January 2012 - Thread 3

[ParsleyLion1]

And we're back......

yay to having you nearby fryn that is super cool. picnic in Lloyd Park when the bubba's are born? If you see a slightly pregnant ginger woman walking about near you (especially carrying a violin) then that's probably me, come and say hello

Congratulations on all the fantastic scans ladies. Very impressed with your stories. Remember to update the list with your team colours

Oh really want to bake cakes yumyum

Hope everyone is well. Got a very active baby practising some kung fu moves this morning

Thanks shonno and I updated for cakes as well (hope you don't mind cakes!)

fishandlilacs I just remembered that you share an EDD with cakes and me too - obviously it's the due date of choice

cakes I'm assuming you're going for 'Panthro' as a name then...fan of excellent 80s cartoons then eh...

Fryn I assume the vinegar could be replaced with the milk...dunno though. Maybe it's like the strawberries and balsamic thing.

Ah, so jealous of all you guys that have someone else near by. There are some heavily pg women in this area and people keep telling me that they know of many women due in Jan, but none in this area that are looking as fat as me pg. Will have to wait til the antenatal classes I guess. My driving instructors wife is due in late Nov, but with twins, so probably a lot earlier...and that's as close as I've found.

So, having thought I was doing ok this week with weight gain (actually had put some on, though I have had some a shed load of bloating too) it turns out it was ALL bloating/constipation. Back down to having lost 1/4lb on last week (a difference of about 6lb...told the guys at work I was bunged-up and they all berrated me for being negative, telling me it must all be Yolkis...) Still do have a little bump. Going swimming in a few, that makes me feel v. pg.

Ah. I suppose I'd better prepare for hippoing about.
TTYLxxx

:) @ sharing EDD. It's a good date.

My dd has a jellycat bashful bunny-she "chose" it from a garden centre on her first birthday. He's called cookie, he is very very very well loved indeed-looks ragged to hell, I have stitched his arms for holes a few times. One paw spends all it's time under her nose. Looking after cookie is like having another child to watch for.

Ah, just a good tip my SIL told us... If DC takes a shine to a particular teddy, buy 3. 1 can go missing/be left at Granny's, still got 2. 1 can be in the wash whilst the other one is in bed with DC...saves a lot of hassle apparently.

Oiesha Ah, I just realised your recipe has vinegar in too - it's different from mine though (mine's like a Victoria Sponge) so it's always good to have new variations.

Fryn yes, the vinegar sounds weird but I believe the acidity acts with the other ingredients to act as a binding and riasing agent like the egg would. You can't taste it. I think as it's there for it's chemistry properties rather than it's taste, replacing it with milk probably wouldn't work so well.

Oiesha - that is such a good tip about the multiple teddies. DD has two of the same teddy as she always takes one to nursery and takes him into their garden to play - needless to say yesterday both she and Teddy came back absolutely coated in mud.

Moobee - I should say I do love vinegar, and having loved courgette chocolate cake as far as ingredients go, it's not that odd, but... it is really! May give it a go, just to prove myself wrong though!

redhead - sure will! Equally if you see someone with mad frizzy hair dragging a 2 year old with a filthy teddy down the road, do say hello too! And if they've finished digging up the park by the time the sun comes out next year, definitely yes on the picnic front (I'll bring some vinegar cake!)

ghost I'm afraid I don't know anyone with a Quinny. The only ones I've heard real negatives about are the Mothercare Mychoice ones - both friends who had them ditched them as soon as possible as they were so bulky and hard to push. Not much help with regards to the Quinny question though - sorry!

