dec 2008- the one where they all turn 2...probably.

[VagolaJahooli]

Sorry bit boring I know but I didn't want to make any reference to spot as I don't want to jinx her and have her baby come early, then it would be my fault. Also didn't want the mad rush at the end of the thread. This way we've had plenty of time.

Good luck with the GP Spot. We sound like a plague hospital here, all of us (bar DH who is never ill) have a lingering post-viral cough. Rubes: how are you and yours? Am also interested in this olive leaf thingy.

Deids: that is scary about the skidding car. The roads are treacherous here, several buses got stuck on a steep hill near town. I'm hoping it all melts soon, even though it is pretty :). Or we could manage snow over the Xmas weekend as long as it all melted by Tuesday.

I haven't sampled the cake yet Jolly, but it smells good! Can highly recommend pre-rolled marzipan and icing - glaze then bung both on top. A few cake icing flowers and it looks most professional .

Thought Beans wasn't leaving until Tues or Wed?
Hi Spot, geez you spend more time at the GP than at home.
Olive leaf Extract is apparently a tree huggy answer to antibiotics - apparently 5 x stronger than vitamin C. My bro's dp is very tree huggy and told me to take it (not meaning to offend anyone I actually call her that directly!) My mum apparently uses it too. It's quite expensive but you can get it at Holland & Barrett I'll let you know how it goes as we're only on day 2. It'd be right up Vaggie's street I reckon.
As far as dh goes. It's hard, as I am somebody who needs to grill the medical pro's for every possible outcome and "what if" and all the rest and I need about 50 different opinions and DH usually barely comments if i'm sick and he says it's because unless he thinks it's serious, he "forgets to relay his thoughts" so therefore it always comes across to me that I'd have to actually hack up a lung on his lap before he'd sit up and notice me being ill! He usually tells me what he thinks but then I often think I want a GP's opinion anyway as it's not his area, so I quite often trundle off to the GP to hear exactly what DH said in the first place so I'm starting to not bother, and take dh's opinion, and not worry if he doesn't seem concerned, as he's usually right 9.9 times out of 10. He does roll his eye's at these natural alternatives though, and I do usually also, however I recovered so fast after both CS's that I have convinced myself it was the little homeopathic mixture I took, (however it could well have been just my body heals well) but I'm willing to give this Olive leaf stuff a go, and if it works, then they might well have something the I think the biggest factor in not shaing off my cold / cough is the lack of continuous sleep. I'm not that bad though, and neither is ds as dh has listened to his chest and he seems fine (albeit with a Fisher Price Stethascope though - seriously! Hope you get some more answers from your GP today Spot. Oh and yes they say it's harder to lose weight after the 2nd, and I agree however I don't think it takes that much longer if you lost the weight after the 1st which looks like you did. Everything stretches more and takes longer to bounce back that's for sure, but depends how determined you are I spose. Remember my paniced posts because I still looked 6 mos pregnant, 2 months after dd was born?
wow ds is mesmorized by Waybaloo!

Lady how did you go with the formula? Did you get post today? Dont think we did actually! Should I leg it to the Post office with a tub of Aptamil?

Hi all,
Spot poor old you with T at the docs again. Is your mum still about? I remember those last weeks being very hard so must be really difficult with a grumpy ill toddler and lots of snow and unwanted guests! Make sure you get in that pool regularly to chill out!
Rubes sorry to hear you are all still ill too.

we have quite a bit of snow here as well, am hoping we can still go to my family's on Wednesday. Went to toddler group party with DS and DD in the bike trailer as I don't like driving in the snow and it's too far to walk in the snow. Party was great but DS would not stop hitting dd on the way home. Very stressful as I can just hear her screaming and if i turn round fast enough see his hand on her face. Shouting at him made no difference! I banished him to his cot when we got back and said he couldn't come out until he said sorry to DD. I have vnever managed to get him to say the word sorry before and he really didn't want to for some reason, he even tried saying "love mummy" to get me to let him out which he's never said before. Eventually he said it and he's now been wandering round ever since saying "poor H, hurted H, sorry H" Toddlers are so weird!! Sorry that was probably v boring.

