Emmsys weebles; pop in for a chat, there's always someone in the greenhouse

Soooo sorry, no time to catch up, but wanted to say that my AF did start on Monday so no luck this month Didn't want you all thinking I was pg! Have been v down the last couple of days, am really starting to believe that ds will be an only child and I can't bear it

Sabs Thanks for the lovely text, as I said it made me cry, and reminded me just how lucky I am. Perfect timing...

Love to all - must dash as dad here till Sunday and no time to be on computer! xxx

Another quickie Blue post from work .

Barbie - step away from the jars they are indeed rank and much cheaper to buy your own fruit and veg and freeze. re: D's sweet tooth, we all have it as amniotic fluid is sweet as is breast milk so we're damned from the word go . Have you started making cheese sauces yet? Ben loves cauliflower cheese with courgettes or butternut squash with rice or chicken.. Courgette and carrots go well together too with some rice in for bulk. Try and balance a sweeter veg with a more nippy one and avoid broccoli as its v bitter to begin with. Have you tried D on toast yet? Softly toasted with unsalted butter? Bet D would love sooking away at it .

Keep up the the cc, it sounds like its working already

Vjay - we're thinking about getting bike seat for Ben as DH has a new bike to go with my ancient one! Well done to Ajay napping for 2 hours, pencils sharpened let the studying begin

neeko - so not a typical Scot paying for your chuggie twice Praying the sleeping continues to head in the right direction.

sabs - Isaac dropped his morning nap @ 15 months but he was still having a lunctime one up until last November! I remember one of my friend's 2 year old dropped this one and my heart went out to her dealing wth a 2 year old for 12 hours straight. I always got my 2 hour lunch 'me' time, which is so important for re-booting and getting a break. Agree with neeko that S may be pickling up on things being different especially if there's lots of family do's. Really hope you get some rest though x

Iggy - loving your poo stories.

monkey - from me too....

cupcake - agree its weird having cycles again and trying not to get pg, i feel like I'm 'wasting' my OV time and have a wee dvil on my shoulder going "och, go one, see what happens" - err NO!!

louey - any news on your sis?

Wooden floor going down tomorrow (MLS its going to be our new dining room as old one is now playroom). Hoping to also get a wee corner sofa in and have it as an alternative tv room as we only have one tv in our house at the mo'. also agree # 2 with Neeko re: Myleene Klass and her DD being called Ava. She is omni present and mega annoying and has anyone seen her range for babies in Mothercare . Leather jackets for newborns and black romper suits - no, no no!

Right, roll has been eaten, time to brush the crumbs off my keyboard x

and rambling to myself once again ......

sabs we fly home on the 25th of this month into gatwick, we changed our flights due to the threatened strikes and now the buggers silly people arent doing it!
We have been offered the use of a car while back in plymouth which means getting a train home...which has its pro's and con's. The car hire is a whooping 380 quid (anyone know any discount codes????) so the train would be the cheaper option, but this means we cant stop on route to see anyone

We are deciding tonight what to do....ill keep you posted! On the plus side we are home for almost a month at christmas and next summer so will meet one day for sure!!!

vjay i might be wrong be ramadan last for about a month give or take a few days, its all to do with the new moon (or sun, forgive my ignorance sabs) sighting...the fun starts after...its party time!

Im back...7 mins!!!

She cried for about 10 mins before i checked on her...she was standning in her cot with her arms out stretched to me i put her back down, tapped her bum for a few mins...and sat and watched her toss and turn and she went to sleep! I so hope this works!

Thanks for all the thoughts on food...we are giving her apple and pear, pear and banana...apple and peach etc etc in the morning. (all this i consider sweet)

In the afternoon we have tried, sweet potatoe...butternut squash, carrot etc etc as per the annabel karmal book. We even bought some hipp organic jars...they are rank!!! She pushes the spoon away to vegetable and chicken, green pea and all the other savory jars.

The evening is peach, apple, or her current fav of apple and blueberries (dark poos!)

Do i give her something else at lunch or leave it? I have tried mixing in baby rice in the sweet things and she will take it, farleys she likes too.

I have defrosted a few different savory things and will mix it up with something else...i just dont want her to get used to sweet taste.

anyone there to keep me company...im sat on the stairs while trying to do controlled crying i hate it!

