May 2009 toddling along...

[momino]

here we are. How long will this thread last?

Hello!

Smokey - I'm loving your Apprentice gossip! But how dare the producers try and influence the outcome! That's totally destroyed my opinion of the show! (Will probably still watch though - how shallow am I?!)

Dandy - sorry you had a down week. Hope this week will be better for you.

Belgian - how wonderful about a potential holiday! I love a nice holiday to chillax in a wonderful warm climate!

Right sorry to everyone I've not NC, I have to go and finish off dinner as DH, his DB and BIL are on their way back from the pub wanting their grub! Catch you later!

momino - hope you make a bit of money from your sale. To put my takings into perspective, I did take 14 bin bags full and came back with just 2! It wasn't an NCT sale but a similar thing run by one of the playgroups i go to. Anything you didn't want back would be donated to local charity shops/charities so it was a good chance for a clearout!

dandy sorry about your situation re. the complexities of a further pregnancy. I hope things get better for you this week too.

belgina holiday with DH and C sounds lovely - hope you can sort a break out. I thoroughly recommend it. I have a night away in Stratford next Thursday for a cousins wedding. Unfortunately I will be sharing my room with 3 small DCs and no DH...but at least I have my parents next door to help out.

smokey that was interesting Apprentice gossip. I am glad the Boots people weren't swayed.

saus- i dreaded settling in sessions with all the DCs, especially S, so i think it's all normal. It does take them a few weeks to get used to it too sometimes. S did but he loves it and they all love him . I would also say my two planned cs's were lovely calm experiences (with a teensy weensy bit of anxiety just beforehand).

muddled i see from FB that you have arrived in SA and the flight was OK - well done you!

ses - love the new photos of O on FB

Anyway, I am pleased that DS1 seems to finally be toilet trained. It took a good few weeks of accidents, one step forward and 2 back, poos in pants, and so on, but he seems to finally have got it at age 3.4. Not tackled nighttimes yet.

pula Well done to your DS1 [hsmile] Nighttimes will come... Even if it takes until they're 8.5yo and need help from the eneuresis people [hhmm] Now ds has been signed off from them it really helps to just threaten him with calling the nurse to bring that alarm back every time he has an accident [hgrin] He really hated the thing, lol.

smokey How annoying re your long and lost posts. Hate it when that happens. Hope you and bump are fine. Sadly the Apprentice gossip went a little bit over my head as I don't really watch it, so I have no idea who or what you're on about.

muddled If you can catch up in SA, do pop in. Hurrah for making it in one piece with 2dcs [hgrin]

Well, the holiday plans have been put on hold until after xmas. Simply because the 1 week we're off at the same time is the week DH had planned to sort out his flat before a new tennant arrives. That can't be postponed, but the holiday can. I'm a bit dissapointed, but at the same time not surprised as it was all a bit short notice and I just can't book time off at the drop of a hat like him. I need to ask 6 weeks in advance. Anyway. I've got a few weeks of holiday left to take before March, so I can book something for jan or feb [hgrin]

Morning all! [hgrin]

belgina - holiday sounds good, perhaps you'll have even more choice after Christmas.

pula well done for your DS. DD1 is still only mostly dry (and no hope at night!), a year after deciding she didn't want to wear nappies.

I'm feeling a bit sort of sad atm, in an attempt to improve A's sleep I've stopped feeding her at bed time as she would feed until she was asleep and all attempts to only feed until drowsy were totally not successful! So she has a story and a cup of cow's milk, then a cuddle; it's still taking quite a while for her to fall asleep through a combination of cuddles, ssshhhing and back rubbing though. Her sleep is slightly better than it was, but it's taking a long time to settle her, hopefully it'll improve.

Hello there from SA!!

I did in fact make it to SA with 2 children, with the invaluable help of my SIL and my nerves intact.

It's the 1st time I've travelled with this particular airline and children so almost cried when they said ds2 was too big for their bassinette thingy. He slept on me the whole night, but the key thing was that he slept as did ds1 for the majority of the flight :)

I am absolutely shattered, but just glad to be here. It also appears that I caught conjunctivitis on the plane, so had to see a Dr today - 50quid later I have eye drops!! I hope the dc don't get it!!

Hope everyone is well - I'm going to take my weary self off to bed soon.

Muddled, hurrah! well done for making it through that long flight and very relieved for you that it's over. phew.

