Dec 08 - tears, tantrums, giggles and piddles - and that's just the mums!

[traceface]

Or maybe piddling whilst giggling is just me?
It's so sunny here I feel Spring has sprung - where's that daffodil emoticon gone? Had a friend round this morning for a natter and cake - muchos snot and tears but all good. Think I might go for a little bike ride now to blow the cobwebs away.
And no vag - not a chance!
rubs don't you dare spend all your time tweeting - your first loyalty is here!

Effie would you be able to whip this up for me seeing as I won't be in London at the end of the month.

I'd love a knitted Archbish!

Am really behind as got back from London last night and now whizzing up to Midlands for a few days, but thanks for lovely birthday wishes and was lovely to have coffee with Arti on Thurs and see her totally fab new house (love it) and see the adorable DDs...Ciao for now.

Wow the BIL who still hasn't decided on a wedding date has suddenly booked a flight over to see us and is coming next Friday. Apparently, his fiànce(sp not sure if that is the right accent position) wants to go for a quick shop in Paris . They are going to fly to here see us then head down to Paris and shop. BIL asked DH for advice on good shopping in Paris and he said Champs elysee. I have to say I've never been overly fussed by shopping in Paris, I'm not a big shopper but for me Antwerp & London are way better as everything is easy to get to. The mother of all shopping cities for me is NY, so cheap! The one area I did like for a bit of a meander through shops was that bit near the George pompadue (sp) place over beyond notre dame. Does anyone else have any better advice. We generally go to Paris to eat and/or watch the Tour. Oh and in days of yor look at amazing art.

Marathon day! Bring it on.

Vag never been to Paris but I agree NY knocks everyone else out of the ballpark with its shopping.

How has DH done, Jam?

Quick question for anyone lurking - in addition to the pox DD has started vomiting today and now has nothing left in her tum so it's really painful. I'm managing to get her to drink. Is it normal with chicken pox? I wonder if the piriton medicine isn't agreeing with, although she hasn't had any since about 3am and didn't start being sick until 11. She's quite warm, but I'm not keen to give her Calpol on an empty tummy. Am I doing the right thing, or any ideas? Thanks ladies, back with personals when I have more than 1 finger free x

hello all, you've been so chatty that I've no hope of catching up so will just say hurrah for the various poos, boo to arguments and hurrah also for people going out running, nutters that they be.

zj - dh says calpol fine on an empty tummy, and sickness often a symptom of general unwellness in nippers. can she keep liquids down, need to avoid dehydration if you can.

things here ok, block feeding has been helping with E's wind and for the last 48 hours she's been feeding like a loon (3 month growth spurt) so I've been stuck to the sofa... and has been doing some epic poos as well, just to join the club! in fact here are our excretory updates, E's poos have started being proper again rather than slimy, and S did a wee in the potty at nursery :) (v impressed with those who are all trained by now!). they've both got a horrid cough that wakes up one then the other at 4am, hoping this goes away soon... the really terrifying thing is realising that E is halfway to solids,
she's been here for 3 whole months but it feels like no time at all.

house hunting carries on, have seen 11 places and going back next week for another with dh on what might be a goer - 30s semi with 120' garden :). It needs quite a lot of work (eg tiles in shower broke, so it leaked into the ceiling below and needs remedial work, also plenty of redecoration [!!]) but otherwise livable in short term, has a fab kitchen/diner/family room and instead of the usual 2 beds + gimp room, actually has 3 good sized beds. Plus, because it needs the work, it's about 20% cheaper than the other ones we've been looking at - would need to find a bloke to do the work for us but has molto potential. so we may have found somewhere... SL it's on C H rd so easy to come and visit you!

will try to stay in touch next week once the feeding frenzy growth spurt stops...

Thanks Jump and Dr Jump. She's been drinking well and I think consuming more than she's sicked back up, so will continue with that. General unwellness sounds about right actually, as she's had 3 nights of really bad broken sleep (prob due to itching). She's fast asleep now, but will try Calpol when she wakes. Thanks

Well done S on the wee, E on reduced windiness. That house sounds good, but I like a challenge (until I realise I am DIY-ically challenged myself). Any links to it?