Last night dh and i sat down and googled all the methods and after much discussion he we decided cc was the way to go as Dolly is so head strong, she crawls away while we try to shh/pat and wont settle with dh if we do pupd.

vjay be honest how hard is this going to be, this is the third nap i have done it on, both times i have gone in and picked her up and calmed her down the first time took 40 mins, the second 25 mins...as she winds down i go in and pat her so she knows i love her

The weird thing is she only sleeps max 30 mins doing this method, is this because she is so worked up?

cupcake i had 2 days of v light spotting about 3 months after dolly was born and nothing since...unless you count the pill incident! Might just be your body kick starting itself....glad your fango is all in working order

louey any news from polar????

vjay slightly at baby having a 2 hour nap tis is what im aiming for! Good on you for doing the bike ride....dh has said he will put dolly to bed every other evening so i can go to the gym, but to be honest im exhausted!

neeko how is h, we had another bad night...i think its down to the food we are giving her, she is struggling to poo which apparently is normal when you start weaning...kept me up most of the night, poor mite.
I am sad that she isnt a baby but i love her to bit and im very proud how clever she is...im more sad as it reminds me how fast she is growing up...but of course you are right i have loads to look forward too!

Right i have to check on her....

Vjay not too personal at all, come on i tell u all about the state of my fanjo nothing is too personal here sorry, it just means we don't use contraception, only charting (NFP). we need to get back into the mindset of avoiding pg now tho which will be weird after 2 years!

neeko im now wondering if this is just breakthrough bleeding as it's so light bodies are so confusing!

Lovely weather here today we're off to the park to meet nct pals..if i can ever get this boy off the boob

Morning all. Lovely to come on to so many posts on here. Glad I gave you all a laugh with my doubly-expensive gum.

Sabs Ramadan sounds exhausting and I'm full of admiration for you being so disciplined. Text you sent was lovely and I passed it on to quite a few people.
DD1 dropped a nap about 14 months I think, but slept a bit longer in the afternoons. Saara is probably picking up on you being a little stressed about return to work and the differences in routine during Ramadan. Perhaps some strict sleep training afterwards? She is old enough for cc if you can bear it.

Barbie Glad sleep is improving. Things have been better here for the past few nights too I totally understand where you're coming from about feeling you've missed out as I feel H was only a newborn for literally 2 days and she's never been cuddly, however you clearly have a very advanced baby who is full of fun and will keep you smiling in the years to come.
As for the savoury stuff, my aunt used to mix savoury with a spoonful or two of chocolate pudding or rice pudding so my goddaughter would eat it. Sounds disgusting and never appealed to me but she's now seven and rates brocolli as one of her top three foods! (chocolate's in there too though )

Louey That villa looks amazing! I'd like to do a villa holiday in a few years. Glad your DH was not keen on you going back on the pill. Fingers crossed this is your month.

Monkey

Cupcake at AF, although I know you'll be relieved to know where you are cycle-wise. Mine still isn't back and I'm hoping she'll stay away for a while yet.

MLS I quite like Ava but it is popular just now plus I think that's what Myleene Klass called her daughter and she annoys me!

Blue Can't wait to see pics of the finished room and B's fangs.

Iggy Nice to see you on here. H had such a forceful poo at my brother's house yesterday that it ruined a vest, top and a pair of dungarees. They were getting neat on her and would have taken hours to clean so i gave up and threw them out!

Mermaid Hope you're doing ok. Any pasties left?

Vjay Well done on the cycling. Weather's rotten here but will head out for a walk later. DH told me this morning that he thought I'd given up dieting. Told you I was bad!

Yesterday's soup:
3 red peppers roughly chopped
1 chopped onion
2 grated carrots
2 cartons passata
1 pint veg stock
some black pepper

Bung into pot and simmer for an hour then blend. It's nice with either some basil or some chillis added for a change of flavour.

Best be off. Hi to everyone else.

