March 2013 VIII: feeling kicks, comparing knits and halfway there

[theTramp]

Old thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_clubs/1588951-March-2013-VII-Our-little-pumpkins-are-getting-fatter?msgid=35174657#thread

Chefette ooh how do you lease a car? Can anyone do it? And do you get it for keeps every day - i.e. on your driveway? £135 pcm is good. We can spend up to £200 pcm hiring our car club cars if we go up north for the weekend (which in itself is about £125-£150 each time). xx

Afternoon All,

I have caught up just about but have no idea who said what - have a brain like sieve right now adn think it a bonus I got up and dressed all by myself today well DH put on my socks

Had a manic weekend with taking boys to a toy store opening which had FREE candy floss and got them a little treat each then did all the tasks I had been putting off which resulted in me KOing in bed at night and Sunday DS1 was like Naughty Norman and was crazy all day, I even let DH have a lay in! Then I had an hour with DS2 watching my little bro play footy, he was ascouted a few years back so is very good and I love footy - while I was out DH made a yummy dinner for us and then I bathed boys, bathed myself and then again KO'd in bed, I even missed I am a celeb as was so blinking tired!!

Had a bit of a moment yesterday when DS2 was being nuts that I am going to have a 2 year old and newborn (as well as a 10 year old) and all of a sudden it felt rather scary, please tell me thats normal

Also, if anyone else is planning to bottle feed the Tommee Tippee bottle sets are half price in mothercare this week so def worth grabbing some :)

And Manada I agree Oxford is the best place EVER - well Abingdon anyway for me

Hi ladies. Sounds like everyone is busy with work, life and nesting. Lots of fun. Haven't done anything yet wih stuff for DS2 but with DS1 so close in age don't need much expect his own special first photo babygro and some fresh Muslins and the big ticket items like Double Buggy and a cot but we will get that nearer the time when his bedroom is sorted.

Dinner went super well though was tired yesterday. Such a lightweight these days.

Mands I was watching Nigel Slater last night and thought of you with the veggie recipes. Thought this one sounded delicious!

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/herby_artichoke_25299

Dh doesn't think it is a meal without meat but might make it for DS nd I.

Have been sounding out names for new baby. Zach still a fave. Liking Seb too.

Hope everyone is having a happy Monday. DS is snoozing and then we are off to the park.

OC x

manda seems like a piece of cake (although DP obsessively researches car stuff!) , you need to do shopping around tho, and def don't go to a garage! Online scouting about, I'll get DP to put together a guide and hints and tips. Basically you choose a car, it's yours for the duration of the contract, it's 2-3 months monthly payment up front, then 24-36 months of your monthly payment. Hand it back at the end, start a new contract. The car is never "yours", like hire purchasing a car or a car garage loan (although there the car is never your either until you make the final balloon payment at the end!!!!!!! Which with depreciation and interest you are losing a whack of cash indeed!) which some people don't like the idea of, not having something concrete at the "end". If you are not too picky about car spec and type there are great deals to be had. I can PM you the key things to consider once DP done his thing, he is ex car sales, and ran his own business for a while, and, where possible, unless it was a classic or "nostalgic" vehicle he always leased. You need to set your estimated mileage upfront, and strictly not go over it, other ensues can be extortionate per mile rate, and that's how it gets a bad press. It's a very common system up here in the oil industry as there are so many fat cat rich dudes who are contractors operating as limited companies and they get great rates for business use which can be offset against company cost for tax reduction.

If you don't think you do more than 8-10k miles per year there will lots to interest you.

Chef thanks so much! Let me run the idea past DH tonight. I think we're going to hold off buying a car as long as possible, but I fear we may need to acquire one at some point with two small children. It will be rather limiting for me with only a double buggy (and a bus, if I'm feeling brave!) though as long as we can get to e.g. nursery with a bike trailer once they are old enough then we may be okay without. So let me chatter to DH and see what he thinks before your DP goes to loads of effort on our behalf! :-) xx

Place marking. Hope everyone is well on this wet & miserable Monday!

Evening all! I don't think I have posted on this thread yet and its already got 400 posts! Oops!

