The wagon needs to make room for the imminent arrival....

[glaskham]

New thread ladies... lets hope its a good un!!

Births:
Kay - 12th December - 6:49pm - Dylan George - 10lbs 5ozs
Teuch- - - boy
Pop - 23rd December - twin boys, Hugo & Henry
Nat - 27th December - 8:36pm - Mikey Bradley - 6lb 10.5oz
Gin - 16th Jan- Girl - 7.25am- details tbc
Tink- 19th Jan - Girl - 1.51pm - Bracken Hope Willow - 8lbs 7oz
Astarte - 16th Feb - Girl - 8lb 12oz
Glask - 20th Feb - Girl - 7.47pm - Ruby Marie 4lb (8wks prem)
LardyBump - 21st Feb- Boy - 8lb 12oz
HappyNappies- 27th Feb- Boy - 12.01am 9lb13 Edward James Roy
Playing - 4th March - boy - 5 lb 12 oz - Edward Lewis Stainer
Starshinetiger - 15th March - girl - 7lb 1 oz - Charlotte Carys Rose
GYo - 22nd March 9.55am- girl - 10 lbs 12 oz -
Cosmo - 2nd April - girl - April Victoria - 8.51am - 6lb 9
Gruff - 15th April - boy - 8lb 2 oz - 6.02am Zachary John Graham
Ses - 9th May - boy - 8lb 9oz - 10.17am Owen Edward
MINM- .......

Weeks list:
Diege - 38 weeks, 2 left to go. Boy!!!!(21st June)
LBOT - 33 weeks, 7 left to go BOY! (24th July)
KookyKid - 26 weeks, 14 weeks to go (2nd Sept) BOY!
Idreamofbeanie - 24 weeks (due 27th Sept) GIRL!
Sparklytwinkletoes - 19 weeks (due 6th Oct)
BB - 18 weeks (EDD 30th oct)
Moosy - 14 weeks (EDD 6th Dec)
Claire236 - 5 weeks (EDD 7 Dec)

Girls = 8
Boys= 9 (3 more still insitu)
Surprise = 10
Unknowns (yet) = 3

Scan list:
STT - 20 week scan 21st May
BB - 20 week scan 11th june 09 (not finding out sex)
Moosy - 20 week scan 22nd July

MW apps list:
IDOB- 24 week apt 9th June
BB- 17th july MW, Antenatal clinic 15th june
LBOT - 36 week appointment, 25 June
Diege - 38 week appointment, 11th June.

Mat leave countdown:
Diege - Annual leave, proper mat leave starting 15th June.
LBOT - last day 17 July (I think!) 26 days to go
BB- AGES!!!
IDOB - 4th September, 13 weeks.

Babys Age
Kayz's Dylan - 26 weeks
Tinks Bracken - 20 weeks
Glaskham's Ruby - 16 weeks
Gyo's small giraffe - 10 weeks
Cosmo baby - 8 weeks
Ses's Owen - 3 weeks

Just been for a walk to the only place I ever seem to go, the train station!! On the way home I got some brochures for the lakes, Dorset and somerset so I am going to make DH look at them. He is being a real pain and just keeps saying "I don't mind" which is no good to me. I am tempted by the lakes too but MIL has a family friend there so DH has been loads and loads. I'm worried about him being really bored.

Somerset's nice (biased, me?), and if yo ucome in July there's loads of beer fests and family style days out going on, the Lowland Games is one and was very good last year.

That does sound fun MOOSY! I've only been down your way (Warminster?) once and then on to Stonehenge, and really loved the countryside etc.
KAYZ, is there a danger MIL might 'volunteer' to come with you to see this friend if you headed to the Lakes?? If so, def Somerset . Only downside I suppose would be the travel, but once you're there would be brill
GLASK, I think you sound pretty much convinced re: the surragacy! If the sickness is controllable, and you feel strong enough to go for it, then do! It's such a wonderful gift to give to a childless couple.
Just found out that the little boy's party that dd3 went to yesterday has a severe form of MS, and won't live beyond 14 . Sort of puts everything into perspective really and makes my worries seem really petty. Felt really sad for the grandparents who were telling dh all about it
On a happier note ds has kept his last feed down and has settled well upstairs for sleep. I think the reason he hasn;t been settling at 7pm is that he's having too much sleep in the afternoon, but having said that is impossible to keep awake after the 2pm feed!