Evening ladies, 2 nights in a row for me...it wont last though!

barbie sorry to hear you're having such a hard time I feel like coming over to give you a hug. Saara also has such a sweet tooth, even though I've never given her sugary things. Her favourite fruit is mango and tomatoes. For Saara's lunch, I give her things like cooked basmati rice, sometimes with pureed pear or pureed apple. I also give her sweet potato that has either been cooked in the oven or steamed beforehand. BTW any dates for when you're coming to London? As for your egg story, I remember doing exactly the same when I was a kid

People pray at times according to where they are in the world and depending what time the sun sets and rises. We normally pray 5 times a day but in Ramadan, there are more prayers, including a long prayer in the evening which you mentioned in your post. Everyone always gets hungry after that prayer because its so long!

iggy nice to hear from you. We need to sort out dates soon for another meet-up too!

louey the place we went to eat was called Guanabana in Kentish Town. Here's the website The villa looks lovely. I bet you cant wait to get away! Hope it goes well with the doc tomorrow

vjay come over to the dark side and join facebook!

cupcake looking forward to seeing pics of J. And you're not a bad mummy

Thanks louey and vjay for your posts about Saara's one nap. I was hoping that it would take her a bit longer to drop to one nap, especially now in Ramadan, as the plan was to sleep in the day when she does I think I'm just going to give up a strict routine for this month and implement one properly once I'm back to work. Back to work [sob!]

Got a busy few days so will just have to lurk from my phone. Parents and 2 of my siblings are going away for a month Not sure who's going to miss them more, me or Saara, as after me and DH, they're the ones shes most comfortable with. They're all worried that she's going to forget them all in a month and are constantly taking photo and videos of her on their phones so they can just look at her . I'm hoping that by the time they come back, she'll be able to walk over to them when we go get them at the airport

Night all xxx

oops sorry! darn there being no delete post feature on mn!

[Hmm] who knew there was a limit on phone posts, ive never written one that long!

as i was saying, am actually v glad to get af cos dh & i are Natural Family Planners & i wasnt looking forward to getting to grips with cycles during bfing but at least now theyll resemble some kind of normality.

have been blackberrying today with j in sling & feel awful cos he got his foot scratched on some brambles & it bled :( bad mummy.

right enough painfully slow phone typing sorry for no more personals.

[Hmm] who knew there was a limit on phone posts, ive never written one that long!

as i was saying, am actually v glad to get af cos dh & i are Natural Family Planners & i wasnt looking forward to getting to grips with cycles during bfing but at least now theyll resemble some kind of normality.

have been blackberrying today with j in sling & feel awful cos he got his foot scratched on some brambles & it bled :( bad mummy.

right enough painfully slow phone typing sorry for no more personals.

Hi all, ive only just discovered i have a new paragraph button on my phone

check me out

with my new paragraphs!

louey yes the girls on uc were so drippy weren't they! & yeah that one boy was way too relaxed clearly. so relaxed he forgot to actually answer any questions ha yes my bro is quite a catch but he's a married man!

sabs i so admire you! esp the self imposed tv ban over the bb final . ramadan must be doubly hard with a little one, hope her sleep improves soon. j is doing great thanks, putting on lots of weight & making my day with his beautiful smile. must put pics up.

ig helloo! good to see you! glad u have joined the baby poo club too

af is definitely back, feels v weird to be glad to see it! louey if u exc bf af should in theory stay away several months but u have to feed constantly for that to happen apparently, j has been going much longer between feeds now so doesnt surprise me i have ov'd.

running out of space will continue in another post..

iggy you know we love stories about baby poo

barbie I have just had a shower which is a step up from yesterday! Love the egg boiling incident... I currently only have stories which involve being covered in baby poo..

louey yes, all is fine... The dog is being a superstar... Bless him!

ouch ouch ouch

Thought id pamper myself with the goodies friend gave me...find an exfoliater and start rubbing my face, seemed a little harsh so checked the packets, its for the body! At least all the flaky skin has gone.....along with all my other skin! who would believe im a beauty therapist!

X-post

iggy lovely to see you. Yes things take a while but it will get easier. As long as piglet is happy and fed and the dog isn't going berserk, everything else can wait.

barbie you are a liability!!!

Morning!

sabs Ramadan sounds really tough - I didn't realise you had all the early prayers as well. It must be nice to see all your family though. I think DTs dropped one of their naps at around 1 yr (it was shortly after I went back to work). Then they just had one long nap after lunch (1-3ish). She may just have got to that stage. I don't know what to suggest about the bed except that babies are incredibly manipulative. I guess only you can know if you want to go cold turkey now and put up with the crying, or wait until she's older. I wouldn't do anything until you've finished Ramadan though and got back into a sort of routine. She's not teething is she?? Your anniversary weekend sounded absolutely lovely. What was the name of the caribbean/mexican restaurant - I love that kind of food and am always looking for a new place to try. We are going to Lanzarote in October, staying in the villa next door to here (not that villa but its exactly the same inside) Can't wait, especially now the weather is not great here.

