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[ladymuckbeth]

Here we go. More unexpurgated chat about our darling angels, all of whom are gifted and have exceptionally calm and admirably-coping parents.

Funny about your night lights I thought of them the other day and thought they sounded good I must ask mucky where they were from!!

You're not pathetic, I am/was the same. It broke my heart one night when she said "but I don't want to be a big girl mummy, I want to be a baby". I know how you feel sweetheart, I thought - and I'm 42!

New beds erected. Both girls coming down with a cold. Took them up to bed early, E burst into tears and said she wanted her cot back J seems enthralled by it all, but I have a feeling it's going to be a looooooooong evening. DH is insisting we keep their cots erected for the next week or so "just in case" we need to put them back in them. I have a feeling this is not a good idea. I've left them after reading them about 40 stories, with E insisting on going to sleep on the floor and Juliet sniffling away in her bed. Fingers crossed!

Well done! Keep us posted, I'm on tenterhooks...

They're asleep

They came down once at about 8pm, but that was it. I don't want to get too excited though - my niece was apparently 'perfect' when they first put her into a bed, then a week later after much crowing by my SIL suddenly realised she could get out of bed, turn the light on, and run downstairs every ten minutes for the entire evening. It took them 6 weeks, with a newborn to deal with as well, to crack it and to get her to go to sleep before 10pm. The thing that finally did it for them was dropping her daytime nap completely, which I think is what we're going to have to do, or at least make it just a catnap.

Apologies for this boring stream of consciousness sleep related chatter!

Not at all, loving it.
Will be gutted to have to drop nap though, I'll be waiting till after Xmas for this one I think.

Good luck Mucky, not been posting much, the girls are 2 in a matter of weeks and have been a nightmare for the last couple of weeks, last 2 teeth, bottom fangs coming through and they are so grumpy, not eating, always asking for "muk" - milk and refusing to nap. Neither slept today, fingers crossed that means a lie in for me but I doubt it!

Very busy with my driving lessons and trying to get this new business off the ground. Am loving working again though and having fun getting out and about. To be honest I need it with how challenging the girls are being at the moment...

& I have potty training and moving into beds to look forward to

Very impressed with the business stuff, LVB. How is it going? Is there much admin work/self-marketing involved? I have been motivated by my meeting that lovely woman on holiday who has prompted me a couple of times to send her my CV. It has taken until yesterday for me to actually sit down and look for the document on my laptop but I've now found it and think I'm actually going to tackle it.

Girls slept till 8am this morning and I could hear them whispering to each other to tip-toe into our room in the morning. :) We're out tonight and have a babysitter booked - hope she's alright at herding them into their beds!

Meant to say LVB I hear you on grimacing your way through a grumpy phase... tiredness is almost always the cause for us (previously teething too, although thankfully that one is behind us now). Your girls must be so tired if they're refusing to nap in the daytime.

tarti - re. dropping the lunchtime nap, I do think there are positives - I tend to feel quite "hemmed in" to either morning or afternoon activities, and often because we're so lazy we don't manage to get mobilised in time to make it worth doing something before I know they're going to get tired/grumpy. So once we're free of that constraint I think we'll end up doing more. Although I reserve the right to come on here and moan incessantly about how I never get any bloody respite

LVB glad you're enjoying work so much. Any chance of a jewellery party at our meet up or would it not work in a hotel? Sorry it's hard work at the moment with the girls. I am in a phase at the moment where everyone I know who was pregnant at the same time as me last time is pregnant again. Which actually just makes me glad ive got it all out of the way in one fell swoop, even if the flip side is bloody hard work every step of the way with multiples...
ALL any plans for half term are you still planning a trip up north?

Well done on the beds LadyM

As usual catching up without reading very well (I either read and run, or skim and post). Kate - can't believe what you are going through, and how well you are coping.

I meant to post last week as I had an amazing 10 days away without the boys or DH to see my sister in Vermont. She is working flat out at the moment, but that just meant I had loads of time to myself, we met up for lunch then out for drinks/dinner/entertainment most evenings. Pity the sleep I caught up on was lost again on the 36 hour journey home. It shouldn't take that long - I just factored in too much time "just in case", so spent most of that time in airports. The boys were fine without me (as expected), but I had feared intense clinginess on my return and they have been fine (though Magnus slept through every night I was away, back to waking at night demanding my attention).

Interesting to hear about all the building issues, we have our flat on the market, but with the money we expect for it and the mortgage we can get based on DH's "official" wage (he's employed by our ltd company but gets other money - legitimately but not recognised by the mortgage application) I think we will be looking at a project.

I would say we are finally past afternoon naps (though Alasdair flakes out perhaps once a fortnight, more if he is under the weather) since we asked nursery to stop letting them sleep a couple of months ago. For us it does make life easier, we've had some fun days out which wouldn't have been possible if we'd been trying to fit in a sleep. And towards the end a quiet day with a nap meant bouncing off the walls till 9pm - though we've made a few errors recently with too much activity.