Diege, that is my biggest fear. I am dreading her saying that, I'd have to make DH put his foot down and say that we just want a family holiday. But then again I really want to go to Longleat. It looks great and I'd like to go back to Taunton.

Do you think Ginger biscuits are ok for 7mo? just popped to the toilet and came down to find that DS1 had given DS2 his biscuit.

Hi! Fairly quiet day here except for DS having really bad wind this afternoon. Sometimes it's a real struggle to get it up. He eventually settled after tummy time, back patting/rubbing, me walking around and jiggling him, pushing his legs up to his tummy and a few good burps and farts!

Diege - that's really sad about that boy with MS. I have a friend wheelchair bound with it and it's not a nice disease, although he does try and make the best of things.
Oh, and boy wees - don't you just love 'em!

tink - hope the pizza making went well.

Kay - Both Somerset and the Lakes are beautiful. My brother lives in Keswick and it's great for a trip away. We also went to Somerset for our first wedding anniversary and loved it.

Bumps - hope you had a good time today and that DS's appointment goes well tomorrow.

We have DS's 8 week check and first lot of immunisations tomorrow afternoon. I'm trying not to be all "PFBy" but I am a little apprehensive.

Ses, only tip I've got on immunisations is take DH if you can (then he can be the bad man that pins him ) and if you can hold back a bit of a breastfeed, as soon as he's had the jabs, whip him onto your lap and stick him on the boob whilst the nurse fills in paperwork. If you tell her you want to do this when you go in, she should give you a couple of minutes. BF'ing is supposed to provide pain relief for LO's, so its kind of doubly soothing.

Although, having said this, DS hardly reacted at all to actually having the jabs - he was just a mardy bugger for the next few days . Every time I'd got him into a routine, it would be time for another round of jabs and the routine would go completely topsy turvy and we'd start building up a whole new one! All good fun

It might also be worth giving him a small dose of calpol before the jabs to give it time to kick in - I didn't for the first but did for the subsequent and would say that it was quite a lot easier for doing that.

I'm sure it will be fine, and don't worry about being 'PFB'ish' about it - we spend all of our days (at the beginning) trying to keep them warm, clean, comfortable - and then we take them to the docs and stab them with a needle - it kind of goes against the grain!

Kay, Agree with everyone else - all hol destinations are beautiful. Might be worth doing some research around days out in each area suitable for the boys?

Glask - Think you're very brave for even considering surrogacy again after last time, I think I'd be nervous about being let down again.

Diege, very sad about your friends little boy .

We've been really busy (again) working on DS' new bedroom. Its taken some time, but we've finally got it replumbed (putting the central heating pipes under the floorboards) and got the hot water working again after a whole week without! Thank goodness for dishwashers and electric showers!

I'm looking online for inspiration on how to accessorize the room. I'm going to paint the walls in basic colours, but use things like bedding, lampshades etc to add character. Only thing is, DS loves Dora and Peppa and their stuff is all geared around girls and is predominantly pink! Although I have found a nice George Pig duvet cover that might work. If anyone's got any ideas / suggestions on how to get round it...?

Quite a good night with DS waking up for a "lying down" feed at about 1.30am and then a decent "sit up" feed at 4am before then waking at 6.30am. Managed to get some proper sound sleep inbetween the feeds.

STT - DH is actually off work this week anyway so will be coming with us this afternoon. I'm hoping he'll finally make himself a GP appointment too as his blood pressure according to our machine is still v high at 145/108 at the best reading.

