Emmy's weebles are taking over mermaid's greenhouse!

Morning, we have a snow day, the schools are shut YAY . I really didn't fancy going out in it today.

Forgot to say, I like the idea of the second Wednesday being 'love actually' night

Wow we're all out to play tonight

blue I will try and think of a festive name for you. DH did get to work fine, but it is bad up here. I'm reading Cjay the philosphers stone, it's taking ages because he falls asleep so quick when I read to him

gracie HELLOOOOOOO so good to see you , it does sound like you have a strong determined little girl like barbie, you can share tips.

bq not long til your scan, I'm sending you some sand from our beach up here, it's got some snow mixed in too

lbm I felt exhausted just reading your post, wow you do such a lot, I hope you find some time for you amongst all that

neeko at dh's shovel, I ised it today and put some rock salt down too. I'm sending you some snow covered sand too.

Had a fab day in the snow too today, I needed to go to the shop but couldn't push the buggy so sat the boys on the sledge and pulled them round, they both loved it , we built 2 snowmen and Cjay also built a castle, and got buried in the snow by my step dad Just got to see if the school is open tomorrow or will it be another snow day.

X-posts. Waves to LBM and BQ
Off to bed now.

Woo Hoo! Gracie's back! Hello lovely. So glad you found your way back to the greenhouse. I almost sent you a map It seems the girls are winning on giving their mummies a hard time. Stick with us, we'll keep you sane to the teenage years.

Barbie Loved that link. You're doing fab,lady and bed snuggles are essential when it's just you girls at home. Bath brushing here too but it's easier to brush from behind them when they have more teeth. Getting them to say AAAH and EEEE helps too.

louey hope you're just feeling rubbish enough to keep you reassured. I'm flying solo Monday -Wednesday and dreading it.

Mermaid how was the flicks and how many butlers have you ordered?

Vjay hope you're having a lovely time and the snow's not scupperng the visit. I thought about Pjay's snow shovel too.

sabs welcome back to you. You've been missed. I wouldn't stress yourself about the bottles or bed snuggles. She won't go to uni doing either! Enjoy her. I was quite excited to see you mention a next one. Can I get out a white coat?

Blue loved the description of the sledging. Only a smattering of snow here. Looking forward to the Love actually night. Has it really been a year?

Happy belated bithday to your beautiful boys annie and Buddha

Cupcake I fel your pain on the night feedings. This won't be a problem in a year and think how quickly the last year has passed.

Thanks for all your concern re work. I've stolen some of BQ's sand and will deal with it in two weeks. Too many memories to make with my girls until then.

Love to all

Quick hello from me sorry been feeling rubbish with vomiting so not been up to posting. Been feeling a bit better today but now worried about that!!! am such a worrier I know but scan due on the 6th so on count dowsn for that hope your all well sorry no personal posts straight to bed for me feel so tired all the time know these are good signs but still worrying. Know i'm rambling but too tired to think properly love to you all x x x x x x x

Hello ladies, another stranger visiting tonight!
I know I won't catch up with everyone in one go, but here's trying!

MrsKate Again - you are so not a failure. PND is a medical condition and no one ever thinks they are a failure when they have a cold do they?! Hope the meds work and that you feel a happier mummy in time for Christmas

Sabs Really don't worry about the bottle, I seem to remember my older dc's having milk in a bottle at morning and night untill they were over 2 and able to choose which cup they wanted. In both cases, the end of the bottle seemed to be the end of milk for them, so I really wouldn;t push it too far
And yes, the close sling is just wonderful. If you need one in about a year , I'll send you mine!
Well done on the weight loss - it sounds like we have the same distance to go and are going at the same pace, think we need to be SW buddies. My group is really good and the consultant excellent. Life has been so busy recently that I've not been focused and so think I've stayed the same for the last 3 weeks - think I need to food diary next week. Having siad that I was away with work last week and discovered on Sunday pm that I needed a cocktail dress(!), I found a stretchy one from my slim times, which fitted OK and really didn't look too bad - helped by the post baby boobs, I think thought!

