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

[barbie1]

....therefore she cant throw us out!

Long may the support continue x

neeko thanks for your text this morning, i hope you have a better night tonight, last night was horrid for me...its so hard denying her the boob when she wakes up, and to be honest after the third time i caved in and took her into bed with me and feed her tis the only way to get any sleep, and since im on my own i cant afford to be knackered all day. Lets see what tonight brings...

Does anyone have any tips on how to brush a baby's teeth? Dolly has a chewy tooth brush but someone told me today that i should be propably brushing her teeth so i bought her the baby toothbrush/ paste and she just refused to open her mouth

vjay oooh I'm a teensy bit jealous about your snow. Its just flipping cold here. Glad you found the remote in the end....was going to suggest looking in the toy box or down the sofa. I think losing a stone is a very good reason to buy a new dress (not that I need an excuse)

barbie teeth brushing is difficult at that age. I remember having to prise open their mouths because they wouldn't open them although we didn't start until they were older than Dolly as they didn't get teeth until later. Remember that even if she gets a bit of toothpaste in her mouth that will help. Will she try and do it herself if you give her the brush (she is miss-independent after all)??? Am very of your beach trip today. Hope you get some more sleep tonight.

cupcake fingers crossed that DH gets an extension until at least after Christmas. At least looking for work in the New Year should be a better time than just before Christmas. So glad J is being a cutie to keep your spirits up in amongst the stress I don't have any ideas about his waking but its possible your supply is less in the evening?? If you can get DH to give him EBM every evening that would be a good plan because then you can go out if you want and drink wine

curly what is this Miranda everyone keeps talking about?? I am totally oblivious...we have just been watching I'm a celebrity every night. Your drinks night sounds good. I have cried off my xmas party this year as a) I'm knackered by 7.30 and b) I can't drink so it will be instantly obvious to all my colleagues that I'm pg. (I have something of a reputation on the drinking front....) Will only be 10ish wks so too early to tell them. I normally love them though - fancy dress too so last year I dressed up as Marilyn Monroe (complete with blonde wig - I'm dark haired). Previously I've done Cruella de Vil as well (think I have a wig fetish actually). Love the whole getting dolled up. We have got a night away on the 11th and I was going to get very glammed up but now have no idea what I'm going to wear.

curly and cupcake we also have no relatives near us so are in a similar boat to you re babysitters. I appreciate that you may not want to do this (yet) but one thing we have done is to advertise on the local netmums board (in the childcare section) for babysitters who are CRB checked. There are lots of nannies/childminders/nursery staff who are looking for extra money and when we put on an ad we were inundated. You can ask to see their CRB certificates and get references by speaking to people they have worked for/babysat for and its a good way of finding someone with experience. I know I didn't want to leave my two with a 15 year old. We have found a really good babysitter this way although she is now pg so we will need to find another one soon.

Waves to neeko and blue - are you getting snow too??

Had a mad day - trip to visit a speech and language school this morning for Isaac and then a meeting with the Special Educational Needs team about his statement. I'm fuming with his speech therapist but that's a whole new post. And I haven't done a lot of work in amongst all that. Off to post on the SN board for more advice....

Snow...ooh VJ, I loves snow!!!!

barbie at the moment I'm trying giving curlygirl her toothbrush without toothpaste to chew while I brush my teeth (and do the teethbrushing dance ). It seems to be working as she's trying to copy me. I'll start using the toothpaste when she gets the hang of it :)

louey good suggestion thanks, I have been very proactive today and asked around and have now found two new babysitters, both really good apparently, so cinderella will go to the ball (at least once a fortnight ). Sounds like you have had a tough day. I hope you get some good advice on the other thread but if you need one, the best hugs are in our greenhouse xxx

waves to neeko hope you get some sleep tonight

Where is everyone? We should be talking 2ww and dtd and opks and scans I have a new white coat that needs to be christened. Hope everyone is doing ok xxx

Quick flying visit whilst B naps...