Morning Good luck at GPs SES! Sure all will be fine - it's the thought of going that's usually far worse than the experience. Agree with STT, bf straight after will certainly help
STT, could you pick up the 'deigo' theme re: Dora (assuming they actually make deigo-themed things)? Think George pig sounds very cute for a duvet though, though can see your dilemma re: pink-ness of general accesories. We need to get TINKS on the case
Well we've had an increased offer on our house, so hopefully will be able to negotiate something that suits, and start putting offers in on the one we've seen. Dh getting majorly stressed about the whole thing, which isn't great when we've not even started the process properly yet , so having to sit back and resist picking up the phone and taking over...
Right, bottles to wash! Ds woke again at 2pm, but just snuffly/windy, so settled back until 4ish - not that I could get back to sleep between 2 and 4 - very frustrating!
Hope everyone is well on this dull and cold Monday!

Hello everyone!

Hi Sorky Hope you had a lovely holiday, good to see you back!

STT - Understand what you mean about the pink stuff - one of my godsons loves Dora, but everything is geared towards girls! The Jojo catalog has some lovely things in it - more like sailboats in primary colors and stuff like that, instead of characters, but really sweet.

Ses - hope all goes well with Owen's shots today poor little guy.

Diege - house stuff sounds exciting! Best of luck!

Glask - If you freally feel strongly about surrogacy and have found a couple that you gel with, then go for it. But like others have said, I'd be apprehensive being pregnant again with 3 LOs of my own.

Kay - I'm afraid I'm still crap about my UK geography so have no advice about where to go, but all sound lovely.

So we were in Tesco on Saturday morning and had a bit of a scare. While we were waiting for the bus, I started to feel really 'off' - had what felt like menstrual cramps in my lower abdomen, my thighs and back. Told DH I thought I needed to go to the bathroom, so ran back home. No action in the bathroom (sorry if TMI! ) but DH was still at bus stop after I'd finished, so I went back to wait with him. Still felt rubbish and slightly faint, but then the bus came and once I sat down I was fine. This happened twice more while in Tesco. While we were checking out I said to DH you know, I'm not entirely sure these aren't some form of early early contractions because they seemed to come in waves/intervals. He freaked out just a little bit But then when we got home, I relaxed a bit and felt fine. So I guess it was nothing, but it was funny to see his reaction - I don't think he's quite ready yet!

Morning all, hope you all had a nice weekend.

had a lovely weekend at my parents. DB and SIL were also there with my DN which was lovely - she has changed so much since last time I saw her ! She is 10 months now and crawling about all over the place. She is quite good on her feet too, cruising round the living room and pushing her walker so I think she might be walking quite soon. DB is half excited and half worried how much trouble she can get into now she is mobile . It was great for DP too, he is still a bit nervous that he hasn't been around kids much and doesn't know what to do but DN loves him and he played with her for a while on Saturday so he is feeling a bit more confident .

I'm just so tired now though! I've been a bit shocked how much more tired I've been getting for the last couple of weeks. I mentioned it to the midwife and she has taken bloods to check for anaemia but after asking what I'd been doing all week she laughed and said I just need to slow down now I've hit the third trimester. I'm just not good at that but am going to make a real effort to be in bed before 11pm this week and relax a bit more in the evenings although I'm meeting my dad for dinner on Tuesday, going out for a meal with my yoga class on Wednesday, Thursday I'm working late (unavoidable), Friday and Saturday we have friends coming to stay and Sunday I have my first NCT class then a work BBQ in the evening. Oh well.........

Good morning

T'is a good day I think, BT have been and fixed the land line, the sun is shining (though don't think it's here to stay, clouds bubbling up all over the place) and I slept really well last night, have found for the last week or two, although I've not been properly awake, I've not been properly asleep either, waking up feeling like I've not had any sleep etc. Last week of school here as well, am really looking forward to the hols, love having him home for the first week-- No, I do love having him here

OK the catch up....