Have completely burnt out this weekend trying to do too much and working aswell, I hate to admit I can't do things but I think I might have to accept I can't do everything.

Speaking of new cars we picked up our new car yesterday. We went for a Ford Focus CMax which is lovely and huge! Hopefully it will last us a few years and has room for another baby. I like the idea of the leasing thing but DH is adamant on owning a car hence why we never have a new car.

And speaking of stretch marks I have discovered one on my boob!!? Wtf?! They haven't even grown at all what's that all about! I'm not holding out much hope for my stomach.

Sorry can only remember back a few pages, hope everyone is feeling OK, sorry to hear about the stomach bugs get well soon!

Evening all!

Sounds like youare having a lovely few days jojo, you must really miss your other half being way from eachother so much, especially with being pregnant too? I can feel your contentment and happiness on the last few posts!

Ooooh, lovely things dame. i'm the same, all sorts of things from SIL and cousin. It's just not all in one place at the moment and none of it here! I can't wait till we get everything sorted out so I can actuall SEE what I have and figure out if I actually need to buy anything!

On the old sex drive, mine has totally nosedived but I think is probably more due to the buiding works as every spare time we have feels like it is taken up on that! We apear to manage snuggle time on average once a week which is not good! I do fancy my DH and do have the 'urge' but normally sanding something or painting something or sleeping is more pressing!

Sounds like you are in the decorating frenzy like me manda?! I also have been decorating with heating on and windows open, feel a bit guilty about carbon footprint, but the feling inmy fingers is much more important! I too was exhausted yesterday after doing probably too much on Saturday which culminated in falling asleep at the in laws at 8.30pm I still get frustrated about the fact that I physcally just can't do the ammount and intensity of work I used to do and always fail to meet the targets I set myself, ho hum!

I now have floor in my orangery and apparently kitchen cupboards will be fitted tomorrow! Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!! 10 weeks has been a very, very, VERY long time! I am more than ready to have my house back now! Hopefully we will be able to start on LO's room soon. We thing we may have everyting sorted to be able to start when we get back from holiday in December. I just feel llike I need to have my little girls room done now. I have urges to just be able to sit in there and feel a bit more centered. Does that make sense???

Lots of love all xxx

em tea here (oop north) , dh is a southerner and struggles with that!

rainbow we have a Yaris and was ok with 5 of us and a pram after dd3 was born. Was a 5 door though. I'd just get another, look up Yaris in cars on here, HUGE fan club! It's now used as the work car as we have an MPV for a family car but hoping to change it for something more reliable ( renaults ridiculously ££££)

I have a three door Polo and its been (touch wood) very reliable, however I've been in the new Polo (mines about 8 years old) and it feels much smaller than mine, so not sure I'd go for it. I'm looking at a Skoda for my next car, I'd really like a VW Jetta as I had the Passat for a while as a company car and it was a dream to drive, just a bit too big. However, Skoda are better value - I really want to stay in the VW family, and I hope by the time I get a new car the Jetta version of the Skoda will be cheaper second hand. Can't afford to look for a long while yet though.

I call it dinner, tea is tea and sandwiches mid afternoon, and supper is a snack before bed to me! I've lived at least 40mins north of Birmingham for most of my life so not sure where my southerness has come from :)

Had a rubbish day at work today, had a lecturer tell me 'well that's just not good enough is it?' - I never know what to say to that! Then my boss asked me to stop being so efficient because another member of the team (who is always behind and late and has loads of warnings) thinks that I do training instead of working. In fact I do my work and then if there's nothing to do I do my training, it winds me up so much. That's the second time my boss has asked me to stop being efficient, last time he told me off for not going through other people's job queues and doing their work for them! Why the hell should I? Other than it being irritating for my colleagues, if I'm organised enough why shouldn't I be able to do a bit of training that will benefit work anyway?! So cross and there's not anything I can do, how can you argue with a boss that says that kind of thing?

Hi all I'm so rubbish at keeping on top of these threads they seem too move soo fast!!!!!
Just saying hi and I hope all is well loads of moving babies and growing tums and busy mums!!!!
Can't wait to reach December!!!!!!
Really want to fast forwards November!