So...I'm making these cakes, and suddenly remembering all the things that keep going wrong with them. Maybe one of you cake-making afficionados can explain a few things...

firstly, when mixing icing sugar, how do you not get it all over yourself and the whole kitchen?? I get great clouds of icing smoke. I'm using a plastic bowl and a hand mixer.

and more importantly, whenever I make cupcakes, the top tends to come off (when you eat them) leaving the bottom bit firmly stuck in the casing. It didn't happen the first few times, but now I'm wondering if it's something to do with doubling the recipe. I'm using plastic washable cupcake holders, but I don't think that's why, cos I seem to recall it working before...

any ideas? thanks ladies

Ghost, on the pram front, my friend had the Quinny Buzz 3 and loved for the newborn bit but bought something else at 6 months as she found it too bulky and a bit rubbish even on country roads, let alone off roading. Some other friends have the Bugaboo chameleon, it's fab but sooooooo pricey!!! I'm thinking about the Cosatto Cabi at the moment but haven't seen it in the flesh. Your 'must have' list for a pushchair sounds much like mine. All the ones that look any good off road don't seem to have the parent facing seat. I really like the Babyjogger Citymini but no rear facing seat.

Redhead, having just made a terrible birthday cake for dd1 (soggy in the middle when I cut into it!) I'm probably not the best person to give cake advice but I usually put a tiny bit of water into my icing sugar and mix it with a spoon before I blend it. You could alternatively get an extension lead and blend it outside !!

oiesha the multiple teddy thing is a great idea. Dd was given 2 of the same teddy for her first birthday. We tried to encourage her to latch on to these rather than any others. Turns out she wasnt interested in any particular toy, she had a posse of about 6 that had to go to bed with her everynight. That was until last christmas when she was ill and latched on to a very old irreplacable winnie the pooh that she pinched from her adult big cousin. He has since been nicknamed the velveteen pooh. Not for love nor money can we get the same pooh anywhere, and cos he is full of beans he cant get a proper wash either.

red I usually start with a small amount of icing and gradually make it larger, seems to be less messy. Not sure about your other dilemma though.
fala sounds like your cake couldv done with longer in the oven.

It's lovely to see allnthe scans coming in, so exciting! Congrats to everyone on the good news of healthy blue/pink/yellow babies. I was just looking atbthe stats thread and there are quite a lot of people due on the first two days of January. What a great way to bring in the new year!

moobee there is a website called pig in the kitchen which does great allergen free recipes. Also have you tried egg replacer, made by Orgran or EnerG. My DD has anaphylactic reactions to nuts, egg and dairy so I know how you feel, cooking is a real nightmare, especially when it comes to sweet treats. I really miss my nutella after all this talk of nutella and yummy fairy cakes.

oeisha definitely agree about tripling up on favourite soft toys, my DD will not go anywhere or sleep without her bunny, which we luckily have about 5 of! And we are thinking when she meets her little brother that he will probably be carrying a new bunny present for his big sister. :)

Eurgh finally found the stats thread (iPod didn't like link for some reason) and now I can't copy and paste - poxy technology

Could someone do me a favour and note me as TEAM YELLOW please, pretty please!

Off to a wedding reception tonight, had hair appointment but hairdresser phoned in sick so I'm straightening to within an inch of my poor hairs life

I have just found these adorable Thing1 Thing2 tops that I can not resist getting for my sisters twins babies when they arrive!

Hi every one any one near Reading, I don't know anyone else that is pregnant in my locality as most people are done with it. Trying to get things sorted for going back to school and only have stationary to get. Has any one else got school age kids?

red the icing sugar thing, use a hand mixer on a slow setting then gradually get faster or mix partly by hand first. but i love the icing sugar cloud!
the problem with doubling mixtures is that a cake recipie is usually a well calculated maths equasion ie 2x + y + 3j = cake! and somethime the maths equasion can call for 1/2 of an egg but the recipie will say 1 egg, when you double it you are using 2 eggs instead of the 1 the equasion calls for. you with me? the recipie will then solve the problem by adding more flour or more milk (in the case of a recipie needing 1 1/4 eggs) and doubling can really throw off these well calculated equasions.
its a pain, but if not doubling the recipie makes them come out ok then i would just make 2 batches.
OR
your not cooking them long enough in doubling the mixture, its slightly more wet that it was before and needs 5 mins longer in the oven

phew - i think i've confused myself with all that!!

fish i'm near you, but i think weve covered that before i cant remember if i thought it or posted it! anyway i'm not in worcester but in Evesham, so not too far away. anyone else close by?