barbie here's hoping that miss D gets the message that sleeping for 4 hours in a stretch = much happier mummy. What sort of things are you giving her for lunch?? Luke has a very sweet tooth so I've had that battle - you just have to persist really and try a variety of different things. A lot of the early vegetables are quite sweet too. She will get the message once she is hungry enough. I am no help on sleep training really as we were always pretty tough (had to be with twins or we would have had no sleep). I'm sure someone else will have some sensible advice. Thanks for asking after my sister and for voting for her (and that goes for all of you). She will find out today but I guess not until this afternoon when the US wakes up. Will be hitting refresh a lot on FB this afternoon I think.

cupcake finally watched university challenge last night! Your bro is v smart and quite a dish (and I don't normally say that about men with beards ). I did want to say to the guy on his right to sit up properly though. The girls all seemed a bit wet and dippy to me. I always feel so thick when I watch it though - got a few questions right but not shamefully some of the biology ones (I have a PhD in Developmental Biology....) Sorry you appear to be getting AF already - that seems a bit unfair - surely it shouldn't start until you've stopped bf'ing?? (At least that is what happened to me)

mls I agree - you have got one sensible name out of him. That's a start at least. [BTW Ava is top of both mine and my sister's names list for a girl, so you are probably right about it being common.] Hope the gaviscon is helping a bit.

neeko can't believe you paid for the gum twice That's beyond noble of you.

blue had a quick peek at your pics on FB -the garage conversion is coming on a treat! How funny that B has his incisors without the canines - I guess they won't be far behind. I find trying to get pics of my boys nigh on impossible.

mermaid how was merman's birthday??

Am still trying to sort out the acu situation. I think its unfortunate timing more than anything else. We have no family anywhere near us so we have to rely on babysitters if we want to go out. As both the appointment times are around DTs bedtime that is just not feasible. DH's reaction is - what do you want to do that for . I'm in a difficult position because I don't want to off-load too much on him because I'm worried he will just get scared again about TTC. Its a fine balance....

However, we had a bit of a chat last night, he knows I'm very low and I said that one of the options the Dr might suggest tomorrow is to go back on the pill again to try and regulate my cycles. He said that won't work will it which made me feel a bit more positive - I thought he would say it was a good idea.

Right, really must go and do some work....

hI iggy ahh i remember the days that i didnt get dressed til 3pm, nor eat, wash, walk the dog! It does get easier....the trick is to get someone else to take the dog out

Glad piglet is doing well...

Ahhhh another nap... shh/ apt method seems to be working

mls boo hiss at your dh, although ill award him half a smile for at least attempting to chose a name! Ava, isla, freya are all very popular at the moment, are you still trying to go with a slightly unusual name? I will fb you our po box number so you can post a few cards to me...ill get on with spreading the word in Dubai!
oh and i did giggle at the random message you received! Oh i had no heartburn and dolly had loads of hair!

blue your conversion is looking lovely...cant wait to see if you get your own way and do the whole thing pink though Bless babyblue and his teeth, we think dolly has 3 coming through on the bottom...
The plugs are covered, i cant even get the blighters off! I had to use a different plug to use the iron as dh was out We are off to get a stair gate this weekend.
Mu poor parents dont know what they are in for when we arrive home!

vjay can we have a small piece of cake at ajays birthday? just a small piece mind... i have new skinny jeans to fit into Good for you cycling! I did think about going out in the evening, but it's catch 22 here, too hot to go and then if you wait til it's cooler it's too dark...maybe ill sweat the pounds off if i go out and sunbathe! Is ds back at school already

monkey how are you my lovely....i at your sore bum bones! I hope you dont get them this month...

I have to do the washing etc and have 30 mins left of nap time to do so...i have to go waves to cupcake 4ever jools pfj and everyone else...

Finally snigger at neeko paying for the gum twice...priceless!

My barbie moment happened last night and for once didnt involve boobs. Decided to boil some eggs for dh, put the water on to boil..and forgot....for a full hour, while we we all upstairs doing bath time, cuddle time etc. Dh came down to find the pan burning red and the villa stinking! The funny thing was, we were both saying how warm the bed room was even though AC was on...i had made the house into a sauna!!!

Never did do the eggs....