Glask, I am sure you do remember all the bad bit's of pregnancy, and if you can face it again (which is very brave!) and if you think you can cope 3 children, and be pregnant again, then go for it. It takes a special kind of person to go through all of that for someone else, I know I couldn't do it again, not even for us. Am sure you'll make the right decision for you and your family

Diege, good news about the house

Ses hope DS's injections go OK, and you have every right to be feeling anxious about them PFB or no PFB! We actually went a step further with the BF, I fed him while they did it, was a bit worried that he'd either bite down on me, or choke on the milk when he cried, but he didn't do either, he sort of took a sharp breath and then carried on feeding!

STT, I am nearly sure I remember seeing a whole load of George Pig stuff somewhere, I will have a look and see if I can find it.

Kayz, are you having any more luck with the theory training? Did you manage to go for a drive with your mum?

LB, is it today DS's appointment? Good luck if so, will keep fingers crossed for something good to come of it.

Ah wind is picking up here, knew the sun would be long gone, we've got some pretty stormy weather on the way by all accounts, just hope the lightning doesn't get us again, DH managed to fix the surround sound, used a different cable or some such, and BT have just fixed the phone line, they say it comes in threes..... but then they say lightning never strikes twice

Sorry x posted LBOT and IDOB...

LBOT, the period cramps type feelings are all good signs, the feeling like needing to go to the toilet, but then actually going, is the pressure the baby is creating, it's all good, shows he is getting lower in preparation Very exciting

IDOB, Glad you enjoyed your weekend You really should try to rest more though, that list would knock me out, and I'm not heavily pregnant!! Any chance of catching up on sleep during the day? You'll end up being absolutely worn out.

morning

sounds like everyone had good weekends

i swapped elc order of sylvanian families for rosebud stable,horses and living room. also getting camper van and pets. my firends daughter has sylvanian families said that bits are very small smaller than ants will wait till she is older!!
she loves her rosebud house her favourite toy.
will prob get her kitchen utensils, calculator and measuring tape 2

how much do others get for bdays?

re room decorating dont theme to much or if you do make sure it will last along time. dd1s room is butterflies - she has green walls,pink and green shelves, pink butterfly lamp, 2 butterfly pics,her duvet covers are white one has ballet dancers on other has coloured spots,has pink and green flower lamp and green flower rugplus green side table
dd2s room has pink walls,pink heart rug,rainbow pics,white bedside table

Sorry STT, was getting mixed up with ITNG boy's stuff I think. This site has a really good range of different designs if that's any help? (I got a lot of DS3's nursery stuff from there, no problems with delivery or anything).

Morning Tink

We try to stick to a budget of £150-£200 for birthdays, but it depends really on what it is they want, like the year DS1 got his PC and his Wii, that was exceptionally expensive, but we looked at it as being that kids need PC skills now, and the earlier the better (DS2 knows how to work the mouse to play a really simple game already!) and the Wii, although it is DS1's, everyone plays with it, it was more of a family pressie alongside his PC. The year before that he'd been banging on about a digital camera, we thought he was too young so we got him a cheapy one that wouldn't matter so much if he broke it, that was a cheap birthday, but then he realised his camera wasn't very good and wanted a proper one, we made him wait a couple of years, till his last birthday in March and got him a decent one, which he looks after, he knows how to set it up to his digital photo frame, how to put the pics on the pc, print them out, etc. etc. so in my mind, he is learning the skills that I don't even have now, so worth the extra expense.

Though must admit, it took me many birthday's and christmas' to give in and not buy £500+ worth of stuff just because it was his bday/xmas Whether he'd actually asked for/wanted/needed any of it didn't matter to me, just needed to spend There was absolutely no silent competition with my nasty sister whatsoever, oh noooooooo, no no no no no.......

.... FWIW, this xmas should be fairly inexpensive, most of their toys/books/games etc. are in storage, and will be up until about November time, they're not going to need huge piles of new toys because it's going to be like xmas day when we un-pack all of it (Am actually really looking forward to un-packing it, can't wait to see their faces )

i usually spend £100 each on bdays and christmases will be doing for both girls

Morning Nat and Tink,

while we are talking birthdays I need some advice. It is my DNs first birthday in August and I am looking at what to get her - any ideas welcome. They live in a small flat so I don't want to get anything too big. On Saturday we spent quite a bit of time playing with her stacking/counting cup things and a spoon - playing drums then she was pretending to feed me some dinner with the spoon - so I was thinking about looking for a little tea set or kitchen set. What do you think?

