Fantabulous February with the Friendly Frugaleers!

[Cagliostro]

Hello everyone, new thread time yet again!

Haven't really cooked/baked much this year other than essential cooking.

em here in dk you have an 8 week after the birth check at the doctor and the recommendation is to not doing any hard excercise before then.

Em, I concur with the advice that it's a lovely thought but wait and see how you feel after. I felt like I was hit by a truck at times with DC but other times alright. Don't put pressure on yourself as you will need time to find your way.

Snuggly I'm doing the scruffy winter lasagne from JO tonight, it's delicous, made it once before and it was a big hit. I'm a fan of a not curry too.

Em You might feel like exercising, you might not. It will depend on the birth and whether your baby sleeps or not. By all means utilise the PT, but don't make it another stress in your life to try and do, 'cos some days with a new born, emptying the dishwasher sometimes is an achievement.

NSD here.

Did a 10k race this morning, so I was off early for a 9am start. My first road race in 7 years. I've done no speed work at all. Pretty chuffed with 45 minutes. Paced it incorrectly as I wasn't confident I could sustain speed anymore, so the last 3 miles were way quicker than the first. Good marker in the sand at least. 7th from 88 in my age group but could easily have been 3rd had I paced this right.

Italian yes I saw the article the other day and I'm gutted about it. It really does give HE a bad name. It's not a fair representation of the majority of HE families. Most kids I know don't spend anywhere near that amount of time indoors let alone on video games.

Thing is she is vaguely local, I haven't met her in person myself but I do know she attends lots of other stuff so the journos manipulated it and emphasised the screens rather than all the other things they do. That's a main reason the HE community here is annoyed - she must have known it would end up like that, it was the Mirror who interviewed her FFS they aren't exactly known for balanced journalism .

I think it's horrible that HE is illegal in some places and IKWYM about things like this making it harder for that to change. Lots of people here want NO contact with the local education authority whatsoever (and in fact if you HE from the beginning and never register your child with a school you can avoid it) and think even the annual 'inspection' is too much and violates our right as parents to raise our kids how we want. Personally I don't agree at all, I am more than happy for someone to visit even if it was more often - the Caglets enjoyed showing off their work and talking about all the stuff they do (actually this time round I barely got a word in myself :o).

Thanks guys for the advice. I figured to proper exercise I'd need to wait a bit but yes to going for walks etc.

cath re cleaner and childminder - we are lucky that my parents live very close by and I doubt they would mind having baby for an hour or two if I wanted to have some me time, be it gym hair cut riding lesson just a nap!

Dh is making me a tuna melt. He never does this. Because he hates the smell of tuna.

He's also put washing on and is going to Hoover. I apparently am not allowed.

Need I thought that looked nice but I don't eat meat, would it work with Quorn or something?
DH made the batch cook healthy chicken nuggets last week which were a big hit with DD because she thought they were fish. The minestrone recipe is really good too.

When I was pregnant with DS it was all about the BBQ baked beans... the heinz ones werent BBQ enough so I had to create my own with beans and BBQ sauce lol. DD I dont remember craving anything in particular but she is 90% made of chocolate

I wouldnt put yourself under pressure to be back doing this and that too soon after the birth Em, it can be quite a big adjustment - with DD I was out after 6 hours and she was a real breeze (compared to DS) but it still took it out of me physically and emotionally. Id just go with the flow personally

Having a PJ day. Various leftovers for lunch. Doing up a piece of furniture with paint. Catching up on laundry. That sort of stuff :) Need to get dressed and go out shortly to sort DS dinner money but otherwise we are free and easy today which is lovely

italian thats very sad to hear

Am aiming for January for things to be back to "normal"any earlier will be a bonus.

Well done, Need.

NSD.

Just to say as well although I was out walking with DS from day 1, he wouldn't sleep until 2 a.m. at the very earliest, until he was 12 weeks old, Em, so I think his 6 week check-up might have been the first time we left the house before 11 a.m.

So sorry about your friend Italian. I am sure you will think of her always .

Ocado £63 today and I went out today for toothpaste, bread, soft fruit and a wander round our local farmers' market. It's mostly producers of posh bread, cakes, lovely street food snacks etc and while I'd love to support it in principle I find it very expensive. There are a few ingredients people (meat, cheese stall, fish) and they are good but sadly the fruit and veg stall was missing today. Spent about another £20.

