June 08 - 118 (and counting) sleeps till Chistmas, but don't tell Deb!

[EddieIzzardismyhero]

Welcome to our new, cosy thread. Log fires, big jumpers and Christmas shopping .

What do you mean it's still August?!

Sybil parky here too, I'm in my office with cardi and coat on because blardy uni haven't turned the heating on in our building and I'm FREEZING!!

Hooray! my radiator has just started making loud gurgling noises, temperature must have dropped below statutory minimum, they hadn't planned to turn heating on till October. Very, very loud noises though, hope it doesn't blow up ...

UDC sorry to hear about your redundancy, hope something much better is just round the corner.

dewin test first thing in the morning with a mid stream urine (ie pee a bit, stop catch some pee test on that) this gives the most accurate test. good luck.

it's not too cold up here - yet! radiators were on a bit in the evening yesterday, but that was partly because DH hadf left the back doors wide open for about half an hour!

Had a lovely weekend, and our night away from C was lovely - slight concern when we arrived at our B&B to hear a screaming child in the next room - luckily, apart from the early blip we didn't here him again so was a very peaceful night. Had a lovely meal as well and the breakfast was amazing. we stayed here and would heartily recommend it!

Got to go, DH has the day off today as it is a random public holiday in Glasgow today, so he's taking C swimming while I go to meet ssome friends for coffee sans small child!

Dewin, I had a very, very faint line with Ethan!!

Deb I am posting purely so you don't start to get a complex about killing the thread

Well thank goodness for that Biscuits!!

UDC sorry to hear about your DH's redundancy and that you're finishing work soon - it sounded like you enjoyed your job too. Hugs.

our two have 4.5 tog duvets from the white company - they're lovely and wash fine in our machine (important for toilet training).

speaking of machines - I've gotten paid! yeah! and it's enough to buy a really good washing machine which we desparately need. Any recommendations? We're looking at an AEG, Siemans, or Miele and our prime concerns are wool programmes and noise...

dewin I bet you wish you hadn't mentioned it now :)

It was 2 degrees here this morning - we've friends who are building a house and they're living in a caravan for their second winter. I think I might need to invite them to stay for a weekend...

Marking spot as this fell off my threads ages ago...

I have man flu. Actually that's rubbish cos when men get flu they also get copios amounts of drugs, whereas pregnant ladies get offered lemon and honey. [grrr]

So planning to spend today in bed, catching up on all your news.

AH - our washing machine died last week and I found this website good for reviews: www.washerhelp.co.uk/reviews/washing-machine-reviews.html

(BTW, we went for the 1200 rpm John Lewis one, but too early to tell if it was a good purchase. Certainly alot lot quieter than our previous AEG.)

Been to a spa today whilst DH and P spent the day together. I had a wry smile on my face when I got home to discover that P was in bed early having been given calpol. Just one day and DH was already reaching for the drugs...

Abdn, hope this helps your decision. If the link doesn't work I'll try to e-mail it to you.Kind of you to think of your friends in the caravan!

Spider - so pleased you got some time out and lol at dh reaching for the drugs

Penguin - hope you feel better soon, it is miserable when you can't take anything.

LOL at the best laid plans - I haven't caught up at all, but I am feeling much better. Yay!

So I'm gonna work backwards thru the posts for a bit....bear with me.

Spider - Glad you had a spa day, was it good? I like your DH's tactics, perhaps P is getting ill whenever DH is on holiday now.

AH - We got a Indesit Moon washing machine in June 2008 and loved it. However our main reasons for buying it were that it looked cool and we didn't want a white machine . However, I would strongly recommend against indesit, it seems we were really lucky as they generally get very bad reviews. I do recommend buying from John Lewis though, best quick & cheap delivery and great guarantees. (You may recall we moved into our place 5 days after R was born, so quick delivery was a must!).

Duvets - R has had one since we got here last Nov and hasn't missed his sleeping bags at all. I like it too for ease of cleaning. But R hardly moves once he's asleep. BTW, taking the side off the cot led to a couple of shouts which were quickly resolved by a 30 sec cuddle. Next comes the move to an actual bed....

BTW, speaking of developmental stages, has anyone tried training pants?

UDC - Sorry about the redundancy. I hope that the payoff is a really good one and that something better comes along.

Dewin - I can confirm that it is def poss to get preg on first attempt twice...looking forward to hearing about the next test! I also got a negative before a positive with R, but that may have been because I didn't use the test properly - it was one of the 'before you're even due' ones and I think I read it as negative and threw it away without actually giving it a chance to turn positive IYKWIM. I would probably go to the conference, but only for an hour or so, basically show your face and then go and do something really nice for the rest of the day.

Biscuits - Glad you and DH had a good night away. How awful would it have been to have a screaming toddler next door?

