June 2009 - terrible twos here we come

[bigcar]

Here we are ladies

morning all

gauchita, fab news at last!!! Where's he flying too? Yay for your dhs boss, how good was that but how did you manage to over do it while the cleaning lady was there I hope you've got something nice planned for when dh gets back to have some time together, M must be missing him too, won't be long before your ds is here! Have you got any names ready?

june, pleased to hear bathtime is better, E doesn't like having his mullet washed either, really must get it cut again. How are things with C and her bed?

zhen, hope all's well with you.

snow, hope something a little better comes up for dh soon. Work sounds pretty full on atm, do you get much down time while away to see the places or is it fairly much work and then fly back? Big yay for A's report and Z's weight gain, great news

well we are still decorating when we have time hopefully E will be in his room by the end of the week which will hopefully be good, dh keeps waking him up with his snoring and then he ends up in with us [sigh] and he sleeps like a restless starfish. E is loving having the older dcs around, they're spending a lot of time in the garden while still managing to trash the house and he's decided he likes the trampoline at last, he was bouncing around with dd3 over the weekend.

waves to all

Ninja, hi! Wow, decorations still on, huh? Hope they're over soon and you can put your feet up Yay for E being able to have his own room by the end of the week! I really can't imagine sharing a bed with M at this moment, she's as wriggly as you say E is so it'd be torture, never mind with the bump in the middle as well I think I overdid it on Friday even though the cleaning lady was here as I started organising stuff and moving things (not heavy things, just stuff) and I think that was a bit too much for 2 hours

DH had a stop-over in the US, and he's due to board his flight to MAN in 3 hours. Fingers crossed for no overbooking. At the moment they say the flight looks ok, so please please please God let him board that plane! If so, an early start for M and me tomorrow, but I don't care

In exactly a month the baby is due

Our boss is ace, yes The other day he bought me/us a bump and baby professional photo session as a thank you for having stepped in for DH all this time and having helped him. It was very sweet of him. I must call tomorrow and arrange an appointment asap, btw I'm 36wks on Wed! Otherwise the bump session might go missing

It's very hot here, my feet are not enjoying it that much Today not much sun but hot and humid yuk! A shower before bed is in order I think.

Waves to all.

aaarrrgghh. They want DH in the job he turned down. He is going to now accept it, providing contract looks fine when it comes through today.
We are moving to Hereford in 6 weeks. I do not know Hereford at all. The MN local is v v v vquiet. I have posted in chat to see if anyone can offer information. I keep finding great property porn, a little out of budget, but have no idea what are the 'nice' areas to look in and where to avoid.

gauchita lady, you are amazing. Is there a lido near you when you can paddle and rest the bump? We went to ours on sunday. The swim was v therapeutic.

ninja yah to E having his own room, and to you getting a better night's sleep.Glad the kids are keeping each other amused, although destroying the house. With work, I rarely get to see anything. Last trip to Paris, I saw the Louvre as we drove past in a taxi! Goodies for the family were bought at the train station.

zhen thinking of you.

mrsmc we are having fab weather this week, probably like what you have all the time. how are you?

june how are you finding exercising in this heat?I took the kids for a 5 mile walk and almost keeled over form the heat. Definately burnt some calories. Cannot run in this weather. Think I am finally acclimatised to the UK, used to run in tropical heat without any bother.

Z stirring, happy sunny day to everyone

Hey gauchita is dh home?hope you get a day or two together before he has to go back to work.flying via the states must have made for a long trip. Am going in 3 weeks,prob via h heathrow or paris. Know any nannys in ba who would like a few easy days work cuddling z? So excited to finally be getting to sth americA.
Must get to sleep,z will be up soon

Hi all,
Flash post!
DH arrived safely this morning (yay!) after a two-day journey! He was absolutely knackered so we had a chilled day just playing with M and taking regular naps I can't believe life is going back to normal now

Snow, oh my, congrats to your DH, of course but wow, lots to do now! I've never been to Hereford ( at that house, btw) but maybe one of the other Juners can say more. Any advice on the chat thread? I'm sure there are plenty of Mnetters that might be able to help you.

Let me have a think about the nanny, off the top of my head I can't think of anyone I know but there must be one. I'll get back to you on this one

Off to bed now, long day tomorrow. DH going back to work as well, no more off days for him.