JJ I'm not sure on the clothes, if they are tops in your old size maybe but I wouldn't buy trousers that I couldn't try on if I wouldn't be able to take them back eventually (which I guess you wouldn't waiting til after no 2 is born!) I am sure you will go back to normal weight quickly like last time though. I have lost no weight since DD was born. I haven't really been trying though, but I was hoping some would "fall off" as they say. I don't think I am a weight falling off sort of person as it hasn't happened! I think I will diet properly in the New Year and do proper 3-4 times a week exercise rather than once a week like now. I am getting seriously fed up with being porky now and I want to go and buy loads of new clothes but I want to be normal size first.

Effie I agree re the snow, white Christmas for the weekend then it all melts!

Veggie hope you are ok and not trapped in snow. Sorry you are feeling down, you shouldn't you are super mum. I can't imagine moving to a foreign country and doing as well as you do. I was feeling a bit fed up that I hadn't made any friends in this village really apart from a few people to say hello to. DH is always nagging me too, wanting me to find local friends, and to make matters worse we went out on saturday to the soft play centre and he managed to invite someone local who was there who we vaguely know round ours for a cup of tea and we were only there an hour! So makes me look a right social retard seeing as I haven't managed to invite people round for cups of tea in the months I have been here. She probably thinks he was hitting on her though .

LadyT have you managed to get hold of some formula? I think you need to stockpile it from now on in case of more snow!

Hi chaps

I'm so sorry not to do personals, but just want to pop on to wish you all a
VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I hope you all get to where you want to be going etc and that we do too!

We're off tomorrow.

Big big love.

Won't be on for some time, but thinking of you all. And your lovely littlies!

xxxx

Yay, we got some formula! DP managed to borrow a more robust car from a colleague's wife who lives in the village, so bought all the first stage formula he could lay his hands on. He also got what he could for us. We could have another 15cm of snow this evening. I could scream. We have coffee now, and soya milk (hmm), and just whatever else DP could lay his hands on (not a fantastic amount), so we won't starve but Christmas could be a bit thin, in terms of festive foods Thank you for your kind post, Rubes. I do feel like we have had a bit of bad luck but without sounding too saintly, I am honestly grateful that we have the formula, that we have heating and hot water, and electricity for the telly and phone! Unless things improve, whilst DP and I will have empty stockings, we have all the gifts for the girls and we have each other!

I did laugh about the FIsher Price stethoscope

Oooh, hang on, DD2 needs to be fed, back shortly.

Most importantly, LadyT, do you have cheerfulness (the bottled kind rather than the temperament, which I know you have in spades)? I love turkey etc etc but would happily have pasta as long as it was washed down with something good. Festive cheer and all that.

Drive safely everyone. Back later.

Hooray for the formula lady! Did DP get some Cheerfulness in too?

Gosh I hope things ease up a bit for you and you do manage to get a bit of shopping in, we are expecting more snow Weds/Thurs although the forecast changes a lot

beans Have a wonderful christmas and drive safely xx

X-post Sybs! Great minds and all

Deids, you and I are psychic!

And again?! Do you think we are the same person trapped in 2 bodies?!

Have gone punctuation crazy. Yuck. Most unlike me. Very sorry.

I think we might be!

I already text lady and asked about cheerfulness too! What are we, a bunch of cheerfulholics? Perhaps, but tis the season Apparently Mrlady is off the sauce till NY and Lady has cut back - that's not right at this time of year Lady!

Have a lovely and safe Christmas Beansfamily.

Still no word from the Vagster then?

I was locked out of FB for a few days and also had notification that someone in the US had hacked my account but I'm back on now. No word from Vaggi on there either.

I'm a little worried about the vagster.

rubes that's bad about your FB account hope its all sorted now.

Travel safely, Family Beans.

Nah Rubes, DP is only off the cheer until Christmas Eve. But he's going spot-free again in the New Year. The only two things which aren't going to run out here in many a month: Cheerfulness, and Pulses. I saw about two dozen bottles of champagne downstairs in our store, plus two dozen bottles of wine probably and plenty of spirits. And kidney beans, butter beans, aduki beans, mung beans - you name it. It's a total Bean Museum DP bought some absolutely ridiculous things on our one precious shopping trip (tinned tapioca pudding?? Alcohol free beer?) but to be fair I think the shelves were quite bare.

So I would be up for some party fare, JB!

SL, my oh my, you are brave to take the two in the trailer thingy. I was hoping your DS had warmed to your DD. My DD1 has warmed to DD2 though she was cackling quite evilly when DD2 was crying this morning.