GG Lovely to see you - shame Isabelle is being a little madam. But then I don't think any of our children on here sleep

Blue I am so at the snow - this year we are fully sledged up and everything but there is not a bit of snow. One thing to make you laugh - I was out in the garden doing a bit of winter tidying ( miving things so I could get in the shed etc) and came accross a bag of bulbs that I hadn't planted and thought, oh well grounds too hard but I'll just put them into some compost. Then nearly broke my hand by hitting the compost to see if it was soft! DD1 made me a fab seed box - need to get all my seeds organized now!
And [melt] at your description of ds1 - my dd 1(7) has only just given away her last muslin with the extra labels on it as she too is a label stroker

budha Happy birthday to E - sounds like you all had a lovely day

vjay I didn't realize you were north of aviemore - ski-tastic, think we might all need to come up for a meet up in winter ( assuming we can get there that is!)

And I know I've missed loads of lovely people - barbie and cupcake sorry things are bad a night for you both. BabyBelle was heading in the right direction and even slept through for about 4 nights a few weeks ago ( we can't remember if it was before or after pneumonia). However now, she is awful. Up at least 4 times in the night and yelling for a large part of it. I'm hoping it is just a phase that she will grow out of quick.

And in answer to the many questions, we have started weaning now and BabyBelle seems to love any food that we give her, and we have given her a lot. I seem to have taken the advice that if you start at 6 months you can introduce different foods quickly to heart and she is already on 3 meals ( after a week)! It also seems to have sorted out her exploding bottom which is great, but I do echo your point, cupcake, it's a major pain the bum to have to introduce 3 meals alongside all the milk feeds, and to remember to take it out and thats not mentioning the cooking part - pureed potato is like glue!

LIfe in the Babybelle household has been mad recently - work is going ballistic and I'm having to work most evenings at home, this week should be the worst of all. Dh had to cope for 3 days last week when I was away and passed the test with flying colours - he even said it wasn't so bad..... Weekends have been very full and I have only just started Christmas shopping - arrggghh Got to go, lunches to make, food for babyJ to sort, bags to pack, shower to have - I really don't love Sundays nights

Hi to everyone I've missed - esp our sickly medium pant girls and neeko, MLS ,4ever and curly ( thanks for the weight comment but I do have a bit more to go!)

Hope to see some of the lurkers back soon...

...and graciegirl appears

Big waves and hi's and hope you OKs... Another strong willed DD I see..

Love your teethbrushing song Our's is the one from Grease "brush a brush a brush a, scrub a scrub a scrub a" repeat ad infiden

Barbie we have a cleaning teeth song and do it in the bath as at makes less mess.

(tune of "here we go round the mulberry bush") This is the way we clean our teeth.....

So far so good (which isn't like Isabelle at all!)

Lurkity lurk...............

I saw MrsKate yesterday who is as ever looking fabulous and putting scruffy Gracie to shame with a fab new hair cut when Gracie hadn't actually brushed her hair at all! Huge hugs MrsKate.

Hello all. I'm sorry I've been a very very bad Gracie and haven't been aound for ages. Neeko thanks for all the lovely texts.

Barbie are our daughters twins???? Or maybe they are sharing tips in some telapathic monster baby sort of way?? My almost 10 month Isabelle is still being breast fed all the time, has never taken a bottle and has never slept through. Last night she was up 7 times I think. She won't and never has eaten purree but will happily eat normal food with her fingers. Its taken a long time to get her to want food rather than breastmilk and is at least eating 3 reasonable meals now. Sabs Isabelle uses a Doidy cup quite well, not sure if you've tried that, it would prob take me months to thread the whole thread back and check.

Everyone else, I hope you're all ok. I'll try not to run away too far.