Jump that house sounds great and you sound really positive about it. Can you get someone in to do a quote before you buy just to be sure its ok (or in case you can get some more knocked off).

ZJ sorry to hear of the vomits how are things this evening. DS1 didn't have vomits with the pox but I remember on the 3rd or 4th night he was really unwell with it and he gave me a bit of a fright as his temp actually went really low and he was difficult to rouse, but he woke up fine the next morning though still spotty.

Wow we are still having fine weather, so different to this time last year. How was everyones weekends?

Hello chaps. Happy birthday for yesterday ladyt. Hope you had a good day. ZJ for your DD. Hope she's feeling better. I had lovely weekend as DH whisked me away to Paris for the weekend . And in laws had children which was really good of them. Think they all had a lovely time and I didn't miss the DCs as much as I thought I would. Was really nervous about leaving them. Although did miss being able to see their sleeping little heads at night time. Was so lovely to spend time with DH, and for the first time since DS was born just wake up on Saturday morning and not have to do anything/be anywhere for an age.

Veg I think that bit you're talking about is the marais. Really lovely. Had fab lunch there today. Bon marche in St Germain really great department store.

Only 3 days left at work and then holiday. Woo hoo.

Jam I hope your DH had a good day.

Ooh, Urbs that sounds wonderful, are you back home now? So .

JJ, the wind is just the worst, so glad you're finding a way round it with the block feeding. Are you waiting to 6 months to do solids? It's funny, we have been advised because of B's reflux to start solids at 4 months which is only 2 weeks away. Woo hoo, can't wait! And another request for you to link to the house, it sounds really good. How are you finding the days with 2? Is S happy to potter around while E has her mega feeds?

Lady belated happy returns for yesterday. Did you have a nice lunch?

Get well soon little ZJ. i hope she turns a corner soon.

Rubes we're around on that Friday, would be lovely to see you if you're in these parts.

Things v shit here right now, things with DP pretty horrendous, had a major row on Friday night, I was all ready to part ways, still not sure if we should. Sent him an email which he's only just read now and he's gone off in another huff. I think he uses these big rows to clear the air, then almost acts like normal the next day. However things were said that have made me question why we're together. I know there are many things going on right now (B's illness, DP hating being here, working from home, no sleep, etc etc) but even if they were suddenly changed over night, I still feel very angry and alienated from him, as he does me. I won't bang on here, but I;m feeling very uncertain right now about what's best for us all. I want us to work, but not sure if we can and don't want the kids to grow up in an atmosphere like I did. Gawd, it's hard when you've two nippers, you can't just up sticks like that. Even a trial separation would be a logistical nightmare and v confusing for T.

We're meant to be having "the talk" tomorrow, whatever that means. Dreading it, quite frankly.

Paris sounds lovely Urbs. Glad you had a good time.

Spot, sorry to hear things with DP are tough at the moment. I hope you can come to some accommodation with him tomorrow. Have you worked out what you want from the conversation? I find if I need to talk to DH about big things, it goes better when I have planned what I want to get from the conversation and what vague path it needs to follow. I get very defensive otherwise and can end up feeling coerced into something I perhaps would not have agreed to if I had thought for a minute. Huge hugs to you.

Happy birthday for yest LadyT. Hope it was a good one.

COuld you link to the house porn please JJ?

We had a lovely day today. We went to Verso's wedding renewal and then a fab garden party. She looked stunning and it was a very moving ceremony. A really happy day.