Hi count just welcomed you to the 3,4.5+ thread too!

Evening All! Not much to report here! Not working this week so went shopping with my mum. Ended up at a furniture store and have arranged to have them come round and measure up for new carpets upstairs which should be exciting although dh and I are already disagreeing on carpet colours. Dh also thinks I'm odd for not allowing carpet in the bathroom. His mother has a lot to answer for!!

hermione that is really annoying!! I bet they will appreciate you when you're on maternity leave!!

lanny sounds like your house Is coming on really nicely. Sorry to hear that things are not going so well your end chef.

zoey thanks for the tip re bottles at mothercare. Not sure whether to go avent or tommee tippee this time (or might even achieve breast feeding!) Will take the opportunity to stock up anyway.

Sorry cant name check more but I'm on my phone! Hope everyone is ok and having nice Monday evenings!

Ewww! em carpet in bathroom!!!!! DH & MIL need some serious educating!

Carpet bathroom surely those 2 words should not be in the same sentence!!!!!
I fancy huge tiles from walls straight down to the floor!
I wonder if I can get it done in a 60 minutes makeover??
Can't wait for December so I can get some baby bits!
I also need to say wilkinson also do some great baby bargains! Bought my electric steamer from mothercares but once I saw the same but cheaper I took it back and bought it there instead had leftover money to buy TT bottles x2!!!!!!

I'm going to buy bottles anyway, I liked tommee tippee last time, the sterliser and bottles are cheap on amazon, must compare the 2

Leasing cars, some people are very against it (my dh) and it works perfect for others, just make sure you look at hidden costs you might incur when it comes to end of contract (if car was damaged, more mileage etc)

Hermione your boss sounds abit strange, maybe abit threatened by your efficiency.

Ood how can you keep up with another thread I thought about the 3,4,5 thread but I would just get lost I think.

Can't remember what else I was going to say
Rescan tomorrow yey

Thanks Ood - glad to see a name I know!
Glad to know I'm not alone in the larger family section!!!!

Oh yes, there was carpet in our bathroom when we moved here (shivers at the thought) it was first thing dh lifted out it smelt of pee and damp, NOT nice!

Count I'm on no4, the tommee tippee sterliser is 30 on Amazon the same set that is 45 to 50 in shops

Carpet and little boys.... Mine have the worst aim so god only knows how stinky our bathroom would be if we had carpet! I saw a property programme recently where there was carpet in the kitchen too

Gummi Lots of luck for tomorrow, hope all goes well & you see all you need too

I have posted on the 3,4,5 thread but find it sooooo difficult to keep up with two threads.

gummi 3,4,5 is a lot slower than this one. This is the fastest thread I've been on bar the Xmas bargain thread

Gummi - noted " Amazon" is my fav website at the moment love it!
So def will look on there closer to my baby shopping time!!!
Am def going to duel feed as it was a huge problem getting my ds 2 to take bottle when he got teeth and I had to call it quits on BF!!!

He he! Glad it's not just me who doesn't think carpet in the bathroom is a good idea!

Quick question for those of you who've got little ones - what age did you stop using a baby monitor?

Chefette sorry to hear about the house woes, I feel your pain - hope you are in soon. Still waiting for costings for our builder & hoping work will start on 3rd December. Praying LO isn't too early as we will have 4 weeks only to move our bedroom and prepare her little room - at least I will be on maternity leave.
lanny yours sounds lovely!
Starting to get a little anxious that we haven't bought much yet! Partly waiting for post-Xmas sales, partly waiting for loft as the whole house will soon be full of stored stuff. But listening to you all I feel woefully underprepared! So far, we have a buggy, 2 cardi & bonnet sets (gifts), a crochet blanket, a cotbed without mattress (gift) and some wall stickets! Poor baby

em think it depends on size of house. Dd3 is 2 and we use one as we can't hear her downstairs but our house is 4 floors & v solid walls. In my old house I could hear much easier plus dd2 screamed much louder and stopped about 2.