Have a great time and hope your eye/s gets better soon.

ses, how was telford
Flip, hope A's sleep improves.
PUla, well done to ds1 !!! a milestone...
Belg, hope time flies by until your postponed holiday. it is tough to schedule impromptu holidays.

Speaking of...

am so tired so going to bed 'early' tonight. am a bit down: dh and i were going to have a couple of nights away for our 10 yr anniv next week but it's so expensive (school hol) that we've cancelled so we can put the money towards USA trip in 2011. it's the right thing to do but I feel a bit [hsad] that we're not doing anything out of the ordinary. i really must get a new job with a travel company or airline so that I can get travel benefits and we don't have to scrimp/save just to see my family once every three years!

selfish rant over.

Holidays aside, I'm glad we're healthy [hsmile].

Hello to everyone I've not NChecked

Bloody hell I'm cold [hsmile]

My fingers are like ice. May go and do some ironing (ugh) that will warm me up!

Back later...

Hello all! I'm back from and all fine :)
Telford was good and then I got invited to another meeting yesterday in London to represent my boss at too. I'm kind of glad he had this week off as it's done my profile the power of good! It did make me think more about career vs mum but I've decided you can't plan for what you don't know. I've got my half year review with my boss next Thursday so I will make it clear that I'm interested in career progression. If I have to tell him a few months later that I'm pg then so be it. It took 18mo to get pg last time though so I just can't carry on my life as if I'm about to get pg IYKWIM.

DS and DH managed well. No hospital trips although O did fall and bump his head at nursery both days - one time resulting in a bloody nose! I wonder whether he's having a growth spurt as he's normally very steady on his feet.

Really obvious that a bunch of "boys" have lived in the place for a few days though - mess everywhere, mud all over the carpets, washing powder put in the fabric softener compartment of the washing machine, etc, etc. They have done a good job on the front garden though...

Right sorry for me, me, me post.

Momino - sorry you won't get your time away for your anniversary but it will be an amazing trip next year to see your family. I can't imagine how tough it must be being so far away.

Muddled - £50 for conjunctivitis?!!!
Glad the trip over went so well though - well done!

Flip - well done for persevering with A's sleeping. It's tough but I'm sure perseverance will pay off.

Belgina - great to have a holiday to look forward to

Pula - well done to DS1!

Right O is waking up from his nap so I'd better go. Off to Sainsburys this afternoon - what joy

Good morning everyone!!

DH is watching formula 1 this morning so has taken the kids with him to the lounge so I get a bit of time to catch up.
We are having a great time with DHs mum and 2 sisters. His mum lives between George and Mossel Bay on the Garden Route so there are loads of fantastic beaches to visit and the scenery is amazing. Yesterday we had a day out on our own while the GP had the kids so we went for a nice drive and then a long lunch. Noone spilt their drinks or threw their food on the floor or argued- it was heaven!!
Its raining today so not sure what we are planning but pleased to see the rain as there is a drought here at the moment.

Muddled Glad the trip over went ok. We were lucky as BA had a babychair that DS could fit in but DD decided that she couldn't sleep on her chair so she was on me most of the flight!!

Belgina I hope DD1s finger is ok .

Ses glad your trip went well.

Hope all the PG people are ok.

Hello Febes :)
I meant to tell you, I was at Pease Pottage services near Horsham the other day and there were about 12 VW campervans all parked up there. Made me think of you!

Sounds like you're having a great time :)

Hi everyone,

Thought I'd give this thread a little bump up; no one seems to have posted here in a few days.

ses Sounds like you had an exciting time at work last week. Nice you enjoyed Telford too ;)

flip How's A's sleeping going? I still bf C at bedtime, but try to avoid it before 5 am at night. She seems to be naturally improving though, but I think the many nights I've worked recently have played their part + she's started taking fairly short naps (down to 1h) and might be making up for that at night too.

muddled Sounds like you're having a great time in SA.

momi Sympathies for the cancelled weekend away. Hope you'll manage to have a romantic meal out or something instead, but obviously that's not quite the same as a whole weekend.

febes Glad you're having a great time too :)

dd's finger Thanks for the messages. She's OK now. There was a lot of blood and she clearly doesn't do blood as she nearly fainted at the sight of it and I had to keep telling her to calm down her breathing. The bleeding stopped with a pressure bandage on, but when I took it off a few hours later it just kept on bleeding, so off to A&E we went. A lot of people have given me the face for letting dd open a tin of cat food at the age of 6 (nearly 7 though), but she loves feeding the cat and I'm a pretty relaxed parent from that point of view. Why stop her if she can do it and take away that bit of independence. She's now learnt that tins can be sharp too

We've also had a wonderful gift from DH's parents, who sold their house in the Cotswolds after inheriting DH's grandmother's house. They split the profit between their 3 dcs and so we had this really nice cheque in the post last week. We've added that to the pot of savings for a house here and now we've got a slightly bigger budget.