Waves to Mermaid, BQ, 4ever Vjay, Buddha, Cupcake, Blue, Moon, Monkey, MLS, Annie, Curly, Louey*

Evening

Well the snow is welly boot height deep up here . Poor DH has done his back in clearing the drive/road. I swaned about all morning in jammies with boys but we did venturee out on sledge just as it was getting dark, quite magical, all still and silent.

Tomorrow morning will be chaos though, trying to get out to nursery/work/my Mum to mine...

Anyway on to business in hand.

Buddha - glad you had a lovely day for E's first birthday . Lighting the lantern must have filled you with mixed emotons but thankfullness being the biggest one... Hope you've recovered from the party ]smile]

Sabs - i've just put my 4 year old to bed and he had his 1oz semi-skimmed straight from fridge in his Tommee Tippee old school bottle, drinking it while stroking the label on his teddy . He hasn't had a dummy or used his thumb so why would I grudge him having a wee night time sook of his bottle? His teeth are fine, he drunks from cups at all other times... We have tentatively asked him if he wants to use his big boy cup but he stilllikes the soothing of the bottle.

So wouldn't pay attention to the sugestions they must be on a cup by one year, each to their own and if she loves her bot bot as much as my two do then let her have it for some time to come . Yes gearing up for B's b'day. Just having family as its two days before xmas and don't want a house full. I'm going to order his 'I am one' t-shirt, banners and things from the 'party pieces' catalogue which came last week. I looked through it the other night again and discovered it was Kate Middleton's Mum's company . So my money will help fund her mother of the bride outfit

re: sleep, I would suggest gradual withdrawl, tricky when you are all in the same room I know.. Rather than bring her into bed, would you go and sit at her cot? Do you have a chair you could put beside it so you can comfort her but not in your bed?

HTH and hope work isn't too full one x

Vjay - did Pjammies get to work? Glad you and Cjay enjoyed HP. I'm reading Azcaban to Isaac just now, he loves Professor Lupin. When do you fancy doing the 'Love Actually syncronised viewing? Second Wednesday in December?? Trying to think of a xmas version of my name but blue is just not xmassy unless its the sad bluexmas vibe which I don't want..

cupcake would you use another delivery of 6-12 month boys clothes for Jude? I have some dungarees and vest again. Let me know and I'll let you know if Miranda made me laugh

louey thinking of you this week flying solo, feeling sick and looking after the DT's - not easy. re: e-bay, I'm a but slap dash, guess postage, use anyhting from bin liners to old NEXT bags for wrapping and write out my own addresses etc. I'm doing another bath tonight, having big pre-xmas clear out.

barbie the image of you and D walking along holding hands was just too cute . She is just a wee toddler trapped in the body of a nine month old! It must be so so hard trying to settle her on you own especially if she has the lurgy and trying to be strict just goes out the window when you need sleep. You have laid the foundations though so fingers crossed when DH gets back you can get strict again.

mermaid glad you enjoyed the Butler link . How was your night out avec le girlies?

Right back to e-bay.

Hope to see some of the lurkers back soon x

Just a quickie so apologise for lack of personals
Mrskate Had to post to echo the sentiments of the others, you are not a failure at all, two of my friends who desperately wanted babies had PND afterwards, I think it's the whole build up and then the reality and sometimes we just don't cope with all the changes. At the end of the day any kind of depression is a chemical inbalance that needs adjusting it doesn't make you a failure at all I hope you can feel better soon x

Thank you for all the birthday wishes, here, FB and text
We had a lovely day dh had the day off too so we had a lazy morning, visited dh's Nan and then went out to lunch, soft play centre in the afternoon and my parents in for a family tea. DH and I then went to a nearby field and lit a chinese lantern to commerate our lost LO's without who we wouldn't have Ewan. It was the best day!
The party yesterday was a definately not as peaceful Very stressed beforehand, very unorganised but we had a fabulous time and really enjoyed it, just absolutely shattered now!