Hope you're all well

woohoo gauchita, fantastic news Your boss is pretty fab! 4 weeks to go, wow, is everything ready now, got your bag packed?

snow, oh blimey!! Having to move within 6 weeks, I will keep everything crossed for you, not my idea of fun. Love that house, although may be a little pokey?

Gauchita - that is great news :), was starting to worry about you being all alone for the birth, phew!

Snow - I don't envy you, moving house and location is massive. Don't know the area well, have driven through it, beautiful countryside. Good luck with everything, start clearing out now, I made the mistake of taking loads of stuff that I should have thrown away and am now having to clear it out.

Ninja - hope that E's room will be done soon, I have my very own bed ninja who has been in and out of our bed over the last week as her sleep has been very much disturbed by MIL passing so I can completely empathise with the lack of sleep that ensues.

June - Glad to hear C's bathtime is becoming easier. N loves bathtime but still screams like I am hurting her every time I wash her hair! Luckily for me she has mixed race hair so it does best if I wash it every two to three weeks otherwise the neighbours might think I am doing something terrible to my child.

Things are calming down now after the nine nights Jamaican funery tradition finished last night. It is basically nine nights for people to visit the family and remember the deceased, but as per most Jamaican gatherings they never finish early, most nights around 4am so everyone is knackered now. The funeral is next Friday so at least we have a week to recover.

quick post as packing to go away tomorrow
zhen you must be exhausted. I hope you and DH are taking turns to rest when you can. How is the MS?
gauchita I will have almost 2 whole days in BA with Z in tow. Going to take sling and pram. What do you recommend I see? (and eat ). Staying in Puerto Maderos I think.
ninja yes, the house might feel a little cramped!Great properties in the area, sure we will find something nice to rent.

Hope everyone is having a gorgeous weekend. How good is this weather?

Marking my place for later!

gauchita lucky you posted lady, was wondering if you might be having a baby . perhaps we should do the sweepstakes for weight etc?

in paris, glass of vin rouge, soleil bruit ?sp . joy. kids behaving at home, so DH and MIL surviving.

hope you are all ok

Evening all!

Snow, oh that sounds like pure bliss!!! Glad to hear that although you went away due to work you're being able to enjoy a nice glass of wine at the end of the day When you say you have two whole days in BA with Z, do you mean 2 days to do stuff besides work or that the whole trips is only 2 days long? Puerto Madero is a very nice area, there are quite a few hotels there, the Hilton, for example. It's winter at the moment there and as you'll be in Puerto Madero (think of a modernised/redone dock area, quite posh as well ) next to the river it'll surely be windy so take warm clothes. In Puerto Madero you have everything food-wise, from Italian, to Sushi and of course Argentinian steakhouses, which you MUST have a taste of, of course! Cabaña las Lilas or Los Girasoles are two fantastic (albeit a bit more expensive) ones. Let me know if you need any more suggestions Oh, the two people I could have recommended for nanny services are in FT employment at the moment so won't be able to give you a hand, unfortunately. But if I can think of anyone else, I'll let you know.

Zhen, wow, you guys must be exhausted. Hope you've managed to rest a little bit this past weekend. Hope the MS has given you a break as well. Yes, I was getting worried re. DH being away for so long as well. I was really afraid about going into labour on my own

Ninja, as soon as I saw your post I realised the bag had not even entered my mind! So now it's out, it has pads, knickers, Lansinoh cream, pijamas and... I guess I need to work on that still At least all the baby's clothes are washed and ready now so all I need to do is pick some things and pack them. How are the holidays going?

June, how are you? Hope work is not too hectic.

Right, busy weekend, and busy start of the week as well

We got the baby's changing dresser on Saturday so now I'll give DH the chance to assemble it before calling our boss' handyman again He said he'd do it so let's see what happens this week.

Baby moving LIKE MAD. I think he's changed positions again. He was back to back two weeks ago, then last week we had the appt at the birth centre and the MW said he was head down and lying on my right side (not the ideal one but much better than back to back anyway ) and now I think he's on my left side. Today was pretty bad, though, as I've been having those lovely shooting pains in my groin. Those tiny electroshocks ALL day, which make me stop walking quite abruptly and bend over so I think he's squashing some nerves over there while moving. Yay, not

Right, an early night for me, I think, I'm knackered. Hope everyone is well.

Waves!