Nat - glad you have your phone and internet back. I will try to rest more!

Ses - good luck for first injections!

Tink - rosebud stuff sounds great, I'm sure she will love it.

LBOT - that sounds a bit scary. I'm so impatient to finally have our baby here but I'm sure when it gets to the last couple of weeks and feels more real I'll change my mind and be quite happy to wait !

STT - no advice I'm afraid. I only found out who Peppa Pig is this weekend as it is DNs favourite little book just now. I do remember my auntie spending ages decorating a tweenie-themed room for my cousin who loved it for about a fortnight then wanted to change to Bratz so I see Tinks point - maybe make it quite generic and just add a few George Pig bits you can update later?

it depends how much you want to spend but how about these as idea -

www.elc.co.uk/toy/my-first-shop/

www.elc.co.uk/toy/whizz-around-garage/

www.elc.co.uk/toy/fairytale-castle/

www.elc.co.uk/toy/brilliant-start-activity-table/

www.elc.co.uk/toy/fairyland-bluebell-boot/

dd1 still plays with fairy boot it is gorgeous

Thanks tink - the 'my first shop' looks good and I also found a 'my first cooking set' on the same site so maybe I'll go for one of those.

Thanks, Nat - I have a feeling this baby is not going to go too far overdue, which would be great!

Hi IDOB! You definitely need to SLOW DOWN! But, for what it's worth, I've found that I have been gradually and naturally slowing down over the past few months. To the point now where a shopping trip wipes me out and I need to relax for the rest of the day. I hate it, but really I get to the point where I just can't do anymore. Funny how your body works..! As for a gift for your neice, I love getting "special" things for first birthdays - I got my nephew the Beatrix Potter boxed set for his. Something that needs to be taken care of and cherished IYSWIM. Our neice turns one in October and I'm thinking of getting her a silver brush and mirror set (Now that she has some hair, LOL!). But I've also seen this: Fisher Price Say Please Tea Set which I think is just adorable!

BTW, has anyone heard from Kookykid? Hoping she's okay!

Births:
Kay - 12th December - 6:49pm - Dylan George - 10lbs 5ozs
Teuch- - - boy
Pop - 23rd December - twin boys, Hugo & Henry
Nat - 27th December - 8:36pm - Mikey Bradley - 6lb 10.5oz
Gin - 16th Jan- Girl - 7.25am- details tbc
Tink- 19th Jan - Girl - 1.51pm - Bracken Hope Willow - 8lbs 7oz
Astarte - 16th Feb - Girl - 8lb 12oz
Glask - 20th Feb - Girl - 7.47pm - Ruby Marie 4lb (8wks prem)
LardyBump - 21st Feb- Boy - 8lb 12oz
HappyNappies- 27th Feb- Boy - 12.01am 9lb13 Edward James Roy
Playing - 4th March - boy - 5 lb 12 oz - Edward Lewis Stainer
Starshinetiger - 15th March - girl - 7lb 1 oz - Charlotte Carys Rose
GYo - 22nd March 9.55am- girl - 10 lbs 12 oz -
Cosmo - 2nd April - girl - April Victoria - 8.51am - 6lb 9
Gruff - 15th April - boy - 8lb 2 oz - 6.02am Zachary John Graham
Ses - 9th May - boy - 8lb 9oz - 10.17am Owen Edward
MINM- .......
Diege - 13th June, boy, 9lb 8ozs Jacob Llewellyn

Weeks list:
LBOT - 38 weeks, 2 left to go BOY! (24th July)
KookyKid - 28 weeks, 12 weeks to go (2nd Sept) BOY!
Idreamofbeanie - 28 weeks (due 27th Sept) GIRL!
Sparklytwinkletoes - 25 weeks (due 6th Oct)
BB - 18 weeks (EDD 30th oct)
Moosy - 17 weeks (EDD 6th Dec)

Girls = 8
Boys= 9 (2 more still insitu)
Surprise = 10
Unknowns (yet) = 3

Scan list:
Moosy - 20 week scan 22nd July
STT - 38 week scan 17th Sept

MW apps list:
BB- 17th july MW, Antenatal clinic 15th june
LBOT - 40 week appointment, 20 July
IDOB- 28 week apt 9th July

Mat leave countdown:
LBOT - last day 17 July 3 days to go
BB- AGES!!!
IDOB - 4th September, 9 weeks.

