all!

June, oh dear... First of all I'm going to give you a big (((hug))), I think you need one with all this. I'm so sorry DH is not seeing the problem here. You're being really patient here, and not unreasonable at all. You just want some family time on your own (and your cleaner to be able to do her job in peace ) I understand how you feel and I really really hope it gets better. and go on and rant away whenever you need to

Lindsay, hi!

Amy, no advice on that front as we're not entitled to those things How's Caelan?

Mrsmc, glad the night was better, may that go on improving!

Skillbo, glad to hear Jazzy is feeling better Sorry for the silly question but are you packing for a holiday? If so, woo hoo!!!

bigcar, oh, I see... can't think of us having something similar at home... but now that you mentioned the sugar thing we'll stay clear from it

Are all june babies going through the same? Mila went off her "food" yesterday and today, only eating a few spoonfulls Is that something that usually happens?

Let me tell you, being in charge of Mila full time is hard... I'm quite tired and I'm working as well <sigh> June, I tried to do what you suggested but couldn't get up before 6.30 oh well LOL. Tonight I have more work so I'd better stay awake or wake up early.

This post has taken me aaaaaaages! I'm one handed, so... Hope you all have a nice evening!! Waves!!!

worried we just took it to our bank (lloyds) thinking we could open some kind of account and drop it in the same day.
Stupid cow at the desk sent us back home with a whole bunch of leaflets to read which I have now lost and still got this £250 cheque sitting on my desk :S

Same as Lindsay though, we're not going to top this up as we too think she would be too young at 18 to get her hands on "free" money.
Instead we've opened a savings account under our account, called it her name and put the money she receives as gifts in there for her and set up a standing order so she gets money every month from us on top of the benefits. (it's not very much but it adds up.) We may or may not tell her about this and use it either for her further education or deposit on a place.

My parents were very matter of fact with money we received as gifts, it went to savings and that was that, we never questionned it and it was useful to me to see me through uni and when I moved to england.

right, this has now open a can of worms
I think dh's parents have been too liberal with dh's siblings (sod it, my turn to criticise ;0) hence why sil will spend £200 on clothes the minute her wages have hit her account and then has no shame asking us for £100 on the 20th of the month. She is completely irresponsible with money. Has borrowed from us many times before and only ever paid us back once.

Can you tell i'm still fuming about yesterday.
dh doesn't really see the problem and doesn't feel it's right to tell sil to come less often. His argument is that sometimes it is good timing as I need to do some work and she can look after the baby for a couple of hours. In all honesty that has come in handy twice about two months ago.
Everytime I bring it up I feel like I am the nasty sil being difficult about his relatives visiting.
This week: sil 3 times, mil once, (both unnannounced which to me is the main problem) fil once, (planned the same pm) and bil once, invited over by us as he is actually nice. The only days we did not see anyone was monday and wednesday.
And I hate having people round when the cleaner is here on Fridays as I just want her to get on with it. She does everything in 4 hours if she's uninterrupted and can do whatever room she wants in the order she wants as opposed to have to work around people. Last week mil, sil were both here as well as the godmother who I had invited to go over christening stuff.I jsut wanted it to be dh, her and me as I don't want people to give me unsolicited advice for the party as they'll only be offended when I don't choose to go their way.
Anyway it took the cleaner much longer as people kept coming and going, making tea etc. (sil and mil have no problem heping themselves from my cupboards for crisps, biscuits etc (?!).)
oooh, baby is up, probably better that way, I could go on ranting for hours. thanks for listening and sorry to be going on about this still.

worriedamy I put mine (ds's...) into a shares account. It's a fairly long term investment (15 years before being moved into normal savings) so the likelihood IMHO is that the market will rise.

You're basically deciding if you think the same as me, or if you think it's not worth the risk, in which case go for more straightforward savings.

They'll send you a load of stuff about how you and grandparents can top it up. For myself, I chucked it all away. At 18 I was NO WAY responsible enough to be handed a big fat cheque on my birthday. Again, a personal choice...

Or - you can just do nothing and after a few months the govt will put it into an account for you. The second £250 - for lower income families - is paid in automatically at the end of the tax year.

Hi everyone...

Just a quick question... Caelan's Child Trust Fund voucher finally arrived yesterday (I only started getting child benefit two weeks ago!!)... what have people done with their LO's vouchers if you don't mind me asking??? I'm so confused by the whole thing, don't know what the best thing to do is. Any help would be much appreciated!!!

Can't even spell my daughter's name tonight

Popping in extremely late again with no time to catch up Aaliyah went 8.30pm - 4.30am and then 5.30-7am last night - so much better but I need more than one night to feel more human - sadly DS has developed a cold today so it is only a matter of time before Aaluyah gets it hope you are all well and that I get time for a proper read back this weekend

Hello

Thanks everyone for your sweet comments. Jazzy is back to herself today and just a bit snuffly so think we're over the worst. Not fun though and am hoping she stays fully fit for the next 20 years as can't take it.