Started a post earlier and was interrupted by mil who called to say not to go out as the shops were being told to close at 5pm for fear of rioting going on in our area. Enfield where it was last night is right close to us and where we go for baby groups, shopping etc so it is quite scary out here at the moment.

zhen hope you're all right, this transition period is really weird, all part of the grieving process, hope the kids aren't too freaked out by it. I will always remember my nephew at his dad's funeral (my brother) when he was about 6or 7yo, poor little boy was terrified and confused. :(

gauchita work is quite busy, C has been going to nursery a little bit more last week and this week which has helped. They closed early today though because of the threat of riots, got a text saying that the nursery was closing immediately and to make arrangments to collect the children.
Hope you get to rest a bit more, sorry to hear about the shooting pains, you know it all eases off once baby is here, small comfort I know! hang in there, not long to go now.

snow enjoy your trip, sounds nice :D wish I was in Paris drinking wine and eating cheese right now :D:D:D

Hello lovely Juners - it must be about a year since my last post and I feel really bad that I haven't managed to get on here for so long.. it was lovely to see June 09 still on the front page of the Post Natal thread!

Don't recognise everyone on here (my bad!) and I haven't had a chance to read through the 18 odd pages of this thread to catch up but obviously Gauchita, been seeing bump piccies on FB and you look really well... such exciting times - only a month to go, crazy stuff!

J doing really well although she doesn't stop talking - ever! She just talks from the second she wakes up until she's been down about half an hour! It's great as we have little conversations now but it is tiring... DH still home with her full time which does put a bit of a strain on the old finances, but won't be long before she's at pres-school

Will definitely try & catch up over the next few nights and post more regularly as this is such a lovely group and I remember just now much you helped me in those early days - doesn't it seem like FOREVER ago when they were all blobs, lying on the floor and all they did was poo, eat and sleep!

Ok - working my way through (sorry)... want to see the picture of this rocking horse June - couldn't see it but sounds awesome. Am expecting to read on and find it's been chopped to bits moved to MIL's. Ah - spare room!

Wonderful news Snow - bet Z is creating lots of chaos now but am working through those early days at the mo and she sounds lovely!

I'm actually expecting another lo this December and am so so so so so excited... you're all very brave getting stuck in so early but still think 2.6 is pretty young and just hope J is up to the challenge!

Will be back soon - take it nice and easy ladies xx

skillbo, lovely to see you again! Tis bigcar incase you haven't got to that bit of the thread, think a lot of us have namechanged so still the same people Congratulations, I'm sure J will be fine, do you know what you're having, how's it going? Weren't you just about to get married, apols of not!

june, bloody scary, not far from us either, been listening to all the sirens all evening, we're not far from Croydon, local high street has had trouble too. Dd2 was due to go shopping there tomorrow, have had to say no to that one. She heard primark in Croydon had been destroyed and was devastated

gauchita, take it easy, those pains are horrible, hope lo's moving into a better position.

snow, will have a think re sweepstake, not such a relaxing evening here unfortunately, make the most of it, sounds heavenly

zhen, hope all's well with you and things are starting to settle, hope all goes well on friday.

bit distracted having seen places we go shopping on the tv in flames, apparently the 'out of town' shops just outside Croydon have been destroyed too. High street in Sutton was closed early and apparently there's been trouble there too, although it's ok as the local nutter wizard man is out, there's a page on facebook Going to try to get some sleep, dd2 has a freind round and they're texting their mates winding each other up [arghh]

waves to all

hey skillbo lovely to see you again :D Yup we're still here two years on :D
congrats on expecting another lo. We've decided one is enough for now, despite most of my friends (who had a child at the same time as us) having or having already had their next one.
Theres a pic of the horse on my profile, can you get to it? It's in the hallway at the moment.
C talks a lot too, makes full sentences and it's really great to have an insight into her head. It's not annoying yet.

I have been telling anyone who asks that C is a complete nightmare at the moment though, terrible twos indeed!!
She wants something, we produce it, she doesn't want it anymore, gets cross that we would even think of giving it to her, we put it away, she wants it again, cries because we put it away, you get the picture :D
It is funny in a way, but so frustrating when you're tired and need to get on with things.
She is also in a proper bed now so we have nights where she keeps getting out, 15 times in a row sort of thing. :) sometimes I have to cave in and take her into our bed because I am so tired (I know this works against what I am trying to achieve.)
I think we are getting somewhere with this, last night she did not get up at all!

I am dreading the drive to France as at the minute, 10 minutes into a drive she "wants to get off" or take her shoes off and put them back on but can't quite do it on her own and we can't help cause she's at the back and we're at the front. I have to plan it and break it down into little bits I think.
She also has a slightly worrying obsession with mr tumble .