While we are attempting to sell the flat most of the toys are packed away - in theory in between viewings, but I have been astounded by the boys. They are mostly playing with a lace each (Tree Fu Tom belt/Snake/Hose/Ladder) and the couch (airplane/boat/rocket/launch pad). If I can restrain myself this could be a very cheap Christmas and they will still be very happy.

Wow rattling, your trip sounds amazing - the journey back less so. Did you miss the boys much? Good luck with the flat sale too - have you had much interest yet? What's the market like where you are?

Also loving the idea that we could all skip the Christmas tat gift-giving to the kids and they might not notice. How far have you all got with ideas for Christmas presents - and... the million dollar question - are any of you buying individual presents? (Rather than the two-of-everything-in-different-colours that we seem to end up doing...) I'm sure we could save a fortune if we just manned up a bit and taught the girls to share a bit more.

I have been sick as a dog all day today, and for once it's not self-inflicted. Went round to a friend's for a delicious dinner last night, and I can't believe it was the food that has done it (DH unaffected) but I have been a complete mess today despite being the designated driver! At least it meant I got to recover without the guilt of thinking that DH was having to do everything because yet again I'd drunk my own body weight in wine

We're now on Day 3 of beds, and so far so good - in the sense that they're going to sleep very easily. BUT this is because they're not napping in the day, which is making for very stressy afternoons where they don't quite know what they want to do. From my sick-bed this avo I could hear DH struggling to try and get J to go to sleep - at 4pm!! - because she was so beside herself with tiredness. So I'm not quite sure what we're doing because I'm not sure they can maintain no naps... I'm gently trying to encourage them to have some 'quiet time' or nap on the sofa, or even to go upstairs and lie in their big-girl beds, but of course they don't quite want it enough to do what is needed. Ah well.

LVB - I meant to ask, we're thinking of heading down to PP world this week. Did you stay over in a hotel and if so, would you recommend? I'm thinking we could do it in a day... just not sure.

Quick one - Mucky it took us an hour and 10 minutes to get there, so went there and back in a day, straight down the M3 very easy for us being SW London. It does get very busy so I would aim to be there before opening and also to go on a weekday if possible xx

Sorry ladies, haven't been on for ages!
Am trying desperately hard to catch up with everything!
Mucky Well done for taking the bed plunge, very brave :) It does get better, its just finding a routine that works for you all, and it might be a different routine than the one you used to use when they were in cots.

Isla's cast op went fine and she is now sporting a big bright pink tummy! She has adapted amazingly, and its been far easier than what we first thought. She tends to do things as a heavily pregnant woman would, which is quite funny - when she is picking things from the floor, she obviously has to keep her back straight and just bends at the knees!

Hope you are all doing well :)

We are supposed to be going on Wednesday to Clarks to just get some winter boots for the girls, so I'm spending the next 2 days making sure there aren't any really nice ones elsewhere.
Just logged onto SecretSales and there are these 'Sorel' boots, definitely not my usual style of boot but there is something about them I really like. Had a look at their online shop and they've got a whole childrens collection too. I'm not sure why, as I normally like really cute and pretty boots for the girls, but there is something about them! Have a look here - the first picture (where it says 'Kids') I looooove the purple that the girl is wearing, its gorgeous.
Let me know what you think!

Posted too soon -
I normally pick the Clarks ones which, really, are totally impractical as they aren't always waterproof - and even if they are, if I've just spend £50 odd on a pair of lovely leather boots, I don't want them ruined with the rain/snow.
So my girls end up with about 20 pairs of boots - classic Clarks ones, wellies and then I planned on getting them snow boots this year as wellies just weren't enough. I think they were only about £25 from Next (I linked them far up the thread!) but that is still £125 just for snow boots, on top of about £40/50 depending on the clarks ones, and then new wellies each if they need them.
These Sorel boots would be so practical, okay not exactly 'pretty' but would be soo warm and waterproof.
But then what if they went to a party or something? They wouldn't look great really, would they?
Ooooh I need some opinions!

Oh Kate - I feel your pain re. wanting to get all bases covered with the minimal number of pairs of boots/shoes - I spend ages deliberating about this and I only have two rather than five pairs of feet to consider! I am on a complete Ebay mission this year although wish I'd gone down that route sooner because I've already bought the girls three pairs of boots each and now think I could have saved loads of money by buying some of them second hand. I know it's not to everyone's taste but frankly when I see how immaculate some of the girls shoes are that we are now passing on, I don't have a problem with it.

So far for winter we've got a) wellies; b) snow boots; c) trainers and they're still wearing their Kickers from last year too. I do still need to get them some party shoe type things and might splash out for them and go to Papouelli before their birthday in December.

One of the first deliveries of clothes I bought for the girls just arrived - a Mini A Ture cord dress and separate trouser outfit - so that was two whole outfits for the girls for less than £15 including delivery, and they are so so nice.

I really love those Sorel boots, although I'd want to try them on first - I almost bought some Sorel Joan of Arctic ones last year but was slightly put off by many reviews which said they were VERY sturdy/solid, ie. not particularly comfortable to wear unless it really was for dire snowy weather. Those purple ones may not be like that at all however.. :)

One quick question to you all - do any of your kids do any sort of baby ballet / dance / movement? I'm thinking of starting the girls at something soon and wondering whether I'd find a ballet class a bit too..... pink

Another quick one.