Going to make delicious Normandy chicken tonight - casserole of chicken thighs, apples,celery and cider sauce with a splash of cream. Broccoli and mash. DH is very pleased. And we still have scones

So many scones...

Oh my good lord christmas the scones look awesome and your dinner sound amazing!!!!

Le yum!!!

I am not loving how hungry I am - gp said to eat a normal amount but space it out. The idea apparently isn't to eat two people worth of food (although I'm sure I could!!)

Taking a break from changing the bedding and putting washing away.

NSD

Need that's fantastic going, pity about the pacing but you'll know for the next race. It's expensive entering races isn't it? Had hoped to do parkrun next sat except dh is gone for the day so that's not an option. The next sat he is off my Christmas party is night before & my five mile road race the following day so that's not going to happen either.

Seacow scones look amazing
Em you've gotten some brilliant advice here regarding being a new mum. Everyone's different but your body needs to heal after having a baby too.

Our washing machine is on the blink, need to get service man out to it, normally dh fixes most things but this is beyond him.

Blue pj day sound good. I got dressed at 2, went running, watching an episode of emmerdale now, showering & back into pjs!

Fluffy thanks for reminder of why we're here. NSD today, yesterday & Friday for me although dh did grocery shopping yesterday & I don't see it out of joint account yet, how did he pay for it?

Bloody internet again. Not sure this will post.

Those scone look amazing.

Pretty good week, was supposed to go do a bit of food shopping Thursday but when I thought about it we could and did make do with what was in.

Quick shop yesterday, wasn't too bad but not sure of the actual cost. I think about £15. Included some more flour (3 bags) to make more bread.
Vet trip about £18 and that included a small pack of treats since she was so good.

Still going strong with meal planning, but feeling pretty rough, tired and down today so all I want is to sit and eat. Usually order a chinese when I feel like this, but that would be over £20 easily so pushing myself not too. Plus food in needs eating and won't really take much effort (none if DP does it for me! haha).

Nsd.

Dinner is sausages. Didn't think I had much to go with it but have knocked up roasted butternut squash, boulangere potatoes, carrots and sprouts bleurgh

need I'm taking all the advice in. Ultimately I know what worked for one person won't necessarily work for me. We have to take every day as it comes and stop worrying. (Ha!)

Next week back to super frugaleering.

Need to work out how on Earth we're going to afford potentially moving house and baby stuff. They need a ton of stuff right?

Mum and dad initially said they'd buy a pram. Then I found out how expensive they can be! Holy moly!

hoping for a serious bonus this year. Appraisal on Wednesday then bonus announced in march

I'm hoping to have £10k in savings by the end of the year as a minimum.

You don't need much for a newborn, Em. A Moses basket, a changing mat, a pushchair, a car seat, a sling and a baby bath should do it. A cot, a travel cot, a bouncer seat, a highchair and a stroller to add, later on.

I agree you don't need loads.

Pushchair
Car seat
Crib
Bouncer
Wrap/carrier (if you wish to be that way inclined I highly recommend)
Baby grows and vests
Lots of muslins
Inner ear thermometer

I can highly recommend the pushchair I had. It was a mutsy evo and wasn't horrendously expensive. I lusted after all of the £800+ pushchairs and did so much research I loved it.

Em If you've got willing and helpful grandparents nearby then that is an absolute Godsend and will make all the difference in the world. It might be that you're having the baby to them for an hour while you conk out rather than visit the personal trainer, but it will make life so much easier.

Today was not an NSD. Quelle surprise. Just a little nod to frugaleering there. enjoying the chat a lot

The bit in brackets is the biggest one to your emotional wellbeing Em. Now obviously you are going to worry, as any first time parent (any parent actually) does. It's part of the joy of your first child and the stress ha ha. I think those that take 'doing it right' out of context are the ones that struggle a bit. But you are an entirely sensible sort, so will be fine.

I fully agree, the stuff you think you need for a first baby is about half the stuff you actually need...!

Mammy Your stats foxed me, as they are in km per hour, I am old school!! Good for you for getting out there. I agree re races. The bigger the hype about the race, the higher the price tag. This one is a fast one that attracts good runners, which is why I am chuffed about the result, but I will be doing a XC next week which is £4 to enter and with a massive free buffet, tea and coffee afterwards. That said, I got an amazing technical top at the finish, high viz and short sleeved.

God those scones look fucking amazing......

Loving all the chat too. Cheering me right up! :)

Mmmmm Normandy chicken. My dad used to make that. Must try it myself sometime!