Hope everyone is OK.

Hello

Quick one from me. I am beside myself with guilt.

DS2 swallowed a watch battery at some point and I only know because I found it in his dirty nappy this afternoon. I have no idea where the battery came from. It is a complete mystery. Luckily my friend was here to calm me down and she made me phone NHS Direct and our GP for reassurance advice. Both reassured me that he will be fine, given that it has passed through without corroding. Obviously I did the stupid thing and googled and scared myself to death. I am so, so guilty that he managed to do this. He is absolutely fine, just his normal self, but even so...

In brighter news, we went to see Peppa Pig at the cinema this morning. It was ace!

Awww Llare that must have been scary to see. Hope you've calmed down and recovered. As with most of these things, I bet DS2 hardly noticed what a worry he caused!

Belgina - must have been scary for you and DD too! Glad it's healing ok.
Great news about your gift and resulting bigger budget! Hope you find somewhere really lovely when the right time comes:)

Really cold here again tonight. I've lit a fire to warm the house and it's lovely and snuggly :)

evening.. just unwinding from our latest residents meeting . Good job they're only once a quarter.. I couldn't cope with the thought of going to more of them!

Llare what a scare it must have given you & glad NHS direct reassured you ds2 would be fine.. I would have been just like you and freaking out completely.

belgina hope your dd's finger heals quickly & I as you say she'll remember for sure how sharp the tins are now. What a lovely gift from your DH's parents.. must have felt like you'd had a small lottery win

ses glad everything was ok while you were away.

febes loving all the details about your holiday & muddled glad the flights to SA went ok & hope you've no more trips to the doctor.

pula we're just tackling the nights with DS atm... 4th night tonight and so far dry 2 out of 3. He seems to like being in pants at night now he's done it (although he had a right paddy about it when I brought up the subject about trying it last wk). DS was 4 in august and we cracked the day time going to the toilet without me reminding him.. over this last summer. Sending bug free vibes to you & hope you don't get infected with your T's D&V.

Thank you all for your lovely messages on FB for my birthday. Means a lot! DH and I actually mananaged to go out for dinner but were home at 9.30! We were going to see the FB movie, but my bump is sooooo big and we were sooooo tired that we decided to just go home. A bit sad really as we so rarely go out as a couple these days.

Am waiting for a mw to turn up this morning for another bp check as got sent in to hosptial for monitoring on friday. Up at bit - lower readings yesterday between 90 and 96. I wonder whether they will bring forward an induction in view of this. WIll find out on Thursday at next consultant appointment unless I get sent in today.

belgina what a lovely gift! Hope you manage to find the house you want soon.

llare what a scare. I live in constant fear of lego being eaten in this house. Glad he is ok and am sure there is nothing to worry about. Stop googling fgs!!!

febes my mum and dad skyped us from Durban on Sunday night in the midst of an almightly storm. They are hoping to drive back to Port ELziabeth today I think - sounds like a marathon drive (13 hours!!!!!!). The Garden Route does look beautiful.

good luck with the mw/blood pressue smokey x

smokey I hope your BP settles. A diastolic of 90 & 96 is a bit on the high side. Sometimes they just monitor for a bit before jumping in though. Especially if there are no other worrying signs, such as protein in your urine, headaches, visual disturbances or epigastric pain. They might do some bloods though. Good luck :)

llare Whoops, I'd feel guilty too, but as it's come out in one piece on the other side.... I think it's easily done though, who doesn't have small bits on the floor. It's unavoidable unless you sweep the floor several times a day.

Hello! hope everyone is ok.

Sorry for absence been visiting my brother in n Wales.

Going to catch up properly tomorrow when dh is at work and I don't have to fight him for the laptop :o

smokey wow can't believe your DTs could be born any day soon. It doesn't seem that long ago we met up and you weren't even showing . Hope your BP is behaving itself.