Effie, I think my Secret Santee might have their gift delayed too - it hasn't arrived for me to send off and the post is suspended here.

JJ, I think if you buy classic styles, buying your regular size now should be fine. I am the same weight I was before I had DD2 and have been for a bit. It is shedding the 12kg to get me to what I was before DD1 that is my problem...

Spot, I am glad things are more peaceful for you. There's a festice 'One Born Every Minute' on over Christmas, will you and our other preggers ladies be watching? I am not sure if it's at Nolda's hospital again.

DB, that is scary about the car I am with you, I am dying for this weather to shift, even though it looks picture perfect around here and DD1 keeps saying with great glee "Snowing day again! Christmas snow!"

Oh dear I've just been thinking while I'm making some mash potatoes (not sure why that is relavent) about me banging on about not being able to find the right table runner for my Christmas Dinner table and then there's Lady who still doesn't have a tree not to mention Jam's poor friend and her recent news (how is she Jam?)it's just made me feel very fortunate, but also a bit of a spoilt cow. Lady please tell me you are getting a tree.
but Lady your celler sounds great! Who needs a tree!!
Right I'm going to put on some Christmas music. i have that new mixed CD and DS is really funny and dances when Wham comes on

DD1 dances like the Abominable Snowman. She sort of lumbers from one foot to the other. It's hilarious. Or she spins round until she falls over.

Well, I WANT a tree Rubes but it is looking a bit unlikely. We couldn't fit a real one in the hire car, even if the hire car wasn't stranded. And if the snow is going to get worse over the next few days... If I can get into Oxford or something before the end of the week I may be able to get a small fake one. But we have an electric Santa putting his foot in and out of a chimney (about 70cm tall) and a box of crackers...

But I like hearing about other people's Christmases so don't hold back. I can enjoy them vicariously. I will press my little nose up against the window to the festive scenes, like a Dickensian urchin

Also, if anyone likes satire, me moaning about the lack of a Christmas tree makes me think of this: news item

Lady: bean casserole, tapioca and champers for Xmas dinner then... sounds pretty good actually :). I'm glad DP got out and to the shops. We're due more snow too, but I am v thankful for the garage next door even if it is staffed by the grumpiest assistants ever.

Lady am sorry to lower the tone but I just have visions of how our household would be on a combination of pulses and booze and I think we could safely run a small power station on the gas we would produce . So glad you got the forumula, that's great news. For some reason I can never watch programmes about pregnancy and birth, perhaps because they're mainly centred in hospitals and I can't marry the two in my head (though may well need to soon).

Summer you are v brave attempting the party in the trailer and must have been v distressing to hear DS and DD behind you. Sadly no words of advice as I suspect I will be dealing with the same v soon.

THat olive leaf extract sounds good, Rubes, my intellect goes against all tree huggy stuff, but when T is ill for the nth time in 3 months I feel ready to try anything.

The GP said it was another ear infection, but that it seemed to be on the way out and as his temp has stabilised a bit today shouldn't need to hit the antibiotics. He did give us a prescription though, should we need it, so feel a bit reassured knowing that. He also reckoned that once we've seen the asthma consultant at the hospital if we get T on the steroid inhalers then a cold should remain a cold, rather than always provoke a secondary infection. Hmm, will see, have been given so many diverging opinions it's a bit complicated.

Safe travels tomorrow, Beans, and Happy Christmas to you.

Vag thinking of you, hope all's ok.

Can I just ask you all to send prayers/thoughts/white light/healing vibes to my Nan. She had her Colostomy reversal op last Thursday. She was okay, and it was deemed a success considering her age etc. My Aunt has just phoned and she has been rushed back to surgery. She has some sort of 'leak' and they have to put the colostomy back in. My Aunt has been a nurse for years and knows what she is talking about but its not looking too good. Even if she does come through this I'm not sure she will 'mentally' be able to handle still having the bag on.

oh and spot I'm glad you have the prescription to hand, esp with Christmas coming up. FWIW DS has a 'wheezy chest'. Colds usually set it off but i have been known to give him a puff on my steroid inhaler alongside his usual one and its surprising how quickly just one puff can ease the wheeze.

Deids: best wishes to your nan for a successful operation and a good recovery.