Babys Age
Kayz's Dylan - 26 weeks
Tinks Bracken - 21 weeks
Glaskham's Ruby - 16 weeks
Gyo's small giraffe - 10 weeks
Cosmo baby - 8 weeks
Ses's Owen - 8 weeks
Diege's Jacob - 12 days

I haven't heard from her but I'll update her weeks stat as I don't want to overtake anyone.

Births:
Kay - 12th December - 6:49pm - Dylan George - 10lbs 5ozs
Teuch- - - boy
Pop - 23rd December - twin boys, Hugo & Henry
Nat - 27th December - 8:36pm - Mikey Bradley - 6lb 10.5oz
Gin - 16th Jan- Girl - 7.25am- details tbc
Tink- 19th Jan - Girl - 1.51pm - Bracken Hope Willow - 8lbs 7oz
Astarte - 16th Feb - Girl - 8lb 12oz
Glask - 20th Feb - Girl - 7.47pm - Ruby Marie 4lb (8wks prem)
LardyBump - 21st Feb- Boy - 8lb 12oz
HappyNappies- 27th Feb- Boy - 12.01am 9lb13 Edward James Roy
Playing - 4th March - boy - 5 lb 12 oz - Edward Lewis Stainer
Starshinetiger - 15th March - girl - 7lb 1 oz - Charlotte Carys Rose
GYo - 22nd March 9.55am- girl - 10 lbs 12 oz -
Cosmo - 2nd April - girl - April Victoria - 8.51am - 6lb 9
Gruff - 15th April - boy - 8lb 2 oz - 6.02am Zachary John Graham
Ses - 9th May - boy - 8lb 9oz - 10.17am Owen Edward
MINM- .......
Diege - 13th June, boy, 9lb 8ozs Jacob Llewellyn

Weeks list:
LBOT - 38 weeks, 2 left to go BOY! (24th July)
KookyKid - 32 weeks, 8 weeks to go (2nd Sept) BOY!
Idreamofbeanie - 29 weeks (due 27th Sept) GIRL!
Sparklytwinkletoes - 25 weeks (due 6th Oct)
BB - 18 weeks (EDD 30th oct)
Moosy - 17 weeks (EDD 6th Dec)

Girls = 8
Boys= 9 (2 more still insitu)
Surprise = 10
Unknowns (yet) = 3

Scan list:
Moosy - 20 week scan 22nd July
STT - 38 week scan 17th Sept

MW apps list:
BB- 17th july MW, Antenatal clinic 15th june
LBOT - 40 week appointment, 20 July
IDOB- 31 week apt 30th July

Mat leave countdown:
LBOT - last day 17 July 3 days to go
BB- AGES!!!
IDOB - 4th September, 8 weeks to go.

Babys Age
Kayz's Dylan - 26 weeks
Tinks Bracken - 21 weeks
Glaskham's Ruby - 16 weeks
Gyo's small giraffe - 10 weeks
Cosmo baby - 8 weeks
Ses's Owen - 8 weeks
Diege's Jacob - 12 days

Hi,

Just a quick post as DH is home today.

I think we are settled on the Lake District. Just need to pick somewhere. I've seen a gorgeous cottage but it sleeps 8 so too big for us 4.

Going driving tonight which I'm looking forward to. Going to book some lessons with an instructor too so I can have at least 2 hours a week learning.

Hope you are all well.

Oh and my blood test results are normal. But I've felt ok this past 2 weeks. So hopefully I'm ok now.