Belgina - i'm feeling a bit faint myself now at the thought of your DDs finger still bleeding when you took the bandage off. I'm not good with blood (or sick).

momino - hope you and DH are enjoying some peace and quiet - happy anniversary

fi - sounds like your DS is doing OK with the nighttimes. I think we will try soon (DS1 is keen to wear pants to bed) - he finally seems to have cracked it with no1 and no2s, taking himself sometimes and needing reminding other times. With DD we had to lift her when we went to bed otherwise she'd wet the bed in the early hours, so we might just do the same with DS1. I seem to have escaped any bugs although i am soooo tired and off my food. DS2 has had really bad nappy rash, been off his food, generally grumpy with a cold and was sent home from nursery yesterday. Just hope he won't end up in our bed again tonight as he just rolls around and tries to climb on top of me .

ses fire sounded lovely. We're having our chimney swept on Friday so i'm looking forward to having the fire lit .

llare - try not to feel bad about the battery. My DS2 can often be found trying to eat things he shouldn't, or playing with things he shouldn't. The other day he managed somehow to get into the kitchen drawer and handed DH a breadknife . And I love the photos of DS1s birthday (and the cake) mmmmmmm.

Quick update - Nov 8th looks like d-day for induction subject to bed being available and unless something happens before then!

smokey! That's not long to go at all! I hope your bp behaves in the mean time [hsmile]

pula I hope your tiredness and off your foodness isn't a sign of a brewing bug. [hshock] @ the breadknife...

We had a lovely day here today, that is up until C's bedtime. We went to Leeds Castle and everything was fine, except that C seemed a bit tired and off her food. I didn't think too much of it as her cold has kept her from sleeping properly for the last 2 nights. On the way home I stopped at the farm shop and got her some blueberries as a treat and because I knew she would definitely eat them. She then pottered around quite happily until 6, when she suddenly became very tired. She refused dinner, which I had sort of expected as she was so tired. I put her to bed, bf her and next thing I knew the BM and blueberries came right back out, poor thing. What happened next was sooo embarrassing [hblush] We both had to change, including new sleeping bag for C. I just stripped off and went to the bathroom naked to fetch my dressing gown, thinking the ap was doing the dishes downstairs, but only she wasn't... She was hanging up some laundry on the landing [hblush] Cue me screaming and jumping back behind my bedroom door, asking her to throw me my dressing gown, lol. C did the exact same thing again, so I'm now wearing my spare dressing gown and she's down to her last pair of PJ's. She's fast asleep now, so I hope she'll stay asleep and be all better in the morning.

C's walking is now finally coming on too. The last 2 days or so she's plucked up the courage to let go of the furniture and take some steps on her own. She's my slowest walker by about 5-6 months!

Hope you're all OK.

Wooo Smokey. Not long to go at all. Hope you are doing ok.

belg hope you are ok and C is too. Saw your post on fb just now and felt :( for you. I hope that within a few minutes she was distracted enough to forget about you for a while (in the nicest possible way of course) and get on with playing and that you have had an ok shift too.

I'm not long back from my scan - one v wriggly baby in there. Didn't hold still enough for proper pics or even measurements!! But those they did get measured me at 12+6 so due date is now 7th May :) While I was in the hospital I popped in to see a friend who was in recovering from an em cs. She was quite poorly (various complications) but is recovering slowly and her ds is fine and absolutely gorgeous. Was weird walking past the room where I had A to go and see her though!

Hello to everyone else pula, banned, febes, muddled and anyone I've forgotten.

quick post to mark this page.
thanks to all of you for your anniversary wishes here and on FB. we had a lovely couple of days without the DDs. went to church where we were married, had a lovely lunch with champagne, and wandered about the beautiful town of york.

will come back on to nc later but wanted to say smokey - take care during these last days before the twins arrive! sounds like you had a lovely birthday.

glad you're all well and will be back tomorrow. x

oooh, running,just read your post about the scan - how exciting! hope you're feeling well.

Smokey - how v v exciting :) Not long to go! Can't wait to hear all about your new babies when they arrive (although I'm sure updating us will be the last thing on your mind!!)

Running - yay for your little wriggler! Hope you have a great birthday weekend :)

Momino - what a lovely way to spend your anniversary!

Belgina - have you got anything nice planned for your week off? That's fab about C's walking.
It's v hard leaving them to go to work when they seem unhappy. O often throws a strop and rolls around on the floor at nursery. With him though, I know it's mainly for effect - he sometimes stops and looks up to see if anyone's watching and he's always fine about 15secs after I've gone. Cheeky monkey!!

Right, I'm lying in bed posting on my phone but I really should get up as I have to go to work this morning - a nice trip down to Eastbourne!!
Hope everyone has a great wkend :)