No snow here yet! But Vjayland is covered. Hope you're OK up there honey x Well done on losing a stone, that is tremendous . you will be all swish on your night out .

We brush b's teeth in the bath, DH holds the toothbrush and he munches on it in a winching type way, gets him used to it. He has eight teeth so we finish off with quick up and down and hey presto, sparklig nashers

mrskate - hope things start to get easier for you. Having a baby is the hardest thing and for us who have had one after loss its even harder in a way as we're so amazed to have a healthy baby we feel guilty for having any negative feelings which can actually make PND more likely to happen.. If it wasn't for my Mum this time around I would have been off to the docs myself, just felt I was drowning in lack of control back in those early months.. Brooke Sheilds wrote a great book on her experience of PND "down came the rain"

cupcake - I have sky+ Miranda for Monday. There is a lack of good comedy on the tv these days. Find myself watching old friends, frasier and S&tC to have a chuckle.. REally hope things work out job wise but that Jude the gorgeous is making you . I had same problem as you in that I worried my evening supply wasn't satisfying Benjamin as he was up at least three times during the night. They do say you supply lessens as the day goes on. Would second curly's suggestion of formula at bedtime? I would have bf longer with B if the little sod lamb had taken even one bottle of formula off me whilst bf..

louey - meant to say have you thought about getting your DT's the Millennium Falcon for Xmas? WE got it for Isaac last year and it is most treasured toy ever. It holds all his Star War figures, has quote form the movie if you press a button "she might not look like much, but she's go it where it counts" .

barbie - thinking about you slying solo. Hope you're getting some sleep, by any means at your disposal..

Time's ran out, need to wake B and collect DS1..

Back later x

Helloooooo, the snow did not settle where I live, probably because I am right by the sea, but I doubt I could travel very far.

Like blue I brush Ajays teeth in the bath, he quite likes it.

blue the stone is lost since last year, so has taken a long time, and I've still a way to go, but slow and steady should hopefully keep it off.

mrskate I've been thinking about you. Try blues book suggestion, I have tried another of her books before and it was very good

Goodness I've mentioned blue a lot in my post

barbie how are you today?

mermaid where are you my lovely? and you too 4ever????

There's a few of you MIA at the mo, hope you're all ok and big waves to everyone.

Me and dh have been into Inverness today and have finished the boys Christmas shopping, we've only got each other to buy for now, so like neeks I can relax throughout December, I hope

I'm off to watch Harry Potter after school with Cjay, he doesn't know yet, it's going to be a suprise because he has being doing so well lately

A month til Christmas!!! I think I'll Christmas namechange this year, and girlies we'll need to dust down our 'love actually' DVD's

Mega quick post # 2

Happy Birthday to Ellis and Ewan!!!!! - one year old today

Hope you are all having a fabulous day, its been quite a year I'm sure Buddha and Annie

Vjay - oh stop with all the mentions . Enjoy HP, I can't go as still trying to finish half blood prince and being stubborn about finishing books before films - meh.

Night time lurk! Been a few wakings of late! Still here Vjay! Had to pop head round door to say Happy Birthday to Ewan and Ellis too! Big waves to lovely proud mummys Annie and Buddha dear ladies who supported my pregnancy weebles greatly! Cant believe its a whole year! Miss you! Thought of you today as its also my nieces birthday, she had a candy shop party, too cute, remembered being in scary early days of my preg this time last year and hearing your news was ace!

Big hugs and much love to all of you lovely Emmsys, sorry to be a stranger, have been lurking on my phone still, just not got to my pc to do worthy and proper personals catch up... All good in 4everworld apart from erratic sleep of late, im enjoying the cuddles in bed though, do find it hard to complain about anything, even lack of sleep! My beautiful girl has her half a year birthday tomorrow, well today now actually! Cant quite believe it!