Sabs E is still using a bottle for milk feeds too, but luckily he will usually have it as it comes so don't have to worry about the heat. With regards to sleeping definately have no advice as I'm struggling too. Think over Christmas we're going to start doing the whole crying it out thing Not looking forward to it, but so many friends have had success with it that I'd be stupid not to try it and regain some sanity!

Huge big fat waves to everyone else, hope you are enjoying your sunday

Hi sabs Ajay loves his milk super warm too and he still has it in a bottle. I'm not too worried about him still having a bottle, so no help there Also Ajay just has milk and water too, and Cjay still has a cup of milk in the morning and at night and he's 8!!!
I have the same problem with Ajay waking as he's still on our room and I can't leave him to cry, so I give him a cuddle or a wee bit of milk to re-settle him. I can't wait for him to have his own room now.
I wasn't very helpful there was I

Will be back later, I'm just on checking the roads for DH before he heads out to work.

Evening ladies, remember me! Am I allowed back in? Thought I would post as much as I can, even if it means posting in parts.

cupcake I've been watching that Nat Cassidy programme too, and thought of 4ever as well. DH and I absolutely love How I Met Your Mother, though we do sometimes get impatient and think they should reveal who the mother is! Wish I was close by to you so that I could babysit for you, and for free! So sorry to hear about DH's job situation . I've got everything crossed for you all. at you describing J

How's the snow vjay? We don't have any snow here but its very cold. Thats my cold, brrrr face! I also thought of pyjama's when reading about your DH!

Another thanks for the link barbie Maybe we can hire one when we have my virtual 30th birthday party in the greenhouse next April! Sorry to hear Dolly isn't well. Hope she's being a good girl for you tonight. at her walking already, she really is superbaby, as you are supermummy, dealing with everything on your own.

mermaid How did you find HP? I went to watch it last weekend (I even missed the X factor results show for it!) and I was so hyped up after it I couldn't sleep properly! How sad am I! Roll on July!

4ever thanks for your text the other day. I must have missed the posts where it said we werent meeting up next month. Hopefully we can arrange another meet-up soon. Happy belated half-birthday to gorgeous Summer.

curly my buddy, so good to see you back on here! I've been meaning to text you, but I never seem to get around to it - sorry . I agree with you, we need more talk about things like 2ww and BFPs. Sorry to hear you'vr had some bad news.

I've said it on fb but will say Happy birthday again to your DS's annie and buddha Hope you all had a great day

blue Have you finished Half-blood prince yet! It will be B's 1st birthday in less than a month! Do you have anything planned?

louey and bq Hope you're both well and getting lots of strong symptoms in the nicest possible way! Sorry if ive missed it but do you have dates yet for your 12 week scan?

mrskate Sending you lots of hugs. Please try to come back and let us know how you're getting on. I know how hard it is to update on here especially being back at work.

neeko Sorry to hear that the work meeting didnt go so well. Has anything been sorted? Next time (hopefully!) I need to get me one of those Close slings. I didnt get one with Saara but a lot of people recommend that particular sling.

mls thanks for sharing your birth story. I agree, you're very brave not to have had a epidural! Loving your profile pic on fb.

lbm Have you started weaning J yet? What's your SW group like?

moon Hope you're lurking and still here with us. You too jools and monkey

Sorry if I've missed anyone out.

Well done to all my fellow dieters on your weight losses. I lost 2.5 pounds again last week and 1 pound this week, bringing my weight loss to 11 pounds in 5 weeks which I'm very happy with. Want to lose 2-3 stones in total so quite a long way to go!

Thanks for all the Eid wishes. The day was spent eating, eating and then eating some more! I've been off work sick since Thursday with a cold/cough/sore throat etc. The week before I got told I had asthma and the pump has been helping with the wheezing etc I've had since I started work.

I have a few things that I would be grateful for anyones advice on here before I go posting elsewhere on MN.