Funnily enough with all your cold talk, last night was the first night we didn't need a fire. The clocks went forward on Sunday and the weather seems to have really changed with it. (Last week we had more gales and downpours, by which I mean falling trees and flooding, again!). It has completely changed my mood as well. I was worrying that I was heading down the depression road again TBH....but I think it was just a normal reaction to disaster after disaster (flood, death of kitten, another flood, etc) plus awful job plus hormones. I still hate my job, but DH has an interview tomorrow so fingers crossed if things go well I can quit within a month.

In fact I have to go 'interview' DH now. (One of the advantages of an HR background...).

Sorry to everyone I've missed.

spider spa day sounds lovely - I am intending to spend my health in pregnancy grant on one once my Mat leave starts! (surely that's exactly what it's for, no?)

penguin glad that you're feeling better and no wonder you were feelinga bit low with all the goings on with floods etc!

I was so glad the screaming toddler settled down - I made a point of saying to the mother the next day that we hadn't heard a peep out of them - I'd have wanted someone to mention it to me as you're so paranoid in that situation, especially in the kind of place where there aren't many children around! We actually bumped into them later in the day at the seaside once we'd met up with my parents and C - I'm sure they were confused as to where we had gained the 2 year old from!

Went out for a nice catch up with my best friend yesterday, tried out a new cafe ( here bugger) called cup - very tasty cupcakes and tea and the afternoon tea platters looked amazing!

Got my 32 week midwife appointment today, but nothing else exciting planned - anyone doing something fun today?

DGIT I started my Christmas shopping! (don't tell Deb!) only because I need to do it before this baby arrives though...

Biscuits - we must have driven past that B&B when we went to my Grandma's the other week, it looks nice, I'll look out for it next time.

Cold here, I dug out some socks yesterday .

No real news from here, colds all round, H teething and J still refusing to do anything in a potty or toilet, although he is happy to sit there for a while and read books etc.

Penguin - I have some cheapo training pants from Aldi or somewhere like that. I use them now and again as we use terry nappies at home and they are a real pain when he keeps changing his mind about wanting a wee.

J has had a duvet since about January, he kept taking the sleeping bag off and it was a real pain to put him back in it without waking him, much easier to tuck a duvet back over him.

Dewin - any news?

No news - still no totm, but not taking another test because I can't deal with the disappointment...!
The last neg test was taken in the morning, so surely not pg under those conditions?

No way to tell for sure Dewin, you thought you were ovulating around 9/10 Sept, if it was actually a couple of days later than that and you got a negative yesterday you might still only be about 15 days past ovulation and could possibly still get a false negative in that timeframe. This waiting is absolutely hellish but the only way to tell is to test again in a couple of days if your period doesn't come.

Can't believe I just scrolled down through the thread to check whether we knew when you ovulated - this is why I started to limit my mumsnet usage!!

LOL Systems! I'm a bit vague on biology... But thanks, though!

lol at Systems!

And your DH Spider, sounds like my kind of parenting reaching for the drugs at the first hint of trouble . I know I joke but actually I rarely give them Calpol at all, only if they are out of sorts and that is very rare. Just in case you thought I plied them with it!

We have had the heating on for 30mins morn and eve just to take the edge off the cold. I am currently sleeping in vest top, trackie bottoms, thick cardi and thick socks cos I am freezing at night! I am still co-sleeping and only put the duvet over half of me so it doesn't go near Daniel. He is still doing well, waking once in the night but I am a bit tired but not half as bad as I thought I would be.

We went to get D weighed today - he is 11lb (7wo) so doing well. The clinic is about 10mins walk away so I let the twins walk. I haven't really ever let them walk before cos I am scared they'll run in the road. But I figured got to get them used to it sometime. I tried to put reins on them but they had a meltdown and said they wanted to hold the pram. So I walked roadside and they held onto the pram on the other side. I had the triple with me so if they let go I threatened them with the pram. They were very good. E got tired on the way back so I tried to put her in the front seat but she said 'Daniels, Daniels' - she wanted to go in the back with Daniel . Then she said 'Theo's seat' pointing to the front seat. I thought they would fight over the front seat but they both seem to like the back better .

E asked to go on the toilet yesterday so I took her to the ensuite but she said 'No Theo's' - she seems to think the main toilet is hers and the ensuite is Theo's. She didn't do anything on the toilet, just ordered Theo to go get her toy cars . He is a bit like a little lapdog to her, but she is very good and always says 'thank you'

Ooh and I am mega excited about Christmas (sorry Deb). I got dh the Delia Christmas book last year and we are going to make the Chrsitmas pudding and cake, mince pies and a collar of bacon for mum's buffet. She is not doing a proper turkey dinner so we are going to make on at home just for us and then go up to mum's for tea.

I think we will get balance bikes for the DTs for their main pressie. Also brio train bits and they really like mega sketchers (like etch-a-sketch) so them too

Spider - love Penguins observation that maybe P will be ill whenever dh is on holiday!!