You just have to take it into your stride and be patient and see the funny side (and work in the evenings when she is finally sleeping :D) and then you can actually enjoy the ride!

ninja I hope they bring in the army, it does feel like they're not doing enough, they could stop the mobile phone network from working and close the the tube stations for a few hours in the evening in the areas where it's kicking off at least. So many people have lost their livelihood, businesses and homes it's disgusting.

Hope the girls stopped texting and got some sleep, I remember sleep overs at mine where the point was to try and not sleep at all all night .

gauchita You mentionned sushi and now I can't get it out of my head :D
There's a really nice japanese restaurant we get take away from but it's not local and I think we'll have to wait till things calm down.

Is anyone potty training at the moment? C will only sit on the potty if it gets her out of doing something else she doesn't want to do. (like go to sleep...) She has not peed or pooed in it yet though.

I have to get working, speak to you soon!

Hi all!

Skillbo, so nice to hear from you again! Congratulations again on your pregnancy (saw it on FB a little while ago) M's going through the same speech mania, although it's 80% English, 20% Spanish and sometimes a little of her own language in the middle

June, Ninja, after posting last night I turned on the news and was shocked and sad to see the images I had never seen something similar in the time we've been here and as June said, it's devastating to see businesses and livelihoods destroyed by this insane violence. I saw flats on fire and couldn't stop thinking about the poor people who were affected by those Hope things calm down soon.

June, we had some sushi on Sunday. For some reason M won't eat simple and staple diet stuff, like normal sauces with pasta, but she'll eat sushi Children are odd! I think I need to learn how to make it now that she's started eating the fillings as well, better take advantage of that, huh?

Ninja, did you have any more decorating this past weekend?

A quick question to those of you with a bit more experience in the field We found a school we'd like M to attend next year. Now, I don't want to sound like a muppet on the phone so I'd like to ask you exactly what I need to ask for I know school is off, so are they offering any appointments to see schools? Should I wait until later? Should I ask "for an appointment to have a look at the school"? Should I give them all the info re. M on the phone or once we go there? I know this sounds unbelievably stupid but I'm still trying to understand the system so I have no idea what's the usual procedure for this

Right, off to do some more nesting tidying

Waves

afternoon ladies

gauchita, school will be closed now until september so no point ringing until then, probably avoid the first week of term too. Just ring up and ask to look round, probably all they'll want to know for now would be name and age, don't worry, a lot of people won't know how it works, school will be used to that You can check the schools ofsted reports on line before you go and check who you have to apply to for a place, could be the school itself or you local authority. Guessing the beginning of september might be a busy time for you though? E's room is almost done, took loads of coats of paint for some reason!

june, army would be good, they can't keep wrecking peoples homes and livelyhoods like that. Can see the smoke from Enfield from here and could see the glow from Croydon last night. Not potty training yet, don't think E is interested yet. Ah, mr tumble, you have my sympathies, it's still dd3s favourite.

waves to all

Ninja, thanks for the info I'll wait until September then and call them. They have an Ofsted outstanding report, so we'd like to have a look

Still watching footage on the BBC, I can't believe what's happening I heard there were 10-11 year olds out there looting shops! How how how?! Please be safe London Juners, don't go out if there's trouble near you. There's quite a few of you down south. We had some trouble here in Leeds as well, but nothing as bad as in London. Hopefully this will stop soon.

I didn't know the police force were unarmed here in the UK, that is an unknown notion for us in LatAm, as you might imagine, mainly because this sort of problems are more common and people attack police with anything they want/can I read on a thread here that in France police shower trouble-makers with ink so as to be able to identify them later, I think that's a great idea actually.

Quick post as on phone waiting for plane. London girls am thinking of you.what utter chaos and completely senseless violence.who let's their kids out in situations like this???
skillbo really lovely to see u.congrsts. Dec babies are great.

Aargh,time to board.I cannot wait to cuddle my babies

Hello - am up to page 10 now and some of it makes me smile lots and some sounds so tough... all of you ladies are amazing..

So couple of things that popped up:

Me & DH do still french kiss but not as much as we used to (although do still do it in public!) but really not up to much bedroom wise which makes me sad.

Bigcar/Ninja - good to see that DD3's school debacle finally got solved.. what a headache

quick me me me post, as surrounded by work and deadlines.

gauchita I have 2 days of tourist time. I would love any suggestions and I am looking forward to a steak. Staying at the place you mentioned.