Meant to post earlier -
StrawbS - we seem to have nailed the whole swaddling dilemma using the technique suggested by Linds... she is in her gro-bag and we then cover her with her shawl as a blanket. I was a bit concerned re the heat but its got colder so hopefully by the time it warms up again she will be well and truly over the whole swaddling thing. It has taken us almost two weeks to get to this point though so perseverance is the key, I guess. Naps are still a battle though but again, have got easier the last couple of days (not helped by her illness, probably)

Hope you're all fabulous and looking forward to a nice weekend. I really need to start packing and am going to have to do a crazy wash followed by laundrette tumble dry for my clothes as don't have enough that fit me yet . Need to work on that mummy tummy like our thread recommends - hmmmm, theres a Boost in the fridge though

evening all

amy, just for you, click on farleys 4 months reduced sugar banana rusk and scroll down to the ingredients, if you want to pad out fruit or veg use baby rice because it is just rice flour, not tons of sugar and all sorts of other additives.

naat, rusks are a like a hard biscuit, like biscotti that turns to a smooth mush when mixed with milk, used to be one of the first weaning foods until everyone realised how much sugar they had in them and how bad they are for teeth. It's refined sugar in them rather than the natural sugar that you get in fruit. Good luck with the job!

llynnn, good to hear I is on the mend I LOVE minstrels, but then I suppose it's chocolate isn't it

june, I don't know how you've managed with so much family round, that would drive me loopy! Turn the lights off and pretend you're not in and just in case they are in any doubt shout loudly through the letter box, we've gone out! Seriously though, can you get dh to have a quiet word?

lyndsay, don't worry, I'll survive I like wholegrain mustard, it's the colemans I have a problem with!

MrsMcJnr, I think your mil may be like my fil, he's been trying to feed E chocolate for ages, thankfully my mil tells him off

skillbo, hope J is ok, good wait gain, especially just on milk!

E has decided to have a whinge, I'm hoping he's tired, surely it's bed time now

waves to all

naat I've found it's easier for me to get some work done in the morning before C. wakes up (so anytime from 5 to around 8) and then a bit more if she has a nap, but usually her morning nap is 20 minutes!! Sometimes I am "lucky" and she'll nap longer and I get more done. But if you're looking after Mila on your own for a few days you might also like to rest while she is napping sometimes.
Congrats on your MA :D

Thanks for your kind words on ils, sil was here when I got back today, not only that but she asked dh for money as she has run out this month (and she has a full timejob and no rent or bills to pay, wtf, honestly!!!). <sigh>, it's driving me nuts.

skillbo, we stopped weaning for a few days as well. C's had some baby rice today and wasn't too impressed, I tried banana as well and she only had one spoon half full. She also puked whatever she had straight away.
Dh gave her cucumber this pm though and she loved it, couldn't get enough!
I've not got any xmas pressies yet and cash is not exactly free flowing either. The accountants worked out that I was somehow better off without maternity pay so I've got to work to get my wages so we dont have the spare wages for someone else to cover for me. bleh.

I've ordered the book about weaning that was suggested here so quite looking forward to getting stuck in slowly slowly.

god, and now bil is here, got to go

Hello all!
I've been reading everything but haven't found time to post. I received a good job proposal yesterday (freelance still) and I think I'll be going back to work earlier than planned

Skillbo, oh my head is mush, don't get confused but yes, I'm so happy about it. Sorry to hear about Jazzy's reaction to food these days, you might be right and she might still have a few weeks to go. Has the diarrhea stopped now? Make sure she takes lots of milk to hydrate herself Hope she gets better really soon

MRsmc, at your MIL's chocolate comment! Jeez... Hope nights get better soon (((hug)))

June, YAdefintelyNBU! They cannot seriously expect you to be at home waiting for them at any time every day And the calls? No no no, you need to have a word with DH. They're definitely going to do your head in otherwise. You need some family time on your own, of course that is completely reasonable of you to want. And come and rant whenever you need

Lindsay, Mila liked it so I've added it to our list again she didn't like carrot the first time but is now OK with it. We'll try potato and sweetpotato next week. Well done DS eating out without a fuss!

Llynn, glad to hear Isobel's eyes are better, hope her chest is on the men as well.

hi to all Juners!

Right, DH is flying to BS AS today, he left at noon and will get there tomorrow morning (loooong flight, yes) It's the first time I'll be on my own with Mila so I hope I "man" up and manage Working will definitely be a challenge as I'm transcribing audio files and even if Mila is playing all content, she "talks" and I can't hear a thing I guess I'll work when she goes to bed

Hope you all have a nice Friday and a good start of the weekend!!

Waves!!!