Soundslike you are doing fab Kate, you always sound so in control! I bought the girls the Clarks mini boots that I linked to previously, the don't have any other shoes that fit bar their slippers which I got from Next. Really think we need to buy some sort of Wellies/Snowboots and I also saw some very cute velvet party shoes in next too

Mucky - Try putting your postcode in this www.diddidance.com/ I might start the girls on Tuesday, they do salsa, line dancing etc for toddlers, sounds fun and not too pressured

My two have just got purple Ricosta boots (on phone so can't link) which are lined so v snuggly... They also have wellies for playing out at nursery/the beach etc and will need to get them some new cheapy trainers. We have no more weddings or super-formal events lined up for the foreseeable, so I'm going to try and manage without party shoes for the winter. I figure any winter party outfit is likely to be a warm dress with tights which would prob look ok with boots... Am I deluding myself?!
I just look back and wince really at all the money we've spent on clothes and shoes for them. Really trying to keep it to a minimum at the moment.

If they're the boots that are coming up (the Ursi ones??) they look lovely tarti. Am jealous, because they look like they do two jobs in one, which is what I've failed to do in our shoe buying this winter!

I think I'm going to cave into getting party shoes this winter because apart from anything else, their birthday is the week before Christmas, so it feels as though it would be nice for them to have a pretty pair for that period alone.

Kate I also meant to say that you were sounding very in control. How is Isla handling it all?

LVB - thanks for the diddidance link - I'd heard of them but had slipped off my radar. I bumped into someone in the playground last week who was talking about dance/drama/moving around making a lot of noise workshops on a Saturday and it got me thinking that we don't do anything enough of that sort of thing so I might give it a go.

Girls in bed, straight down again. I can't believe I made such a mountain out of a molehill - although am very aware that it all hinges on the fact they're not getting any sleep during the day, which brings its own issues. Like non-stop war between the hours of 2-6pm

Glad you are all coping ok & things aren't as bad as you feared they might be Kate. I 'm sure challenges lie ahead as the months go by but as good a start as you could hope for I imagine.

We've still just got wellies & shoes for the boys & sticking at that. Difficult enough getting them out of the wellies, never mind adding more choice. I did get them a pair of snuggly wellie socks for our holiday tho. & then bought more midweek cos they loved them so much & wore them to death! Feel it's not so difficult with boys - I can see the feeling of needing to buy more for girls. Making do with an old pair of ds2's for dd at the moment. They're grey with a green lining so can almost get away with it.

We don't really do that sort of class tho I have tried and hate a few times at our Surestart. Nearly went to a trial ballet class a few weeks ago but dunno. Ds1 is a bit uncomfortable doing that sort of thing and would much rather be running around. I'm torn between sending him to get used to it & thinking that he's just like me & I'd hate someone to force me to perform.

Had the obligatory text from Mum today saying they've got the dreaded lurgy thanks to contact with my children

& mucky - you do know it's half-term (here anyway)?? Or is PP world not really any busier then since it's mainly toddlers?

LVB Haha, I'm glad that I sound in control on here!
I have found that since DTrips are sleeping better and are at pre-school more, their behaviour has improved and because we are spending more time apart, I appreciate them more when they are home.
Same with DD2 really, now that she is at school all the time she is far better behaved when she comes home. She had an inset day the other day and just whinged all day that she was bored - reminded me why she is far better at school!
We have our proper routine in place now - once we get back from the school run I've got all their 'comfy clothes' laid out in their bedroom - they all go straight up to get changed whilst I put a DVD on. Halfway through DVD is dinner time, and by the time it has finished its time for bath and bed. DD2 and DTrips are so tired when they get home that all they want to do is sit and watch a DVD - its quite relaxing as they don't have the energy to fight even!

Can't wait to see that link of DT's boots tarti

Mucky am glad you can see where I'm coming from - don't get me wrong, I love to shoe shop for the girls, but now that DD1 and DD2 are at school 5 days a week, and DTrips at pre-school often, they aren't going to wear as many shoes.

Isla is okay with the cast, when the lovely orthopaedic nurse came to see her he said 'I hope I don't have to see you until we take this thing off!' (i.e. hoping for no problems with it) and Isla thought that he meant taking it off forever and that was it. But apart from that she is quite proud to show it off to people, I know that won't last but its good to keep her positive :)

Am soooo pleased to hear that DT's have gone straight to bed, that is amazing!

That's funny, it's not half term here ALL (if only).

No not the Ursi ones Mucky, although they look good, our ones are mostly patent leather but still furry lined, bit less clumpy than the Ursi ones. Can't find them anywhere online to show you a pic.

I've just scrubbed the grouting in the shower with bleach and a toothbrush. Life doesn't get much more exciting than this...

Ah, obv a bit of variation then Tarti. I went to playgroup with dd today to discover half-term activities instead . Scrubing the shower - are you having visitors over half-term or do you not have anything better to do ?