Jingle Bells, Mysterious Smells, Fab Feb 2009 babies will soon be on their way - Oh what fun it is to waddle around like an overstuffed turkey all day.

[dinkystinky]

Hello lovely ladies, the new thread is open for business

The first NYE we had with DS both DH and I were in bed by 9pm!! Last year we had dinner at MIL's house and managed to stay up till 12.10am - this year I intend to be in bed by 9 again. I agree - NYE is always much more fun when you're just with a small group of friends or family celebrating; the best ones we've had have been when we've gone away to a cottage for a few days with a close group of friends (though now everyone is popping sprogs, makes it quite difficult finding a cottage with enough space in the rooms for travel cots!

we've renamed the baby 'kung fu panda' due to his attempts to kick box his way out of the womb last night. at one point i was sat on the couch leaning forwards a bit and when i went to lean back kung fu panda shot a leg straight out to the front... i can't even begin to describe how painful it was.... there was a bulge sticking several inches out for a couple of seconds and dp almost dropped his tea i howled so loudly

8 weeks of this is not a pleasant prospect

i have physio this afternoon...... great fun, half an hour to my parents to drop of the kids, another half hour to the hospital and then the same in the dark along crappy country roads to get home.... all for 20 mins with some perky young thing telling me to simply not lift the kids or do any bending ('don't you have someone who can do the mopping/hoovering/cleaning/etc for you?'.... erm yes, but he has a job to go to and the kids don't just sit quietly and wait for him to come home to deal with them and all the cleaning' )

can you tell i'm in a great mood today

Listen to how much of a hypocrite I am. Last year (was on mat leave) was the first year in 7 that I didn't work xmas day and NYE, and now I'm having a go at dp coz he's doing it! Last year he was supossed to do 6am-4pm but didn't get home til gone 8 (working not out drinking) and now this year he is working 12 hour shifts xmas eve, xmas day, boxing day, nye and ny day.

Ds has fallen asleep without having lunch so I put him in bed and should now at the least sweep and mop my floors, not be sitting here watching charmed!

pinkpoinsettias, that is a truly inspired name!!!!

LBB - that sounds like hard work . Where are you going to be with DS? Hope you have got plenty of people to keep you company? Your DS sounds about the same age as my DD (nrly 17 months)? I think Christmas will just pass her by again this year (apart from enjoying all the twinkling lights) but I'm looking forward to next year when we can get more into the festive spirit. Littlesez - I'm with you with the consumerism thing but I can feel myself slipping into it now with DD and just know that next year I'll be full on!!!

Due to the frequent mentioning of Maltesers here I had to go out and get some white chocolate ones to see for myself - they are delicious!!! Am I the only one here who's not a mince pie fan? I love the pastry but jsut not keen on the mincemeat. I don't like Xmas pudding or Xmas cake either .

I'm back at work today and it's all a bit of a blurr really - goodness knows what I'm doing. Think it's safer for me to stay on Mumsnet to avoid any E&O's!

Mrsy - hope you get some reassuring news today.

KT - small bump here too! In fact, most of my bump is belly button. I am 5' 11" with a loooong body and short legs so plenty of room for baby inside. Also helps with heartburn and bladder capacity!

I'm kind of hoping for a Valentine's day baby. Maybe we could call him "Valentino"!!! We are stuck on names. I like Edward, but DH doesn't - reckons it's "faux posh" (I'm and Essex girl by birth!!). Any suggestions on a traditional-ish name that might go with DD's rather unusual name - Orlena?

Stay warm everyone!

Catstar - dont think Edward is posh at all. Suspect there will be alot of Edward's around in the next few years due to the Twilight saga though... I quite liked Alexander but got it vetoed by DH on the basis he thought it was posh - would it go with Little O's name?

Where did I rest my hands before I had this bump?

Ooh - I like Alexander too and I think it does go with Orlena BUT one of my closest NCT friend's little boy is Alexander and I'm not sure about using the name! What's the etiquette on things like this?

Right need to pop out now to try to find O something to wear to her Xmas concert at nursery next week. Something red or green. I'm so excited about it and know I'm going to blub big stylee to see her with all the other toddlers trying to sing!

Catstar Yes ds is 16m, last year me and him were at home alone. I was hoovering ffs, on xmas day!!
Not this year, we are all staying at my mum's on xmas eve and my bro will be there too and my dad's coming over for xmas day dinner and everything else. I know next year will be the one won't it? But still quite excited for this year. We are a bit skint at mo so have just got ds some wooden puzzles, some musical instruments like tamborine, bells on sticks and stuff like that, a Bob the Builder phone, some toy cars and a road playmat for them, and a few other little bits but he'll love them.
My dad has got him a drum kit have told him it'll have to live at his house, I'm not having it here

I hate mince pies!!!!! Dp keeps feeding them to ds and then sending him over to hug me and he stinks!

I like Edward. I'm rubbish at thinking of good names which is why dp has had the pleasure of naming ours. (I wnted to call ds Ford)

Thanks MS, I came across your suggestion first so have gone with it. You would think, as I work in marketing, that I'd be able to come up with something like that myself but my brain really is rapidly turning to mush. I can't remember anything, let alone try and be creative. Oh, and I'm back in a clumsy phase. Walking into the coffee table constantly and dropping everything. I asked DH to try and get me one of those rubbish-picker-up-tools so I don't have to keep bending to the floor for everything that was once in my hands. This includes a sweet potato the other night. Yep, cooked it, tried to transfer from oven to plate, ended up on the floor. I ate it anyway, my floor's clean enough.