Neenz and Biscuits I'll forgive you, it is nearly October and the weather's cold.

Trying to sell our car here, we've advertised it privately for 10.000 and today also took it to garage to see what they'd give us - only 5.000

HI to everyone else

Having bought any christmas presents but I did join the poncetastic christmas thread (don't tell Deb!) I am making knitted mini stickings for bunting this year which I am hoping will look cute and seasonal - although my hands may have dropped off by December.

sybil point me in the direction of the poncetastic thread please!

Neenz and Spider's DH would hate dealing with R right now - as do I actually - suddenly for the first time in his life, he is refusing calpol, cough medicine, etc. And I am already jealous enough of him for being allowed to have any. Hmm, that doesn't make me sound good does it?

Pregnancy grants, lion stamped eggs, grumble, grumble. (PP wishes she was pregnant in the UK...).

Dewin! I remember reading you can get false negatives but not false positives, no idea if that is true though, anyone? How late are you ATM? Speaking of which I couldn't sleep last night for worrying my comment about getting preg on first trys may have been insensitive, I am sorry if it was to any of you.

Still feeling better today, but either coughing or blowing my nose every minute - I've been timing it - so not sure I am would be wanted at work, I work in customer service. Off to search for safe pregnancy cough remedies in a mo, any suggestions gratefully received.

Biscuits - you mentioned cupcakes! Has anyone tried the so called new cupcakes, whoopie pies and if not, in the name of science and sisterhood, please could you for me and report back? see here

Only 6-10 weeks to go Biscuits, I think Xmas shopping is excused!

Thank KT - so the training pants aren't actually working yet then? I guess in terrys J knows that he is wet, I'm not sure that R really does yet, hence the training pants idea. (And they have a red car on them therfore R thinks that is Roary and will get excited about them....suckered into the kids consumer void, moi?)

Systems!

Neenz - Theo will make someone a great husband one day growing up with E. Great news on Daniel and that you're not too sleep deprived. Want me to send over some thermals?

Deb - at the garage!

Oh sybil the knitted stockings sound great. re they easy for a beginner? I have been dumped with kindly given a lot of half balls in various ghastly colours and could use them up making stockings?

Penguin - I've got confused with pull up nappies I think, so no, not tried training pants.
Potty training is having another rest here after J spent most of the day in pants. Did a spot of wee on them, sat on the potty for ages and did nothing, played a bit longer, said he needed a wee but had a big tantrum about sitting on the potty until I eventually put a nappy on him which full of wee within 10 minutes and started leaking. He is obviously holding it in which can't be that good for him.

The whoopie pies reminded me of japs, my Mum got some last time we went to stay with her, yummy but sickly.

Neenz - you've reminded me that I've been using Nigella's Christmas book as a mouse mat, I should look at it really and get some ideas.

I thought Ktpie was being all racist with her japs there! I haven't tried whoopie pies - the name really annoys me - and I'm still big on cupcakes and hugely behind the trend obviously!

Hope you're feeling a bit better penguin. Sybil the stockings sound interesting- do give us a link! And Penguin how about the Korknisse for simple (on 2 needles) ways of using up spare yarn? Posted by someone (?Biscuits or DQ??) last year - and I learnt to knit by doing them!

Neenz T & E sound so lovely! This is great news for Amber I'm sure!

Since we're talking toilet training, I had a breakthrough tonight. I started reading Gina Ford's potty training in 1 week book last night - mainly because Iestyn picked it out of the nappy drawer and I decided that was A Sign Of Readiness - and thought I could give Stage 1 a go. (I bought the book when Iestyn was around 6mo and threw it in the nappy drawer. Incidentally, it's not 1 week at all. Bit of a misnomer.)
Stage 1 involves getting the potty out. We failed on that last night because we couldn't find it but then I suggested DH looked behind the washing machine, and there it was. Anyhow, during bathtime, I asked Iestyn if he would like to sit on the potty and he agreed to do so, so I got him a book to read. Within 2 minutes, he had done a pee and then did a happy dance!
But then - then - after his bath when he was in his towel, he did a little movement and I asked him if he wanted to do a wee. He said yes, so I told DH to run to get the potty, which he did; and Iestyn flung off his towel, sat on the potty and did another wee before we could get his book out!

Beginners luck maybe...

What's this health in pg grant? I've never heard of it - is it new? Maybe I don't get it here because we're devolved.

That's not a hint, btw, I still have no idea whether I'm pg or not. It's really, really embarrassing now! I've decided I'm not doing another test until the end of the week - I keep thinking my period will come, but it's nearly a week (depending on my irregular cycle). Totally ridiculous. I've got a gp appointment on Thursday so I'll see if I can get a free test an answer then.

I can't believe I'm being so stupid here - I veer from thinking 'obviously not, duh, negative tests' to 'but...'. I always thought you test, it's positive/negative, deal with it.