How is the nesting? In full flight? Have you had some 'me' time since DH got back? Make sure you go and get a haircut or pedicure or massage or all three before this baby comes. Even a coffee by yourself, with a trashy mag. Essential.
If you are into keeping track of feeds/sleeps/etc when baby arrive,s there is an iphone app my friends seem to love. Costs about 4 quid i think but seems good.

zhen thinking of you for tomorrow. Hope it goes as well as can be expected.

bigcar how is E enjoying his room? How are the riots around you?

june work still crazy? How are you guys in North Ldn? How long till you go to France? I got something like these for the long car trips. oh and these too ,they come in other designs such as dora/pdisney etc

skillbo how are you feeling?starting to show?
Well the rioters in Oxford firebombed our local McDs. I would of thought that many of them would have frequented it, so why choose to destroy that, god only knows. What f** king idiots.

Away again tom. Hope the hotel has free wi-fi and a comfy bed

Wow - got through most of it and feel like I've never been away in a way! So much seems to have happened though - makes me feel like my life has been a bit dull really

Snow - have a wonderful time in BA, I've never been but am green with envy at the thought of being abroad and somewhere hot. Apart from a couple of quick 'duty' visits to my parents in Spain, me and DH haven't been anywhere for years!

Gauchita - am guessing you've been quiet now you've finally got DH back? Hope your BH have eased off and you get a nice relaxing last couple of weeks before it all kicks off!

Zhen so to hear your news and hope that everything went as well as could be expected. Great news about the new lo though - hope the MS has passed and you're into the 'blooming' part... I am just knackered all the time - I thought this was supposed to be gone by now!!

Vene expect you're off galavanting but am soooo jealous as grew up camping and it is just the best. Want to do more with J and DH so might try and squeeze in a quick weekend before the summer finally leaves us!

Have got a very definite bump now, although I think people think I am just porking up a bit as it sort of starts straight under my boobs so when I tell people they're a bit which makes me wonder how big I actually was... must get into action once this lo arrives. Baby kicking like mad as well which is nice and reassuring but DH hasn't managed to get in on time yet so hasn't felt them. J sort of knows whats going on and does keep calling herself 'big sister' although she did call me fat the other day... hmmm

Anyway - must go as was almost asleep at the dinner table tonight and am finding my temper is too short when I get home so I need to start resting more... btw, as the working parent I can't imagine coming home and just switching straight off - I want to spend as much time as I can with J before she goes to sleep. Whilst it's hard at the mo and sometimes I just want her to stop talking for 5 minutes, my time with her is so limited, it is so precious! I just don't understand some of the DH's attitudes on here but hey ho, if we were all the same, it'd be a boring old world...

Anyways, sweet dreams all and hopefully will get on here a lot more now!

Morning all,

Skillbo, wow, massive catch-up there We had the same here with DH, up until about 2 months ago he kept missing every single movement The baby would go completely still as soon as he put his hand on my bump Now he doesn't stop moving, EVER so it's hard to miss any kicks.

Snow, oh that's great then, two days to do stuff. Let me know if you need any more ideas Where are you off to today? Hope somewhere near, you must be tired having to travel again so soon. Yes, I'm nesting like mad, I have 3 bin bags full of old clothes I keep putting away "just in case" and I've not worn for years now, so off they go. I think a haircut before the baby is here might be a good idea. I'm not a manicure/pedicure 'kinda gal' but I'm exploiting "massage time" with DH

A little big worried the baby might want to make an appearance before my mum arrives, as I no longer have my two friends close by and I wouldn't have anyone to leave M with, especially during the night. I had my last hypnobirthing session on Wednesday and Dh had a really hard time with M, she didn't go to bed until 10.30pm, she cried and cried for me Fingers crossed he'll wait until the 26th at least

Bag still not ready but today I'll try and finish it

Hope everyone is well, waves!

Phone playing up so not sure if this will post.gauchita yes please to ideas of things to do in ba.will have pram and sling with me for z.
I was never a manicure etc girl either but after 33years I had my first pedicure and it was great.
skillbo well done on the catch up. Good to have you back. How is work going?are you enjoying it? How long will you take for maternity leave? As z was due around Christmas and arrived early,it was brilliant for dh.all the public hols made his paternity leave a week longer.

On way to france again. Think z knew I was going,she had an enormous feed this morning.

Happy weekend to everyone