Hi All, hope everyone well. exciting to hear about all the scan news, so jealous. roll on 5th Sept for ours!

wedding was great, DD danced the night away until 10.30pm, and still got up ready to roll today at 7am, grrr. Well behaved except for a mini tantrum in the church, where she then proceeded to wee herself. lucky she had tights on to soak it up! funny story to tell her when she's 18!

hope everyone is well! all this talk of cakes.... going for another wedding cupcake now...!

Had our 20 week scan today and still reluctantly in team yellow. We were there for nearly 2 hrs what with walking around, drinking, turning onto side and doing to loo bubs still refused to unfold legs so couldn't get all the measurements. On the positive side we get to have another scan next week so maybe we'll find out then.
Just canceled work trip to US - did't fancy flying over tomorrow with the hurricane. At least it means I can have a nice relaxing weekend.

Re Quinny buzz - we pice done up off ebay. It is quite bulky so check it will fit in the boot of your car to start with!! Other than that not had much chance to test it out for obvious reasons!!!

Congrats trubble, and another scan sounds great for your misbehaving LO, I'd be very happy to see bubba again!

Sorry but I live in SE London, anybody near by?

I remember looking at the quinny with DD and it looked bulky, we were told by JL to take the wheels off when putting it in boot/our flat which sounded far too much hassle with a baby! Otherwise it looked like a good buggy. I however am still recommending my lovely bugaboo bee + because with a more compact model you get a lot more use out of it, most people end up buying a second light weight buggy after 6-9 months when the LO's start sitting up and being more alert. But with DD at 18 mo we are still happily using our very user friendly bee. Definitely look out for baby shows for bargains too, we got our maxi cosi car seat for free when we bought the bee at the earls court baby show.

Hi Ladies

Hi Ladies
I had my 20 week scan too, and am so relieved that everything looks tickety boo! Still team yellow here.
I have bought my pram/ pushchair, nothing glam like you yummy mummys, mine is a secondhand graco! but does all we want it to and folds up beautifully. I am penny pinching to try to avoid having to go back to work. I am only part-time anyway and with childcare would barely be earning anything. Am going to act like I am returning though just in case for sanity sake I need to go back!
Have a nice weekend girls.

red - I'm the same as you and hate the icing sugar cloud, PITA to clear up. Cover the bowl and mixer and your hand with a clean tea towel before starting - it contains the majority of the mess! :-)

I really should write the Slattern's guide to domestic Goddessness. This tip would come somewhere before how to freshen up stale bread, but after making your husband think you've been busy all day when you've actually been finishing your latest bonkbuster.

ghost - the Babyjogger City Mini that someone mentioned isn't rear-facing as such, but you can attach a car seat to the top and that is rear facing, so you do have some options there. Once again I would recommend BabyWorld showroom as they know their onions and will let you play with test the merchandise for as long as you want without getting huffy. Plus I can show you the good coffee shops in town afterwards ;-)
x

@ cakes' Slatterns guide hee hee! I'd buy it!

Well we've had a brilliant night in redhead towers - my OH suddenly woke up at 1.30am and projectile vomited over the hall carpet and whole of bathroom. Then spent the rest of the night throwing up in more helpful places. Poor thing. Don't know what it is because we both ate pretty much the same thing yesterday.... but am SO GLAD it wasn't me that got it!!!!! Not to be selfish or anything, but seriously, I've had enough of vomiting for one lifetime! And obv I don't want the Piglet hurt by some wierdo bug.

the sad thing is we have our first proper meeting with the doula this morning, and then friends coming over in the afternoon to help strip wallpaper ! will have to cancel both I guess

think he's alright now, i told him to get some sleep cos he was just sitting on the sofa all night looking all pale and haunted, and he's only chucking up water now, so surely a bit of sleep will help a bit....

worm is your graco forward facing? I really want a both ways facing thing but cannot decide on which to get, there's too many out there for my tired little brain..