Sorry to have missed loads. Hope you are all well.

sybs, so glad to hear verso is happy :) we miss her!

spot, you and the boys (dp included) have all been through so much recently that stresses are bound to make things worse. sybs has a good advice about planning what you want to say so it doesn't end up with you thinking Oh and I really meant to say x y z as well. sending you both strength to have a good talk and work some things through.

zj glad dd got some rest, hope the bug is working its way out by now.

urbs lucky you and your glam parisian weekend

vag you always sound so cool as well with all your talk of which cities are best for shopping, I feel so provincial compared to most of you!

no point sending house porn I'm afraid, there's only one pic of the inside on the website which I was initially surprised about - turns out to be because the owner has her double bed in the lounge and there are two single beds and lots of stuff packed into each of the bedrooms! it's rather sad, lady and her dh spent several years doing the place up, then they separated two years ago so need to sell up and she's taken in lots of student lodgers. definitely a case of seeing the potential! the main thing for us is that there's 50% more space on the ground floor - at the moment's we're a 'downstairs' ie living/dining room, and tiny (but very well planned ) kitchen. this place has the diner/family room the size of our current downstairs, then big kitchen open off that and french doors to the garden. Plus 'formal' lounge, massive utility which could also double as home office.

Morning all,

Been away camping this weekend and have had a lovely time. Children exceptionally well behaved, lovely weather....I actually feel quite cheery. Am going to Ebay lots of things to try and get a few quid...good grief I'll scare myself with this mood!

spot Oh love, you have been through so much of late. Its hard to grasp the amount of pressure thats been heaped on you. Its no surprise you feel at breaking point. Agree with sybs, have it in your mind what you want to say, and how to say it without rowing again. Am thinking of you and hope that some things get sorted and you can find a way to get through it all[un MN hug]

urbs Paris sounds lovely!

beans How's your Dad doing??

Fit-flops...think I might get me some [sheep-type emotion]

ladyt Happy birthday for yesterday. Hope you had a wonderful day/weekend.

Jam wowzers to your DH and the marathon that is a fantastic time. Hate to rain on his parade though but I was checking out the pics on FB and DD came over and said "Mummy he looks like David Hasselhoff from the SpongeBob film". I snorted coffee everywhere!

Hello All,

Spot - I am so sorry to hear you are having such a bad time with DP on top of your other woes. I don't really know what to say other than to second Syb's advice and suggest couples' counselling (which I think you have previously said he would refuse to engage with). Good luck with the talk. Thinking of you.

JJ - it's good to hear that E's wind is improving. I found three months quite a magic point in the development of my girls' digestion. The house sounds promising. Just make sure you have the money to do all the work. We've been shocked by the cost of redecorating and it's NO fun doing it yourselves with young kids.

Urbs - what a lovely DH you have! Was Paris a total surprise? And how are you feeling at the mo? Any sickness?

ZJ - sorry to hear the pox have hit so hard. I hope DD is feeling a but better today and you got some sleep.

Veg - no tips on Parisian shopping I'm afraid. The Euro is so expensive at the mo that on my last few visits I've refused to enter shops. What kind of stuff do they want to buy and why do they think Paris is the place for it? My unexpected top destination for shopping is Istanbul. The Turkish lira has a better rate than the Euro, all the normal clothes shops have branches there, many clothes (eg French Connection) are made in Turkey so have huge cheap outlets PLUS it's a great city to explore.

Sybs - lovely to hear Verso is happy. I saw on FB that her DH had been quite ill. How are you doing? Has work calmed down.

Where is Jolly? I hope she's doing ok with two. And Trace how is work going?

All well here. DH and I are so lucky to have these long periods of holiday that coincide with each other and school holidays. The four of us have just been pottering for a week. We were going swimming each day but might skip it today to save ultra-competitive DD2's health. Basically DD1 has just started swimming independently, DD2 wants to match her so refuses all arm bands and won't be held. She basically swims underwater but can't yet lift her head to breath and as soon as you lift her up to breath she shouts "again, again" and wiggles out of our arms. This goes on for about half an hour with her almost constantly submerged. It's very sweet and she's ridiculously proud of herself but she swallows so much water that at the end of each trip she is copiously sick. Oops. Might just go for a walk along the river today.

Spot: thinking of you today, sweetheart. I would hate being given advance notice of A Talk. Hope it goes as well as possible. I like Sybs' idea of a bit of advance planning.