I'm spending new year's eve with my Mum and Dad! DH has got to work so I'm staying down in Devon with them and we're going for a Chinese in their village. I fully expect to be fast asleep at midnight.

chilled I do body balance too, went last night and really enjoyed it, used to do body combat too but first time i didnt go last night because i feel too pregnant! Too much jumping around. Think i could quite easliy do balance for few weeks yet.

I teach Body Combat Littlesez - I love it

I take my hat off to you KT for teaching body combat while pregnant. I love it but had to stop it when reached 17 weeks as doing the kicks felt really weird. Have carried on with boxing training with my personal trainer though (who is pregnancy trainer trained) so at least I get some combat style exercise now and again...

I just want to sleep.....would it be so awful if I lay on the settee whilst DD watches Tikabilla and I just watch with my eyes closed?

Those of you having your first babies....make the most of afternoon naps and lie-ins.....

MsNorty - you could play sleeping lions with DD?

Hello all, just got back from docs and ds has come into living room still wearing coat, gloves, hat and shoes, has laid on the rug and fallen fast asleep! I'll let him have half hour i think or he won't go to bed at 7:30.
Still protien in urine but not as much as last time, bp is fine but am measuring 2 weeks ahead of ourselves so will see what scan picks up after xmas

Hey Norty, that's why I'm taking a month of my mat leave before LO is due, I decided this would be the last time ever in my life that I'd truly get some time to myself so managed to justify having even less money by the time I'll be able to spend in January sleeping and being very self-indulgent.

I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to 23rd December - why isn't it now? I've just spent the whole afternoon starting the handover process to the poor lady who's taking over my job and I'm EXHAUSTED.

That's what I done QK for similar reasons.....and DD came after 2 weeks

I met up with AlexanderPandersMum and took Tink to see Father Christmas today. I felt awful! We went to a place like a giant Wacky and couldn?t help her on the slides or run after her when she ran off. I?ve looked after her all day and was so glad when her granddad picked her up, which I never thought I?d say!

She wasn?t sure what to make of Father Christmas, it was a bit like the House of Commons - two arms and two swords - only it was two arms and a present! I couldn?t get a picture because she was too far away from him!

I was supposed to be met by Ring & Ride, set it up last Thursday as it has to be 7 days in advance for your first journey. I rang them yesterday and said ?I want to cancel my outward journey tomorrow but still need the return journey?. About half an hour after I was supposed to be picked up I called Dad and asked him to chase them up, they?d booked me for tomorrow! They said they?d try and get someone over to me if I was ok to wait, but then said they couldn?t because I hadn?t warned them I had a toddler with me - erm? I haven?t registered yet and no one told me! They can?t take children without the appropriate seat. So my dad had to come out and take me home.

Tink fell asleep in the car and I thought I?d be safe to get some sleep out of her this afternoon, but she decided to wake up.

I?ve booked a Mum to Be package for Saturday - pedicure, back massage, facial and brow shape (though I may ask them to change that bit!) I need it as I can?t reach my feet anymore and the good parts of my back are suffering from the crutches and taking the strain off of the bad parts.

KT, I can?t really comment as this is the furthest I?ve gone so I can?t really compare, although I?ve been told I?m bigger than I was when Tink was born and I was wearing normal clothes when Lily-Hope was born. They do say that you get bigger each time though.

Has anyone else got very obvious bits sticking out? I can feel a leg from the bum to the foot which is not being a very good foot! At least it?s at the top though.

I defintaly dont give it as much gusto any moe Dinky - The kicks are a bit tricky - Well done on the Personal Trainer, its definatly made me feel better keeping some kind of fitness level throughout.

People keep telling me it helps with labour -Not sure how true that is....But i Like to believe it

Am sure it does KT - I exercised right through my pregnancy with DS and managed to find the strength and reserves to push him out myself against the clock. I also think DS quite liked the exercise endorphins while in me. Have to admit have been more lax on exercise front this time - more walking and pilates and yoga than gym - but every bit helps.

GOD above it never ends...I finally starting to feel better after lurgy and now DS has conjunctivitis and is felling thoroughly sorry for himself. Means can't go to work tomorrow as he can't go to nursery...normally not a problem but as I wasn't at work on Monday or Tuesday I feel I little guilty!

Oh dear TBM, sounds like you had a right old day!
Your pampering session soundsgood though!

Hoping to take ds to see Santa, just haven't decided where. Going into town tomoz so will find out where one is, prob Debs

Just on stalking TBM - You're still here!!!

why do people i barely know feel the urge to rub my belly while they talk to me as if i'm some sort of lucky bhuddha?! i may bite the next person who does it......

catstar, after reading so much about mincepies on here recently i decided to give them another go at my moms today thinking maybe they were just one of those things you don't like as a kid but are nice when you're grown up..... i was wrong, it was horrible.... far too sweet and sticky even for me

i keep being told how small my bump is this time.... definitely didn't get that with ds! but then i was like a heffalump all over with him due to sitting on my ass eating cookies 24/7