Oh goodness, a belated Happy birthday Ewan and Ellis . Hope you both had lovely days

Happy half Summer

Well done neeko on your weight loss, I've stayed the same

Gotta dash my mum is flying up today and I've got a list of at least 10 things to do by lunch time, that should help shift a pound

Hello,

I wished the two birthday boys a happy birthday on fb yesterday, i hope you both had a nice day!

Dolly has a cold, first time ever she has been poorly...poor little snotty nose kind of looks cute though
We had zero sleep last night (well, the decent kind anyway) She kept waking due to being bunged up, bought her into bed with me for cuddles (4ever nice isnt it? ) It was like sleeping with a pot bellied pig, all snorts and snuffles How do you get rid of the snot??? I wish she could just blow her nose!

Just been to the dubai golf thingy, if any of you have it on in the house, im wearing green! Dolly has been walking around holding onto one hand all day, everyone was looking like this too cute!

Ill be back later to do personals xxx

yeah flip flop friday

just a quicky in and out cos I am out off for a girlie nite out eating pasta and oggling Italian waiters bottoms

barbie lovely image of you and dolly waddling along. Hope you are both ok without granny and dh. I smothered ds in vicks last night, such a childhood smell - bloody colds.

bq huge gold star for getting through another week, pop in and let us know you are ok.x

louey so sorry that they are not providing ds with his therapy. I am worried about all the slashing and burning that is sure to happen throughout the services and it was bloody dire in alot of areas before.
Glad you are still feeling puckilisious.

4ever what is a candy shop party? Is this another thing like that chicken place that I will forever miss out on? Half a year blimey, it almost seems like a distant dream thinking back to getting you through each week this time last year. Makes me when I think of it.

blue whilst having a rare and fab soak in the bath pre going out blissathon I happened upon a glow in the dark light sabre toothbrush in the boots christmas catalogue and thought of your ds1.

vjay also thought of you up in the north but am comforted by knowing that pjay will be able to get out his trusty snow spade
How was harry potter, hope ds1 enjoyed it we are going tomorrow, can't wait.

mrskate you poor love. What is it like can't have a baby and we get depressed. Can have one we get pnd. Someone is just out to get us one way or the other. Thinking of you lots and well done for being brave cos I know it's not an easy step.x

curly I just love your posts i want one of those slankys, maybe we could getthem in cashmere so they are a bit more posher like

neeko impressive loss is everything better with work, so hope so.

Missed some of you lovelies out and sorry but my Italian beaus will be smoothing those nice white tablecloths down. Especial hello to qa I am crap at posting at mo, but thinking of you.

mls hope you get ac wink or 2 this weekend.

oh and sabsxx

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

Im at the snow! Dh has bought Dolly lots of cute (warm) things from babyzara, cant wait to put her in it all...

mermaid nice you see you again, were the waiters yummy? Shame they werent butlers in the buff we hired them once for a function, normal clothes on but the bums of the trousers missing showing off yummy backsides

I had no chance to do personals last night, we had 9 wakings between 6pm and 9pm last night before i once again gave in and slept in the sitting position while snot bags went to sleep on my chest.

We had to go to the doctors and antibiotics have been prescribed for an ear infection and cold....hopefully they should knock her out and we both get some sleep tonight. The weird thing is i feel fine, not tired at all (for now)

vjay harry potter scared the crap out of me i cant remember the one bit but i jumped out of my skin...some of the monsters are pretty scary too...i cant believe kids love it!

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.

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.

for mermaid

Hi girls, another quicky from me, dolly is in bed after her antibiotics, nasal spray, another cold thingy, gripe water, teething gel and a cuddle from mummy

Not sure how long i have until the first wake but i have a mountain of things to do louey going solo is hard hard work, i really hope you feel better soon...try tiger balm on your forehead, its ok during pregnancy and works wonders, i swear by it. (the white version though so it doesnt stain everything)

Mermaid enjoy HP

Love to you all, sorry but i really have to go, back soon x

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

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...

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

swoon barbie I am indepted to you!

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

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.

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

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

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*