Sybs: lovely to hear about Verso - do give her our love.

Zoe: how is DD this am? DS2 was quite poorly with the pox and ended up with his spots getting infected - I put off going to the doc in case they told me off for bringing germs in but in the end they were fine about it. So if you're worried give them a call.

Arti, sorry to hear about the sick. A fortnight off sounds great. I have the week off (with only a couple of work things to do, but I am planning doing those whilst drinking wine in front of TV) and am planning on very little. We have both sets of parents to visit and lots of house jobs to do, but I feel just slobbing coming on for the rest. DH said to me yest "I haven't had holiday since Christmas, you know".Oh, but I have of course, he clearly did not notice me sneaking off to Mauritius for a week on my own with a suitcase full of books and wine. Hm. For an intelligent man he can be very thick sometimes. Still, in the interests of marital harmony I must think positive and put myself in happy humour.

Right, must get up and take poor M to nursery. Seems a bit mean when the rest of us are off but still have to pay for it and get so much more done when he is away. I'll pick him up early to salve my conscience.

I am going to try to run every day this week. Rubes, are you coming over to C25K thread? It is good fun and the running is OK too!!

Where's that thread Sybs? Might join it myself! And are you up for Race for Life this summer? I have emailed you the dates... Not sure if I have the right email address?

Went to see Dad yesterday, who was in good spirits. Luckily he has never been a man shy to be naked, so have seen it all before, because he's developed an allergy rash on his bum and isn't allowed to wear his underpants, so everything is, literally, hanging out! He is back down in Kent now, and I helped them with the move from hospital on Saturday, then popped down there yesterday again for lunch. DH had the children. I am v grateful to him for it, must say. I ended up sleeping most of the time I was there, like Dad!! Oops.

Spot - you poor thing. As if you don't have enough of your plate, frankly. I agree with Sybs - definitely a good thing for you to have a POA before you go in. Poor lamb.

Back to normal life now. We're off to see a place on Saturday. It is so far out of our budget, so god knows why we're going, but it's been on the market for some time, so they might consider a v low offer!!! this is it. BUT we'd be offering about £100k less than it's on for!!! Don't think we'll get it somehow! Hee hee! But it's only a 34min commute for DH and has good schools near it...

Oh and DD2 finally started crawling yesterday!! Yeehah!

What an amazing garden that house has Beans. You can never tell how cheeky an offer somebody might expect. We offered £300k under asking in this house! Initially the vendor said no. Then a few weeks later she reduced her asking price by £200k so we put the same offer in again (by then it was £100k under asking). Vendor said no. We said our offer stood if she wanted to mull it over for a few weeks. Then a fortnight later bingo, she accepted! I'm glad your dad is doing well. Lol at his bum hanging out.

Enjoy your week off Sybs. And good on you for running. I've been gyming it every evening this holiday and I've lost 3lbs. Can't be doing with running though. I just can't do it. Tried C5K and wNted to vomit even doing the couch end of the spectrum!

Arti I know the vomit bit is not fun for you but I did laugh at the image of DD2 happily plugging away at swimming to the point of almost drowning. She's going to have brilliant lung capacity.

JJ I am far from cool I hadn't even been out of Australia until I was 25. I think I just went a bit crazy travelling for several years because I hadn't done much before then.

Beans I remember you linking that house before. I have a really good feeling about it.

Spot thinking white light over you babe. Seriously you deal with so much, I really don't know how you hold it together. I wish so often I could pop into yours for a cuppa, or a strong drink.