The first is Saara will only drink her milk if its quite warm/verging on hot (but obviously not scalding). She has around 9 ounces in the morning and then 9 ounces before bedtime. Because she likes it so warm, I find that I can only give it to her in a bottle as the beakers we have cant seem to hold milk that warm. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions on what beaker I can use instead, as from what I've read, she should be stopping having her milk from a bottle by now? . Also when do they stop having so much milk, or does it not matter? She only drinks milk and water anyway so I dont mind her having that much milk each day.

The other thing, I think I probably know the answer to, but would like some advice anyway. Every night, S wakes up at some point, stands in her cot and cries, and the only way to put her back to sleep is if she gets into our bed. I know its not the best thing to do, but we're always so tired, that the easiest thing to do to ensure we all get some sleep is to put her in bed with us. It doesnt help that her cot is at the end of our bed and we wouldnt be able to put her into her own room until we move out into a house next year. TIA everyone.

I think thats more than enough for now! Night all x

swoon barbie I am indepted to you!

Curly thanks so much for advice on sleep/feeding.. i think we are going to try bottles in eve and at night now, ebm if i can express enough, and maybe try formula. the night feeds and 5am risings are really taking their toll now.

hi 4ever, thought of u this morning while watching that natalie cassidy show, she had a 4 day long induction too!

and happy birthday to our lovely november boys so sorry i missed it!

right gotta dash sorry! x

hi ladies, we have loads of snow here in wales! seeing all the icy pavements brings back horrible memories of trying to walk on it back in jan when i was suffering horribly with sciatica- ouch!

speaking of sciatica, louey i took dozens of paracetamol to ease that pain when pg & didnt do any harm.. but can understand why you're wary.

still v of u all seeing hp, anyone want to borrow ds so i can go? louey thanks so much for tip on babysitters btw, but actually we cant really afford to pay anyone which is why i so wish we had family nearby :(

vjay not long til strictly, yay! (we record it & i start it late as im always putting jude to bed) think i might vote tonight. gavin's time is up tonight i reckon!
anyone watching im a celeb too? loving it, ant & dec are so funny

blue i hope u like miranda, its really silly but just my kind of humour. have u watched how i met your mother? dh & i really enjoy that too.

ooh running out of space on phone...

PMSL at that link barbie that is fabulous, I hope mermaid likes it

Hope Dolly gets better soon, the poor love, and I'm wishing you both lots of sleep tonight.

louey hope you are feeling better.

mermaid my mum made it up today . They went back to the hotel early and when they got there the snow was knee deep

snow we have snow! My washings all crusty

barbie only you would hire men dressed like that - where do I find them!

louey ouch at head what about one of those forehead thingys?

vjay oh you poor thing am imagining you off to dig your mum a path through the snow.

Am just about to go to see HP if I can get the car down the hill

remebered my lovely monkey earlier and so hoping that you are ok in your frenetic run up to Christmas with all those exited children at school.

Morning we have a light dusting of snow

Sorry for lack of personals - am feeling grim - migraine I can't shift and am feeling guilty for taking paracetamol but its not really touching it.

DH off to the US tomorrow for the week so I will be flying solo. Hope we have no sick children or mummies otherwise its going to be a nightmare.

When headache goes enough to let me think I will be back on to do some proper personals.

Morning

Well it's a complete white out up here, it's very pretty and cold.

mermaid I did lol at Pjay and his trusty snow spade, you always remember , in fact I was just wondering where on earth he's put it and I though of you
Cjay liked Harry Potter, it was a BIG ask though getting him to sit there for 2 1/2 hours. It was nice just the 2 of us
How were the Iltalian bums?

bq and louey how are you both? Be careful in this weather.

mls how are your little sunbeams? Hope you are getting some sleep

barbie I did at you and Dolly at the golf. The book 'house rules' arrived yesterday, can't wait to start it.

How are you all, has anyone else got snow, has it settled with my other Scottish mummies yet?
Going to check the roads now, my mum is up but staying an hour south of me, near Aviemore, and for those of you that know that area, the liklyhood is I shan't be seeing her today unless I can get Pjays trusty spade to her so she can dig her way out.

My dh sounds like pyjamas