Sorry can't write more DS2 is having his nap and DH is working from home so I've got some gym time.

good evening ladies
spot I'm so sorry to hear of your relationship troubles. I hope The Talk is constructive.
Beans fab house! Perfect for a Mega-meet-up Glad your dad is doing so well.
ZJ how is E today?
arti thanks for asking after me. I've got the full easter hols off so after my 5 days of work, I've now got these 2 weeks off, then with all the bank hols it's a while until I do a proper week! I'm quite keen to get back actually and get back into routine. I'm enjoying the hols though. Have done a few children's centre things and free stuff at the library, generally been outside enjoying the fine weather with the girls. Sybs we've also been taking P to nursery, which has given us more time with L and more time to get things done which we've been avoiding for months. Did I tell you that the Leeds Lady who viewed our house has bought elsewhere? Anyway, we had another viewer today, so we'll wait and see what she thought. The more we tidy our house and garden, the moew appealing it is to stay put! beans I followed your advice and shoved stuff in the car to make it look clutter-free! I put things in odd places in the house too, just to get them out of the way, and now i keep finding things in random places!
I went to the GP tonight to get my prescription as usual, and she asked about my leaky boob. Anyway, it is likely that it's my happy pills, but the GP said she would feel better if she could rule out the chance of it being something nasty, so she's referred me to the breast clinic for a mammogram and to see the docs there. She said they'll see me within 2 weeks, so not long to wait.
Anyway sorry for such a feeble post! I'm so sleepy I must go to bed.

nighty night x

Oh bummer that the lady bought elsewhere, Trace - but am sure your place will go quickly - is it on the internet anywhere? Am always keen to see where people live, as it gives you more of an idea of them, if you know what I mean?

I am keeping my fingers crossed re your boob, but am sure it's just the meds too. But horrid for you to have to be worrying about something else. Try not to though.

All well here. Did I bore you with the excitement of DD2 crawling on Sunday? Am v chuffed as she's been trying to for so long. So on the one hand it's great news. On the other, it's bad as it means her cot has now become her gym and she spends a lot of time when she should be asleep, crawling around her cot and getting into all sorts of odd positions, then screaming when she can't get out of them. I remember DD1 doing this as well and it went on for months. Gutted. Mind you, will get v fit running up and down the stairs!!!

Spot - have you had The Talk? How was it? Are you ok? Please let us know if you're alright. Thinking of you.

Hello all, hope everyone is well. Beans how is your Dad - and how dare you go to Eddie Katz in Putney without telling me and coming by to visit - so near me!

JJ total sympathy with house hunting - ours now officially on market but haven't had any decent offers yet (only been a week, mind!) and have yet to find anything ourselves, hard to go and look TBH when we are probably buying in St Albans, which kind of necessitates days off work to look at places..

LadyT i hope you had a lovely birthday, where was your slap up meal?

Spot Just hugs, really, others have better advice.

Sorry for quick catch up there, have probably missed major news. We were away for a few days in lovely sunny Jersey this weekend which DD loved (the zoo! the castle! toddler heaven..)

However the work issue is still dragging on, Union still helping but the whole thing is hugely demoralising and makes me feel utterly unvalued and generally treated like a big pile of crap, which I really don't think I deserve having worked really hard since I was here and generally got on with things. Seems that in this company, keeping your head down and getting on with things is NOT the way to get ahead, instead you have to stomp your feet and act like a petulant teenager, and then you get promoted. Anyway I won't start that rant because I will never stop.

Other big news is that now I'm 14 weeks clackered we decided (well, I decided) it was time to wean DD. Finally. 2 years and 4 months of breastfeeding sounds like a good run by anyones standards, and she's been cutting back a bit recently anyway. It's going ok, but now she's come down with a cold/gunky eyes/ general misery and it breaks my heart to say no to her when she just wants her mummy milk comfort. But I really DONT want to tandem feed, and anwyay, I'm not sure there's much left in there even if I did change my mind - no fullness/ discomfort at all and I last fed her last Thursday

Maybe that's making me feel sad too? Anyone know if that would have effect? Feel a bit generally miserable though conscious that others have far worse to deal with so hope that doesn't sound annoying.

ps URL that has cheered me up this morning:

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/utter-PR-fiction-but-people-love-this-shit-so-fuck-it-lets-just-print-it-2269573.html

Kiwi: I def felt low and emotional when stopping bfing both times. You think they aren't feeding so often but it still has an effect on your hormones.